The Making of Backstreet Symphony by Thunder – A British Rock Classic Revisited

Riffology!

See, you did it in the key of the song.

Riffology! You did good at that.

Yeah, I like doing that. It's funny.

Singing in that.

Yeah, I like it.

Hello, we are Riffology.

You are Neil, I am Chris.

We are doing Thunder, Backstreet Symphony.

Straight in there.

Podcasts all about classic albums.

What's going on?

I did it. I did it.

I don't know what's going on.

It's because I've been so disorganised during the week.

Yeah.

I've saved all my organised energy for that 30 seconds that we've just had.

And now it's chaos from now.

Is it?

Yeah.

Normal service resumed.

Thank you for joining us.

We, as my colleague said, we do about albums.

We've never really said this before.

So, I was reading today, this will make sense in a little bit probably,

but I was reading today that there's nothing for Gen X.

Right.

Like most Gen Xers, like me, don't know which generation they're part of.

Yeah.

We're those kind of people.

Yeah.

And, but this is, because it's us talking about music.

And you're a millennial, so we're Gen X.

So it's like a Gen X and a millennial talking about music.

Yeah.

But there's, we've got this unwritten rule, which is, it's got to be more than 25 years

old.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And that's it.

I didn't know that was, is that what this is then?

Yeah.

That's what we're doing.

Yeah.

Can't touch it.

And so all of the social medias.

Yeah.

I do break it every now and then.

Most of the social medias that we do.

Yeah.

If I see something and I think, oh, that's a good, you know, that's interesting.

That got released today or that got released or this is interesting.

If it's not 25 years old.

Don't go out.

Don't touch it.

Yeah.

But here's the bit where that's really weird.

25 years old makes it about 1990, obviously.

But for those of you following along with the date, it's not anymore, is it?

No, it's not.

So it means we can do.

Also in the future.

Yeah.

In the future, 25 years is going to come forwards.

Yeah.

Which means that when we're doing this in 25 years time, we'll be doing.

Oh, we could do.

We'll be dead.

I'll be dead.

We could do the new Linkin Park album.

We couldn't read.

That's really good.

I like that.

Yeah.

So.

Oh, that's good.

Time.

I like that a lot.

Yeah.

Time's good, isn't it?

You like time.

So when time goes on.

Yeah.

The years of our boundary goes forward.

Yeah.

Oh, wow.

It's too good, isn't it?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And it was easier for me to write a filter of our database to do it that way.

But it kind of felt about right.

I kind of thought I don't want to.

I don't necessarily want.

Not that we don't like new music, because we both listen to quite a lot of new music.

Yeah, yeah.

And.

You more than me.

I'm pumpkins or nothing, really.

I love new stuff at the minute.

There's a new Ghost album out at the minute.

Yeah.

I know people are probably spitting at the radio at the minute.

But I really like Ghost.

And my kids really like Ghost.

Yeah, yeah.

Which is so good.

And I just like it.

It's quite poppy.

Yeah, yeah.

But I'm in the same boat with Steep Token.

Like, Steep Token is pretty much just pop music.

Yeah, you see?

Yeah, you like that.

Pop music that goes heavy.

And I like the new Linkin Park.

There's loads of stuff that I like, actually.

Yeah, it's good, isn't it?

But I think for this show, it's the 25 years old.

Yeah.

And this is way more than 25 years old.

And this is a problem, you see, because I did.

I missed this.

I had Love Walked In on a compilation album called Greatest Anthems in the World Ever or something

like that.

Greatest rock songs in the world ever.

Yeah.

And that was on there.

There was loads of other stuff like Guns Word Up from that era, you know, all the key good

stuff.

Run to the Hills was on it, like a live version of that.

And there was loads of different ones.

I think that's the best version, the live version.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Which live version do you like?

The one that we played on the show once.

We definitely played this because there's a thing about-

The one with Winston Churchill?

No, no.

At the beginning.

Well, it might have been, but that wasn't on the record that I listened to.

Oh.

But yeah, it was good.

It was like-

Live After Death, I think that one is.

Yeah, I think you're right.

I think that's the way it's off.

That was my favourite.

I think that one.

We ought to do-

We've never done a live album.

No, no, we haven't.

I'm talking over you now, aren't I?

I just-

It's just like, you know when like fireworks happen in your tiny brain?

Yeah.

I was like, oh, I should do a live album.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

What's your favourite live album?

Muddy Banks, The Wish Car.

I liked, I heard They Suck Live, the NoFX one.

Yeah, that's dead good.

And then the obvious Thin Lizzy one, that's good.

Yeah, and then there's the MTV ones.

Yeah, they're good.

Yeah, they're always good.

But do you know the one that really, really turned me on to live music?

And that's Wasps Live in the Raw.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Loved that.

I went to see them after, I listened to that tape over and over again.

Yeah, wow.

And then it was my first live gig.

Yeah, yeah.

I went to see them with grown-ups.

They were real good.

I was like 15 and it was full of grown-ups.

Yeah.

Do you know when you're like, I don't, I felt properly like I was school.

I felt like everybody knew that I was like underage.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And they served us at the bar, you know, back in the day.

Yeah, back in the day.

When there were no rules.

There weren't really.

No.

I'm trying to think, this would have been 1988, no, 89, on the 89 and Headless tour

at the Hummingbird in Birmingham.

And I can say that now because it's been bulldozed.

So no one's going to go to prison for serving a 15-year-old a pint.

But it was mega.

Me and my friend went and it was just the most amazing thing ever.

Yeah.

But we don't talk about live albums.

So we should do that.

No, we should do a live album.

Eventually, maybe we'll do a series of.

We've got a whole, we've got a lot to do before we get to that, haven't we?

We keep talking about, we keep adding to the list.

Oh, anyway.

So Thunder, I never, yeah, I was a bit young.

I got into rock music a bit later.

Yeah.

But I did like that song, Love Walks In.

I thought that was a great song.

And, you know, it's one that, it's one that you've, it's the sort of song that you think

you've always heard forever.

Yeah.

Even when you start, I know this song.

I've heard it, you know, it's a really kind of familiar feeling songs.

Yeah, there are some songs like that.

Basket Case is one of those.

Yeah.

You can play Basket Case in any pub anywhere in the world and everyone knows all the words.

And they'll all sing them as well.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's not like, you know, oh, and it's like a Linus Morissette, all the girls know that

word.

Yes.

But they might not sing in a pub.

Yeah.

Basket Case.

Yeah.

They all just sing along, don't they?

Yeah.

I can tell you that's the absolute truth because it happened last night.

Did it?

Yeah, I did somebody's 40th birthday party.

Right.

A little group that we put together to do it.

Yeah.

And we started playing a couple of Green Day songs.

Yeah.

Yeah, exactly what you said happened.

Everyone sings.

Everyone sings.

Everyone had a good time.

Yeah.

They got drunker later.

Drunker.

The more drunk they are, the louder they'll sing it.

That's the more animated they get.

