thunder | Outsider Rock

British Hard Rock Supergroup Snakecharmer Anthology 4-CD Box Set Feat. Former Members of Whitesnake, Wishbone Ash, and Thunder Available for Pre-order

An awesome line-up of veteran British rockers, Snakecharmer put out 2 albums in 2013 and 2017. Both albums are full of British classic rock ala early Whitesnake, Bad Company, and the other respective bands some of these guys were a part of. Really, just excellent British rock, as you’d expect Founding member and original Whitesnake guitarist Micky Moody left after the first album to be replaced by Simon McBride, a much younger player who has recently been named the new permanent guitarist for Deep Purple! This 4-disc set comes with bonus tracks, as well as 2 live shows recorded a year apart, featuring the band’s own favorites, as well as a number of Whitesnake classics. *Check out the press info below, track-listing, and links below!

British hard rock supergroup Snakecharmer was formed in 2013 by former members of Whitesnake, Wishbone Ash, and Thunder.

The resulting line-up is a veritable who’s-who of classic hard rock: Vocalist Chris Ousey (Heartland), Guitarist Laurie Wisefield (Home/ Wishbone Ash), Drummer Harry James (Thunder/ Magnum), and Keyboardist Adam Wakeman (Ozzy Osbourne) Guitarist Micky Moody (Whitesnake)

Given the band’s pedigree, it was inevitable that the music would sound like good-time, classic melodic hard rock with a blues edge, their eponymous debut was released in 2013 by Frontiers. The response from fans and critics alike was rapturous, and the band toured to wide acclaim.

In 2015, Moody left the band, replaced by young Irish-born virtuoso Simon McBride (now of Deep Purple). Snakecharmer’s follow up album, Second Skin, arrived in 2017.

This 4-CD box set collects the bands two studio albums as well as two live shows from Milton Keynes which show the band at work in a live environment, the booklet has notes by Classic Rocks Dave Ling talking to the band about their career as well as newly mastered studio albums done by Tony Dixon.

Featuring:
Chris Ousey – Vocals
Simon McBride – Guitar
Laurie Wisefield – Guitar
Adam Wakeman – Keyboards
Neil Murray – Bass
Harry James – Drums
Micky Moody – Guitar

Track list:
DISC ONE: Snakecharmer
My Angel
Accident Prone
To The Rescue
Falling Leaves
A Little Rock & Roll
Turn Of the Screw
Smoking Gun
Stand Up
Guilty As Charged
Nothing To Lose
Cover Me in You
BONUS TRACKS
White Boy Blues
A Breath Away – Japan Only Bonus Track

DISC TWO: Second Skin
Sounds Like a Plan
That Kind of Love
Are You Ready to Fly?
Follow Me Under
I’ll Take You as You Are
Hell Of a Way to Live
Fade Away
Dress It Up
Punching Above My Weight
Forgive And Forget
Where Do We Go from Here?
BONUS TRACK
On My Way – Japan Only Bonus Track

DISC THREE: Live at The Stables, Milton Keynes 26/01/2014
Guilty As Charged
A Little Rock & Roll
Ready An’ Willing
Accident Prone
Walking In the Shadow of The Blues
Falling Leaves
Moody’s Blues
Slow An’ Easy
My Angel
[Band Introductions]
Cover Me in You
Nothing To Lose
Here I Go Again
Fool For Your Loving

DISC FOUR: Live at The Stables, Milton Keynes 17/01/2015
Intro.
Guilty As Charged
A Little Rock & Roll
Ready An’ Willing
Cover Me in You
Accident Prone
Falling Leaves
Walking In the Shadow of The Blues
My Angel
Moody’s Blues
Slow An’ Easy
Nothing To Lose
Here I Go Again
Take Me with You
Fool For Your Loving

To pre-order: https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/snakecharmer-snakecharmer-anthology-4cd-box-set/

Links:

https://www.facebook.com/QEDG.snakecharmer/

British hard-rockers Thunder have just released their latest album – Dopamine – a year after 2021’s excellent All The Right Moves. Dopamine is a double album [2CD / 2LP] boasting 16 tracks, with lots of variation. Rockers like opening cut “The Western Sky”, “All The Way”, “Dancing In The Sunshine” and “Across The Nation” – the latter 2 should make for great live cuts – upbeat with a cool riffs, lyrics that seem to mark a return to good times. Thunder’s appeal is not just the rock tracks, because this is all full of big rockers, but it is full of awesome different tunes, use of different instruments, thoughtful lyrics (topics dealing with social media and the effects of the pandemic], and excellent production. Among the album’s best are acoustic tracks like “Even If It Takes A LIfetime” and “Unravelling”, as well as the blues ballad “Big Pink Supermoon”. Early faves – “No Smoke Without Fire” and “Last Orders”. Lots to dig in here, so if you’re in to this band (or just good ol’ British classic rock) you’ll find lots of interest here.

Press Release:

‘Dopamine’ is Thunder’s first ever double-album, and consists of 16 tracks. The first single, ‘The Western Sky’, is available now and you can see the video at the top of this article.

Guitarist, songwriter and Thunder co-founder Luke Morley says: “’We didn’t set out to make a double album but as the writing and recording process went on we wandered into some interesting areas and then it became a case of ‘can we afford to leave any of this off?’ In the end we did reduce it from 20 tunes to 16 but it wasn’t an easy choice.”

‘Dopamine’ was inspired by the world’s mass retreat to social media during the pandemic lockdowns, endlessly hunting for the next hit of happy hormones.

“I read a fascinating article by an American psychologist,” says Luke, “who said that social media forces us to become dopamine addicts. We’re validated and liked on social media, which releases the dopamine – and so we get addicted to it. We take more and more selfies in the hope of more and more validation, and the album cover reflects this. People are surrounded by amazing things that they’re missing because they’re so self-obsessed. Of course, you’ll have to get your hands on the physical album to see all of the amazing things I’m referring to.”

The new album comes at the perfect time for Thunder, whose line-up for the last quarter-century and more has been Luke and Danny Bowes (singer), plus Ben Matthews (guitar and keyboards), Chris Childs (bass) and Harry James (drums).

They’ve been riding a wave of success since their 2015 comeback album ‘Wonder Days’ and releasing the acclaimed ‘All The Right Noises’ last year.

The album will be available in CD and double LP vinyl, with exclusive lenticular cover versions available only from the Thunder online store.

Thunder will also embark upon a UK arena tour in May 2022, including a date at London’s OVO Arena Wembley.

The track listing for ‘Dopamine’ is:

CD1 / LP1