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Thread: Triumph 101

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    Triumph 101

    Any Triumph fans here? Rik Emmit (Singer-Triumph) is doing an acoustic show at The Havana Club here in New Hope, PA during December 2016. I really only know the hits that classic rock radio played during the early 80s. What is to be said? Best album? Worst Album? Where is a good place to start? Thanks in advance.

    Library Jon

  2. #2
    Just A Game, Allied Forces, and Never Surrender are all great albums. I never actually heard it, but after Rik left the band, Gil Moore and Mike Levine recruited a new guitarist to record one last album in the early 90's, which I think is generally considered the worst album.

    I remember a review for Surveillance, the last record Rik played on, which noted that it was worrying that the "guitar highlight" on the record came from a guest musician (Steve Morse, in this case).

    One of the things that was cool about Triumph was they weren't just a hard rock band. Rik would usually throw in a acoustic guitar instrumental, and they'd throw in things like Suitcase Blues on Just A Game or Air Raid on Allied Forces.

    And Rik was just about the only hard rock guitarist (other than Nugent, I mean) who was typically seen playing a hollowbody archtop guitar (in Rik's case, a heavily customized Framus Jan Akkerman model).

  3. #3
    Rik puts on a great show as a solo artist. Highly recommended show.
    "The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by ronmac View Post
    Rik puts on a great show as a solo artist. Highly recommended show.
    Yeah, I saw him about 8 or 9 years ago. He came to Cleveland and played two shows in one night, and played completely different sets for each one. He also told a lot of great stories and jokes between the songs too.

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    I am really only interested in a few of their albums to start with. Could someone rank the best three? I was interested in a 2005 anthology but it is out of print and expensive. I would consider compilations if they were a good place to begin.


    Library Jon

  6. #6
    I liked Progressions of Power. "The Blinding Light Show" is a pretty great track.
    "The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Library Jon View Post
    I am really only interested in a few of their albums to start with. Could someone rank the best three? I was interested in a 2005 anthology but it is out of print and expensive. I would consider compilations if they were a good place to begin.
    See my previous post. I name the three best albums in the first sentence.

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    Quote Originally Posted by GuitarGeek View Post
    I never actually heard it, but after Rik left the band, Gil Moore and Mike Levine recruited a new guitarist to record one last album in the early 90's, which I think is generally considered the worst album.
    That was Phil X, currently the guitar player in Bon Jovi.

  9. #9
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    the first two are great, JaG is rather still good, the next are OK at best.
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  10. #10
    Thunder Seven is excellent top to bottom. Allied Forces is a a classic. Live at the US Festival has some great performances, esp of the Never Surrender tunes.

    As for worst: Sport of Kings is terrible, and anything without Rik simply isn't Triumph.

  11. #11
    Man of repute progmatist's Avatar
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    Surveillance is my personal favorite. I like the 80s breathy keyboards, and All The Kings Horses/Carry On The Flame is quite progressive. Steve Morse being on it was the reason I bought it when it came out, but that fact quickly became a footnote in my mind.
    "Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama

  12. #12
    Oh No! Bass Solo! klothos's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Library Jon View Post
    I am really only interested in a few of their albums to start with. Could someone rank the best three?
    Quote Originally Posted by GuitarGeek View Post
    Just A Game, Allied Forces, and Never Surrender are all great albums.
    ^I agree with these three but I think theres actually four including "Progressions of Power"........

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    Member dropforge's Avatar
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    Rock and Roll Machine through Thunder Seven = essential Triumph!

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    Member Digital_Man's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ronmac View Post
    I liked Progressions of Power. "The Blinding Light Show" is a pretty great track.
    I had this on cassette and in fact it's the only Triumph I ever owned. I don't remember that song "the Blinding Light Show" so I guess I'll have to check it out on youtube. I only remember "I can survive" and "I live for the weekend." I think there was an instrumental guitar track called "finger talking" or something too. I always thought this album was good but I don't know if I would say much more about it than that or call it a classic.

  15. #15
    Member Digital_Man's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ronmac View Post
    I liked Progressions of Power. "The Blinding Light Show" is a pretty great track.
    Ok. I looked it up and that track is actually from their first album. No wonder the title didn't sound familiar.

