Triumph
By All Music Guide
By All Music Guide
With their stock rising among hard rock fans, Triumph inked a new recording contract with MCA, which led to their most successful period both artistically and commercially. Such resulting albums as 1979s Just a Game and 1980s Progressions of Power inched the group closer to breakthrough success, which was obtained by a pair of back-to-back gold-certified albums: 1981s Allied Forces (often considered the groups best album, which spawned the hit anthem Fight the Good Fight) and 1982s Never Surrender. Such further albums as 1984s Thunder Seven, 1985s Stages, 1985s The Sport of Kings, and 1987s Surveillance failed to meet the expectations set by their earlier releases, yet the group was able to retain its following. Come 1988, Emmett opted to leave the group to pursue a solo career, but instead of calling it a day, Moore and Levine decided to carry on with a new frontman/guitarist, while an 11-track best-of set, Classics, was issued a year after Emmetts exit.
Their first choice, ex-Thin Lizzy/Whitesnake member John Sykes, was too busy getting his project Blue Murder off the ground at the time, so the gig ultimately went to former Frozen Ghost/Aldo Nova associate Phil X (it was also around this time that the group built their own recording studio in Mississauga, Ontario, called Metalworks). The Phil X-led version of the group only managed to issue a single release however, 1993s Edge of Excess, before Triumph split up for good. In the wake of their breakup, several archival releases popped up in record stores, such as 1995s In the Beginning and 1996s King Biscuit Flower Hour (the latter of which chronicled a 1981 concert), while Rik Emmett continued on with his solo career, issuing albums on a regular basis throughout the 90s.
