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.
Long Way from Home
Thunder Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I came here looking for my past
Doesn't seem like long ago since I was here
Looking for my future in a glass
The water must have flowed so fast under the bridge
I never thought I'd ever change
But I don't feel like I belong here anymore
When someone's turned the page
I guess I was wrong when I thought that
Everything would be the same
And I wonder who's to blame?
Oh it's like someone changed the lock upon my door
And I don't think that I'll be back no more
From the moment I stepped out alone
On the street I was born in, I'm a long way from home
I guess I'm a long way from home
And as the days roll by I feel the distance grow
I know it's no good looking back
But this isolations like the cold wind in my face
I'm not complaining but I know that it's a fact
I've done a lot of things in my life that people never get to do
But I'm feeling so removed
Oh it's like someone changed the lock upon my door
And I don't think I'm welcome here no more
From the moment I stepped out alone
On the street I was born in, I'm a long way from home
I guess I'm a long way from home
I guess I was wrong when I thought that
Everything would be the same
And I wonder who's to blame?
Oh it's like someone changed the lock upon my door
And I don't think that I'll be back no more
From the moment I stepped out alone
On the street I was born in, I'm a long way from home
I guess I'm a long way from home
The song "Long Way From Home" by Thunder is about feeling disconnected from one's past and the place they grew up in. The lyrics describe the singer returning to a place they used to know so well, but it doesn't feel the same anymore. The water under the bridge may have flowed fast, but the singer didn't expect to change so much. They feel like an outsider in a place where they were once an insider. The feeling of being disconnected from one's roots is a common experience that many people can relate to.
As the song progresses, the singer realizes that there's no going back to the way things were. They feel isolated and removed, even though they've accomplished a lot of things that others may never get to do. The cold wind on their face represents the harsh reality of their current situation. They know that looking back won't do any good, but they can't help feeling a sense of loss and longing for what used to be.
The chorus repeats the idea that someone changed the lock upon their door, making them feel unwelcome and unable to enter the place they once called home. They don't think they'll be back, signifying the end of an era. The song ends with the singer questioning who's to blame, leaving it open to interpretation.
Line by Line Meaning
Standing in this place I used to know so well
The singer is in a familiar place from their past.
I came here looking for my past
The singer is searching for a connection to their past in this familiar place.
Doesn't seem like long ago since I was here
The singer feels like it wasn't long ago that they were in this place.
Looking for my future in a glass
The artist is drinking and hoping to find direction for their future.
The water must have flowed so fast under the bridge
Time has passed quickly since the artist was last in this place.
I never thought I'd ever change
The singer didn't expect to change over time.
But I don't feel like I belong here anymore
The singer no longer feels a sense of belonging in this place.
Like coming back to read a book when someone's turned the page
Returning to this place feels like trying to go back to a previous chapter in their life that has since shifted.
I guess I was wrong when I thought that everything would be the same
The artist expected things to be the same as when they last visited, but they're not.
And I wonder who's to blame?
The artist is trying to figure out why things have changed.
Oh it's like someone changed the lock upon my door
The singer no longer feels welcome and feels like they've been locked out of this place.
And I don't think that I'll be back no more
The artist doesn't plan to return to this place.
From the moment I stepped out alone on the street I was born in, I'm a long way from home
Even though this is the place the singer was born and raised, they feel far removed from it now.
And as the days roll by I feel the distance grow
The longer the singer spends away from this place, the more distant they feel from it.
I know it's no good looking back
The singer knows that dwelling on the past won't help them move forward.
But this isolation's like the cold wind in my face
The artist feels lonely and cut off from the world around them.
I'm not complaining but I know that it's a fact
The artist isn't trying to be negative, but they know they feel disconnected from this place.
I've done a lot of things in my life that people never get to do
The singer has had experiences that many people never get to have.
But I'm feeling so removed
Despite their unique experiences, the singer is still struggling to feel connected to this place.
I guess I'm a long way from home
The artist feels far away from where they belong.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Luke Morley
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind