24.05.2010 / EMI / 6CD-Box
Formed from the aftermath of Terraplane in 1989, hard rockers Thunder went on to amass 17 Top 40 singles and 2 Top 5 albums in the UK. The Thunder release campaign now continues with the ‘At The BBC (1990-1995)’, a 6CD treasure-trove of live and session recordings (with every one previously unreleased and now fully remastered) taken from the peak of their career.
Disc one kicks of the box on 9th December 1990 with the final night’s set of a three-show run at London’s Hammersmith Odeon, with the band still basking in the fantastic response to their debut album, ‘Backstreet Symphony’. Included are three of their Top 40 hits from the same album; ‘Back Street Symphony’, ‘She’s So Fine’ and ‘Love Walked In’. The second disc of the set completes the same Hammersmith show with the tracks ‘Until My Dying Day’ and the Top 40 hit ‘Dirty Love’, before moving across to Wembley Arena for Thunder’s set at the “Great British Music Weekend”, an offshoot of the Brit Awards, headlined by Ozzy Osbourne. The third disc chronicles Thunder’s debut appearance at Monsters Of Rock festival at Castle Donington on 22nd August 1992 where they shared the stage with headliners Whitesnake, Aerosmith, Poison and the Quireboys. This first Donington show is regarded as among the most important shows the band ever performed, and certainly contributed to their support slot for Def Leppard two years later at the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield on 6th June 1993 where Thunder performed a ‘greatest hits’ set in front of 50,000 fans, all of which is captured here on disc four. The fifth (and final live) disc in the ‘At The BBC’ box covers the band’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire show on 8th December 1994, which previewed their third album (a UK No 5) ‘Behind Closed Doors’ and subsequently showcased new compositions such as ‘River Of Pain’, ‘Moth To The Flame’ and ‘Ball And Chain’. Completing the set, disc six collects together four radio sessions made for the BBC, all showing a rarer, acoustic, side to Thunder. Included here are a two-song visit to Tommy Vance’s Friday Rock Show in the summer of 1992, a Nicky Campbell session which winds up a four-song routine with a Thunder-ised take on Elvis Presley’s ‘All Shook Up’, a Johnny Walker session from February of 1993 and lastly a one-off performance for Kevin Greening in April of 1995 which includes a barroom-friendly rendition of the Dave Edmunds-popularised ‘I Hear You Knocking’, complete with boogie-woogie piano solo from Ben Matthews.
With 61 previously unreleased tracks stretching across 6 discs, all lovingly remastered from the original tapes, with liner notes from Classic Rock and Metal Hammer’s Dave ling, all packaged in a deluxe clamshell box, ‘At The BBC (1990-1995)’ will be a must-have for the large and dedicated Thunder fanbase.
CD1 – ALL PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
HAMMERSMITH ODEON, LONDON (9TH DECEMBER 1990) PART 1:
1. Backstreet Symphony
2. Higher Ground
3. Low Life In High Places
4. An Englishman On Holiday
5. Distant Thunder
6. Love Walked In
7. Flawed To Perfection
8. Don’t Wait For Me
9. Fired Up
10. She’s So Fine
CD2 – ALL PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
HAMMERSMITH ODEON, LONDON (9TH DECEMBER 1990) PART 2:
1. Until My Dying Day (Hammersmith Odeon 9th December 1990)
2. Dirty Love (Hammersmith Odeon 9th December 1990)
WEMBLEY ARENA, LONDON (20TH JANUARY 1991):
3. Backstreet Symphony (Wembley Arena, London 20th January 1991)
4. She’s So Fine (Wembley Arena, London 20th January 1991)
5. Love Walked In (Wembley Arena, London 20th January 1991)
6. Dirty Love (Wembley Arena, London 20th January 1991)
CD3 – ALL PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
MONSTERS OF ROCK FESTIVAL 1992, CASTLE DONINGTON (22ND AUGUST 1992):
1. Backstreet Symphony
2. Everybody Wants Her
3. Higher Ground
4. Low Life In High Places
5. Does It Feel Like Love?
6. Flawed To Perfection
7. Love Walked In
8. She’s So Fine
9. Dirty Love
CD4 – ALL PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
DON VALLEY STADIUM, SHEFFIELD (6TH JUNE 1993):
1. She’s So Fine
2. Everybody Wants Her
3. Low Life In High Places
4. Laughing On Judgement Day
5. Empty City
6. Flawed To Perfection
7. Like A Satellite
8. Does It Feel Like Love?
9. Backstreet Symphony
10. Love Walked In
11. Dirty Love
12. A Better Man
CD5 – ALL PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE, LONDON (8TH DECEMBER 1994):
1. Backstreet Symphony
2. River Of Pain
3. Moth To The Flame
4. Until My Dying Day
5. Stand Up
6. Higher Ground
7. An Englishman On Holiday
8. Don’t Wait For Me
9. Everybody Wants Her
10. Ball And Chain
11. Low Life In High Places
12. She’s So Fine
CD6 – ALL PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
TOMMY VANCE FRIDAY ROCK SHOW SESSION (18TH AUGUST 1992):
1. Backstreet Symphony (Live Acoustic)
2. Low Life In High Places (Live Acoustic)
NICKY CAMPBELL SESSION (28TH OCTOBER 1992):
3. Low Life In High Places (Live Acoustic)
4. A Better Man (Live Acoustic)
5. Backstreet Symphony (Live Acoustic)
6. All Shook Up (Live Acoustic)
JOHNNY WALKER SHOW SESSION (6TH FEBRUARY 1993):
7. Backstreet Symphony (Live Acoustic)
8. Low Life In High Places (Live Acoustic)
9. A Better Man (Live Acoustic)
KEVIN GREENING SESSION (25TH APRIL 1995):
10. A Better Man (Live Acoustic)
11. Castles In The Sand (Live Acoustic)
12. I Hear You Knocking (Live Acoustic)
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