THE SPORT OF KINGS

I feel really embarrassed with some of the reviews on this band. Actually, these reviews and the overall abyssal ratings detracted me from trying Triumph again after something like a thirty years hiatus. Fortunately, traveling from link to link on Youtube, I happened to stumble upon some Triumph songs and I was really surprised by how good some of these songs are. That being said, with all due respect to guideline number 5, Triumph obviously have nothing to do on this website since their music is not remotely prog and the biography doesn't give much explanation on their presence. But they are here and so I guess that they deserve a fair or at least -since musical taste is a highly subjective matter- a more open minded treatment.

The Sport of Kings is not one of Triumph most praised albums, being seen as too poppy and slick, so this is no surprise that it gets the lowest rating of all of their discography on PA. This is indeed an AOR album in the vein of Foreigner (the band that comes to my mind first), Styx or Journey, where most songs can be labeled generic of the genre. Though, as far as I am concerned, these songs, while unspectacular, make it for a pleasant listen and lay the scene for the four gems of the album. Amongst these gems, first comes Somebody's Out There, a pop tune with a catchy as hell chorus that made for an obvious single ; two tracks later arrives If Only, a great power ballad ; finally the acoustic guitar instrumental Embrujo blends with Play With The Fire, a brilliant rocker that is the longest and IMHO best song of the album. A few words can be added for the second and last single, Just One Night, a ballad that in my book went, listen after listen, from totally lame at first to an assumed guilty pleasure. I read somewhere that this is the most radio-played Triumph song, which is not necessarily a good thing for the band's fame.

Overall, I consider The Sport of Kings a solid three stars album. But I suggest that prog fans who are not allergic to heavy AOR start somewhere else with Triumph, Allied Forces being probably the safer pick.