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    Member dropforge's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Digital_Man View Post
    Ok. I looked it up and that track is actually from their first album. No wonder the title didn't sound familiar.
    There are two different versions of this album - one that contains some tracks from each of the first two Triumph albums, and this one, which is a unique second album.
    https://www.discogs.com/Triumph-Rock.../master/319426

  17. #17
    Member Digital_Man's Avatar
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    Yeah I noticed that that song is on different versions of the second album(as well as the first). Still, the song isn't on Progressions of Power though.

  18. #18
    Member dropforge's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Digital_Man View Post
    Still, the song isn't on Progressions of Power though.
    Correct. It's from their first album. Progressions of Power is their fourth.

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Library Jon View Post
    I am really only interested in a few of their albums to start with. Could someone rank the best three? I was interested in a 2005 anthology but it is out of print and expensive. I would consider compilations if they were a good place to begin.


    Library Jon

    The best three:

    1)Thunder Seven
    2)Allied Forces
    3)Never Surrender

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    After watching about 45 minutes of you tube videos of Triumph songs, I decided to attend the New Hope, PA show. I will post a concert review of sorts, afterwards. Thanks for the advice on CDs. I think that I now know where to start.


    Library Jon

  21. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by klothos View Post
    ^I agree with these three but I think theres actually four including "Progressions of Power"........
    I don't remember liking Progressions Of Power too much, save for Emmett's acoustic guitar piece (I can't even remember what it was called) and I Can Get By. It seemed to me like there was a dip in songwriting quality, as if maybe they were rushed into finishing up a followup to Just A Game a little quickly (interesting to note that there's nothing from Progressions Of Power on their Stages live album).

  22. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Roth View Post
    That was Phil X, currently the guitar player in Bon Jovi.
    Oh really? So that's what, 25 years between gigs?! Doesn't sound too promising.

  23. #23
    That would be the original Canadian version of the album. The international version, as released Stateside, was the one that combined tracks from the first two albums. American record companies in particular were fond of doing this, most infamously with most of the British Invasion bands early records (particularly The Beatles and The Rolling Stones), but it also happened with Pink Floyd, AC/DC, The Church, Thompson Twins, and almost certainly many many others I can't think of at the moment.

  24. #24
    BTW, was there ever an explanation for why Too Much Thinking was left off the US Festival video release? I remember renting that from...it might not have even been Blockbuster yet, it might have still be Erol's, which was the name of the local video store (or one of them, anyway) before it got bought out by Blockbuster. Anyway, I remember when you see the band coming onstage at the beginning, Rik Emmett has his red Dean Baby Z (or whatever that model was called) strapped on, but then after they're introduced, the first song is Allied Forces and suddenly he's playing his Framus Akkerman guitar.

    For a long time, I thought maybe they took WHen THe Lights Go Down and moved it from the start of the video to the end, for some reason, since he uses the red Dean on that one, as well. It wasn't until like 10 or 15 years later, someone told me, that they started with Too Much Thinking, but it was dropped from the video release. Once I heard that, I realized, "DUH!" since I remembered reading that in Guitar Player back in 1985 or whenever it was, that Rik had gotten the Dean specifically so he could play those two songs, because he needed a guitar that could do all those big whammy bar bends he does on those two songs (apparently, he used a custom built guitar that had a non-locking tremolo system, which meant he couldn't use it onstage without the guitar going out of tune every time he did one of those dive bombs).

    At any rate, I've always wondered why that song wasn't included, not even on the DVD. Was it not shot, for whatever reason, or was the damaged at some point, or what?

  25. #25
    Oh No! Bass Solo! klothos's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GuitarGeek View Post
    I don't remember liking Progressions Of Power too much, save for Emmett's acoustic guitar piece (I can't even remember what it was called) and I Can Get By. It seemed to me like there was a dip in songwriting quality, as if maybe they were rushed into finishing up a followup to Just A Game a little quickly (interesting to note that there's nothing from Progressions Of Power on their Stages live album).
    I thought they were stepping out of their previous paradigms and trying out new things (Nature's Child, for example). Overall, the album stands up with the others

    That reminds me to tell the OP: Although Triumph has some very good songs, playing, and (studio) performance, every album does have a blatant subset of songs with excessive cheese factor...be forewarned

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