Robert Johnson's Tombstone
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''Robert Johnson's Tombstone'' is the eighth
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
hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...
band
Thunder Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Depending upon the distance from and nature of the lightning, it can range from a long, low rumble to a sudden, loud crack. The sudden increase in temperature and hence pressure caused by the lightning pr ...
. Recorded at Chapel Studios in
South Thoresby South Thoresby is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated north-east from Horncastle and south-east from Louth. Its population was 128 in 2011. The village is the site of the studio w ...
, Chez Bez and Tackle Out Studios 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 ...
, and the El Relaxo villa in
Mijas Mijas ( ; ) is a municipality in the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Located on the southeastern coast of Spain, Mijas belongs to the region of Costa del Sol Occidental. Its center is a typical Andalusian white- ...
,
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, it was produced by the band's lead guitarist
Luke Morley Luke Morley (born 19 June 1960 in Camberwell, London, England) is the guitarist, chief songwriter and producer for the hard rock band Thunder from 1989 to present (with a break from 1999–2002, and 2009–2011). Previous to that he was a memb ...
. The album was released in the UK by
STC Recordings Thunder are an English hard rock band from London. Formed in 1989, the group was founded by former Terraplane (band), Terraplane members Danny Bowes (lead vocals), Luke Morley (guitar, backing vocals) and Gary James, Gary "Harry" James (drums) ...
on 30 October 2006, in Europe by
Frontiers Records Frontiers Music (formerly Frontiers Records) is an Italian record label that primarily focuses on hard rock. The label was founded in 1996 by Serafino Perugino and is headquartered in Naples. History In 1996, Serafino Perugino began his care ...
on 10 November, and in Japan by
Victor Entertainment is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Entertainment operates the RC ...
on 26 February 2007. Thunder began working on material for the follow-up to '' The Magnificent Seventh!'' in November 2005, during the promotional touring cycle for the album. After the final run of shows on the tour ended in February 2006, the band continued work on the album at a rented villa in Mijas,
Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...
using a portable
Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...
recording station purchased a few years previous. The group's second guitarist and keyboardist Ben Matthews engineered and mixed the entire record. ''Robert Johnson's Tombstone'' debuted at number 56 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 ...
and number 6 on the
UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart The UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart and UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart are record charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company (OCC) to determine the 40 most popular singles and albums in the rock and heavy metal genres. The ...
. "The Devil Made Me Do It" was released as the only
single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...
from the album on 4 December 2006, reaching number 40 on the UK Singles Chart and number 2 on the
UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart The UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart and UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart are record charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company (OCC) to determine the 40 most popular singles and albums in the rock and heavy metal genres. The ...
. The album was promoted on a
concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...
between November 2006 and September 2007, featuring shows in the UK, Europe and Japan.


Recording and production

Thunder started the "first stage of recording" for their eighth studio album on 29 November 2005, shortly before embarking on the second European leg of the tour for their seventh studio album, '' The Magnificent Seventh!'', on 6 December. Production took place at Chapel Studios in
South Thoresby South Thoresby is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated north-east from Horncastle and south-east from Louth. Its population was 128 in 2011. The village is the site of the studio w ...
,
Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...
, Chez Bez and Tackle Out Studios 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 ...
, and a rented villa in
Mijas Mijas ( ; ) is a municipality in the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Located on the southeastern coast of Spain, Mijas belongs to the region of Costa del Sol Occidental. Its center is a typical Andalusian white- ...
,
Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...
,
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
called "El Relaxo". The Mijas sessions took place in early 2006 and saw the group using a portable recording setup they had purchased a couple of years prior. Speaking about the system, the band's vocalist
Danny Bowes Daniel John 'Danny' Bowes (born 14 April 1960, West Ham, Essex, England) is a British singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the hard rock band Thunder. Education Bowes was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College. Life and career B ...
recalled that "We spent a lot of money on a portable
Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...
system so that we could plug everything in and record ... I knew how useful it would be to have the ability to record and mix our own records anywhere we wanted." Recalling how he conceived the concept for ''Robert Johnson's Tombstone'', the band's lead guitarist, producer and primary songwriter
Luke Morley Luke Morley (born 19 June 1960 in Camberwell, London, England) is the guitarist, chief songwriter and producer for the hard rock band Thunder from 1989 to present (with a break from 1999–2002, and 2009–2011). Previous to that he was a memb ...
explained that it "came about when I was helping Andy Taylor's son ... with some demos and advice, down in
Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...
. I was driving home and listening to one of those late-night Radio 2 programmes about the blues. The guy was talking about the blues musician
Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His singing, guitar playing and songwriting on his landmark 1936 and 1937 recordings have influenced later generations of musicians. Although his r ...
and the stories of a bottle of poison, a bottle of whisky and a prostitute being involved in his death, and I thought, "This is so rock 'n' roll!" So I got home and started researching Johnson, and it went from there." The album's opening title track features lyrics written in reference to Johnson's mysterious death – Morley recalls that "all the ingredients in his story, true or false, make it a great one to tell and embellish". Prior to its release, Bowes dubbed the album "a natural continuation of the last record", describing its sound as "rootsy and blues based, sexy and dirty, and sad and melancholy in places too".


