Absolutely magnificent!

I have loved Thunder for many years, and they were the first Rock show I ever went to in my hometown on the 'Thrill Of It All' tour way back in 1996. Since then, they have split up, reunited, split up again, got back together again and the next thing you know, they're filling Cardiff Arena for a glorious live recording called 'Stage' which celebrated the success of their 'Wonder Days' and 'Rip It Up' albums – the former being, in my opinion, one of the best they've ever made.

You would think I'd be delighted to hear they had a new release coming out – and I was – but then I heard it was going to feature re-recordings of old songs. My enthusiasm waned, then completely dissolved when I heard they were going to be "drastically re-worked". Fear not though, because just two songs into 'Please Remain Seated', I was totally sold and already looking at pre-ordering it.

The nearest thing I can compare it to recently would be the 'Aquostic' records from Status Quo; on paper, you look at the songs and can't picture it, but once you play the album you can't get over how well they work in an entirely different style. Thunder have done just that here, and also like Quo, they've mixed in some really well-known songs with some deeper album cuts, resulting in a fresh, new sound.

Opening with rarity 'Bigger Than Both Of Us', the laid-back, almost Honky-Tonk approach works brilliantly and Danny Bowes' exquisite voice sounds phenomenal in this setting. Thunder have always been great at sitting down and playing acoustically, and they absolutely nail the new versions of 'Future Train', 'She's So Fine', 'Loser' and 'Just Another Suicide'. 'Girl's Going Out Of Her Head' transforms from its original Arena Rock form into Lounge Room Jazz, while the twanging re-worked 'Fly On The Wall' is nothing short of genius. The album closes with 'Low Life In High Places' which employs a mournful tone that would be right at home in a film noir detective movie.

It's an excellent change of style for Thunder which simply highlights what great musicians they are and how many awesome songs they have. As usual, they're offering various mouthwatering bundles on their website, including the 'Deluxe' version that adds a further seven songs. I haven't heard those, but I'll be buying it regardless. I'd advise you to do the same as this is absolutely magnificent!

James Gaden