Vintage Review: Jason & the Scorchers' Thunder and Fire (1989)

Jason & the Scorchers are, arguably, the best-known of Nashville’s brash young bands, an outfit with a critically-acclaimed past and an infinitely-open future. Thunder and Fire is their first album for A & M Records, and their first effort with the new band. Folks, they’ve never been better.

This is a mature and fully-realized work: Jason’s songwriting collaborations breathe new life into the Scorchers’ material; Warner’s guitar playing gets better and better; and the additions of bassist Ken Fox and skilled multi-instrumentalist Andy York round out the sound of the band, allowing them more diversity and providing a fuller, bigger feel to the songs. Drummer and co-writer Perry Baggz is like “Old Faithful,” an often (unfortunately) overlooked and underrated percussionist who manages to balance the entire chaotic crew.

The result is an album, Thunder and Fire, that is certain to become the band’s biggest. Artistically impressive, musically powerful, lyrically fresh and exciting, the Scorchers made the album that they wanted to, and it shows. The boys may have gotten older, but they’ve not gotten softer…if anything, they’ve become more passionate, more committed with age. (A&M Records)

Review originally published by The Metro, 1989