I wanted to, I was kind of going down the path with this one, but this was 1990.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So I was eight, you see.

That's why I was too young.

So that makes it exactly 25 years old.

Actually, it's 35 years old.

That's taken us six minutes to tell that joke.

Has it?

Yeah.

But that, it's genuine, and I'm sure lots of our listeners are the same with this.

Yeah, yeah.

It just doesn't feel like, it's like 35 years, is it?

Yeah, I still think of like, 2000 is new music.

Yeah.

Do you know what I mean?

2000 is when new stuff comes out.

1990 was when, like, for me, that's kind of when all the best of, all the best of was

like late 80s, early 90s, when all my favourite stuff came out, really.

There was a bunch of albums I loved afterwards, and a bunch of albums I've gone back and discovered

before.

Yeah.

But like probably 85, 95, that's my, you know, if I was, if I could just, if I had to,

if I was forced, like if somebody broke into, this is a weird scenario.

Somebody broke into my house and pointed a gun at me and said, you've got to pick.

You can only listen to, you know, I, that's what I pick.

That's what you pick.

It is.

And I still think of that as being like a little bit old now.

Yeah.

90s, you know, millennium was like, that's still new.

Yeah.

And like everything after that, I don't, I still listen to it.

It's like, I don't listen to it.

It's just that when people talk about dates.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Like 1995, oh, that's 10 years ago.

And it's mad.

I don't understand it.

I don't, it's not like, I'm not, it's not like a, um, a conscious thing, but I'm sure

other, if you do that as well, let us know.

Cause I feel a little bit like, I feel a little bit alone.

So other than that, other than that song, uh, Love Walked In, which is a great, great,

great song.

Um, I not heard anything other by them really.

And that's bad because I know people who know them, like my friends are their friends.

You know, it's worth, it's worth, it's worth pointing out that Chris, Chris knows the producer

of the band and a bunch of other stuff.

And it's that thing like, like, you know, doing stuff with, with Paddy and my friend who

played in a band with years together, Paddy Constein.

He's an amazing actor.

He does all this sort of stuff.

We've so, we're so good friends and I very rarely watch anything that he's in unless it's

a king and his wielding sword.

I struggle with watching, but you know when we went to see, what was that thing?

Uh, journeyman where he was the boxer.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I find it.

I mean, I don't know Paddy nearly as well as you do, but I know him well enough that I

find it really hard when I see him on screen.

Disassociate.

Yeah.

So I found, um, Dead Man's Shoes easier cause it's like, that's like a different Paddy.

Yeah.

Do you know what I mean?

Cause I know the older Paddy.

Yeah.

Whereas, do you know what I mean?

So when he's in, when he's in stuff now, I find that really difficult.

It's like, cause it's like that jarring, oh, he's acting.

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

Cause that's, I know him.

Yeah.

And I wonder if that's what it is then.

Yeah.

Cause I sometimes, like, your brain's properly misfiring and it's like, I can't, I can't,

I wonder how that, cause like actors must find that really difficult.

I wonder if they do.

Might be next time we see Paddy, a lovely conversation to have with him about whether, like, can he

watch stuff his friends are in?

Cause he must have like, I mean, his list of.

Yeah, yeah, that's true.

Yeah, yeah, that's true.

Maybe so.

Yeah.

Yeah.

He was magnificent in House of the Dragon though.

He's magnificent in everything.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

He's brilliant.

If you've not seen Dead Man's Shoes, if you're in, if you're in America, which loads of you

are, find Dead Man's Shoes.

Yeah.

It's very British.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And it's a little bit unnerving.

Yeah.

But that's our mate Paddy.

Paddy's the one in the green jacket.

But yeah, dead good.

I watched that on a flight.

Did you?

The first time.

Yeah, it was dead good.

Yeah.

So we, so that, that with.

We've gone off piece.

Yeah, no, so that's quite normal.

That's what we do.

That's part of our, what, whatever the word is.

I don't know.

That's just what we, that should be in the show description.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Like a Gen X and a millennial talk about music that's more than 25 years old.

And usually other stuff.

And tangents.

Yeah, lots of, lots of tangents.

So, yeah.

So Nick, Nick Bryan is, is a lovely, lovely man.

You know, I'll cast him as a, someone I, I don't see hugely often because he's a very busy

man.

You've done albums with him, haven't you?

You've recorded with him.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So we've recorded him a few times.

Where is he, Rockfield?

Well, I think he's, he's, he's all over the place.

He's kind of, I think he's, he's based mainly in Spain these days, but he, he kind of comes

back and does, does recording at Rockfield and various other studios.

Gotcha.

Because you did, didn't you, did you do Circularity?

Circularity was with him.

Yeah.

Yeah.

He was, he was, he was such a incredible, you know, creative to have.

Yeah.

I remember you coming back from those sessions buzzing.

You were just like.

Yeah, yeah.

He helped us really frame it and get it down.

And he is an incredible producer.

You know, he's, he's worked with some huge artists and done amazing things.

One of which is Thunder.

So earlier on, I messaged him and say, I say, mate, Art Thunder, absolutely amazing.

Like 35 years later, I'm 35 years late to the party and I'm, and I feel really guilty

about that because they are absolutely, what a stunning band.

Yeah.

What an incredible, incredible band they are.

They're nuts, aren't they?

They are.

I mean, I remember picking, this one, another one for me where my mate Anthony, I mean, talked

about Anthony loads on the show, but it like, we lived like literally around the corner.

So we were, we were, we lived on two different roads, but there was like the, the house on the

corner was in between us.

So like we would, you know, like almost our houses like backed onto each other.

So there was a one take, we had an ethernet cable slung between the houses over the shed

and stuff like that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But, but I remember him getting this and yeah, it was, I think it's just incredible.

It was just one of those albums that just from the beginning, rather than the first few

bars, that, that, the intro of She's So Fine, which we started the show with, they, the riffs

remind me of ACDC in, in a way that they're quite simple, but they just feel like you've

heard them before.

Even the first run through, you're like, oh, and ACDC do that for me where, you know, you

can go and pick, I've probably heard all the ACDC albums now, but the first time you hear

an ACDC album, if you hear a riff, it feels like you already know it.

Do you know what I mean?

It kind of, it has that thing where it just feels right to something that it just feels

really cool about it.

Yeah.

And there's tons of them on this record.

I think these kind of riffs that, that, um, the Dirty Love riff, Backstreet Symphony, Love

Walked In, you know, these, these tracks, the, the riffs and the songs, they kind of feel

like you already know them.

There was a degree of energy about it because of Terror Plane had been quite frustrating.

Yeah.

And there was a momentum, like I said, once we kind of realized what it was we were supposed

to be doing all along in a way, then I had a kind of, a kind of major sort of, I guess,

creative, um, uh, kind of wave.

And it, it's, the songs just came out very quickly, really.

And, um, I think, you know, it was sort of a sense of sort of throwing off the shackles

and we were kind of musically finally free.

