Essential Jason and the Scorchers, Volume One: Are You Ready for the Country (1992)
Thunder and Fire is an album by the American band Jason & the Scorchers, released in 1989.[2][3] The band promoted the album by playing shows with Webb Wilder and Bob Dylan, among others.[4][5] "When the Angels Cry" and "Find You" were released as singles.[6]
The album was a commercial disappointment, failing to chart.[7][8] The band broke up after the album's release, but reformed in the mid-1990s.[9]
Production
The album was produced by Barry Beckett.[10][11] The band placed stage lights in the studio, to reproduce the atmosphere of a live show.[12] The Scorchers spent two years making the album, recording it with new members Andy York and Ken Fox; the band had around 45 songs from which to choose.[13][14][8] "My Kingdom for a Car" is a cover of the Phil Ochs song.[3] "Bible and a Gun" was cowritten by Steve Earle.[15]Don Schlitz cowrote "When the Angels Cry".[16]
Trouser Press wrote that, "rather than successfully integrating the group's stylistic impulses, Thunder and Fire divides them into reheated rockers that short the Scorchers' personality and semi-acoustic country numbers that seem out of place."[15]The Washington Post concluded that it "comes closer to the band's high-voltage live show than any of its first three albums."[4] The Richmond Times-Dispatch labeled that band "honest, unfussy and committed to delivering red hot rock 'n' roll."[22] The Houston Chronicle considered it "a graceful attempt at gaining a wider audience without sacrificing the band's soul."[20]
The Chicago Tribune determined that "Jason is no snarler—his voice is plaintive—and his melodies keep ringing long after the volume subsides."[19]The New York Times concluded that "few bands can deliver clanging, stomping, crunching flat-out rock-and-roll like Jason and the Scorchers."[23] The Chicago Sun-Times opined that Thunder and Fire "lacks the songwriting richness of previous efforts, but it comes close to capturing the concert sizzle of America's most incendiary roots-rock band."[18]The Providence Journal listed the album as one of the ten best of 1989.[24]
AllMusic wrote that "Bible and a Gun" "recalls the best things about the roots-rock movement of the late '80s."[17] The Austin American-Statesman deemed "When the Angels Cry" "the most powerful music of the band's recorded history."[25]The Rolling Stone Album Guide noted that the songs were still about "girls and driving."[21]
