''Thunder, Lightning, Strike'' is the debut studio
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
by English band
The Go! Team
The Go! Team are an English indie rock band from Brighton, England. The band initially began as a solo project conceived by Ian Parton; however, after the unexpected success of the Go! Team's debut album, '' Thunder, Lightning, Strike'', Parton ...
. It was initially released on label
Memphis Industries on 13 September 2004, but was reworked to avoid legal issues with samples, and re-released in October 2005.
Background
The album was the project of founder member Ian Parton, who over the course of 2003 recorded demos and musical ideas after work, onto many dozens of cassettes using a lo-fi 4-track recorder, and titled each tape with a potential song name idea. Each track on the album was created by combining five or six different ideas from this large assortment of tapes, trying out different chorus sections from one with the verse section of another, to give the music an overall feeling of constantly switching radio channels. 'Get It Together' was the first track Parton created where he felt he'd got the juxtaposition of differing styles within one song right, giving him the template and direction for the rest of the album.
Recording
Recording took place in both the garage and kitchen of Parton's parents' house in
Swansea
Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...
while they were away on holiday, with him playing all live instruments himself (as at that time there were no other members of the band).
The album was co-produced by his sound engineer brother Gareth Parton, who helped Ian set up the makeshift home recording facility in Wales, and later mixed the tracks at The Fortress Studios and Bluestone in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
.
'Legal' and 'Illegal' versions
The original 2004 Memphis Industries release of the album (sometimes referred to as the 'Illegal version') had none of its many samples cleared, as Parton didn't expect the album to attract much attention. However ''Thunder, Lightning, Strike'' received wide critical acclaim and was later nominated for the
2005 Mercury Music Prize. Thereupon a 'legally clean' version of the album was painstakingly recreated by the Parton brothers, containing only cleared or interpolated samples, and rewritten, resung lyrics, all under the guidance of a legal musicologist.
Junior Kickstart, Bottle Rocket and Ladyflash were among the most heavily reworked tracks, whilst Get It Together was one of a few tracks that remained untouched. This revised 'legal' version of the album was re-released in the United Kingdom and the United States by
in October 2005, with two additional bonus tracks. The album peaked at number 48 on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
in February 2006, some 18 months after its original release.
Reception
Reception to ''Thunder, Lightning, Strike'' was very positive. On review aggregator site
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the album has a score of 86, indicating "universal acclaim".
''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials.
The term is also applie ...
'' placed ''Thunder, Lightning, Strike'' at number eight in their list of the top albums of 2004 and at number 171 on their list of the top 200 albums of the 2000s.
Concluding the review for
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
, Tim Sendra claimed that, "The Go! Team is widescreen in a pan-and-scan world, a sparkling rejoinder to purists and spoilsports everywhere and more fun than recess on the last day of school. Cinematic, fantastic, and essential to all who want their music larger than life and rambunctious, ''Thunder, Lightning, Strike'' is the kind of record that makes you glad to be alive. What could be better than that?"
[
]
Anniversary Release and Tour
The band reissued the record and launched a Fall 2024 tour in the UK and US to celebrate the LP's 20th anniversary''.'' The new album edition appeared on 13 September from Memphis Industries and included a bonus disc of Parton's original CD-R versions of the songs.
Track listing
Sample creditsCome See About Me
"Come See About Me" is a 1964 song recorded by the Supremes for the Motown label. The track opens with a fade-in, marking one of the first times the technique had been used on a studio recording.
The song became third of five consecutively rel ...
", written by Lamont Dozier
Lamont Herbert Dozier (; June 16, 1941 – August 8, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Detroit. He co-wrote and produced 14 US '' Billboard'' number-one hits and four number ones in the UK.
Career
Dozier was a ...
, Brian Holland
Brian Holland (born February 15, 1941) is an American songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of Holland–Dozier–Holland, the songwriting and production team that was responsible for much of the Motown sound, and numerous hi ...
, and Eddie Holland
Edward James Holland Jr. (born October 30, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is brother to Brian Holland.
Holland was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Although he was an early Motown artist who recorde ...
; "I Can't Rest", written by Billy Davis, Raynard Miner, and Carl Smith; ''Wild Style
''Wild Style'' is a 1982 American hip hop film written, produced and directed by Charlie Ahearn. Regarded as the first hip hop motion picture, it includes appearances by seminal figures such as Adam Horowitz, Fab Five Freddy, Lee Quiñones, L ...
''; and " Ashley's Roachclip", written by Lloyd Pinchback.
* "The Power Is On" contains samples of ''Black Magic''; '' The Clash: Westway to the World''; and ''Gimme an 'F'
''Gimme an 'F is a 1984 sex comedy film written by Jim Hart and directed by Paul Justman. The film stars John Karlen, Stephen Shellen, Mark Keyloun, Jennifer Cooke and Lisa Wilcox in a short role. It was also released under the titles ''T ...
''.
* "Junior Kickstart" contains samples of " Aquarius", written by Galt MacDermot
Arthur Terence Galt MacDermot (December 18, 1928 – December 17, 2018) was a Canadian-American composer, pianist and writer of musical theater. He won a Grammy Award for the song "African Waltz" in 1960. His most successful musicals were ''Hair ...
, James Rado
James Alexander Radomski (January 23, 1932 – June 21, 2022), known professionally as James Rado, was an American actor, playwright, director, and composer, best known as the co-author, along with Gerome Ragni, of the 1967 musical ''Hair''. He ...
, and Gerome Ragni
Gerome Ragni (born Jerome Bernard Ragni; September 11, 1935 – July 10, 1991) was an American actor, singer, and songwriter, best known as one of the stars and co-writers of the 1967 musical ''Hair''. On June 18, 2009, he was inducted into the So ...
.
* "Bottle Rocket" contains samples of "Soul Time", written by Shirley Ellis.
* "Huddle Formation" contains samples of ''Gimme an 'F'
''Gimme an 'F is a 1984 sex comedy film written by Jim Hart and directed by Paul Justman. The film stars John Karlen, Stephen Shellen, Mark Keyloun, Jennifer Cooke and Lisa Wilcox in a short role. It was also released under the titles ''T ...
'' and Black Panther
A black panther is the Melanism, melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical Rosette (zoology), rosettes are al ...
chants.
* "Everyone's a V.I.P. to Someone" contains samples of "Everybody's Talkin'
"Everybody's Talkin (Echoes)" is a song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Fred Neil in 1966 and released two years later. A version of the song performed by the American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson became a hit in 1969, ...
", written by Fred Neil
Fred Neil (born Frederick Ralph Morlock Jr.; March 16, 1936 – July 7, 2001) was an American folk singer-songwriter active in the 1960s and early 1970s. He is mainly known through other people's recordings of his material – particularl ...
; and " Stoned Soul Picnic", written by Laura Nyro
Laura Nyro ( ; born Laura Nigro; October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997) was an American songwriter and singer. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums ''Eli and the Thirteenth Confession'' (1968) and ''Ne ...
.
Personnel
Credits for ''Thunder, Lightning, Strike'' adapted from album liner notes.
Charts
Certifications
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
2004 debut albums
The Go! Team albums