AXS TV debuted the 2021 documentary Triumph : Rock and Roll Machine on American tv.
I am not a huge fan of the band but I love a good rock documentary and this is a good one. It’s generally a feel good story about a band that had a unique path for itself
Triumph feels like a forgotten band, but they had their moments. The generation before me loves the band, but they bridge the gap between the vinyl/FM radio generation and the MTV/pop generation
Many of those bands didn’t make it, though it seems like instead of dying that they just went dormant as vinyl and rock finds it way onto social media. Bands like fellow Canadians April Wine and Aldo Nova were also vinyl heroes who survive today through word of mouth.
It’s hard to discuss Triumph and not bring up that other Canadian prog rock power trio that has so many similarities.
Giving the topic some thought, it is even more fantastic that Rush somehow managed to stay true to themselves and remain a huge attraction while living through an ocean of change.
I can only think of a few artists who bridged that gap and somehow remain relevant. Foreigner and Night Ranger come to mind. The commercial pressures on Triumph were real, as they are for most bands.
Triumph is a band of dichotomy. At once, criticized for being a “faceless” act- they had one of the most amazing concert performances of their time. A band that always stayed to true to their working class roots and yet seemingly created the template for glam metal. A band that wasn’t the typical MTV fare of the 80s but used the medium early and effectively. A band that had doubleneck guitars and levitating drumsets but appealed to the serious musicians. A band that filled arenas and whose t-shirts were everywhere, but nowadays is difficult to find in a google search.
Triumph famously played the 1983 US Festival as one of the biggest metal bands on the planet with only Scorpions and Van Halen going on after. But pop music is an everchanging beast.
I know Triumph was popular in my local market’s rock station growing up but they seem to lack that evergreen single that nostalgia stations play today. I also now that radio was seeing the rise of "Hot Hits" and you had a few artists with that kind of crossover appeal like Billy Squier, but you really needed boatloads of charisma.
Glam metal would come to rule the day and it’s hard imagining Triumph wanted to go that route. I can't see them being interested in the sillier aspects of the genre- it just wasn't who they were. It was tough for the bands that wanted to play serious rock and they kind of get pushed aside like Y&T and Krokus.
It probably didn’t help that the band split vocals or that the drummer often sang. The doc mentions that Rik Emmitt was a guitar hero like an Eddie Van Halen who sang. The doc also mentions that their concert setup crew were poached by the Jacksons for the 1984 Victory Tour.
The band did make at least one commonly considered classic album-their fifth album 1981s Allied Forces. The bands history is one of internal politics eventually getting the best of the band. Emmitt left for a solo career in 1988 and though the band made an album without him in 1992, their record label folded and their career ended shortly thereafter. I suspect otherwise the band would have had enough fan base to continue onward indefinitely.
Though Emmitt left the band on not the greatest of terms, the doc gives a satisfactory ending. There is a fan convention and to everyone’s surprise the band gets back together to perform for these diehards.
The doc is well done- very entertaining and guest cameos from The Trailer Park Boys, Sebastian Bach and Brian Posehn. They are not really a band in my wheelhouse but they seem like admirable guys and are definitely an important band in terms of rock history. I am glad I watched it
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