[A Sporting Choice] -- The Summer of 1986 closed out with several big ticket albums, none of which I'm highlighting this week. No, instead I've selected The Sport of Kings, the eighth studio album from Canadian hard rock trio, Triumph. Most sources indicate The Sport of Kings was released on September 11, 1986, though Triumph's own FB page indicated a release date of September 9 just a few years ago. The bottom line is that, as of this week, The Sport of Kings is 40 years old, so it is fair game for an 80s Flashback.
This album differs from others I've featured in that it was a critical failure but a commercial success (several of this year's Flashbacks had the opposite condition). And because both critics and hardcore Triumph fans panned the album, there is a general sense, or a misremembering, that The Sport of Kings failed on all fronts. But it peaked at #51 on the Canada Top Albums/CDs and #33 on the US Billboard 200 charts, had Platinum sales in Canada, and boasted the band's biggest hit to date, with "Somebody's Out There" (a song I love) hitting #27 on the Billboard Hot 100. The second single, "Tears in the Rain", reached #23 on the US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
The Sport of Kings is often ranked as one of Triumph's worst albums, but it is one that I come back to regularly. True, it does not have the crunch or progressive aspects of the band's earlier releases. And it is also true that The Sport of Kings very much reflects the trends of commercial radio and evolving AOR in the middle of the 1980s. But the singles are well crafted, the album is well produced, and some of the non-single tracks, like "In the Middle of the Night" and "If Only", are the complete package of instrumentation, vocals, emotion, and storytelling. At least in my opinion.
"If only I could change your heart
With just a simple song
If only I could stop the world
From turning out all wrong...
...There would be hope for me and you
If only wishes would come true."
Flashback: The Sport of Kings (September 11, 1986)
And that's all till next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.
See you in seven!
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