The album was the project of founder member Ian Parton, who over the course of 2003 recorded demos and musical ideas after work onto many dozens of cassettes using a lo-fi 4-track recorder, and titled each tape with a potential song name idea. Each track on the album was created by combining five or six different ideas from this large assortment of tapes, trying out different chorus sections from one with the verse section of another, to give the music an overall feeling of constantly switching radio channels. 'Get It Together' was the first track Parton created where he felt he'd got the juxtaposition of differing styles within one song right, giving him the template and direction for the rest of the album.
Recording
Recording took place in both the garage and kitchen of Parton's parents' house in Swansea while they were away on holiday, with him playing all live instruments himself. The album was co-produced by his sound engineer brother Gareth Parton, who helped Ian set up the makeshift home recording facility in Wales, and later mixed the tracks at The Fortress Studios and Bluestone in London.
'Legal' and 'Illegal' versions
The original 2004 Memphis Industries release of the album had had none of its many samples cleared, as Parton didn't expect the album to attract much attention. However Thunder, Lightning, Strike received wide critical acclaim and was later nominated for the 2005 Mercury Music Prize. Thereupon a 'legally clean' version of the album was painstakingly recreated by the Parton brothers, containing only cleared or interpolated samples, and rewritten, resung lyrics, all under the guidance of a legal musicologist. Junior Kickstart, Bottle Rocket and Ladyflash were among the most heavily reworked tracks, whilst Get It Together was one of a few tracks that remained untouched. This revised 'legal' version of the album was re-released in the United Kingdom and the United States by Columbia Records in October 2005, with two additional bonus tracks. The album peaked at number 48 on the UK Albums Chart in February 2006, some 18 months after its original release.
Reception
Reception to Thunder, Lightning, Strike was very positive. On review aggregator site Metacritic, the album has a score of 86, indicating "universal acclaim". Pitchfork placed Thunder, Lightning, Strike at number eight in their list of the top albums of 2004 and at number 171 on their list of the top 200 albums of the 2000s.
Track listing
Sample credits
"Ladyflash" contains samples of "The DMX Will Rock You ", written by David Reeves; "Come See About Me", written by Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland, and Eddie Holland; "I Can't Rest", written by Billy Davis, Raynard Miner, and Carl Smith; Wild Style; and "Ashley's Roachclip", written by Lloyd Pinchback.
"The Power Is On" contains samples of Black Magic; '; and Gimme an 'F.
