Often considered one of the most disappointing Triumph records, “The Sport of Kings” was attacked because of its heavy keyboard sound and the band’s shift to a more radio-friendly song style (in the vein of the then uber-popular Foreigner and Journey).

While this newly remastered version of this CD can’t erase all of that 80s cheesiness, “The Sport of Kings” does sound more dynamic today than it did upon its initial release, even if some of the songs are truly dated (and, over 20 years later, why wouldn’t they be?). While songs like “Tears in the Rain” perhaps play better today than in 1985 (due to the exquisite remastering here), the lackluster of other songs — such as “What Rules My Heart” — becomes really apparent.

Not a bad Triumph CD if you’re a fan of 80s rock radio, but quite disappointing if you like Triumph’s harder-edged sound, “The Sport of Kings” at least benefits from the recent re-mastering. It still may not be one of the band’s best CDs, but at least some of the better tunes have been punched up a little.

Triumph: Rik Emmett – guitars, vocals; Mike Levine – bass, keyboards; Gil Moore – drums, vocals.

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Often considered one of the most disappointing Triumph records, “The Sport of Kings” was attacked because of its heavy keyboard sound and the band’s shift to a more radio-friendly song style (in the vein of the then uber-popular Foreigner and Journey).

While this newly remastered version of this CD can’t erase all of that 80s cheesiness, “The Sport of Kings” does sound more dynamic today than it did upon its initial release, even if some of the songs are truly dated (and, over 20 years later, why wouldn’t they be?). While songs like “Tears in the Rain” perhaps play better today than in 1985 (due to the exquisite remastering here), the lackluster of other songs — such as “What Rules My Heart” — becomes really apparent.

Not a bad Triumph CD if you’re a fan of 80s rock radio, but quite disappointing if you like Triumph’s harder-edged sound, “The Sport of Kings” at least benefits from the recent re-mastering. It still may not be one of the band’s best CDs, but at least some of the better tunes have been punched up a little.

Triumph: Rik Emmett – guitars, vocals; Mike Levine – bass, keyboards; Gil Moore – drums, vocals.

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When I was 13, my uncle had a music store in Tulsa, OK and he let me pick out any cassette I wanted — a cassette, mind you. As you may guess, I chose Triumph’s “Allied Forces.” Well, some may argue with my choice but it sparked a love for music that led me to keep that cassette free of nicks and scratches until the CD came out and I guard that closely as well. I primarily picked it because of the radio favorites that you can still hear today on any classic rock station. Listening to Triumph on my MP3 player destroys the memories I had when they released this guitar-flavored favorite, so I try to preserve what I can.

Rik Emmett and Gil Moore share vocal duties on this disc. They each take turns per the tracklist but it’s Emmett who shines on such classics as “Magic Power” and “Say Goodbye.” I’ve heard Triumph called by some as “the poor man’s Rush” but I give credit to both bands equally. I’ve always felt that Triumph had a slight amount of blues stirring in them and the song “Hot Time (In This City Tonight)” confirmed that to be true.

My only complaint is the song “Ordinary Man.” It’s kind of cheesy and long but, at 2:46, the song takes a gallop and keeps your interest for a few more bars. I know that they are a progressive band but this track just drags along. One that may have slipped by you is “Petite Etude” — it has some clean classical guitar picking and it leads into the final track that allows Triumph to close out their fifth disc with an oft-requested favorite.

There is a passionate sound that Triumph tried to translate in their music; I got it, and although some 80s music has been shelved for a while; it calls to those who liked Triumph to at least revisit their mark on history.

The best cuts are “Fool For Your Love,” “Magic Power,” “Fight The Good Fight,” and “Say Goodbye.”

Triumph: Rik Emmett – vocals, guitar; Gil Moore – drums, vocals; Mike Levine – bass, keyboards.

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There’s a reason this “Greatest Hits” package is entitled “Classics.” I think that’s an appropriate title because Triumph’s music can be heard on the classic stations, and, after you review the track list and haven’t heard one of these songs in awhile, call up your local DJ and request it.

