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 HΓΆglund, 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 HΓΆglund 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.
Higher Ground
Thunder Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I'm looking down along this dead end street
All the people are getting older
But they don't give a damn their lives are incomplete
It don't look no better than it did before
And I know what's happening behind each door
If I don't get out today I'm gonna waste my life away
And that's a part that I can't play
I don't wanna spend my whole life in this town
I can feel it driving me away
Baby you and me were meant for higher ground
We've got to steal away
As a young boy I didn't fit in
And I knew it then I wouldn't be the same
But that was only in the beginning
And as the time rolled on deeper grew the pain
So give me one good reason why I should stay
I think I've got enough money for the late night train
There's a world you've never seen
But I've been there in my dreams
It's calling out to me
I don't wanna spend my whole life in this town
I can feel it driving me away
Baby you and me were meant for higher ground
We've got to steal away
If I don't get out today, I'm gonna waste my life away
I'm gonna waste my life away
And that's a part that I can't play
The lyrics to Thunder's "Higher Ground" tell the story of someone who is feeling trapped and unfulfilled in their current situation. The singer is looking out at his surroundings, seeing the same old buildings and people, and feeling like he is stuck in a dead-end life. He knows that if he doesn't make a change soon, he will continue to waste his life away.
The singer describes a feeling of being different from those around him, and not fitting in. His pain has only grown deeper as time has gone on, and he is desperate for a way out. He expresses a desire to see the world and experience something new and exciting, and he is convinced that he and his partner are meant for something better than their current lives.
The chorus of the song is a call to action, urging the singer and his partner to "steal away" to higher ground. They must leave behind their old lives and embrace something new and different. The lyrics are a powerful message about the importance of taking chances and making changes in order to find true happiness and fulfillment.
Line by Line Meaning
I feel the wind blow on the corner
I sense change is coming my way
And I'm looking down along this dead end street
I see no future here, this place has nothing to offer
All the people are getting older
Everyone's growing old and stuck in their ways
But they don't give a damn their lives are incomplete
They're content with their unfulfilling lives
It don't look no better than it did before
This place hasn't changed, it's still a dead end
And I know what's happening behind each door
I know everyone's story, and it's not a happy one
If I don't get out today I'm gonna waste my life away
I need to leave now or I'll be stuck here forever
And that's a part that I can't play
I refuse to settle for this life
I don't wanna spend my whole life in this town
I refuse to be trapped in this place all my life
I can feel it driving me away
I'm being pushed to leave for my own good
Baby you and me were meant for higher ground
We're destined for more than this
We've got to steal away
We need to escape from this place
As a young boy I didn't fit in
I always felt like an outsider
And I knew it then I wouldn't be the same
I knew my destiny was different from the rest of them
But that was only in the beginning
That feeling never went away
And as the time rolled on deeper grew the pain
As I grew older, the pain of staying here became unbearable
So give me one good reason why I should stay
I need a reason to stay, but there isn't one
I think I've got enough money for the late night train
I have enough to leave, and I'm not looking back
There's a world you've never seen
There's a whole new world waiting for me out there
But I've been there in my dreams
I've already envisioned a better life for myself
It's calling out to me
It's time for me to answer the call and make my move
If I don't get out today, I'm gonna waste my life away
If I don't leave now, I'll spend my life unfulfilled and unhappy
I'm gonna waste my life away
I don't want to spend my life stuck in one place
And that's a part that I can't play
I won't settle for less than what I know I'm capable of achieving
Lyrics Β© O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: LUKE MORLEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Eddie Miller
One of the most underrated bands of our time. One great tune after another.
buddysmom1000
Amen!
Angela Dobbs
Agreed dude right?
GratitudeHappinessBacon
Totally agree - these guys are fantastic!!!
andri vie
this best band
Antisocial Gamer
They really are. Love Danny on planet rock too, he's a good Dj
65Wildkat
Jeesh! Why did this band never make it big! Great sound! Real Rock and Roll! Big sound and talented musicians! come back Thunder, We need you!
Mark Mueller
Seen these guys 4 times now including the 20 years and out tour. I always described them to other people as the best rock n roll band you've never heard of. Just good old fashioned British rock and Danny's voice is as good as any out there.
Orgzz
These guys are as good now as they were back in the day...Danny's voice is still incredible...love them β€πΈπ€π₯
Mat Setizar
A sixth sense exists and it's called feelings. Listening to this band it goes off the charts.