Giving the Game Away

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Giving the Game Away
Studio album by Thunder
Released 15 March 1999
Recorded April 1998
Genre Hard rock
Length 50:46
Label Eagle Records
Producer Luke Morley
Thunder chronology
Live
(1998)Live1998
Giving the Game Away
(1999)
Open the Window, Close the Door – Live in Japan
(2000)Open the Window, Close the Door – Live in Japan2000
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3/5 stars

Giving the Game Away is the fifth studio album by English Rock band Thunder.[1] It was released in 1999 (to mark the band's 10th anniversary) on the Eagle Records label, three years after their previous album "The Thrill of It All, although the recording sessions for it had been completed almost a year earlier.[2] The album was the first to feature new bassist Chris Childs, who had joined the line up prior to the tour to support "The Thrill of It All" in 1996 - it would also turn out to be their final release prior to their (albeit temporary) breakup in April 2000. The change in musical direction on the album (featuring a much greater use of acoustic guitars & keyboards than their earlier material) met with mixed reviews from critics, with the Allmusic review of the album labelling it "unexpectedly mellow" and this may well have contributed to it failing to repeat the commercial success of its predecessors (it failed to make the top 40 of the UK Albums Chart, stalling at number 49). The two singles released from the album also met with mixed fortunes on the U.K charts - their cover of the Wild Cherry song Play That Funky Music gave the band their 16th Top 40 hit (reaching number 39 in June 1998[3]), but the follow up "You Wanna Know (Just Another Suicide)" was only able to reach number 49 (the same position as the album itself) on release in March 1999.
The album was reissued by Eagle Records as a 2-CD '10th Anniversary Edition' in 2009, with a bonus disc containing 3 extra tracks - the radio edit of "You Wanna Know" and 2 live tracks.

Track listing

All songs written by Luke Morley, except where noted:[4]

  1. "Just Another Suicide (You Wanna Know)" (Morley, James) - 4:08
  2. "All I Ever Wanted" - 4:17
  3. "Giving the Game Away" - 5:03
  4. "You'll Still Need a Friend" - 4:29
  5. "Rolling the Dice" - 4:56
  6. "Numb" - 5:18
  7. "Play That Funky Music" (Rob Parissi) - 3:47
  8. "'Til It Shines" - 4:52
  9. "Time to Get Tough" - 3:50
  10. "It's Another Day" - 4:41
  11. "It Could Be Tonight" (Morley, James, Taylor) - 5:20
  12. "Wonderland"*
  13. "The Only One"* (Morley, James)
  • Bonus Tracks on Japanese edition only

10th Anniversary Edition Track listing

CD1:

  1. "Just Another Suicide (You Wanna Know)"
  2. "All I Ever Wanted"
  3. "Giving The Game Away"
  4. "You'll Still Need a Friend"
  5. "Rolling the Dice"
  6. "Numb"
  7. "Play That Funky Music (Rob Parissi)
  8. "'Til It Shines"
  9. "Time to Get Tough"
  10. "It's Another Day"
  11. "It Could Be Tonight"

CD2:

  1. "You Wanna Know" (Radio Edit)
  2. "With a Little Help from My Friends" (Live) (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
  3. "She's So Fine" (Live)

Personnel

Notes

  1. AllMusic - Thunder DiscographyAllmusic.com; Retrieved 21 October 2011
  2. Thunder Online - Band HistoryThunder Online official website; Retrieved 21 October 2011
  3. EveryHit.com search - Thunderwww.everyhit.com; Retrieved 21 October 2011
  4. Album sleeve notes