Triumph

The greatest arena rock band in the world, period. That is, until they turned to crap...

"Just a Game"

  1. "Movin' On" (4:07)
  2. "Lay It on the Line" (4:02)
  3. "Young Enough to Cry" (6:03)
  4. "American Girls" (5:01)
  5. "Just a Game" (6:13)
  6. "Fantasy Serenade"--instrumental (1:39)
  7. "Hold On" (6:04)
  8. "Suitcase Blues" (3:01)

The crappy vinyl had a gatefold cover with some cool "Road to Stardom" game on it...too bad it wasn't included on the CD. Some great songs here, especially "Hold On", a soaring acoustic ballad that sometimes gets me misty-eyed..."American Girls" is damn cool as well.

"Progressions of Power"

  1. "I Live for the Weekend" (5:18)
  2. "I Can Survive" (4:00)
  3. "In the Night" (6:16)
  4. "Nature's Child" (5:41)
  5. "Woman in Love" (4:37)
  6. "Take My Heart" (3:28)
  7. "Tear the Roof Off" (4:28)
  8. "Fingertalkin'"--instrumental (1:58)
  9. "Hard Road" (5:22)

Somebody informed me that this is actually their third U.S. album, and not their second one like I said earlier. Still, it sounds more like a sophomore effort, as the band continues to hammer out their arena-filling sound. "I Live for the Weekend" is a great roof-tearing anthem (more so than "Tear the Roof Off"...hehe); "I Can Survive" is a fine anthem, although they would do much better later. "Take My Heart" is a pathetic, drippy ballad.

"Allied Forces"

  1. "Fool for Your Love" (4:28)
  2. "Magic Power" (4:48)
  3. "Air Raid" (1:18)
  4. "Allied Forces" (5:01)
  5. "Hot Time (in this City Tonight)" (3:20)
  6. "Fight the Good Fight" (6:20)
  7. "Ordinary Man" (7:24)
  8. "Petite Etude"--instrumental (1:12)
  9. "Say Goodbye" (4:27)

GREAT album, with a title track that DEMANDS being played at full volume!! "Fight the Good Fight" is the band's signature track, and "Magic Power" is another one of those songs that got me through my high school daze...

"Never Surrender"

  1. "Too Much Thinking" (5:34)
  2. "A World of Fantasy" (5:03)
  3. "A Minor Prelude"--instrumental (0:43)
  4. "All the Way" (3:44)
  5. "Battle Cry" (4:57)
  6. "Overture (Processional)"--instrumental (1:54)
  7. "Never Surrender" (6:40)
  8. "When the Lights Go Down" (5:03)
  9. "Writing on the Wall" (3:34)
  10. "Epilogue (Resolution)"--instrumental (2:41)

One time I showed a fellow Triumph fan how similar "Too Much Thinking" was to Black Sabbath's "Neon Knights" -- I think he sold his whole Triumph collection on the spot. :-) More, more, still more essential AOR tunes here, in fact I can't find a single weak track on the album! Definitely a must-have.

"Thunder Seven"

  1. "Spellbound" (5:12)
  2. "Rock Out, Roll On" (5:10)
  3. "Cool Down" (4:49)
  4. "Follow Your Heart" (3:32)
  5. "Time Goes By" (5:57)
  6. "Midsummer's Daydream"--instrumental (1:40)
  7. "Time Canon" (1:32)
  8. "Killing Time" (4:15)
  9. "Stranger in a Strange Land" (5:11)
  10. "Little Boy Blues"--instrumental (3:33)

I was already a big Triumph fan when this came out, and went to see their live show at the L.A. Sports Arena on March 13th, 1985. (I remember that date specifically because it precipitated a rather vicious argument with my parents which led to...well, this is neither the time nor place for that.) The funniest thing about the show was that they were broadcasting it live, which my brother graciously taped off the radio for me, and just before their "Fight the Good Fight" encore, the bass player announced, "I'd like to dedicate this song to our drummer Gil Moore, who's been HEAVING HIS GUTS UP all day...the doctor shot him up with so many drugs it's incredible, yet he insisted on going on and he's been doing a GREAT FUCKING JOB, ALL RIGHT??" I even got the tape to prove it!!

"The Sport of Kings"

  1. "Tears in the Rain" (3:54)
  2. "Somebody's Out There" (4:05)
  3. "What Rules My Heart" (3:54)
  4. "If Only" (4:00)
  5. "Hooked on You" (3:23)
  6. "Take a Stand" (4:30)
  7. "Just One Night" (3:39)
  8. "Embrujo"--instrumental (1:29)
  9. "Play with the Fire" (5:18)
  10. "Don't Love Anybody Else but Me" (3:55)
  11. "In the Middle of the Night" (4:34)

Well, this is where they started losing it. "Tears in the Rain" is a great rocker, while "Somebody's Out There" is impressively melodic and radio-friendly (and so is "Take a Stand", to a lesser extent.) As for the rest...well, it doesn't suck, but it's awfully generic and unexciting. "Hooked on You" is one of the only songs where Rik Emmett & Gil Moore share lead vocals, but unfortunately it's one of their WORST songs ever!

I used to own their follow-up CD, Surveillance, but it was even more generic and boring than this one...still kinda wish I kept it, though. Rik Emmett left the band afterwards, which as far as I'm concerned killed the band, even though they kept pressing on (they did a song on the Hellraiser 3 soundtrack, which didn't boost my confidence any.)


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