Musicians Danny Bowes, Harry James, and Luke Morley worked together in the 80s-era [tab]blues outfit Terraplane. After experiencing what Morley has called "a 'eureka' moment", the guys devised a high-energy British rock project directly inspired by the likes of Bad Company, Deep Purple, and Led Zeppelin. The aptly named Thunder spent a year or so in constant touring and gradually built a positive reputation that helped its debut album, named Backstreet Symphony, reach a wide audience. Released 4 April 1990 by EMI / Geffen, it became an international success. The album didn't just get RIAA certified as 'Gold' but earned them a spot on BBC's 'Top of the Pops', playing their hard-edged version of "Gimme Some Lovin'" to a global audience. A well-received performance at Castle Donington's 'Monsters of Rock' event before gigantic crowds brought it home to the guys how far they'd broken through.
After touring with female-fronted rockers Heart and other artists with the same style, the guys prepared the second album, which they ominously titled Laughing on Judgement Day. Despite their deliberately 'retro' sound quite unlike the alternative and post-punk trends of the time (or, in fact, precisely because of their sticking to their guns), their sophomore album achieved even more success. Released on 24 August 1992, it proved an even bigger hit in the U.K. than their debut, reaching the number two slot on the nation's top albums chart. Its singles include "Everybody Wants Her" and "Low Life in High Places", the titles alone showing Thunder's interest in classic rock n' roll hedonism.
Bassist "Snake" Luckhurst left the band citing 'personal differences', a move that wasn't just Thunder's first line-up change but a sign of future turmoil to come. He got replaced by Swedish musician Mikael Höglund, and the band went on to record their third album, 1995's Behind Closed Doors, before facing a dilemma with their label. Finding that "most of the people who'd been there at the beginning of our tenure had moved on", as Morley put it, as well as that talk of a contract extension had terms that they simply couldn't accept, Thunder jumped from EMI.
Despite being championed by U.S. contemporaries such as Aerosmith and Guns n' Roses, the guys still faced a tough time making a lasting impact 'across the pond'. Though focused on pumping out more and more material, Morley later remarked that the mid-90s found Thunder "suffering from 'hamster in the wheel' syndrome". Mikael Höglund was unavailable for recording the band's fourth album, called The Thrill of it All, and so the 1996 release had bass duty left with Morley. For the subsequent tour, the band recruited bassist Chris Childs, who stayed with the band to record their fifth album. Although Giving the Game Away, released in 1999, earned a positive fan response, it had become totally clear how Thunder had disconnected from a record industry whose connected network of radio stations, TV networks, and music magazines dismissed the guys' sort of melodic hard rock as either endangered or extinct.
In Autumn of that year, the group announced an upcoming split, and their final tour concluded in May 2000. Still, Thunder's interest in new technology and the continuing camaraderie felt among the band's members meant that they didn't drop off the radar. After being given a slot in the 2002 'Monsters of Rock' shows, Thunder decided to return in 2003 with a new album, titled Shooting at the Sun, which the guys released on their own record label. Fully embracing the internet's ability to unite hard rock fans across the globe, 2005 resulted in the band's seventh album, aptly titled The Magnificent Seventh! by the guys. It earned praise from many critics, with musicOMH writer Neil Daniels remarking that the "terrific return to form" seemed like "a hard-hitting giant but with fists of steel and cast iron balls".
Feeling vindicated, the group's album managed to produce a return to the top 40 singles charts and spawned a bunch of live performances. After two well-received tours in 2006, with many gigs completely selling out, and two gleeful experiences in Japan, the band captured that live feel in the DVD Thunder Go Mad in Japan. The release included a documentary piece following the band's situation setting everything up and trying to sort out all of the traveling. That year additionally saw the guys releasing their eight studio album, titled Robert Johnson's Tombstone, which featured nods to the musicians' early history before Thunder's very formation. Receiving acclaim from critics and fans alike, some even claimed that the album was Thunder's best studio release yet. A U.K. tour took place at the end of November 2006, with the band extending things into shows in Europe as well.
The 2000s represented not only a period of frequent touring but also increasing musical activities by the guys outside of the band. Thunder's career renaissance continued with a 2008 studio album, which the guys simply titled Bang!, and the group's appearance with Def Leppard and Whitesnake at multiple gigs that same year. The group had found itself coming up to its twenty-year anniversary. Although not experiencing the same kind of personal conflicts or debates about musical direction that many of their contemporaries had, Thunder still appeared to have reached a kind of inflection point. In early 2009, the guys announced plans to split for the second time. Final tours and festival appearances occurred throughout the rest of the year. A well-received compilation album, called simply The Very Best of Thunder, came out as well that year.
Luke Morley stressed "only a fool would say never" when it came to talk of getting back together at some point. Still, he'd gotten focused on other endeavors and particularly dedicated himself to working on The Union, an outfit formed with musician Peter Shoulder (formerly of Winterville). Featuring a blues and soul drenched sound, that band has achieved significant critical acclaim. Other ex-Thunder members perused similar projects. Drummer Gary "Harry" James, for example, played with progressive rockers Magnum (including on their popular 2011 release The Visitation).
Thunder briefly reunited for the 'High Voltage Festival', held in Victoria Park, in 2011. Though expressing their reluctance to formally get back together, the guys agreed to future shows together, including a December performance at Nottingham's 'Rock City' venue. They intermittently took to the stage as the 2010s went on yet remained committed to their alternate projects.
