Album Notes

This cd sounds amazing with it’s warm, thick and rich quality, it’s like you are there! In fact HELL TONITE! is simply...THE BEST LIVE ALBUM EVER!
- Rock'N'Roll Universe

The awesome live from 1979 Thundertrain "Hell Tonite!" CD. It's f'ing awesome!!!
- Glam Metal

Thundertrain had the name, the sound, the volume, the sweat and the aarrgh! Imagine if Aerosmith never got signed to Columbia and continued on as a big name local act retaining a lot of the Dolls/MC5 swagger they started out with, and you'll get an idea of where Thundertrain stands. - BTC

Why Thundertrain never clawed its way into the American adolescent consciousness back in 1977 has always been mystifying. This group, based in the Metrowest area of Massachusetts at the time, should have run up the middle,and through the hole Aerosmith blasted in the defense a couple years earlier. All leather and attitude, this band sat poised on the brink, a local hit album in its saddlebag and full support from the local media. But it just never happened. Fronted by the irrepressible Mach Bell, who took no lip from anyone and took command at every venue, Thundertrain peddled and pummeled its metal ditties of thigh school love and lust with a basic two-guitar, bass and drums attack that also, surprisingly, featured a generous share of hooks to hang a hit on. Their 1977 album Teenage Suicide sold handily and the band’s local gigs were standing room only, but still, no joy. Bell later sang in the final lineup of the Joe Perry Project and fronted a few Boston outfits afterward, but Thundertrain was always his main passion even after they broke up. The group eventually put it all together again for a string of reunion shows 30 years after the fact and managed to bring the magnificent noise out in full force. But even after all those years, it still seems like Thundertrain (and America) was robbed.
- Carter Alan

Thundertrain were featured on the seminal double LP "Live at the Rat" and had a hit in the U.K. with "Hot For Teacher!" the single taken from their 1977 Jelly/JEM album "Teenage Suicide". Thundertrain performed with many stars including Thin Lizzy, David Johansen, The Runaways, the Romantics and The Cars. Mach and Thundertrain played at almost every high school and college campus in New England as well as appearing regularly at famed clubs including Max's Kansas City, CBGB's, The Rat and the Cleveland Agora.

THUNDERTRAIN - HELL TONITE:
Recorded live by Starfleet Mobile Studio at the Summit Club in Peabody MA in 1979.
13 tracks re-mastered from the original master tapes.
Liner notes by singer Mach Bell.
Rarities and unseen photos.
The Standells “Dirty Water” and Slade's “Mama Weer All Crazee Now” both get a Thundertrain makeover.
The uncut stage introduction by hostess Leslie Palmiter of Boston's WCOZ FM

70’s rock’n’roll legends finally sets the record straight with this high energy free-for-all recorded live in a packed roadhouse:
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Gulcher Records has gone back to the original Starfleet Mobile master reels via the help of Thundertrain vault keeper John Visnaskas. HELL TONITE! features two "lost" tracks that were cut from the original radio broadcast. The entire concert has been restored, mastered and is presented today in it's finest uncut form. The packaging includes recently uncovered photos and new liner notes from Thundertrain singer Mach Bell detailing the final days of the legendary Thundertrain. HELL TONITE! is the ultimate Thundertrain trip.

... they're at least generous enough guys now not to be upset that Van Halen probably ripped off their 1976 "Hot for Teacher!" in 1984.
- Chuck Eddy, The Village Voice

Straight off the airwaves, this is a great and terrible blast of the mighty 'Train, live from the Summit Club, in Peabody, MA. Live as fuck, even. Retro-reviewers often liken the be-scarved, satin-abusing Thundertrain to the New York Dolls and Aerosmith, which is largely a cosmetic issue. Musically, they had more in common with '70s arena boogie giants like Thin Lizzy and UFO, preferring the scorched-earth theory of pummeling hard rock with dashes of bloozy raunch, and on this blistering set, they are ON, banging out one stupendously dumb cock-rockin' hit after another.
- The Noise