So there's an energy about it.

Um, and also the other person who's got to take credit, um, is Mike Fraser, who recorded

and mixed the album, just, um, um, phrase.

We wanted to get phrase, um, for about two years.

And, um, you know, just as the, as Terror Plane was finishing, um, uh, Danny and I went to

America and, um, for just for a fact finding mission.

And we heard, uh, or Permanent Vacation, the Harrismith album had just come out and that

was all over the radio in America.

And it was an amazing sounding record.

It sounded like he was sitting in the room with the band.

And as soon as I heard it, I just, I've never heard a record sound this good, a rock band

sound this good.

Yeah.

Whoever this guy is, we need it.

And, um, so we sent him, we found out where he was in Vancouver.

We sent him some demos.

This is before we'd side with him.

Um, and said, we're right back in room England, we love what you do.

We think you would, you know, if we were, if you were, you were with us, we would, you

know, we'd all really enjoy it.

And, uh, and much to our surprise, he came back and went, brilliant, I'm in.

Um, I'll, I'll come to England and do it.

So he's like, great.

Um, and so literally he came off recording Pump with Aerosmith, finished that, got on a

plane, came to England, and then we made Backstreet Symphony.

So, um, yeah, um, yeah, he just made us sound like I'd always heard us sounding in my head,

if you know what I mean.

I was sort of going through it and, and, you know, Nick, when Nick messaged back and he

said, he said, like, they're one of the most underrated UK rock bands ever.

And I'm like, I can't argue with that.

I think he's absolutely right.

And, you know, and I'm, I'm probably going to dive in now and really explore their back

catalog and get into all that stuff.

Cause they've obviously done, and they're still doing it now.

They're still putting music together now.

Well, well, in the, in the last few years they have been, you know, there's a couple of

guys that have been quite poorly, but they've, you know, they've, they've, they're still

doing stuff.

They're still working hard.

Hardworking band.

I think it was, there's an interesting story about, um, about Thunder and why they didn't.

Oh, sorry.

Just while I'm just on Nick, he said, cause he, cause he summarized in three phrases.

Yeah.

Exactly what I felt.

Yeah.

Which is incredible guitar playing.

Yeah.

Blind, blinding vocal.

Excellent songs.

Yeah.

And I think that's it in a nutshell.

That's, that's what you, I mean, there are obviously there's other elements to that

band, but in terms of the things that really leap out of you, leap out at you when first

listen is the guitar in is out of this world is unbelievable and not overplayed.

No, nothing is overplayed.

It makes you want to pick a guitar up, doesn't it?

It's like, there's some like, uh, rage against the machine makes me want to put a guitar.

I don't want to go near a guitar.

I don't know how to do any of the things.

I can't even begin to imagine that.

Yeah.

This is an album that you listen to.

And I think I want to pick my guitar up.

I think I could look, I could go on YouTube and I could play that song and it makes you

want to play.

It makes you want to do it because they sound, they're not, but you know what I mean?

There's some really clever guitar work, but it sounds just so right.

There's just something I can't think of the right words to use to describe it, but it's

just, oh yeah.

The guitar work, I think it's really underrated.

I think the guitar, the guitar playing is really underrated.

Yeah.

It's just unbelievable.

It's unbelievable.

And it, but it's, it's not overstated.

There's no, there's nothing that makes you think, oh, I did a bit, did a bit much there,

you know, but the same with the vocal.

Yeah.

Like absolute world-class vocalist in set like blues, like bluesy, you know, like soul, like

a soul to it.

And, and then little riffs and little moments and you go, that's really tasteful.

Yeah.

Like even at such a young age when they obviously did this record.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's, it's really tasteful.

It's so tasteful.

Do you, there's a lot of Aerosmithy bits to me, that kind of bluesy.

Yeah, that's true.

Bluesy rock stuff.

And I, I always expected them to be massive and like in the States.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Oh, sorry.

This is back to your story.

And I didn't really ever get why they weren't.

It didn't make a lot of sense to me why a band with such great songs, you know, and I guess

there's like, there's some stuff that doesn't translate particularly well.

Yeah.

And there's a certain sound that they've, that they've got, but this album, this album's

got like a fairly big produced sound.

I mean, it sounded pretty good to me.

And I really didn't make a great deal of sense why it didn't, um, didn't do very well.

But then when you think about it, it's 1990.

So you've got grunge just on the verge, the kind of hair metal scenes just dying down a little

bit.

You've got Guns N' Roses.

You've got a bunch of other bands that are doing big stuff in the US, big, you know, hard

rock bands that are doing big stuff in the, in the US.

Um, and the story goes with Thunder that they were produced.

So in the UK, they were with EMI and EMI backed them pretty heavily.

Um, and so Geffen had Guns N' Roses, um, and yeah, a bunch of other kind of hard rock bands.

Um, and Geffen decided to get behind Little Angels instead and kind of said to Thunder, hey, you,

you just wait your turn.

Right.

So we're going to put some money behind Little Angels and we're going to do, we think that

they've got a slightly more polished American friendly sound that you guys, that you guys,

yeah, I think, you know, um, they felt that some of the, the lyrics and stuff in, in the

Thunder record were, might not translate that well.

Okay.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Um, so they, they were going to push Little Angels first and then, which they did.

Yeah.

Um, but then if you think about it, by the time they came back to Thunder.

Yeah.

Geffen have got these massive hard rock bands on their roster already.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And now you've got Soundgarden and Nirvana and, you know.

You're doing with Pearl Jam and all that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And so, so Geffen were a little bit like, well, yeah, I don't think we need that anymore.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So they kind of.

And this isn't the same arena as that stuff, is it?

Yeah.

No.

So, so I think that they were like, well, not going to, just not going to do that.

And, but I mean, EMI continued in the UK and they did incredibly well in, you know,

in, on, on this side of the Atlantic.

Yeah.

Um, but it's like, I think like Def Leppard and Bush.

Yeah.

So Def Leppard managed to crack the US audience because they were just earlier.

Yes.

So they were much earlier and they rode on the back of the hair metal, where they were

kind of class, they were hard rock band in the UK pretty much.

And then, uh, they got that more polished sound and mutlang and then that appealed to,

um, you know, the US audience a little bit more.

And then they toured really heavily when they were there.

Um, and then Bush did really well because they were nineties, but they sounded like Pearl

Jam.

Yeah.

And they were, they were not rocks.

They were not rock bands.

So they, they, they flew, they flew in America.

They had a US sound.

They sat, I mean, do you know what?

I still remember somebody telling me that they were a British band and telling them that they

weren't.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And then, yeah, because they don't sound like a UK band was, I think, um, you know,

little angels and thunder.

They do.

They, they've got that.

They, they sound like British bands to me.

They've got that.

And there's something about the lyrics and the tone and stuff in there.

Um, but the really sad thing for me is that that, what that meant was that thunder never

really got a chance to get in front of a US audience.

It never really happened.

