Thunder – Six Shooter

artist website

impulse buy

STC Recordings
Produced by Luke Morley

Instead of the abandoned Fade Into The Sun single, the second from current album The Magnificent Seventh, Thunder have presented their fans with this special EP, containing four live tracks, a new extended mix of Fade Into The Sun and the previously download-only track I’m A Lucky Man.

Put together purely for the fans to get their teeth into as an effort to alleviate the sadness caused by the cancellation of the new single (the Thunder faithful do love a chance to get their band into the charts) the EP rather tellingly features two versions of the proposed single track. Opening with a live version of Fade Into The Sun recorded in London in March of this year the most striking thing about the track (other than the excellent sound quality and vocal performance from Danny Bowes) is the fantastic harmony guitar solo from Luke Morley and Ben Matthews. Perfectly in-sync and wonderfully melodic it serves to elevate the track above the, dare I say, mediocrity of the original version. Great stuff.

On to live track number two, this time Amy’s On The Run recorded in Newcastle. This one is very treble-heavy. The snare drum in particular sticks out like goth at a wedding. The performance is just as strong as on the previous track, with the highlight again being the harmony guitars on the outro (as indeed is the highlight of the studio version). Worth mentioning here is clarity of the bass guitar in the mix. It’s not often the bass is particularly audible on live recording, but here it’s actually possible to pick out Chris Childs’ lines, which are more intricate than some might think. Couple that with the always-solid drumming of Harry James and you’ve got as strong a rhythm section as anyone.

Back to London for Gods of Love and another strong performance. The recordings from London are very good, possibly even better than the official Live (1997). Hopefully more tracks from the show will surface at a later date. This is the best of the three live songs, all taken from the current album and perhaps should have been the lead track.

The fourth live track is a left-over from last years Christmas show at Nottingham Rock City that was somehow lost in the shuffle when the two live CDs were being compiled (one for ticket holders and one for the general public). The track itself, as is becoming the tradition at Thunder Christmas shows, is a cover. This time of Lorraine Ellison‘s Stay With Me. Acoustically rendered and featuring another strong performance from Mr Bowes it would have made a good addition to Live At Rock City, but for one thing. Unfortunately, guest vocalist Jade Smyth from Planet of Women sounds like someone’s got a fairly tight grip on Anastasia’s throat. And as pleasing as the thought of a tight grip on Anastasia’s throat is, it does damage the song a little.

Next up is the new ‘Spaghetti’ (as in ‘Western’) mix of Fade Into The Sun which includes newly recorded and suitably western-movie sounding instrumental parts. Finally the previously download-only track I’m A Lucky Man closes this excellent EP in classic raw Thunder style.

Overall this is a superb release, bringing together many aspects of the band (raw-edged rock, live performance and acoustic rendition) into a coherent collection without duplicating any previously available (on CD) material. I won’t say this serves as a good introduction to the band, because there are many equally cheap compilation CDs that do that, but for those already wise to Thunder, this is a must-have addition to the rapidly growing catalogue.

“ superb release ”

Tracklist: Fade Into The Sun (Live) / Amy’s On The Run (Live) / Gods of Love (Live) / Stay With Me (Live) / Fade Into The Sun (Spaghetti Mix) / I’m A Lucky Man

Written by Andy Lye
More: EPs, Hard Rock, Thunder