Thunderball (U.D.O. album)

Thunderball is the ninth studio album by German heavy metal band U.D.O. After their previous studio album, U.D.O. had released the DVD Nailed to Metal and an accompanying live CD titled Nailed to Metal: The Missing Tracks in 2003.

Thunderball
Studio album by U.D.O.
Released	29 March 2004
Recorded	August–December 2003
Studio	Roxx Studio, Pulheim, Germany
Genre	Heavy metal
Length	45:46
Label	AFM
Producer	Stefan Kaufmann
U.D.O. chronology
Man and Machine (2002) Thunderball (2004) Mission No. X (2005)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
Rock Hard	8.0/10^[2]

The title of this album and Udo Dirkschneider's posture on the cover are allusions to the 1965 film Thunderball.

Releases

• "Trainride in Russia" is devoted to the band's touring in that country. Its alternative version (with the subtitle "Poezd po Rossii") includes chorus lines in Russian:

Поезд по России идёт и идёт.

Поезд по России. 100 грамм и вперёд!

Перестук колёс. Необъятна даль.

Поезд нас унёс к началу всех начал.

• The limited edition release from AFM Records contains a bonus track along with the "Blind Eyes" music video and multimedia extras featuring a screensaver and wallpapers.
• The limited edition release from CD-Maximum contains the original album along with a DVD entitled Thundervision, featuring five video clips, an interview with Andreas Schowe from the German Metal Hammer magazine and four audio soundtracks.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Udo Dirkschneider and Stefan Kaufmann except where noted; all music is composed by Dirkshneider and Kaufmann, except where noted

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Thunderball"		3:53
2.	"The Arbiter"	Dirkshneider, Kaufmann, Igor Gianola	4:07
3.	"Pull the Trigger"	Dirkshneider, Kaufmann, Fitty Weinhold	4:34
4.	"Fistful of Anger"	Dirkshneider, Kaufmann, Gianola	3:11
5.	"The Land of the Midnight Sun"		5:18
6.	"Hell Bites Back"		3:09
7.	"Trainride in Russia"		4:45
8.	"The Bullet and the Bomb"	Dirkshneider, Kaufmann, Weinhold	3:58
9.	"The Magic Mirror"		4:56
10.	"Tough Luck II"		3:36
11.	"Blind Eyes"	Dirkshneider, Kaufmann, Gianola	4:19

Limited edition bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Hardcore Lover"	4:50
2.	"Blind Eyes" (Video)

Japanese edition bonus track

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Borderline"	4:12
Total length:		49:58

Personnel

U.D.O.

• Udo Dirkschneider – vocals
• Stefan Kaufmann – guitar, accordion on "Trainride in Russia", producer, engineer, mixing
• Igor Gianola – guitar
• Fitty Wienhold – bass
• Lorenzo Milani – drums

Additional musicians

• Frank Knight – backing vocals on "The Bullet and the Bomb"
• Luke Herzog – cello on "Blind Eyes"

Production

• Manfred Melchior – mastering
• Martin Häusler – cover art, design
• Dirk Schelpmeier – photography

Charts

Chart (2004)	Peak position
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[3]	47
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[4]	83

References

1. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "U.D.O. - Thunderball review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
2. Böhm, Daniel (2004). "Review Album: U.D.O. - Thunderball". Rock Hard (in German). No. 203. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
3. "Swedishcharts.com – U.D.O. – Thunderball". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
4. "Offiziellecharts.de – U.D.O. – Thunderball" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 2017-04-04.