Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine (1978)

 When Triumph signed to RCA for worldwide distribution, the best tracks from their first two albums were compiled into a new album which, while retaining the title of their second album, ultimately served as their “debut”, and was a much better album than either. 

The opening one-two punch of “Takes Time” and “Bringing It On Home” is retained from the original Rock & Roll Machine, and is followed by the band’s straightforward cover of “Rocky Mountain Way”, which originally appeared on side two. The two-part “Street Fighter / Street Fighter Reprise” is subbed in from their first album, to close out side one (as it did there). 

The debut album is further represented on side two, which kicks off with that album’s opening track, “24 Hours A Day” and is followed by its closing track, the epic “Blinding Light Show / Moonchild”, before “Rock & Roll Machine” itself puts a blistering exclamation point on this all-killer-no-filler affair. 

Unless you were a ground-floor Canadian fan, this is how you first heard Triumph’s earliest music (most likely via the ‘80s reissue with its garish sleeve) and it was one hell of an introduction to this band. 

But this was only the beginning.