By this stage of Triumph’s career, the band had arrived at the crossroads of dysfunctionality. Though ‘Surveillance’ is my favourite album, it’s certainly one that the band themselves don’t rate, for the reason that it wasn’t a cohesive or ‘band’ album.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Triumph
ALBUM: Surveillance
LABEL: MCA
SERIAL: MCAD-42083
YEAR: 1987
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada
LINEUP: Rik Emmett – vocals, guitars * Gil Moore – vocals, drums * Mike Levine – bass, keyboards
TRACK LISTING: 01 Prologue: Into The Forever * 02 Never Say Never * 03 Headed For Nowhere * 04 All The Kings Horses * 05 Carry On The Flame * 06 Let The Light (Shine On Me) * 07 Long Time Gone * 08 Rock You Down * 09 Prelude: The Waking Dream * 10 On And On * 11 All Over Again * 12 Running In The Night
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
By this stage of Triumph’s career, the band had arrived at the crossroads of dysfunctionality. Though ‘Surveillance’ is my favourite album, it’s certainly one that the band themselves don’t rate, for the reason that it wasn’t a cohesive or ‘band’ album.
The divisive situation ended up being Emmett, versus Moore and Levine. Without question the ‘rot’ had set in, with the band acknowledging issues like ‘creative differences’ and ‘incompatibility’ getting in the way. It wasn’t long after this effort that Emmett left the band.
The Songs
For what it’s worth, there are still some wonderfully melodic moments on ‘Surveillance’, despite the negative environment in which it was constructed. ‘Never Say Never’, ‘On And On’ and the piece de resistance ‘All Over Again’ all demonstrate that on their day, these guys were unmatched.
‘Running In The Night’ is a Mark Baker co-write, which ended up being rebadged by Signal on their ‘Loud And Clear’ album as the track ‘Go’. Other erstwhile highlights include the close pairing of ‘All The Kings Horses’ and ‘Carry On The Flame’. Steve Morse puts an appearance in too, on the high-velocity tune ‘Headed For Nowhere’.
In Summary
A great album, but tarnished by the band’s circumstances at the time. Triumph did not return until 1992 with the ‘Edge Of Excess’ album, resorting to an HM style. They had added Phil X (ex Frozen Ghost) as their replacement for Rik Emmett, but I suppose without him being there to temper the sound, the band let loose the shackles to play in the style that Moore and Levine wanted.
Despite the problems of the past, the orignal trio put their past behind them to focus on the future, with a reunion for 2008, which saw the band return to the stage for 2008’s Sweden Rock Festival. Ah, miracles do happen!
Triumph on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
