Rik Emmett

Album cover for 'Magic Power: All-Star Tribute to Triumph.' It's a dark blue background with silver, shining lights, it lists the featured vocalists on the album, and in the very back, there's a stadium all lit up. The Triumph logo is big and silver.
Album Reviews

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Magic Power: All-Star Tribute To Triumph

June 8, 2025 Lana Teramae

There are certain bands that don’t get the credit they deserve and Triumph are one of those bands. The group was formed in 1975 by drummer Gil Moore and bassist Mike Levine in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. They originally started as a four-piece known as Abernathy Shagnaster, but when two of the members left, including their guitarist, the rock and roll gods blessed Moore and Levine with the recruitment of guitarist Rik Emmett. The latter came from an eclectic and progressive background, as opposed to Moore’s straight-up hard rock style. That, along with both of their singing abilities, gave Triumph enough variety and excitement to leave fans wanting more. When it came to their live shows, Moore, who never shied away from the latest technological trends, encouraged the band to try everything from lasers, pyrotechnics, moving lighting rigs, torches, and even dry ice. From Then Till Now Their most well-known album is Allied Forces (1981), which features the two Rik Emmett classics, “Magic Power” and “Fight the Good Fight.” Unfortunately, after nine studio albums with the group, Emmett left Triumph to pursue a solo career. He was replaced by Phil X and the group did one album together, Edge of Excess (1992), before calling it quits a year later. In recent years, however, there’s been a renewed interest in the band, thanks to their fans’ loyalty and the Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine (2021) documentary. Now, in 2025, music lovers can relive their favorite Triumph classics with Magic Power: All-Star Tribute to Triumph, an album that’s pretty self-explanatory. Conceived by producer Mike Clink, the album features a huge lineup of well-known rock acts such as Sebastian Bach, Slash, Tommy Aldridge, Nita Strauss, Deen Castronovo, Todd Kerns, and more! The Rock & Roll Machine Goes On and On Literally taking listeners back …READ MORE

Rik Emmett
Interviews

RIK EMMETT (TRIUMPH): “STEVE HOWE, The Guy Who Co-Wrote Tales From Topographic Oceans, Told Me That I Went Off The Deep End”

September 26, 2020 Mick Burgess

As lead guitarist and vocalist with Canadian Rockers Triumph, Rik Emmett sold millions of albums and played to sold out crowds drawn in by an impressive catalogue of songs, top notch musicianship and a dazzling stage show. After leaving Triumph over 30 years ago Emmett has been busy releasing a string of rich and varied albums. Mick Burgess called him up to talk about his solo career since leaving Triumph and the recent reissue of 11 of his solo records. We’re in the middle of rather strange times at the moment. How are things for you over in Canada at the moment? We’ve been locked down like everybody else and where I live, which is Burlington, which is a western city satellite of Toronto, we’re at stage 3. In this Province they’ve done a good job in limiting the spread and have limited the number of people actually ending up in hospital with it. The hardest thing for me is my 92-year-old Dad is in a home and that became a real focus early on with all of the cases in retirement homes. My Dad has a bit of dementia so that’s an issue and I couldn’t even get into see him for a while but thankfully now we can and we can pick him up, take him out to lunch and bring him to our house. So, it’s not so bad for me but I have concerns for my Dad as he’s in that vulnerable group. How has Covid 19 impacted on you personally and from a musical point of view? I’m going through this weird surreal time of my life when I have records coming out and PR guys setting up interviews and I’m on Zoom and phone calls all over the world. I’ve got my own music …READ MORE

AIRTIME - Liberty Manifesto
Album Reviews

AIRTIME – Liberty Manifesto

November 12, 2007 Scott Jeslis

It seems like an eternity since Canada’s Rik Emmett (ex-guitarist with Triumph) released any Hard Rockin’ material. One would have to look back as far as 1993 as a matter of fact. Ten years later (2003) Emmett crosses paths with Mike Shotton (Von Groove vocals, drums) and the two start writing music for a combined project. After two years of fitting hard work, in between personal touring and recording schedules this two-man band is ready to unveil their project known as Airtime along with a release entitled Liberty Manifesto. Even though this release took some time to complete, the end result was certainly worth the wait and their fine attention to detail definitely shines through. Emmett takes the helm on lead vocals, guitars and basses while Shotton handles basically everything else, including production and engineering. What the two-some has to offer here is some strong Melodic Hard Rock with Progressive and Jazz Rock overtones! Opening track, “Edge Of Your Mind,” is one of the strongest offerings and it starts off with the timid sounds of machinery before bursting into a nice Melodic Jazz Rock vibe and up-tempo gallop. A nice Emmett guitar riff fuels the song’s strong chorus and when all is said and done it translates into one hell of a rocking tune! If that’s not aggressive enough, then the heavy, thumping bass and guitar lines of “Midnight Black & Blue” should bring a smile to any Doubting Thomas’ face. It begs the question of where Rik has been all these years … he’s been busy … just not playing this type of Rock format. There are twelve tracks in all and there are certainly a few slower, mellower tracks strewn amongst other Hard Rocking highlights like “River Runs Deep,” “Addicted,” “Rise,” and “Transmutation” (which surprisingly is a rocking, …READ MORE