Cause they would have been massive.

Well, I should, I assumed Love Walked In was big over there.

Maybe.

Was that like anything?

Really?

Cause you can imagine that really kicking off over there.

As far as I can see, there's nothing in the US charts.

Yeah.

Um, um, the sad, really sad thing though for me is that, so that meant that this record

didn't really get a good push.

Then that meant that everybody was crying into their shoes over alt rock and, you know,

salt, the Seattle scene.

Hair metal is now dead.

Hard rock is now dead.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Like, you know, uh, you, and, and then you competing against guns and roses and all of

that stuff.

And then this scene doesn't come back round, does it?

No.

Yeah.

But then in Britain, it was still pretty big.

Yeah.

But then Little Angels didn't break the US either.

Yes.

So you had these two phenomenal, I think, too.

That's Toby Jepson, isn't it?

Toby Jepson's band.

Yeah.

They, they were two, I think, two of the greatest rock band, two of the greatest British rock

bands, certainly through the nineties.

They were just epic.

Both of them were just phenomenal.

Um, and neither of them.

And I think it's timing.

I think, you know, if those, if, if, if, if, you know, if Thunder had have been around in

1987.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think, do you know what I mean?

And it's only a few years, but it would have made such a difference.

I think they'd have been, because then they'd have made it through, you know what I mean?

They've had that rocket up them.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

From the labels during the late eighties when, when people were lapping up the kind of hard

rock scene and then, and then, you know, as the things change, people already know about

them then.

So, you know what I mean?

It's, it's easy.

But what's the thing with this, with, with Thunder?

Cause they've got a slightly bluesier sort of thing going on.

It's not, it's not quite straight hard rock.

No, it's not.

There's a bit of a swing to it.

I think they've, don't you think, I think they've really lent into that as well.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

This record.

And then they did laughing on judgment day as well.

Um, and then, and then like almost every record afterwards gets a little bit more bluesy.

Yeah.

I think anyway, and there's like, like they, they've done some recent acoustic tours as

well.

And I think that they really thrive.

Cause he's like that, they're blues licks, right?

Yeah.

You know, when you hear, when you hear those lead, lead moments, they really feel like blues

to me.

You know, it is, it's that, it is feel it's, it's, um, it's, it, there's something about

the way the song, it's not just the riffs, is it?

It's the way they're played and delivered.

And there's, yeah, there's something really, um, I don't know, something really special about

it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And there's a great energy, like I said about it.

Um, we had a great time making the album and I think you can kind of sense that really.

So yeah, it's great.

It's, it's just, uh, it reflects a very kind of happy time in all of our lives.

And, uh, yeah, it's nice to have that kind of little, little picture of that.

Kind of sometimes like how Slash did it, you know?

Yeah.

Like he had a similar sort of feel.

He was a bit more intense though.

He had a bit more, he was a bit like, he whittled a bit and all that sort of stuff.

This is a bit, I think for me, I mean, I can't play like Slash.

Well, well, you know, who am I to say this, but I just feel like Luke, or is it Luke Morley?

The guitar, guitar?

Yeah.

Yeah.

He, he, his feel is, is, is really tasty.

And I think that, you know, I come back to what I said earlier.

There's nothing that feels out of place or overdone or even, even the stuff that does get a little

whittly.

It's all in, in keeping.

And it, it's, I don't know, it's just phrased lovely.

It's just lovely feel to it.

I see you walking by.

You got that far away look in your eyes.

It was only yesterday.

Like a cheap suit, you were all over me.

I should know better by now, my friend.

Just what I mean to you.

You've been running in and out of my life so long.

I don't want nothing to do with you

I don't need your dirty love

I don't want you touching me

I don't want your dirty love, it's enough

Trying to live with a memory

Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na

Tune me up, spit me out

Turn my whole world inside out

There's a name for girls like you

You belong in the gutter, I know that you do

Baby, I've had enough last to last

The rest of my days on earth

So now you're gonna get what you deserve

I don't need your dirty love

I don't want you touching me

I don't want your dirty love, it's enough

I know there ain't no way

But I said we were gonna break it up

Someday

And that day is now

Baby, I'm getting out

So don't you cry now

Sign up

But you'll be living the life

And you're laughing, I'm not around

Yeah, you're laughing, I'm not around

You'll be running in and out of my life so long

There ain't no way

There ain't no way

There ain't no way

There ain't no way

There ain't no way

There ain't no way

There ain't no way

I'll speak

There ain't no way

There ain't no way

There ain't no way

There ain't no way

There ain't no way

There ain't no way

There ain't no way

I'll speak

There ain't no way

There ain't no way

There ain't no way

I don't need your dirty love

I don't need your dirty love

I don't need your dirty love

I don't want you touching me

I don't want your dirty love

It's enough

Trying to live with a memory

Na-na-na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na, na-na-na, na-na-na

So get out, I'll plant your veins

I'll never let you die

So get out, start walking

Go, get out, you're boosting a fly

To the sky, ha ha

That's right, you're the man

I know that you've been doing me wrong

I know it, I know it

I know that you've been doing me wrong

I know it, I know it

I know that you've been doing me wrong

I know it, I know it, I know it

I know it, I know it's been doing me wrong

Go, get out, go away

Leave me alone

Now we've been doing me wrong

And you know, going back to this album

This is one of my favourite albums

And it's been really cool doing this section

Like really going back to the 90s UK albums

And this was one I probably haven't listened to for a year or so

Yeah

And it's just one of those albums

It's just like gives you a cuddle

Do you know what I mean?

You're just like, this is just so good

You know, and there's not

I don't think there's a dull bit in this album

No, no

It's like

And I think a lot of debuts do this

Yeah

Where the band will have been kicking around ideas

Yeah

For years

Yeah, yeah, yeah

And not have the outlet to record them

So, you know, there's just all of these ideas

And they all get squished into one record

Yeah, yeah, yeah

And the second record has got to be done in a short space of time

So you don't have, you know, you've probably got ideas

That you didn't use on the first record, right?

But that first debut often

They're just like

There's just no downtime

Other albums like that for me

Like Skid Row's debut as well

That was the same

It's just

It's just like on fire

You know, the first bar

It's just like slams out of the speakers at you

And it doesn't stop until it gets to the end

And then it's like

What just happened?

Yeah

This is like that for me

There's no

There's no let up

Every song is as strong as the next

And they put out five singles from it

I think

Four or five singles

Yeah, yeah, yeah

But yeah, there's like no bits on there

Where you

Because sometimes when you go back to these older albums

I kind of think

Oh, you know

I mean, even

Even on some newer albums

Like the most recent Prong album

Yeah, yeah, yeah

They did that cover, didn't they?

