Thank You and Goodnight

Thank You and good night was the first official live album released by Samson. Great idea to release a live a album…its just 2 albums too late. Why did I say that? Because Thank You and Goodnight was released when Samson was at their weakest…with Nicky Moore on vocals. As you can tell the word “great” in my review title is used in a sarcastic manner.

I’ve stated before, Nicky Moore isn’t a very good vocalist. His bluesy style vocals clash with Samson’s original NWOBHM sound. Not only is he a lousy vocalist, he’s terrible with the crowd. All he says is “this is an old one” and “thank you and good night”. What’s with playing with and talking to the crowd? He’s says minimal and does not know how to play the crowd at all.

Another problem is the tracklisting. Of course most of the material is from the Nicky Moore vocal albums Before the Storm and Don’t Stay Mad – Get Even. Though I never considered any of Samson’s albums considerably strong, but those two are easily the weaker of Samson’s outputs. There is only one song off of the bands debut Survivors and second album Head On. What’s shocking is that there is not one song off of the bands most successful album Shock Waves! I don’t know, but maybe it’s a good thing cause Nicky Moore could murder those classic Bruce Dickinson Samson songs like Riding with the Angels.

The production itself isn’t overly strong. The guitars sound good and everything, but the vocal works is a little weak as they sound hallow and distant. Well with Nicky Moore, maybe that isn’t such a bad thing.

One the upside, Paul Samson’s guitar playing is fantastic. He hits every mark perfectly. Great picking and great solos. This man really was a god in the guitar world. It’s a shame he never got the recognition he deserved.

Overall I have to say this is a below average live album. Other than some good guitar playing, there is nothing really special on this release. It lacks classic Samson songs and vocalist Nicky Moore is boring. I would only recommend this live album to Samson collectors or fans of the Nicky Moore Samson albums, if there are any….