A Most Triumph-ant Night by Michael S Katz

When I was 18 the CD player was just starting to become affordable. Growing up I was basically exposed to easy listening radio stations, so the first two CDs I bought were Back in the High Life by Steve Winwood and Who’s Next by The Who. But at the CD store a cover caught my eye in the used section. It was this cool artwork showing an alien creature in a helmet. I picked it up thinking, what the heck, it was cheap.

That album was Surveillance by Triumph, a band I had never heard of before. And while it was not metal, it was the closest they had ever gotten to sounding like it. I was NOT a metal head, having been limited to watching safe hair band videos on MTV. So when I played Surveillance I was a bit taken aback. I wasn’t used to music that “loud.”

That album was my gateway. My gateway into Triumph, one of the greatest unsung bands of all time. My gateway into louder music, as my tastes slowly expanded to incorporate hard rock and then true metal. My gateway into progressive rock, because Triumph albums always had just a touch of prog.

Last night, 38 years later, I got to see Triumph live for the first time. Original bassist Mike Levine could not participate due to health reasons, but Rik was there on lead guitar and lead vocals, and Gil Moore was there on drums and also lead vocals. Both gentlemen are 72 years old. They were playing together for the first time in 30 years and they sounded 30 years younger.

The songs were amazing, the lights and pyrotechnics were amazing, the AI-generated animation on the big screen behind them was amazing. Rik and Gil could still belt out their signature tunes, although Rik started to lose his voice late and Gil's drumming has become slower with time.

Enter the new guys. Second drummer Brent Fitz did really well holding up the backbeat. 

Bassist Todd Kerns showed musical skill and a terrific voice of his own, singing lead on at least two tunes. Finally, there was second guitarist Phil X, who had actually replaced Rik in Triumph for a single album.  He shredded, he sang, he did crowd work. These three really fleshed out the music, but they did not steal the spotlight from the originals. This was no tribute act, this was no collection of past-their-prime hangers-on. This was an amazing five-piece that pumped up the crowd and brought the house down. One of the best concerts I have ever experienced.

I woke up this morning with a 90-minute drive in front of me. I pulled up Surveillance on my phone app and listened to it from beginning to end for the first time in decades. Like the band, the album has not lost a step.

I had the stereo on full blast and was singing at the top of my lungs. The passion was still there, due in great part to the positive messages in their lyrics. Rik even discussed this positivity, although he was talking about their biggest hit “Magic Power” and how music can make people feel special. 

Triumph songs also contain positive messages about love, identity, and humanity. Fight the good fight. Never surrender. Follow your heart. And from Surveillance: “All the king’s horses and all the king’s men, can they ever put the world back together again, before we reach the end?” A song released in 1987 that is just as topical today.

If you’ve never listened to them before, you’ve done yourself a disservice. It’s not too late to rock triumphantly.