That Rush cover

And I skipped that

And I don't

I don't skip Prong songs

I love Prong

But sometimes you go back to them

And you think

Oh, I remember not loving that song

Yeah

At the time

And sometimes you change your opinion

Sometimes when you go back and listen again

You're like

Oh, actually

Yeah

I kind of didn't love that

Yeah

But 35 years ago

But actually now

It's really cool

This

I just remember loving all of it

When I listened through to it

And, you know

Going back and listening to it again

Exactly the same

And a lot of those same feelings

Come back as well

You know, and remembering the times and places

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Where you were

And

Sometimes when we listen to albums from this era

And for me it's to do

A lot of it's to do with the kind of use of chorus or reverb

Particularly on the drums

And the way of processing the drums

To make them sound huge and fat

They do sound

Cavernous

Yeah

This is

For me

This is still kind of slightly in the pocket

Okay, yeah

Like

Like

It doesn't

It's a strange one

Like it's got

The drums have got all that stuff going on

But it's still

I don't know

It's not unlistenable

Like sometimes you go back

Oh, it's a bit

That snare's a bit

You know

Yeah, yeah

A bit

You know what I mean

That late 80s

Yeah, yeah, yeah

It's a bit

A bit whatever

But

The

For me

For this

This is

This is still

Eminently listenable

And I

I sound more like a snob

Than I mean

When I say that

I mean

Because I like quite dry sounding drums

Yeah, you do

Chris has a real funny thing about

Kick drums

Yeah

If it's like

It's soft

You know

I can't listen to that

Nope

It's a floppy kick drum

Yeah

And I like it

Yeah, it's all got a thud

And it's got to be

It's got a punch

That's what I like

Well

But this still has it

It's still got this body

And this

Sort of cavernous

Kind of big

Big epic sound

To the drums

But

They still

They still thwack a bit

They still got to put a punch on them

I mean

It's worth remembering

That this was produced by

Andy Taylor

Yeah

Off of Duran Duran

Yeah, yeah, yeah

He

Did a few things

Yeah, he did

He did like his rock

I think

In recording both the two albums

We did for them

I don't think we kind of really

Nailed what it was we were

Or what we were trying to do

Because we didn't really

Have a clear idea ourselves

Yeah

I think what kind of

We had to go through that process

To realise what we didn't want to do

If that makes sense

Yeah

And you know

Crucial to that process

Was meeting Andy Taylor

Because he

He nailed it

He put it in one sentence

He said

I don't be fucking around for you

You're a fucking great blues rock band

Drink more

Turn it up

Have fun

And that

In that one

Kind of bit of advice

Yeah

Yeah

It kind of

Of course

And

And that kind of

Resonated with the kind of songs

I was starting to write

I think of that

When we met Andy

I think I'd already written

Dirty Love

And a couple of the other tunes

That were on the first album

So

Him coming in

Was

Was the catalyst

That we kind of needed really

But then it was mixed

By Mike Fraser

Who had just come off the back

Of

The Aerosmith

Was that Pump?

