All the Right Noises

I have been following the band Thunder for most of my life now. I grew up listening to Their Finest Hour (and a bit) as a kid and later upgraded to their studio albums the older I got. I have a fondness for a band, they kind of represent my life musically. I love their early days, some of their more unknown stuff (Robert Johnson's Tombstone is awesome!) and have really enjoyed their come back albums, Wonder Days, Rip It Up and even Please Remain Seated. But with 2021's All the Right Noises, I feel for the first time in a long time that Thunder might have missed the mark, just a little.I can already feel the die hard Thunder fans ready to slice and dice me for my heresy, but hear me out here. All The Right Noises is a good album, it has plenty of good songs on it and not a single one of them made me consider deleting it. The opening tracks Last One Out Turn Off The Lights and Destruction are cracking songs. The closer She's A Millionairess is classic Thunder. But the majority of the album feels like the band treading on ground they've been over once or twice before, especially on the last two studio albums. The biggest culprits are the ballads. They have a distinct, "I've heard this all before" vibe and it was a little off putting.If I'm going to be honest, I would have removed the bonus disc and put Firebird, Pariah and The Fires That Roar in the place of some of the ballads, as well as replacing the studio versions with the vastly superior live versions. Those three songs are too good to be relegated to a bonus disc and the live material is heavier and more energetic than anything on the original disc. They are a lot more enjoyable , Pariah in particular has to be the heaviest song the band have released since the Behind Closed Doors album and I loved it. It reminds me a bit of Europe's more recent studio albums and it's a sound that really suits the band. It's just a shame we couldn't get a bit more like this.Now, before you jump to kill me. All the Right Noises is a well put together album otherwise. I love the sound of the guitars, a nice heavy guitar tone. There's some great riffs all over the place and some really tasty lead guitar lines. The drums sound very raw and not like the sterilised junk found on most other rock albums. Danny Bowes' vocals are as soulful as ever. He's aged well in that regard. The band sound great, they really do. Though, I wish they would get a new producer and engineer. There's no need for their music to suffer from the loudness wars. Not at this point in time when people are really starting to appreciate good sound.I bought All The Right Noises and have listened to it a lot today, I do not regret my purchase. This IS a good album and no one will have me saying otherwise. It's just that the band seem to be in need of some new ideas. There's nothing wrong with that. Every veteran band hits that point. Where they go with it in the future is the concern. Thunder fans should definitely buy the double disc version. The Four studio songs are better than a good chunk of the main album and the lives tracks sound great.

I have followed Thunder for many a year and seen them so many times that they could well be one of the bands that I have seen the most during my lifetime (and I go back a ways!) Over that time, they have produced many great albums and some less than great, but never have they ever turned out one that left me cold.......and while I read another reviewer making the comment about being in familiar territory, well of course we are, after all it is Thunder! What would you want? That they start playing R&B, pop or country? Nope, this is Rock with a capital "R" interspersed, as always, with the odd power ballad and I have to say, they are back with a bang after the "Please Remain Seated" acoustic sojourn (and a great concert that that provided too, proving that the boys are not afraid of revisiting some of their back catalogue with a completely different slant)So, apart from backing singers at points, this is a powerful return to form with big hitters in the form of Last One Out, Destruction, Going To Sin City, my personal favourite: Don't Forget To Live, and slow builder, Force Of Natureand the ballads in The Smoking Gun and I'll Be The One along with softer rock options too, yes this is a typical Thunder album recorded with quite a bite so that it does come at you like a train! And, of course, while there were too many tracks to fit a single CD, we get 4 additional studio tracks on CD 2 before the band provide us with 8 "Live" cuts of studio tracks from CD1 and all for an additional lay out of four quid.......what's not to like? But more especially, proving that these tracks will sit well on stage when the band can get back to what they do best!If you like Thunder, then you know what this is all about, but if you've not heard the band then this is not a bad place to start your collection......I commend this to all those people who like me, like their music to rock and to roll, giving great VFM and All The Right Noises gives that in spades.....! BUY!

As a constant fan of Thunder since the beginning(can it be that long?),I have lost count many years ago how many times I put on one of their great albums and always get a kick out of it.The "comeback" albums ,Wonder Days and Rip it Up were nothing short of amazing,Thunder at their best.But then came along "Please Remain Seated" ,which still has me puzzled but got me wondering if the Lads had lost direction somewhat.So I was delighted to learn that a new album was due out and I received it next day of release,I have listened to it three times today and I feel that it is definitely an improvement over the last album but I have been left with a feeling of predictability in the tracks.A couple hits the spot but overall I feel that maybe something is lacking since Rip it Up,I will continue to listen to this new album but I have been left with a sense of been there before with some tracks and several just not up to the old Thunder.I realize that artists at times will want to shake things up but for me it does not work on this album and it hurts me to write this,but I give it three stars for the effort put into bringing out a new album after all these years but overall not an album that stands shoulder to shoulder with the past ones.Sorry lads.