Audio CD review:
Triumph - In the Beginning

Triumph - In the Beginning

Band: Triumph Title: In the Beginning Rating: Release Date: 2005-09-06 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: 24 Hours a Day - Triumph, Emmett, Rik 2: Be My Lover - Triumph, Emmett, Rik 3: Don't Take My Life - Triumph, Moore, Gil 4: Street Fighter - Triumph, Moore, Gil 5: Street Fighter (Reprise) - Triumph, Moore, Gil 6: What's Another Day of Rock & Roll - Triumph, Moore, Gil 7: Easy Life - Triumph, Levine, Michael 8: Let Me Get Next to You - Triumph, Moore, Gil 9: Blinding Light Show/Moonchild - Triumph, Emmett, Rik

Formula Rock Paint by the numbers hard rock. Even a generic hard rock band like Triumph can sound good if you're in the right frame of mind, which is to say if you are able to ignore lyrics that are cliche to the nth degree and riffs copped freely from Led Zep and even Boston. Deal with it. Decent beginning, not the best starting point For many years it had seemed that there wasn't a lot of memorable material on it. I recently bought this album for completion's sake, because I had read good things about it, and because it had been decades since I'd heard it. On later albums Triumph progressed fairly steadily to their artistic peak at the "Thunder Seven" album, so there was never really a great need to have this "origin issue" in my collection. Having listened to this very nicely remastered album several times, things haven't changed too much. It's early Triumph and little more, which is fine. The most memorable and distinctive track is "Blinding Light Show/Moonchild," but that song doesn't exactly bowl me over. Still, there are some worthwhile moments here, mostly in the first few tracks. As a starting point for discovering Triumph I'd recommend either (or both!) of the albums "Rock and Roll Machine" and "Just A Game. ". Their first and it's one of their best! The others are sub par in my opinion with maybe Allied Forces and Thunder Seven being the exceptions. Well as others have said, this release along with Rock & Roll Machine and Just A Game are all must have Triumph cd's. If you really enjoy good guitar driven rock & roll the first 3 cd's are the ones you want. Sound quality is good and the tunes rock. What more can you ask for? No bad for a 3 piece outfit hailing from Toronto Canada. They were indeed a great band at one point and time. . Great album from a fairly obscure group. They're not a band you hear too often (or at all) on the typical classic rock radio stations. Prior to a few weeks ago, I had never even heard of Triumph. This album combines hard rock with some nice softer ballads. They're style reminds me of Rush and Boston, but they throw in their own sound to give them an extra push. Highly recommended. ABOUT TIME! I must admit my opinion is jaded, because I view Triumph as one of the best rock bands ever! This should tell you I don't base my opinion on sales or airplay. This took me 25 years to obtain on a CD, but now I've got it and I don't have to worry about wearing my album out! I've read mixed reviews on this album and must say I disagree with those that don't like it, but everyone's entitled to their opinion, even when they're wrong! Not only is this a great first album, it is one of their 3 best, the others being Rock & Roll Machine and Just A Game. Although where I'm from Triumph is and has always been on the air. This album showcases it all; Rik Emmett's great guitar work and vocals, Gil Moore's primal pounding and vocals, and Mike Levine's production and bass work. There is a variety of music and styles here, which should serve to showcase the talent of this band, which is also the reason I assume some don't like it. To each there own, though! I would have to encourage you to buy this if you've liked any of the songs that did receive airplay by them over the years. If you own other Triumph, this and "Rock & Roll Machine" should be essential parts of your collection. Mine wasn't complete until I finally found them on CD. Now I can breath a sigh of relief. Do your ears and stereo a favor and try out "In the Begining", whose original title was just plain Triumph when it came out on Attic records back in the day. You can always get the RCA copy of Rock & Roll Machine, which is a compilation of the first 2 Attic releases, but you'd be cheating yourself out of some great music. You can see a complete list of all Triumph discography, or go back to the Triumph tabs