As promising as Frank Gambale's work with Chick Corea's Elektric Band was, his first sessions on his own weren't remarkable -- generally decent, but not remarkable.
While Thunder from Down Under isn't in a class with Gambale's accomplishments under Corea's leadership, the jazz-rock-pop date has its strong points -- which range from "Samba de Somewhere" (a confident piece featuring Corea on electric keyboards) to the insistent "Humid Beings" to the pensive "Mamojambo." The Brazilian-influenced numbers "Obrigado Fukuoka" and "The Land of Nowhere" are pleasant enough, but never really take off.
Quite often, Gambale fails to go that extra mile as he did with the Elektric Band.
Switching from fusion guitarist to pop/rock singer on such forgettable material as "Obsessed with Life" and "Faster than an Arrow," Gambale sounds like a poor man's Sting.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Faster Than an ArrowStephanie Bennett, Frank Gambale | Frank Gambale | Play | 04:37 | 10 MB | 30 MB |
| 2 | Samba Di SomewhereFrank Gambale | Frank Gambale | Play | 05:57 | 13 MB | 41 MB |
| 3 | Obsessed for LifeStephanie Bennett, Frank Gambale | Frank Gambale | Play | 04:13 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 4 | Leave Ozone AloneFrank Gambale | Frank Gambale | Play | 05:59 | 13 MB | 42 MB |
| 5 | The Land of WonderFrank Gambale | Frank Gambale | Play | 05:04 | 11 MB | 32 MB |
| 6 | Obrigado FukuokaFrank Gambale | Frank Gambale | Play | 05:00 | 11 MB | 33 MB |
| 7 | Robo-RooFrank Gambale | Frank Gambale | Play | 05:40 | 12 MB | 37 MB |
| 8 | Forgotten But Not GoneFrank Gambale | Frank Gambale | Play | 05:15 | 12 MB | 34 MB |
| 9 | Mambo JamboFrank Gambale | Frank Gambale | Play | 04:50 | 11 MB | 30 MB |
| 10 | One Not TwoStephanie Bennett, Frank Gambale | Frank Gambale | Play | 01:27 | 3 MB | 7 MB |
| 11 | Humid Beings | Frank Gambale | Play | 05:20 | 12 MB | 37 MB |
| 12 | Kuranda | Frank Gambale | Play | 04:56 | 11 MB | 32 MB |
| 58 mins | 133 MB | |||||
| 58 mins | 388 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kei Akagi | Synthesizer |
| 2 | Andy Baltimore | Creative Director |
| 3 | Stephanie Bennett | Composer |
| 4 | Bob Biles | Engineer, Mixing |
| 5 | Robert Biles | Engineer, Mixing |
| 6 | Gregg Bissonette | Drum Arrangements, Drums, Guest Artist |
| 7 | Tom Brechtlein | Drums |
| 8 | Vinnie Colaiuta | Drums, Guest Artist |
| 9 | Luis Conte | Percussion |
| 10 | Chick Corea | Fender Rhodes, Guest Artist, Piano |
| 11 | David Dees | Cover Design, Cover Illustration, Illustrations |
| 12 | Frank Gambale | Arranger, Composer, Electronic Percussion, Guitar, Keyboards, Mixing, Percussion, Piano, Primary Artist, Producer, Synthesizer, Vocals, Voices |
| 13 | David Gibb | Graphic Design |
| 14 | Gary Grant | Flugelhorn |
| 15 | Peter Grant | Design |
| 16 | Joe Heredia | Drums |
| 17 | John Heredia | Drums |
| 18 | Steve Kershisnik | Bass |
| 19 | Rick Kroninger | Photography |
| 20 | Abraham Laboriel, Sr. | Bass, Guest Artist |
| 21 | Tim Landers | Bass |
| 22 | Michael Manoogian | Art Direction |
| 23 | Jacki McCarthy | Graphic Design |
| 24 | Takashi Misu | Executive Producer |
| 25 | Ron Moss | Executive Producer |
| 26 | A.G. Nakahira | Production Coordination, Project Coordinator |
| 27 | Freddie Ravel | Keyboards |
| 28 | Andy Ruggirello | Graphic Design |
| 29 | Dan Serrano | Graphic Design |
| 30 | Suzanne Sherman | Production Coordination |
| 31 | Akira Taguchi | Executive Producer |
| 32 | Steve Tavaglione | EWI, Guest Artist, Sax (Alto), Sax (Tenor), Saxophone |
| 33 | Wally Traugott | Mastering |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |