Thank Christ for the Bomb

Thank Christ for the Bomb
Studio album by The Groundhogs
Released	May 1970
Recorded	February 1970
Genre	Blues rock[1] progressive rock[2] psychedelic[3]
Length	39.41
Label	Liberty Records (original release) BGO (1989 UK reissue) Akarma (1998 Italian reissue) Elemental Music (2014 reissue) Fire (2018 UK reissue)
Producer	Tony (T.S.) McPhee
The Groundhogs chronology
Blues Obituary (1969) Thank Christ for the Bomb (1970) Split (1971)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[4]

Thank Christ for the Bomb is the third studio album recorded by The Groundhogs, originally released by Liberty Records in 1970.[5] It was engineered by Martin Birch, who had previously worked on albums by Deep Purple,[6] Jeff Beck, Fleetwood Mac and Peter Green. It entered the UK Melody Maker album charts at number 27 on 20 June 1970, and had a total of 3 entries in that chart.[7]

The album is a concept album, or to be exact, has two concepts. Side 1 (tracks 1–4) addresses what McPhee termed "alienness" while side 2 is, according to the sleeve notes, "the story of a man who lived in Chelsea all his life; first in a mansion then on the benches of the embankment".

Artwork

The image of Pete Cruickshank on the left of the cover is adapted from photograph Q 1 in the Imperial War Museum's photograph archive.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Tony McPhee

1. "Strange Town" – 4:16
2. "Darkness Is No Friend" – 3:48
3. "Soldier" – 4:51
4. "Thank Christ for the Bomb" – 7:15
5. "Ship on the Ocean" – 3:27
6. "Garden" – 5:19
7. "Status People" – 3:32
8. "Rich Man, Poor Man" – 3:25
9. "Eccentric Man" – 4:53

2003 CD reissue bonus tracks (live versions)

1. "Garden" – 3:35
2. "Eccentric Man" – 5:01
3. "Soldier" – 15:03

Personnel

The Groundhogs

• Tony McPhee – guitars, vocals
• Peter Cruickshank – bass
• Ken Pustelnik – drums

Technical

• Martin Birch – engineer
• Alan Tanner – artwork

References

1. "The Top 30 British Blues Rock Albums Of All Time". Classic Rock. Future plc. 23 March 2007. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
2. Banks, Joe (March 2021). "The Groundhogs: their path from blues to something far more progressive". Prog Magazine. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
3. Clarke, Patricia (5 August 2021). "Luke Haines on 'Garden' from Thank Christ For The Bomb (1970)". theQuietus. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
4. Thompson, Dave. Thank Christ for the Bomb at AllMusic
5. "Thank Christ for the Bomb". www.discogs.com. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
6. "Groundhogs—Thank Christ for the Bomb". www.headheritage.co.uk. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
7. "Thank Christ for the Bomb". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 July 2011.