This early 1979 Summit performance turned out to be one of the final Thundertrain shows.
Homemade tapes of the original Thundertrain "Hell Tonite!" WCOZ Playback program have been trading hands for decades now. Thundertroopers regard "Hell Tonite!" to be Thundertrain's holy grail. This is the real Thundertrain sound captured as everyone remembers hearing them at The Rat, CBGBs and a hundred biker bars and high school cafeterias throughout the northeast.
***
Thundertrain were not forgotten. In the wake of the band's break up, the Joe Perry Project scooped up lead singer Mach Bell and Van Halen nabbed guitarist Steven Silva's catchy song title "Hot For Teacher!". Bootleggers continue to press Thundertrain discs to this day.

I only really like two kinds of music - the kind you can fuck to, and the kind you can fight to. Thundertrain, in case yer mama never told you, were both kinds. So come get some.
- The Noise

FEATURE REVIEW:
So you all know who Mach Bell is, don't you? He's the dude that sang on the Joe Perry Project's Once a Rocker…Always a Rocker album (I've still got my vinyl copy). Well, the album may have shot Mach into the limelight, but his main gig was as front man and lead singer for Thundertrain in the 70s. The quintet, now reunited, was a no-frills, ass kickin' Boston rock and roll band that kicked the tail ends of New Englanders with a volatile mix of Rolling Stones swagger, New York Dolls attitude, and MC5 energy. Unfortunately, the band never really made it past the club circuit and missed out on that rocket ride to the stars that many of their peers got. Some of you may have had the opportunity to check out Gulcher Records' re-mastering of 1977's Teenage Suicide album (2002), complete with bonus tracks. The disc certainly gave you a taste of what Thundertrain was all about, but I'd most certainly have to recommend Hell Tonite! for those of you who want a bit more than studio treatments can offer; that being the stench of sweat and beer, and the strong scent of carnivores stalking a stage in search of prey. This particular collection of 13 songs is taken from a live WCOZ FM radio broadcast of the band's 1979 performance at the Summit Club in Peabody, Massachusetts. It turned out to be one of Thundertrain's last shows. The recording even includes deejay Leslie Palmiter's on-air comments and two songs that didn't make the original live broadcast. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality sound mix, one in which only faint moments of buzzing between songs are heard (certainly not a bother and it's actually kinda cool). There is something about listening to this broadcast that makes you feel as though you're a part of the show or at least listening to it in your Duster with a stack of 8-tracks piled on the seat next to you. You get a nice overview of Thundertrain music, including show-closer "Hot for Teacher" (no, not the Van Halen track!), "Readin'Riotin'Rock'n'Roll," "Afterschool," and "Counterattack." Also included is a very cool cover of Slade's "Mama Weer All Crazee Now" that wipes the floor with Quiet Riot's overly polished and unconvincing version. The band's rendition of "Dirty Water" is also effective as a mid-show groove rocker. And man those guitars are cranked on this sucker! Some of those solos are not only sharp enough to cut steel, but you'll wince at the ear-splitting squeals. On top of that is Mach's commanding stage presence; hell, I could tell he had it by just listening - I never actually saw the guy perform! His gift of gab is the icing on the cake, especially his rant about the modern day plague called disco, leading the crowd in chants of "Disco Sucks!" during an extended, ripping version of "I Gotta Rock." The funny part is that the radio folks edited out "sucks" - basically, a shot of static takes the place of the word; pretty damn funny actually. The performance is raucous, amplified, and full of strutting, blues-inflected rock and roll. It also sounds like those in attendance had a damn good time. Mach Bell fills you in with a vivid description of this Thundertrain chapter in the liner notes. The tunes here may not be ones that you'll hear on classic rock radio, but that's no reason to overlook this hidden treasure. It's all about that vibe baby!
- Scott Alisoglu, Electric Basement, 7/15/04