NEVER SURRENDER

Another classic from the golden age of Triumph. This one came out on the heels of Allied Forces, and included three hit singles on the 1983 Mainstream Rock charts in North America (note the genre of these hits – more on tat later).

The album cover is impressive enough – a cartoonish drawing of a warrior’s face mask sprouting what is apparently a profile of a phoenix above the eyes. This was contributed by Canadian artist Ken Steacy, better known for his comic book work like Orb and Johnny Quest. Today I had occasion to actually get past the cover and play this one for the first time in twenty years.

The second most striking attribute after the cover is the lyrics on the back of the record sleeve. Some choice gems here – many words to live by from the boys up north:

“where there’s a will there’s a way; every dog will have his day”.

“you better watch out, you better look around, ‘cause what goes up is gonna’ come down”

“writing on the wall – stand up and be counted; all for one and one for all”

“see tomorrow coming, shake the hand of fate. Mirror, mirror on the wall – is it all too late”

“the loser pays and the strong survive, so take your shot – give it all you can”

“I have no choice – I answer the call; I can see it, and I believe it – there is wisdom in the writing on the wall”

and no shortage of tender moments either:

“the path of least resistance has led me right to you”

“oh sweet love, you wore such a disguise: so neat love, the way I fell for your lies”

The music is pretty much what we’ve come to expect from the Triumph trio – Rik Emmett shredding his way through a couple of chords per song, off-key shrieking, and Levine alternating between his one-two bass rhythm and nondescript keyboard work. Really, Gil Moore is a decent drummer, and he probably deserves better than this.

“Never Surrender” fits the previous description, not much more to add. “When the Lights go Down” is Triumph’s version of REO Speedwagon’s much better “Back on the Road Again”, with Emmett reaching new heights of toneless singing. “Too Much Thinking”, which kinds of describes the song-writing approach of this band, carries the message that we’re all doomed and are going to die.

There’s an attempt at a soldier tribute with “Battle Cry”, then more shrieking and shredding on “All the Way”.

Apparently the band is predicting the fate of this album with “The Writing on the Wall”, and finally the album ends with the inexplicably hit single “A World of Fantasy”, a confused love song for yet another woman Emmett is both drawn to and repulsed by. With any luck she got away.

So ends another in a too long line of Triumph musical forays. I will say that with the possible exception of Thunder Seven, this is probably their finest work.

One star.

peace