Promotion and release

''Robert Johnson's Tombstone'' was released in the UK by the band's own label
STC Recordings Thunder are an English hard rock band from London. Formed in 1989, the group was founded by former Terraplane (band), Terraplane members Danny Bowes (lead vocals), Luke Morley (guitar, backing vocals) and Gary James, Gary "Harry" James (drums) ...
on 30 October 2006. It debuted at number 56 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 ...
, number 6 on the
UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart The UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart and UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart are record charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company (OCC) to determine the 40 most popular singles and albums in the rock and heavy metal genres. The ...
, and number 61 on the
Scottish Albums Chart The Scottish Albums Chart is a chart compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) which is based on how physical and digital sales towards the UK Albums Chart fare in Scotland. The official singles chart for Scotland, the Scottish Singles Chart, ...
. The album was released in Europe by
Frontiers Records Frontiers Music (formerly Frontiers Records) is an Italian record label that primarily focuses on hard rock. The label was founded in 1996 by Serafino Perugino and is headquartered in Naples. History In 1996, Serafino Perugino began his care ...
on 10 November, and in Japan by
Victor Entertainment is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Entertainment operates the RC ...
on 26 February 2007, with four additional bonus tracks. Outside of the UK, it reached number 105 on the
Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon A ...
in Japan – the first Thunder studio album to chart in the region. "The Devil Made Me Do It" was released as the only
single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...
from ''Robert Johnson's Tombstone'' on 4 December 2006. It was the band's 18th and to date latest release to reach the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 40. It also reached number 2 on the
UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart The UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart and UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart are record charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company (OCC) to determine the 40 most popular singles and albums in the rock and heavy metal genres. The ...
, behind
Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...
's "
Knights of Cydonia "Knights of Cydonia" is a song by English rock band Muse. It is the closing track on their fourth studio album, ''Black Holes and Revelations'' (2006), and was released as the third single on 27 November 2006. The title refers to the Cydonia re ...
". The album was promoted on a
concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...
beginning in the UK in November 2006, including dates in Europe and Japan.


Critical reception

Reviewing the album 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 ...
, Stewart Mason claimed that on ''Robert Johnson's Tombstone'', "Thunder return to what made them, if not famous, then at least reasonably well known in certain circles: punchy three-chord hard rock delivered with maximum swagger and minimum fuss". Highlighting tracks such as "Andy Warhol Said" and "Last Man Standing", the writer concluded that "While he albumwon't win Thunder any new acolytes, fans will be entirely pleased".


Track listing


Personnel

*
Danny Bowes Daniel John 'Danny' Bowes (born 14 April 1960, West Ham, Essex, England) is a British singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the hard rock band Thunder. Education Bowes was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College. Life and career B ...
vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...
*
Luke Morley Luke Morley (born 19 June 1960 in Camberwell, London, England) is the guitarist, chief songwriter and producer for the hard rock band Thunder from 1989 to present (with a break from 1999–2002, and 2009–2011). Previous to that he was a memb ...
guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
,
backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...
,
percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...
,
production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...
,
art direction Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to super ...
* Ben Matthews – guitar,
keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...
s,
engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
, mixing * Chris Childs
bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
, art direction * Gary "Harry" James
drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
, percussion *Rob Crane –
artwork A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...
*Jason Joyce –
photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...


Charts


References


Bibliography

*


External links


''Robert Johnson's Tombstone''
on the band's official website * {{Authority control 2006 albums Thunder (band) albums Frontiers Records albums Victor Entertainment albums