Yeah

Pump

So he'd just come off the back

Of Aerosmith

And

I think it's fascinating

Because it

I don't know whether

I mean

Luke Morley might listen to this

And he'll be spitting at the screen

But it doesn't sound like

An American record to me

No it sounds English

It sounds brilliant

I mean

Just from the very first

Bars of this track

You know that kind of

Big thick kick drum

And the space

And the air

And it's

It's a lovely produced record

You know what

I wonder if that's what it is

With the drums

It's the

It's the way the Americans

Processed it that I don't like

Ah

Not that I don't like

But I thought

It

It puts it in that

In that era for me

Well yeah

But this British sound

Is a bit punchier

And I wonder

Because it was

It would have been

Produced by Andy Taylor

So it would have been

He would have set like

The vast majority

Of how the sound

Yeah

And then

Mixed by Mike Fraser

So

Yeah I don't know

But there is something

Really nice about it

And I remember hearing this

For the first time

And it did sound like

A step up

For me it was like

A step up

From some of the other

British bands

That were

And I just thought

That's

Very cool

Yeah

And I wonder if it is

That American influence

Coming in then

It is

But it's like

I would say it's like

An influence

It's an American influence

On a British

Yeah

Band

But it does

Like still

Like

It sounds like

A British band to me

It doesn't sound like

Like Bush

Yeah

Like if you

I remember first hearing Bush

And like

It's just a

Seattle band

Yeah

You know what I mean

There's no way

That's a British band

Because they

You know

They don't sound like

Def Leppard's another

Good example

They don't sound like

A British band

Well High and Dry does

Pyromania does

And then all of a sudden

Mutt Lang appears

And they

Sound like Motley Crue

Yeah

Do you know what I mean

And it's

I think that

Not in a bad way

But do you know what I mean

The tone of those records

Absolutely

Sets them

I think they were

Influenced and recorded

And everything was done

In the US

And they sound like

A US album

Yeah

Backstreet Symphony

For me

Is a British record

It sounds like a British record

It's got the

The playing is

Very British

I think as well

And

You know that

American

Sound

Where the

Hard rock bands

There was just a lot of

Guitar

Really forward

There's something like

Slightly different

About this album

You know it's

Like you say

Slightly more bluesy

And I think

Just the guitars

Feel a little bit less

Like I don't feel like

I'm being punched in the face

No

Do you know what I mean

I feel like I'm being

Kind of

You know

So the listeners

Won't know this

But

I went for a wee

He did

He just stopped

Mid flow

I need a wee

But

I think it's important

To the

Development of what

I'm about to say

What that you went for a wee

Yeah

Because whilst I

By the way

Because we've had

Because we've had

Coke Zero

And Fruit Pastels

Which is

Which is our

Thing that we do

On a Sunday

We did this

Most Sunday nights

Yeah

We got our

Coke Zero

And our Fruit Pastels

And then there's

A few toilet breaks

That happened

Because of said

Coke Zero

Well because we're

Old now

I can't do anything

Without a toilet break

These days

So whilst I was

Having a wee

I was thinking

I don't know

Where this is going

I have no idea

Where this is going

I was thinking

What were the

Black Crows

Doing at the time

Because

The Aerosmith

And the Black Crows

Sort of sound

Yeah

Is kind of

More like this

Than that other

Sort of like

Guns N' Roses

Sort of spiky thing

Yeah yeah

That's true

So I think

That I wonder if

Yeah

That Black Crows

Sort of vibe

With that kind of

Guitar in

And the

The kind of like

As you said

The Aerosmith

Because of that

Previous influence

Were there

Yeah

Is that a thing

That's kind of

Rubbed off here

Is that

Are they bands

That these guys liked

Or

Were influenced by

Were kind of like

You know

Yeah

I do

I do think that's

I mean you've

Talked about this

Before on previous shows

But it's that

Almost like

Music never dies

You know

Because it's like

You might create

An album

Like I'm sure

This record

Influenced

Countless bands

That came after

Certainly British bands

That came after

The 90s

And it doesn't matter

Whether they were

You know

Metalcore bands

Or death metal bands

Or whatever

Yeah

Yeah

You know

These records

Will have influenced

And just like

Albums like

Black Sabbath

Yeah

And Led Zeppelin

Yeah

And Iron Maiden

Will have influenced

The Thunder guys

Yeah

Because whether

You're big fans or not

You can't help

But be

Influenced

You just are influenced

By the stuff

That goes on around you

In your scene

And what's happening

Yeah

And I love that

I love the fact

That you know

You might write some music

Or you might create some music

And you're right

The album might not be

Like the

You might not sell

30 million copies

Yeah

But it might go on

To influence

Somebody who does

Yes

You know

I don't know

I love that

I love the kind of

Yeah

The sort of

The genealogy of it

Yeah

And they're just

The things that

Like influence

Yeah

Influence people

Yeah

And you know

There are bands

I mean Black Sabbath

And Led Zeppelin

And you know

The Beatles

And the Rolling Stones

And these kind of

Huge bands

But that's another one

Like when we did

The Led Zeppelin one

Yeah

Was it four

We did four didn't we

Led Zeppelin four

We did do Led Zeppelin four

Yeah

And I

They're another band

Where I didn't get it

I didn't get it before

I'd sat and listened

To that record

And gone

Oh my god

It's a band

Yeah

This is a band

And I can't even

The most

And that feels bizarre

Me saying it

But they were like

They were just

The stairway people

Yeah

They were just the people

That did rock and roll

They were just

Yeah

And then you sit

And you place yourself

Within the realms

Of the listening experience

Of the record

And then you go

Oh my god

They're a band

Yeah

That's three or four guys

All coming together

And the other thing

I didn't realise

About that one

Is it's all those guys

That do everything

On that record

They didn't like

Bring people in

Or you know

That was it

Didn't bore themselves

And I sense

This is the same

With Thunder

Yeah

You know

The same thing

When I was listening to it

I was going

Oh they're not just

The Love Walks In guys

Yeah

Like there's a band here

And that sounds

The most ridiculous

There's a story behind

Yeah

Yeah

There's a journey

There's an evolution

There's a

Like an ethos

There's a

A sort of

Sonic presence

Whatever you want to call it

But there's something here

Where you go

God that's

That's four or five guys

All together

Making music

And writing together

And going through

That process of

It's Dan

Dan Baker

You know

Your mate Dan

I mate Dan

Said

You know

It's just

It's just

Mates getting together

Making music

Yeah

There's definitely

That here

I love

In the interviews

And

Lots of

Lots of interviews

About Thunder

Making this album

Talking about how

Like a party time

It was

Yeah

They would work hard

And play hard

Yeah

I always thought

That you know

You get much more

Out of an intense

Kind of

Six, seven hours

Than you were out of

Recording all night

When you're knackered

And making bad judgements

Yeah

So we tended to go at it

Quite very hard

And obviously with Andy

Being there as well

And he had

He's of the same philosophy

So we worked really hard

During the day

And in the evening

Yeah we had fun

And it was summer

While we were

At Great Liverpool

So every evening

We'd play cricket

On the back lawn

Or go up to the local pub

Or yeah

We had a lot of fun

Invited our mates

To the studio

It was a good time

You know

They're referred to

As like the booziest

Time in their history

And even Andy Taylor

Was saying

It was you know

Pretty intense

Pretty full on

You know

The band worked hard

Yeah

And then we'd go to the pub

Yeah

And you know

There was just a lot of

Just a lot of fun

Yeah

Had

And you know

I think that kind of

Comes through in the record

A little bit

Yeah

You know

There are some albums

That

I mean we did Slipknot

And the band hated each other

Yeah

At that point

Oh the Iowa

We did Iowa

And the band hated

You know

The band Slipknot

Had always been

Against

The man

The machine

Yeah

And they became the man

Didn't they

And they became this

Money making machine

For the music

Industry

And for the label

And they were being

Treated like that

They were being treated

Like a

Like a business

And they hated it

They hated the people

That they'd become

They couldn't stand

Each other

And that comes through

On the record

Like without

Shadow of a doubt

If you listen to Iowa

It's

It's a nasty

They're spitting each other

Oh god yeah

There's some real anger

Going on there

This sounds

Such a good laugh

Maybe that

Maybe

That's kind of

Why it gives you

That feel

Like it gives me

The warm hook feeling

Yeah it gives me

This lovely warm feel

Mate I feel better

After listening to this record

Yeah

Because they were having

A good time

When they made it

And you don't like

If you think about

With the

And that was true

I think a lot

Of the hair metal stuff

You kind of felt

A little bit

Oh I'm a bit

Isn't that funny

Isn't that interesting

But then you go

And listen to

Like I don't know

You go and listen

To Alice in Chains

You're not feeling

Better after that record

No no no

I mean if you weren't

Feeling a little bit

Introspective when you started

You probably are

At the end of it

Right you're not

Do you know what I mean

And sometimes that's

That's what you want

To feel

Yeah

But this is one

That kind of

This one has always

