| Thunder, Lightning, Strike | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 13 September 2004 | |||
| Recorded | 2004 | |||
| Studio | Jan and Ed's basement (Swansea, Wales) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 35:46 | |||
| Label | Memphis Industries | |||
| Producer |
| |||
| The Go! Team chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Thunder, Lightning, Strike | ||||
| ||||
Thunder, Lightning, Strike is the debut studio album by English band The Go! Team. 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.
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. [5] Each track on the album was created by combining five or six different ideas from this large assortment of tapes, [6] 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. [7] [8] '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. [9]
Recording took place in both the garage and kitchen of Parton's parents' house in Swansea while they were away on holiday, [10] with him playing all live instruments himself (as at that time there were no other members of the band). [11] 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. [11] [12]
The original 2004 Memphis Industries release of the album (sometimes referred to as the 'Illegal version') had had none of its many samples cleared, as Parton didn't expect the album to attract much attention. [13] 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. [14] [11] 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. [15] This revised 'legal' version of the album was re-released in the United Kingdom and the United States by Columbia Records in October 2005, with two additional bonus tracks. The album peaked at number 48 on the UK Albums Chart in February 2006, some 18 months after its original release.
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 86/100 [16] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [17] |
| Blender |  [18] |
| Entertainment Weekly | A− [19] |
| Mojo | [20] |
| NME | 9/10 [21] |
| Pitchfork | 8.7/10 [22] |
| Resident Advisor | 4.5/5 [23] |
| Rolling Stone | [24] |
| Slant Magazine | [25] |
| The Village Voice | A− [26] |
Reception to Thunder, Lightning, Strike was very positive. On review aggregator site Metacritic, the album has a score of 86, indicating "universal acclaim". [16]
Pitchfork placed Thunder, Lightning, Strike at number eight in their list of the top albums of 2004 [27] and at number 171 on their list of the top 200 albums of the 2000s. [28]
All tracks are written by The Go! Team, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Panther Dash" |
| 2:46 |
| 2. | "Ladyflash" |
| 4:10 |
| 3. | "Feelgood by Numbers" | 1:58 | |
| 4. | "The Power Is On" | 3:14 | |
| 5. | "Get It Together" | 3:25 | |
| 6. | "Junior Kickstart" |
| 3:35 |
| 7. | "Air Raid GTR" | 0:38 | |
| 8. | "Bottle Rocket" |
| 3:43 |
| 9. | "Friendship Update" | 4:00 | |
| 10. | "Huddle Formation" |
| 3:12 |
| 11. | "Everyone's a V.I.P. to Someone" |
| 4:58 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Panther Dash" |
| 2:50 |
| 2. | "Ladyflash" |
| 4:16 |
| 3. | "Feelgood by Numbers" | 1:56 | |
| 4. | "The Power Is On" | 3:14 | |
| 5. | "Get It Together" | 3:28 | |
| 6. | "We Just Won't Be Defeated" | 2:45 | |
| 7. | "Junior Kickstart" |
| 3:32 |
| 8. | "Air Raid GTR" | 0:39 | |
| 9. | "Bottle Rocket" |
| 3:32 |
| 10. | "Friendship Update" | 4:00 | |
| 11. | "Hold Yr Terror Close" | 2:18 | |
| 12. | "Huddle Formation" |
| 3:11 |
| 13. | "Everyone's a V.I.P. to Someone" |
| 5:08 |
Sample credits [12]
Credits for Thunder, Lightning, Strike adapted from album liner notes. [12]
| Chart (2005–06) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Scottish Albums (OCC) [29] | 40 |
| UK Albums (OCC) [30] | 48 |
| UK Independent Albums (OCC) [31] | 5 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI) [32] | Gold | 100,000^ |
^shipments figures based on certification alone | ||
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Cunning juxtapositions such as the haunting harmonica that chisels blissful melodies from chest-beating samba horns on opener 'Panther Dash' seem more purposeful than perverse.