“Classics” runs the years between Triumph’s best hits and even pulls from their first album with the raw 1976 hit “Rock & Roll Machine.” The song “Somebody’s Out There” could have been taken from any Journey album when Steve Perry was crooning to the crowds. All in all, it’s a musical treat from start to finish. Each song is a memory and everybody has their own to relive and smile about.
I won’t wax anymore than is needed. If you have this CD then kudos to you for buying one of their compilations, if you don’t, seriously, what’s wrong with you?

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“Live at the US Festival” (TML / Universal; 2003)

Triumph fans will love the fact the band’s live performance at the legendary US Festival in 1983 is finally available for the first time ever on CD.

Containing nearly an hour of great Triumph tunes, including “Allied Forces,” “Lay it on the Line,” “Never Surrender,” “Rock & Roll Machine” and more, “Live at the US Festival” is a great document of a popular band performing a great set in front of a crowd of over half a million. And a great performance it is. The band sounds at the top of their form, with blistering leads from Rik Emmett and solid rhythm support from Gil Moore and Mike Levine. There must be something about playing before an audience that large that brings out the best in musicians.

The production is stellar, especially considering that the source material are analog tapes over 20 years old. “Live at the US Festival” sounds like it could have been recorded last year.

I’ve heard some rumblings about added keyboards and missing songs here but, being unfamiliar with the original performance and various bootlegs being traded around, I didn’t notice at all.

“Live at the US Festival” is a must for any Triumph fan. Fans of ’80s “metal” will find lots to like here as well.

Also available is a DVD, to be reviewed soon.

Triumph: Rik Emmett – guitars, vocals; Gil Moore – drums, vocals; Mike Levine – bass, vocals.

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“Live at the US Festival” (TML / Universal; 2003)

Triumph fans will love the fact the band’s live performance at the legendary US Festival in 1983 is finally available for the first time ever on CD.

Containing nearly an hour of great Triumph tunes, including “Allied Forces,” “Lay it on the Line,” “Never Surrender,” “Rock & Roll Machine” and more, “Live at the US Festival” is a great document of a popular band performing a great set in front of a crowd of over half a million. And a great performance it is. The band sounds at the top of their form, with blistering leads from Rik Emmett and solid rhythm support from Gil Moore and Mike Levine. There must be something about playing before an audience that large that brings out the best in musicians.

The production is stellar, especially considering that the source material are analog tapes over 20 years old. “Live at the US Festival” sounds like it could have been recorded last year.

I’ve heard some rumblings about added keyboards and missing songs here but, being unfamiliar with the original performance and various bootlegs being traded around, I didn’t notice at all.

“Live at the US Festival” is a must for any Triumph fan. Fans of ’80s “metal” will find lots to like here as well.

Also available is a DVD, to be reviewed soon.

Triumph: Rik Emmett – guitars, vocals; Gil Moore – drums, vocals; Mike Levine – bass, vocals.

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Picked this one up used and despite the fact that I had never heard it, thought I’d give it a shot. I mean, how bad could it be right? Well, I was oblivious to the fact that Rick Emmett did not play on this disc. That right there had me a bit skeptical before I even popped the disc into my CD player. To me Emmett gave Triumph their charm and charisma with his rafter rocking vocals and neo-classical guitar work. Drummer Gil Moore and bassist Mike Levine were obviously a big part of the band as well, but Triumph without Emmett is like Aerosmith without Steven Tyler, Led Zeppelin without Jimmy Page. It’s just not the same band. So, while “Edge of Excess” doesn’t really sound like Triumph, it’s also not a bad arena rock album. “Child of the City”, “Black Sheep” and “Trouble Maker” are all actually pretty solid rockers. (“Trouble Maker” was also featured in the Hellraiser III soundtrack.) So, despite missing a vital part of the formula, “Edge of Success” is actually pretty successful.

1. “Child Of The City” (5:04)
2. “Troublemaker” (4:06)
3. “It’s Over” (4:21)
4. “Edge Of Excess” (4:44)
5. “Turn My Back On Love” (4:06)
6. “Ridin High Again” (4:55)
7. “Black Sheep” (5:25)
8. “Boy’s Night Out” (5:19)
9. “Somewhere Tonight” (4:34)
10. “Love In A Minute” (4:45)

