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.
Living For Today
Thunder Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You're nothing in the scheme
But your vanity told you, you're more than a dot And your arrogance keeps you,
From thinking that you're not
So when it hits you, you're fading away
'Cause you won't live forever, start living for today.
And the seasons are changing, faster all the time
Old man on the corner, laughing like a child
Clinging to a bottle, his broken eyes wild
Kept on a laughing, the people turned away
But he knows something we don't,
He's living for today
So you crawl through your lifetime, a slave to the grind
But time overtook you, and left you far behind
So don't bother running, the moment is gone
Eats you like a cancer, but still you struggle on
Why try to fight it, you're dying anyway?
The future doesn't matter when you're living for today
Are you living for today?
Looking down from the mountains and out to the sea
You're aware in a moment,
You're nothing in the scheme
But your vanity told you, you're more than a dot
And your arrogance keeps you,
From thinking that you're not
So when it hits you, you're fading away
'Cause you won't live forever, start living for today.
You're fading away
You're fading away
Start living for today
Start living for today.
The song "Living for Today" by Thunder is a reflective and thought-provoking piece that urges listeners to embrace the present and live life to the fullest. The opening lyrics depict the beauty of nature and humble the listener by reminding them that they are a mere speck in the grand scheme of things. However, the song also critiques the self-absorbed and arrogant attitudes people have toward their own importance. The song's message becomes more urgent as it delves into the fleeting nature of time and how it slips away faster than ever. The old man laughing amidst his sorrows is a plea to focus on the present moment and find joy in it.
The chorus drives home the point and encourages a shift in perspective from living for the future to living for the now. The song argues that the present is all we have and that tomorrow is never guaranteed. The closing lyrics are an emphatic reminder that life is short, and it would be a shame to waste it by chasing a future that may never come.
Overall, "Living for Today" is a powerful song that reminds us of life's fragility and helps us appreciate the present moment.
Line by Line Meaning
Looking down from the mountains and out to the sea
Observing the vastness of nature from a high vantage point
You're aware in a moment, You're nothing in the scheme
Feeling insignificant in comparison with the grandeur of the world
But your vanity told you, you're more than a dot
Ego made you believe that you are more important than you actually are
And your arrogance keeps you, From thinking that you're not
Overconfidence prevents you from accepting your limitations
So when it hits you, you're fading away
Realize that your life is passing by quickly
'Cause you won't live forever, start living for today.
You need to enjoy life today as you never know when it will end
And the seasons are changing, faster all the time
Life is moving forward rapidly, and time seems to go by quickly
Every day seems to pass by in the wink of an eye
The speed of life can make it seem like time is going too fast to enjoy
Old man on the corner, laughing like a child
An elder person has learned to enjoy life to the fullest extent
Clinging to a bottle, his broken eyes wild
Unfortunately, he may have been dealt hard circumstances by life
Kept on a laughing, the people turned away
The attitude of the smiling man causes others to look elsewhere
But he knows something we don't, He's living for today
The happy person has learned to ignore the challenges of the past and live in the moment
So you crawl through your lifetime, a slave to the grind
A person drags through life with little enjoyment
But time overtook you, and left you far behind
Time moves quickly, and life passes you by as a result
So don't bother running, the moment is gone
Trying to catch up only makes it worse
Eats you like a cancer, but still you struggle on
Encroaching sadness, like a disease, infects while the person still fights
Why try to fight it, you're dying anyway?
Life is too short to be miserable all the time
The future doesn't matter when you're living for today
True happiness is found in the present moment
Are you living for today?
A rhetorical query that is meant to challenge the listener to change their perspective
You're fading away
Your time on Earth is running out
You're fading away
A repeated reminder that life is short
Start living for today
Start seeking joy in everyday pleasures
Start living for today.
The chorus is repeated, as it is the key message to take away from the song
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: LUKE MORLEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Frank Fritter
Don't understand Chinese or Japanese but this is a good band sometimes😊
masa vee
Äbäläwäbälä. Good song anyway! Bought rekord ya!
j000427
東日本大震災の後に見たニュース映像。一人の男性が苦しそうに泣いていた。男性は漁師で、沖合で漁をしている時に地震にあった。何とか無事で、スグに地元の港に戻ると、津波で町は無くなっていた。男性の家も津波で無くなっており、家族も消息不明となっていた。一人生き残った男性が苦しそうに泣いている映像だった。それから何ヶ月か経って、すっかりそのニュース映像も忘れていた時に、車の中でアルバム「The Thrill Of It All」を聴いていた。この「Living For Today」を聴いた時に、その映像が急に頭の中に浮かんできて、涙が止まらなくなってしまった。元々好きな曲だったが、音楽的な意味とは別に心に深く突き刺さる一曲になった。