TRIUMPH – Allied Forces

At the young age of 22, a virtually unknown guitarist from Toronto, Canada was preparing to make his mark on the music industry forever. That young man’s name was Rik Emmett. In September of 1975, the face of music, how it was written, and how it was perceived was about to change when he joined the newly formed band Triumph. Due to a production error in spelling his name correctly by Gil Moore and Mike Levine on Triumph’s first album, Rick Emmett changed the spelling of his name to Rik rather than have the album recalled or cause confusion with fans. Four years later, in 1979, after three albums had gone gold and platinum in Canada (two of these were from the US) they hit the US by storm after some serious saturation on the radio airwaves. By 1981 they were on a North American Tour, and thanks to a fledgling MTV they were getting some very much needed TV rotation. In the next seven years, the band released ten albums, all of which went gold, with four turning platinum in Canada. In the U.S., two went gold.

Their fifth studio album, Allied Forces, released in 1981, reached #23 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart assisted by the singles “Magic Power” and “Fight the Good Fight,” which hit #8 and #18, respectively, on the Mainstream Rock chart of 1981. Allied Forces eventually sold over 1 million copies in the U.S. alone. “Fight The Good Fight” could hit home in many different ways. If you were going through a hard time you could hear it as encouragement — never give up, don’t let circumstances dictate to you how things could or would turn out. Or, it could be that song telling you to not be afraid to look in the mirror and take a good look at yourself and your life — take what you want out of life because it’s the only life you’re going to have. Any way you look at it “Fight the Good Fight” is just one of those songs that has something for everyone.

“Magic Power” is your classic “music will solve everything song.” It doesn’t matter what kind of day you’ve had, you just turn on the music and it will fix everything. You just can’t help but to feel better. “She climbs into bed / Pulls the covers overhead / And turns her little radio on / She’s had a rotten day / So she hopes the DJ’s gonna play her favorite song / It makes her feel much better / Brings her closer to her dreams / A little magic power makes it better than it seems.” Powerful lyrics that show you just how really important music and words are; even if you don’t think you’re listening to the songs your subconscious picks it up and makes an impact on your life.

“Allied Forces,” the title track, is nothing short of a rock anthem! “Youth forces in overdrive!” Awesome lyrics! We all are the Allied Forces of Rock and Roll! When you have music in common … when it’s the common bond that bring people together, it doesn’t matter what walk of life you’re from, what your job is, whether you’re male or female, it’s the link that unites and Triumph will forever go down in history as having a big part of bringing the masses together under the banner of music! Rik’s boyish charm, killer pipes, and guitar heroics reeled in numerous young fans, and proved to be the encouragement that aspiring guitarists needed. But, no matter what walk of life you come from and what style of music you like, Rik Emmett and Triumph will definitely offer you what you’re looking for with this album.