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1. “Tear the Roof Off” (5:01)
2. “American Girls” (4:52)
3. “Lay It on the Line” (4:54)
4. “Allied Forces” (3:48)
5. “Fight the Good Fight” (5:23)
6. “Blinding Light Show/Moonchild” (12:27)
7. “Rock ‘N’ Roll Machine” (9:42)
8. “I Live for the Weekend” (2:19)
9. “Nature’s Child” (4:12)
10. “Drum Solo” (3:44)
11. “Instrumental” (5:09)
12. “Rocky Mountain Way” (5:22)
13. “Hot Time in the City Tonight” (4:31)

Sometimes it takes just one cd to rediscover a band. I use to be a big Triumph fan, but had basically forgotten about them after I sold all my vinyl. Fortunately, some ten years later, I picked up this cd in the used bins for $3.99 and WHAM! Killer band! I need to build up my Triumph collection now. Having seen Triumph in the past, I think King Biscuit’s live disc features an even better track selection than the officially released “Stages”. I particularly enjoyed hearing all the guitar and drum solos once again. It brought back flashbacks of those wonderful laser light shows that Triumph had at their concerts. Great stuff. Like I said, I will be building up this collection, so this page will be growing soon.

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1.  Tears in the Rain (3:54)
2.  Somebody’s Out There (4:05)
3.  What Rules My Heart (3:54)
4.  If Only (4:00)
5.  Hooked on You (3:23)
6.  Take a Stand (4:30)
7.  Just One Night (3:39)
8.  Embrujo [instrumental] (1:29)
9.  Play with the Fire (5:18)
10. Don’t Love Anybody Else but Me (3:55)
11. In the Middle of the Night (4:34)

Considered by many fans  to be the last great Triumph record, others consider it to be one of the band’s worst. “The Sport of Kings” is definitely radio-friendly, especially the surprisingly melodic and catchy “Somebody’s Out There”. With Triumph’s popularity and string of past hits, how did this song not become a hit? “Tears in the Rain” and “What Rules My Heart” are both classic Triumph rockers. I’m also partial to “Play with the Fire”, one of the harder rocking songs on the album. As usual Rik Emmett’s guitar playing is excellent. As on past records, this album’s lone instrumental allows Rik to strutt his stuff. “Embrujo” is a short, dynamic guitar solo with a Spanish influence. “Hooked on You” is a straight forward blues rocker and one of the only songs where Rik Emmett & Gil Moore share lead vocals. “Just One Night” sounds like it could have been a Foreigner ballad. I tend to agree with the majority on “The Sport of Kings” that it was their last great record. While it seems to be slightly more slickly produced than some past albums, it still sounds like classic Triumph to me.

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1.   Prologue: Into The Forever (1:01)
2.   Never Say Never (3:36)
3.   Headed For Nowhere (6:07)
4.   All The King’s Horses (1:47)
5.   Carry On The Flame (5:14)
6.   Let The Light (Shine On Me) (5:33)
7.   Long Time Gone (5:10)
8.   Rock You Down (3:57)
9.   Prelude: The Waking Dream [instrumental] (1:13)
10. On And On (3:49)
11. All Over Again (3:57)

Triumps’s “Surveillance” is a slickly produced, radio rock album and is a departure from the heavier rock of everything up and through “Allied Forces”. Whereas some band’s benefit from a slick production, I think Triumph were a better band when they had a rawer sound. The band also adds more keyboards to this album as well. However, all that is not to say that “Surveillance” is a bad album. I also preferred the rawer, harder rocking Whitesnake albums to the far more popular and slickly produced mid-80’s albums. The more commercial approach worked well for Whitesnake. It should have worked well for Triumph as well because “Surveillance” is chock full of songs ripe and ready for radio play. “Never Say Never” is almost a power-pop tune with a cool intro in the form of “Prologue: Into the Forever”. Listening to this song I can only imagine how heavy it would have been had the guitars been turned up and the keyboards minimized. Still, a very cool song that could have been a hit. Though I’ve never been a huge fan of ballads, “All Over Again” is a good song and again could easily have been a hit on the level of “Is This Love” and “Honestly”. The song features one of Gil Moore’s best vocal performances. Once again, the approach worked for Whitesnake, but it shall forever be a mystery as to why it didn’t work for Triumph. Rik Emmett lets loose on some smokin’ guitar solos on this album and his vocals are as great as they have ever been. It’s just unfortunate that the rock and roll machine was hidden behind a layer of gloss and keyboards. Still, not a bad record.

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