THUNDER – Behind Closed Doors [Expanded Edition 2023], MP3+FLAC

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British hard rockers THUNDER are releasing expanded remastered reissues of their first 3 albums on both deluxe colored vinyl and digipak CD. Each contains rare, bonus, and unreleased live versions of tracks from these albums.

”Behind Closed Doors” was originally released in 1994 and peaked at number 5 in the UK album chart upon release, reinforcing them as one of the finest rock banks from the British Isles. Three UK top 40 singles were released from it; Stand Up, River Of Pain and Castles In The Sand. The album was produced by guitarist Luke Morley and long standing mixer, Mike Fraser (famed for his work with AC/DC, Aerosmith and Metallica, among many others) with writing contributions from every member of the band and former producer and Duran Duran guitarist, Andy Taylor.
The album is considered a classic among fans of the band and hard rock alike. This new, expanded edition contains unreleased live & acoustic versions of classic songs from the record, plus an exclusive Limited Edition Art Card included within product packaging.

Following the departure of the band’s original bassist Mark “Snake” Luckhurst in December 1992, ‘Behind Closed Doors’ is the first (and only) Thunder album to feature his replacement Mikael “Micke” Höglund, who joined in February 1993.
After recording some initial demos of new material in London, Thunder began pre-production on their third studio album in 1994. Mike Fraser, who had previously mixed the band’s debut album Backstreet Symphony in 1990, returned as the main producer for ‘Behind Closed Doors’ alongside lead guitarist and primary songwriter Luke Morley (Fraser also engineered & mixed the record).

Then the band flew out to Atlanta, Georgia to begin recording of the album. Speaking about the decision to record the album in the United States, Morley explained that it was “a last-ditch attempt to motivate Geffen”, the band’s American record label, who he claimed had failed to support previous release ‘Laughing on Judgement Day’. However, the band’s A&R representative John Kalodner later left Geffen for Sony Music Entertainment, and the album was ultimately not released in the US.
However, ‘Behind Closed Doors’ resulted very successful in the UK, Europe and Japan, away from the US grunge climate.

All I can say is: Kudos to Thunder.
For not selling their souls to the alternative trend of 1995, instead remainig faithful to to the true Melodic Hard Rock style, and in between, releasing in ‘Behind Closed Doors’, one of the best album of their career.

When I first heard ‘Behind Closed Doors’ upon its release in 1995, it literally blew me away and it still remains among my favourite Thunder albums. The songwriting is largely more varied than before, resulting in a few new tricks to be heard.
The album’s opening number is one of the heaviest tracks in the Thunder catalogue. It has a strong Zeppelin influence, both in the pounding drum style and the way keyboards are used to give things a slightly Eastern flavour.

‘Fly On The Wall’ and ‘Too Scared To Live’ have strong funk / blues influences: the former makes excellent use of a horn section and soulful backing vocals while the latter has a slightly bluesy vibe during its brief chorus sections, but the verses show a far funkier style than Thunder have previously attempted. The track’s bluesiest vibes come courtesy of a couple of really smart guitar solos.

There’s plenty of other stuff from ‘Behind Closed Doors’ that’s instantly familiar. It’s lighters in the air time for ‘Castles In The Sand’, a big stadium number, very similar to ‘Love Walked In’ (from ‘Backstreet Symphony’). While very much a tried-and-tested formula, it represents one of the things Thunder were always best at.
The slower rockers of ‘I’ll Be Waiting’ and ‘Preaching From a Chair’ feature Bowes’s strongest vocal performances (again tapping into his inner Paul Rodgers).

‘Ball and Chain’, ‘River of Pain’ and ‘Stand Up’ are full-on punchy rockers, while ‘Till The Rivers Run Dry’ features a more acoustic, laid back band. ‘Future Train’ begins with an acoustic flourish, before developing into one of the album’s best hard rock workouts. It makes use of a swaggering guitar riff, which works excellently when coupled with fantastic harmony vocals on the chorus. Danny Bowes’s vocal is superb throughout.

“Behind Closed Doors” really needs to be as fondly remembered as Thunder’s two preceding albums. It clearly represents a band at their absolute strongest.
HIGHLY Recommended

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