Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The labours of Hercules are often painted as a Greek romance, of the depths someone will go to prove their worth, or to atone for some misgiving. However, if we are to compare modern endeavours with that of Greek legend, then surely Sissyphus and the unstoppable boulder would be more of a direct analogy.

For where else but in the arts can it feel as though the stone you have heroically rolled up the hill the first time, can suddenly refuse to stand still and fall down the other side in a rush of damnation which only goes to push us ever onward, creating a piece of art, only to have to reconquer the hill time and again until we find ourselves Laughing On Judgement Day.

Thunder’s second album may lack the generosity and spontaneity of their debut recording, and arguably it is one not down to the band but the external forces that guided it at the time, but it is a boulder of epic proportions, the album of Blues Rock which fills the air with a persistence of examination that comes with all sophomore recordings, and one that Thunder rise to with pride, even in the face of perceived unwillingness from other quarters.

Laughing On Judgement Day is different to its predecessor, the sense of fun that had been accumulated has been replaced with a sincerity of devotion, a musical task of strength to move onwards whilst never once suggesting that the past could be abandoned.

The album may not be as loved as Back Street Symphony, but it is one that fulfils the belief in the group by the legion of fans who had taken them to their hearts, and as with the previous reissue, the chance to re-immerse yourself into that period of time is palpable and energising.

Whether in the songs Everybody Wants Her, Today The World Stopped Turning, Feeding The Flame, Better Man, the sublime and perennial favourite of Low Life In High Places, or in the additional tracks such as the live versions of The Moment Of Truth and Like A Satellite, Thunder push onwards, the boulder may roll from them, but the lightning strikes of power that encase each intricate meld of music and vocal is now and forever beautiful.

Laugh all you want at another’s endeavours, but they have the final say on how those labours are enjoyed by those that really count, the fans and the supporters who urge the task to be a continual cycle of pushing for excellence. 

Ian D. Hall