collection 2004.004 - Triumph Productions

The Canadian rock band Triumph formed in Toronto in 1975 following a chance meeting between musicians Rik Emmett (guitar/vocals), Mike Levine (bass guitar/keyboards), and Gil Moore (drums/vocals).
Levine and Moore had played together since the early 1970s, and after the addition of Emmett the trio began performing in Ontario high schools and bars. The band’s debut album, Triumph, was released in 1976 on Attic Records, and the second album, Rock and Roll Machine, followed in 1977. Although the band’s first albums were first released only in Canada, they garnered significant airplay in Texas; following a tour in that state in 1977, RCA Records signed the band and released a compilation of the first two albums (also titled Rock ‘N Roll Machine) in 1978. The band used the advance money from the RCA deal to buy back the rights to the two albums recorded for Attic; they would later make a similar deal with RCA, and they consequently own the rights to all of their work. Similarly, Moore negotiated arrangements with tour promoters and media representatives ensuring that the band would receive copies of most of their concerts and media appearances.
The next albums, Just a Game and Progressions of Power, were released in 1979 and 1980 respectively. In 1981, Triumph released Allied Forces, their biggest critical and commercial success to date. They released albums the following two years (Allied Forces and Never Surrender), and toured to support the latter album in 1983. That year, the band appeared at the US Festival, the largest outdoor concert ever held in the state, alongside Judas Priest, Van Halen and Motley Crue.
Triumph and RCA parted ways in 1984, and the band signed with MCA Records. Their seventh album, Thunder Seven, was released in 1984. After a decade of performing together, the band released a double live album, Stages, in 1985 (the songs for this compilation were recorded on tour between 1981 and 1985). Two more albums followed (1986’s The Sport of Kings and 1987’s Surveillance). After performing at the Kingswood Music Theatre in September 1988, Emmett left Triumph to pursue a solo career. The band released a best-of compilation, Classics, in 1989. In 1992, Moore and Levine regrouped with new members Phil X and Rick Santers and the band was signed to a new deal with Virgin records, which released Edge of Excess. A live album was released in 1996 on the King Biscuit Boy Flour Hour label, and a DVD album commemorating their famous 1983 performance, Live at the US Festival, came out in 2003.
Since the mid1990s, Levine and Moore have concentrated on running the Metalworks Studios in Mississauga, which the band opened in 1981. The studio was voted “Recording Studio of the Year” for several years in a row at the Canadian Music Industry Awards. The band was inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame in March, 2007, and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2008.