Thunderbox

A&M, 1974

It wasn’t all downhill from here, although it sure felt like it at the time. Catching them at London’s Hammersmith Oden in November ’74, Humble Pie still blew like a hurricane. But albums like Thunderbox marked a steep decline in musical cred. With Marriott co-writing only four (admittedly decent) of its songs, and seven of the remaining eight comprising covers, including, rather unimaginatively, two that had been huge hits just months earlier for Anne Peebles (I Can’t Stand The Rain) and Dobie Grey (Drift Away, here sung in almost mocking style by bassist Greg Ridley fer Chrissakes), only the cool-as-fuck title track sounded truly inspired.