In 2015, however, Thunder announced a full return with an upcoming studio album of new material. A tongue-in-cheek collective statement cited "a rather silly amount of knob-twiddling and string-pulling" as the final inspiration. The release of Wonder Days earned a warm response from critics and fans alike (the fellows at Classic Rock magazine, for example, naming it one of the year's 11 best albums), and multiple gigs got announced to preform the new material. 2017's Rip It Up was also well-received (the record's #3 spot on the U.K. Albums Chart was the highest the band reached for over two decades). This was followed with an acoustic selection, Please Remain Seated, after which the band promised to return to the "full throttle sound of Thunder" for the next studio record.
Delayed due to the pandemic situation, that full throttle new album was released in March 2021, All The Right Noises.
UK rockers Thunder will be releasing a new double album titled Dopamine on April 29, 2022.
Official Website: http://www.thunderonline.com/
2) - Thunder was additionally used by an obscure funk-based Southern rock band from the U.S. Their 1974 self-tiled album picked up some attention but failed to break through commercially. It's hard to find information about the group, but a bit is known given how it served as a stepping stone in the career of popular Texan singer-songwriter and guitarist John Nitzinger. The 1974 album is described on Discogs.com here.
3) - Thunder is the name of a defunct Pagan Black Metal band from Poland, formed in 1994.
4) - Thunder is the name of a German heavy metal band, that released 'All I Want' in 1984.
Ball And Chain
Thunder Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Trying to find a reason not to leave
All of your friends don't understand
You find that small town air so hard to breathe
Clock keeps ticking
You don't need the life your living
Deep in your heart don't you feel like running
There's nothing to keep you here
So what have you got to fear ?
You'll never be young again
So kick off the ball and chain (get running)
Kick off the ball and chain (get running)
You work in a job you really hate
For a guy who thinks you're just a waste of space
You've been telling yourself so long now
One day you're gonna put him in his place
And wouldn't you love it
Telling the boss to shove it
Stay where you are you'll amount to nothing
It's only a step in your mind and you'll be gone
You know that you wanna go
Like the wind you've got to blow
So don't you hesitate
Kick off the ball and chain (get running)
Kick off the ball and chain (get running)
Get you ticket and board that train
And kick off the ball and chain
You know you haven't got a thing to lose
You don't wanna spend your life in a dead man's shoes
There's nothing to keep you here
So what have you got to fear
You'll never be young again
Kick off the ball and chain
You know that you wanna go
Like the wind you've got to blow
So don't you hesitate
Kick off the ball and chain (get running)
Kick off the ball and chain (get running)
Get your ticket and board that train
And kick off the ball and chain
The lyrics to Thunder's song "Ball and Chain" describe someone who is dissatisfied with their life and feels trapped in their small hometown. They feel that they are wasting their youth working a job they hate for a boss who doesn't appreciate them. They would rather be running free over the hills, experiencing the real world and living life to the fullest. The line "you'll never be young again" is a call to action to not waste this time and to break free from the constraints holding them back.
The chorus is a call to action to "kick off the ball and chain" and start running away from the things that are holding them back. They urge themselves to not hesitate and get their ticket to leave town as soon as possible. The song is ultimately about taking control of one's own life and pursuing their dreams, leaving behind the things that are holding them back and not being afraid to take risks.
Line by Line Meaning
Looking around your home town
Scanning your familiar surroundings
Trying to find a reason not to leave
Looking for a valid justification to stay
All of your friends don't understand
Your companions cannot relate to your predicament
You find that small town air so hard to breathe
Finding it suffocating to exist in a limiting environment
Clock keeps ticking
Time relentlessly passes
You don't need the life you're living
Your current existence provides you with no fulfillment
Deep in your heart don't you feel like running
You have a strong urge to flee
Over the hills where the real worlds going on
To places outside of your immediate surroundings with endless possibilities
There's nothing to keep you here
You lack anything tying you down
So what have you got to fear ?
There is no rational cause for apprehension
You'll never be young again
Life is ephemeral, and you must seize opportunities before they vanish
So kick off the ball and chain (get running)
Detach from anything limiting you and run towards freedom
You work in a job you really hate
Your current occupation brings you no joy
For a guy who thinks you're just a waste of space
Your boss does not see your worth
You've been telling yourself so long now
You have been trying to convince yourself for a while
One day you're gonna put him in his place
You'll eventually assert yourself against the one who stifles you
And wouldn't you love it
You'll relish the thought of it
Telling the boss to shove it
Verbally lashing out against your supervisor
Stay where you are you'll amount to nothing
Your personal and professional growth is stunted if you stay put
It's only a step in your mind and you'll be gone
Escaping is straightforward and involves only a change of mindset
You know that you wanna go
You are aware of your desire to leave
Like the wind you've got to blow
You must move forward like a gust of wind
So don't you hesitate
Do not waver
Get you ticket and board that train
Buy a ticket and leave
You know you haven't got a thing to lose
You have nothing to lose
You don't wanna spend your life in a dead man's shoes
You do not wish to live an unremarkable life
Get your ticket and board that train
Eagerly depart
And kick off the ball and chain
Detach from anything holding you back and run towards freedom
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: MARK-ANTHONY TIEKU, MURRAY JAMES, BLUE MAY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind