Thunder - Rip It Up

Facts Thunder's new album and eleventh overall features eleven brand new songs recorded in 2016 and is proof positive that this is a band that exists only to push itself and aim higher. Following on from the Top Ten success enjoyed by previous release Wonder Days, Rip It Up - as the title suggests - sees Danny Bowes, Luke Morley, Ben Matthew, Chris Childs and 'Harry' James stretching themselves musically, lyrically and creatively. Rip It Up comes nearly three decades into their career and, if 27 is normally famed and feared as the rock milestone at which many of the great and the good have had their creative flames extinguished, then Thunder have arrived with a bulging bag of tunes, a notebook of great lyrics, a jerrycan of petrol, and a match. There are rockers, like the incendiary title track, ripsnorters like "She Likes The Cocaine," whilst songs like "Right From The Start" take the pace down, but turn the intensity up. Whilst the album closes out with the stylish blues-tinged melancholia of "There's Always A Loser," it's clear that the band have continued with their winning ways.