Thunder – The Greatest Hits (Review)


Thunder – The Greatest Hits
(earMUSIC)

Release Date - Friday 6th September 2019

Formed from the wreckage of Terraplane in 1989, Thunder was founded by front man Danny Bowes, guitarist Luke Morley and drummer/all round lunatic Gary "Harry" James (drums) who were joined on the trip by multi-instrumentalist Ben Matthews who fired out hit albums such as ‘Backstreet Symphony’ (1990), ‘Laughing on Judgement Day’ (1992), ‘Giving The Game Away’ as well as the critically acclaimed ‘Wonder Days’ (2015) and ‘Rip It Up’ (2017) releases.

What better way to celebrate thirty years of the band (give or take a few years when they were on hiatus) than to release an “all killer, no filler” greatest hits collection containing nearly thirty tracks from across their career and even chucking in a previously unreleased track for good measure!

With twelve studio albums of material, the band have made sure that there’s at least one song from each of the band's studio albums but it was never going to be an easy decision of what to include and what to discard, so there are omissions and tracks included that maybe you’re less familiar with. 

All in all, however, the boys have done a pretty good job with the selection that made the final album.  The album runs almost chronologically with 1989 – 1999 material on disc one showcasing old favourites like ‘Dirty Love’, ‘Love Walked In’, ‘A Better Man’ and ‘River Of Pain’ whilst the second disc concentrates on their material from 2003 onwards (again not in strict release order) with knock out numbers like ‘Loser, ‘The Devil Made Me Do It’ and ‘Right From The Start’.  The final track on the second disc is the previously unreleased ‘Your Time Is Gonna Come’ which shows that Thunder continue to evolve and show there’s plenty of life left in this band.

Hardened Thunder fans might well argue about the selection and bemoan the fact their favourite song’s not been included, but for anyone whose recently discovered the band, this is a time capsule of cracking songs that could serve as a launching pad to discovering what the band have achieved in the first three decades of their career.

Rating: 8/10

‘The Greatest Hits’ is available to pre-order right now and will be released on the following formats:
2 CD Digipak (28 tracks)
3 CD Deluxe Edition (The 3rd CD was recorded live at Planet Rock Radio on 18th January 18th 2019) (34 tracks)
Triple Vinyl (28 tracks)

‘The Greatest Hits’ Double CD Track List:
Disc 1:
Dirty Love
Love Walked In
She's So Fine
A Better Man
Backstreet Symphony
Low Life in High Places
River Of Pain
Like A Satellite
Stand Up
Living For Today
Love Worth Dying For
Just Another Suicide
All I Ever Wanted
Gimme Shelter

The Greatest Hits Track List:
Disc 2:
I Love You More than Rock 'n' Roll
Loser
I'm Dreaming Again
The Devil Made Me Do It
On The Radio
The Rain
Wonder Days
Rip It Up
In Another Life
Right From The Start
The Thing I Want
Future Train (2019 Version)
Low Life in High Places (2019 Version)
Your Time Is Gonna Come

Thunder are:
Danny Bowes – Lead Vocals
Luke Morley – Guitar
Ben Matthews – Guitar
Chris Childs – Bass Guitar
Harry James – Drums

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