It always picks me up

It always kind of

Makes me feel a bit

But that emotional thing

That's done because of

The way the art was created

Yeah

And almost like

The collective emotion

Of the artist at the time

Yeah

Is sort of transmuted

To the record

To the listener

And then the listener

Gets the

I'm sure it's not

I'm sure it's not always

I like that though

I like that idea

That suits

My thinking

Well there's some of the

Some of the stories

About the Motley Crue records

Yeah

Like the first few

And Guns N' Roses as well

Like the first one

Was this just

They were all having

Such a great time

Yeah

Just kids

You know not

The egos hadn't landed

At that point

So they're just having

Such a good time

And then

You know then

The second and third records

The difficult ones

Yeah

Because they're kind of

Like being

They've been on the

Been on tour with each other

Been in each other's back

And they've annoyed each other

At that point

Because they're like

Just dickhead kids

Right

And when you're a dickhead

You just

Yeah

I mean I was a knobhead

When I was 20

I mean I wouldn't have liked

To spend much time with me

So

They wind each other

The wrong way

And then they're forced

Into a tiny little studio

To go in

For months

Yeah

And I don't think

You can hear on

Well I don't know

Maybe you can on some of

The Motley Crue records

But like

Like Dr. Feelgood

Yeah

For Motley Crue

I think sounds phenomenal

I think that for me

Is their best record

Yeah

But they were all sober

And they all kind of

Learned that craft a bit

Yeah

They'd all kind of

Rebonded

And they're all like

Oh actually

We probably better

Get our act together

And they were all sober

And they were all

You know

On the same page

And they kind of

Broke down again

After that

Yeah

But yeah

I don't know

I don't think

It's always the case

But I think

On this one

I think

I just get the feeling

That I think

The band were just

Having a great time

I think

I just think

You know what I mean

I just think

There were

No massive egos

Nobody was

You know

Trying to prove anything

It was just like

They're just having

A good time

The music that they love doing

They're in a really cool studio

Yeah

With cool people

Having a good time

And that comes through

Yeah

It comes through

In the interviews as well

I think

When the band talk about

About this

I also think

When you think about

The longevity

Yeah

You know

And they're just still going

Yeah yeah yeah

You know

And still doing their thing

Whereas

Like Little Angels

I think it's 94

They split up

Oh really

They finished it over then

Yeah yeah

Or maybe a little bit

Later than that

But yeah

They didn't know

Obviously Toby Jepsen's

Done other things since

Hasn't he

He's done tons of stuff

Yeah

And I think he's

Yeah

Do you know what

Yeah we'll talk about

What we do next

In a bit

But yeah

And I'm not

Again I'm not sure

That comes across

On the record

Because the Little Angels

Record are pretty

They're pretty uplifting

They're pretty bouncy

But yeah

This one feels really authentic

We talk about that

Authenticity often

For these albums

Yeah

They sort of seem like

Mates don't they

That's the

Yeah

You know what I mean

Like some people

Are just

They're in a band together

And they make music together

Yeah

These guys feel like

They're in each other's pockets

A bit

Yeah

Down the pub

And they like

Being with each

You know what I mean

They

Well they certainly

Liked being with each other

At this point

I think they still do

Yeah

Yeah

Yeah

It's hard to tell

Isn't it

From the episode

You're never really sure

But I don't think

You can fake it

For that long

Do you know what I mean

Well I suppose

You're not

If things don't work

You're not in a band together

Are you anymore

No

The first inkling

Of anything going wrong

In a relationship

Yeah

Then that relationship

That professional relationship

Bends as well

Yeah I mean

You have to think

With bands like Metallica

Yeah

Like the pressure

The financial pressure

On Metallica

To function

And generate money

To keep the various

Foundations

And charities

And businesses

And buildings

And all of the things

That is Metallica

Metallica Corp

Yeah

Yeah

It is

It's Metallica PLC

Yeah

And there must be

A point where

It stops being fun

Sometimes

Yeah

You know

It's not always about

You know

When you're doing

Your debut record

It's all exciting

And fun

And you know what I mean

There's no one

Depending

People aren't depending

On you to pay

Their mortgages

No

No

And I know

There are a few things

That Metallica

Where you're looking

At them and going

God are they enjoying that

Are they having a good time

Doing that

Are they friends

But there's a bit of me

Which with Metallica

Makes me think

I think that's just

Part of their process

Yeah

Their creative process

Is conflict

And tension

And that seems to be

How they make their music

But I don't sense that

With these guys

No

Not at all

I don't sense that

You know

From what

Again I need to dive in

And get into their background

Not more British

Yeah

That's the British way

Isn't it

Even when we did

The Pink Floyd

Records

And we talked about

All the conflict

Going on there

I just think

It's really bizarre

That does not come across

In the records

No

I mean

I guess

The wall

Yeah

The band

Were just not functioning

At all

It was kind of

Roger Waters

With some session musicians

That just happened

To be in Pink Floyd

Yeah

And then Darkseid

That fracturous relationship

They've got

And I suppose

It's a pretty dark record

Yeah

Lyrically

Yeah

But it doesn't

It's another album

That doesn't make you

It doesn't

Like Iowa

Makes you feel

Like

I mean

That needs to like

Being stabbed

When you

That album

It's just dark

And nasty

Darkseid doesn't

No

And I think

Maybe that's a British thing

Where it's kind of stiff

You're just kind of

Oh god I hate him

But I'll just

Get on with it

Do you know what I mean

I'll play my guitar

And get on with it

You know

Yeah yeah yeah yeah

And so

I don't know

It's quite hard to tell

I think with bands

But I like to think

That Thunder

All get on with each other

And that they're lovely

Yeah

And Luke Morley

Always sounds

Whenever he's interviewed

Yeah

He's one of those people

That you

Do you know

He's one of those people

That you think

I'd go down to the pub with you

Yeah

You'd just sound ace

And do you know

As we've done this

And looked at different albums

There are people

That I've thought

I don't think

I want to go to the pub with you

But there are some people

That I thought

I probably wouldn't

Yes

Like Alanis Morissette

Yeah

I thought

Do you know

I can't imagine

Going for a pint

With Alanis

She's going to be a pain

I reckon she'd be dead good

Yeah

I reckon she'd be

Such a good laugh

After the interviews

That we

Yeah yeah yeah

Do you know what I mean

Yeah

Yeah totally hear you

And do you know

There's others like

Skin from Skokin

Oh god yeah

What a lovely person

I thought she would just

Because she's so political

And angry

Yeah yeah yeah

And then when you hear her

In an interview

She's really articulate

And really intelligent

Yeah yeah

But she's really fun

And do you know what I mean

She's kind of just passionate

About what she's doing

And what she believes

Yeah she's got lots of

Bounce

She'd be dead good

I reckon Luke Morley

Would be dead good

Down the pool as well

We should get Alanis

Yeah Alanis Morissette

Skin and Luke

And we could bring

Toby Jepsen as well

Yeah

Then obviously Toby

Was the reason that

Thunder never were big

In the States

There's not any

Mosty there though

Is there

I doubt it

I don't know

I doubt it

No

I can't imagine

No

I can't imagine that

If I'm honest

No

Well it's

Not a war under the bridge

Well Luke Morley

Used to have a show

On Planet Rock

Okay yeah yeah

Never heard him be

Anything other than

Like just charming

And engaging

And you know

Much like Joe Elliot

Really passionate about music

Really knowledgeable

About music

And the stuff that he liked

We're never disparaging

About you know

Other people

Unless it's been funny

Like you know

Yeah yeah yeah

The crack yeah

Yeah yeah yeah

But yeah

There is

Yeah

Nice guy

I think

Shall we do some facts

Oh yeah

Facts

Yeah

Oh we'll do facts

And then we'll talk about

What's your favourite song

Oh yeah

Because that'd be a good thing

Yeah

We can do that

Right

I should do some

I shall do some

I shall do some facts

And that

So

Release date

Two different release dates

Again

5th of March

And the 9th of April

Why

I'm glad you asked

So I think this is

And

I can't remember

Was it Lacey

Explained this to

Anyway

Somebody explained this to us

On X

Okay

And it was because

The release dates

In the UK

Used to be on the Monday

And in the US

Used to be the Tuesday

Right

Or the other way around

And I think this is like

A week apart

Yeah

So it's like the Monday

One week

Tuesday

The next week

Got it

I think anyway

But it was released

In the US

Which is good

Yeah

51 minutes

32 long

11 tracks

On the standard edition

There's been

Countless

I was going to say

I think the version

That I've been listening to

When I spotted your track list

And it wasn't

It didn't feel like

Oh the one that

Yeah

I think the one I've

Might have had like

Different remixes

Or different versions

Of different things

The Apple Music one's

Got a load of stuff on there

We

Yeah

We're using my CD

Record label

EMI in the UK

Capital

In Geffen

In the US

And it was

EMI in Japan

Recorded at

Great Lindford

Manor Studios

Which is where

Skunkinansi

Okay

Recorded as well

I didn't know that

In Milton Keynes

Is it really?

And that's where

I made that famous statement

That Milton Keynes

Doesn't sound rock and roll

And then you reminded me

That Marshall

Based

In Milton Keynes

Yeah

So I retract

My previous

Statement

Milton Keynes

Is rock and roll

After all

Produced by

Andy Taylor

Off of Duran Duran

And we discovered

He's awesome

And it was mixed

I did like good

Good production

I did loads of this stuff

The big rock stuff

I did

It was good

Yeah

And

Yeah

Because we did

The Almighty last week

So if you like this kind of stuff

And you're picking this up

Now

Last week we did

The Almighty

Which was

Which was really cool

The week before that

We did Therapy

Yeah

And the reason we're doing that

Is because

We've got quite a few

Listers in the America

We have

And the idea is

Is that

Some of you

Probably won't have heard

These bands

Yeah

We think

That

Or this is

This was my idea really

And so we'll see how

It pans out

But I

I have this funny feeling

That a ton of these bands

Were awesome

Yeah

And just got missed

But not because of

You know

People not being passionate

About music

But being missed

Because they were released

Here in the UK

Yeah

And the US labels

Were busy with

Guns N' Roses

And Nirvana

And Pearl Jam

And you know

All of the

These massive bands

That were

Doing things in the States

Yeah

And a lot of this stuff

Was just

It was just difficult

To compete with

So it got released here

It had

You know

A ton of backing

And a huge

Fan support

I guess

Here in the UK

And in Europe too

Yeah

But perhaps not

In the US

So

And we think

It's too good

Not to share

So

And these

These were albums

Of my youth as well

So we've got to

Got to share them a little bit

Yeah

It was recorded

At the power station

Again we've talked about

That before

That was

Yeah

Andy Taylor

Yeah

And then

It was mixed by

Mike Fraser

Off of Aerosmith

Yeah

Yeah

And

Yeah

I don't know

I just think it's interesting

I think that

The tone from it

It's

It's

It's

It's got a British sound

To it to me

There's definitely

Something that's like

A cut above

Yeah

Like what some of the

Other British bands

Were doing

But it's definitely

Got a British tone

Yeah

Yeah

Yeah

It landed

At 21 on the UK

Album charts

Oh

It did chart in the US

114 on the US

Right

Billboard 200

It was certified gold

In the UK

Which means it sold

100,000 units

Yeah

So the number

I mean obviously

The UK is a lot smaller

Yes

Which is why everybody

Wanted to break the US

If you broke the US

Yeah

You took it millions

You got to go and buy

9-11s and stuff

Didn't you

If you broke the UK

You got pints in the pub

You got a free cheese sandwich

With Branston pickle on it

Yeah

Some crisps

If you break the US

You get whatever you want

Yeah

The band said it was

An amazing time

An amazing time to record

Lots of stories of the band

Just saying how

How much fun they had

Danny Bowes

Lead vocals

Luke Moore

Lead guitar

Yeah

Danny and Luke

Are usually the two

On the interviews

I hear them on the interviews

And I remember them

Back in the day

And they were just kids

You'd see them on TV

Interviewing for this album

And I don't know

They just look like

Same for the kids

But it sounds really mature

Isn't it

It does yeah

The songwriting

It's a really mature songwriting

They just look like

They were having such

A good time

Don't they

Do you know

But we did the almighty

Last week

And it reminds me of

Ricky Warwick

He just looked like

He was having the best time

Ever

When you saw him interviewed

Taking nothing

Seriously at all

Ben Matthews

Was the guitarist

Played piano

Organ

Also assisted with

Engineering

Mark a snake

Luckhurst

Was on bass

And Gary

Gary Harry James

Was drums

Yeah

Which was

Obviously

Which was

Pretty excellent

Recording

Started in 7th of August

1989

Which we've already

Talked about

Great Linford Manor

Which is

Which is excellent

Was analogue

So I guess

I don't know

90

Would anyone have

Doing digital stuff

In 90

Don't know

Probably effects wise

Maybe

Maybe

Yeah

That's true

Maybe

It might have been

Bounced to doubt

Or something like that

Maybe

Maybe

Where did I get to

Down here

Oh right

So

Other albums

That they did

So they did

Backstreet Symphony

In 90

Laughing on

Judgment Day

Which I really

Liked too

I thought that was

Again another

Absolutely banger

Of a record

Then they did

Behind Closed

Doors

In 95

The thrill

Of it all

In 96

And then there was

Like giving the game

Away

Shooting at the sun

And they did

Dopamine

In 2022

Again which I

Really liked

It was a really

Great record

Wonder Days

In 2015

Yeah

I loved that

That was

You said about

That one

Before

Yeah I kind of

That was where

I kind of re-engaged

With Thunder

So probably for me

Like probably the

Thrill of it all

I think was the

Last album that I

Physically bought

From Thunder

And you know

Would have had in

The car and stuff

And then probably

Disconnected from them

A little bit

For quite a while

And then it would

Have been Wonder

Days for me

In 2015

Charted in the UK

At number 9

Yeah

And then they did

Rip it up

And stuff after that

Which

Yeah again

Which is

Which is really cool

One of the reasons

Why I think our

US friends

May not have

Heard of this one

I'm going to give you

A list of albums

That were released

In 90

Right

So

Okay yeah yeah

Facelift by

Alice and Change

Yeah

Alice and Change

Alice and Change

Rust in Peace

By Megadeth

Yeah

Painkiller by

Judas Priest

Empire by

Queensryche

Seasons in the Abyss

By Slayer

Which is the best

Slayer album

And Persistence of Time

By Anthrax

Which is another

Underrated album

Massive

Shake Your Money Maker

By The Black Crow

That's what they were doing

Cowboys from Hell

By Pantaro

No Prayer from the Dying

By Iron Maiden

And Loudest Love

By Soundgarden

Yeah yeah

And you know

Trying to compete

There's not a lot of space

For a British band

And all that

I suppose

Judas Priest were British

Weren't they

But

They were already established

They were already established

Yeah they were sort of

That post Maiden thing

Weren't they

I mean that's ten

Yeah

Ten albums

Yeah

So even if you release them

Once a month

You've not got much space

Left

Do you know what I mean

It's just like so difficult

To compete with

And then you'd have had

There was a bunch of

Hair metal albums

That would have been

Because they were

Relentlessly coming out

Yeah

And you'd still got like

Hangovers of

Appetite for Destruction

Yes

Which would have still

Been out in the charts

Yeah yeah yeah

It was just such a tough time

I think to

Like get anything coming out

Thrash was at its peak then

There's a lot of those

Thrash records

You know the Megadeth records

Slayer

And the kind of

That's like the

Polar opposite of this

Production

Yeah this bluesy

Yeah exactly

So it kind of

Almost wasn't fashionable

Like glam and hard rock

Is kind of winding down

Yeah

Thrash is at its peak

Yeah

And you know

Grunge is just seeping

Grunge is just bubbling

Yeah yeah yeah