The Sport of Kings is the eighth studio album by Canadian hard rock band Triumph, released in 1986. It was recorded at the band's home studio of Metalworks Studios from May to August 1986.
History
This is the second-to-last studio album to feature the band's guitarist and primary songwriter Rik Emmett, and it clearly represents the difficulties the band was experiencing at the time. Mike Levine played no keyboards on the album; three outside keyboardists were hired to create the keyboard sounds of the album, although Rik Emmett experiments two high-end sampler systems, the Synclavier 9600 Workstation and the Fairlight CMI Series III, according to Keyboard Magazine of July 1986 issue. Rik Emmett sings lead vocals on six of the album's ten songs; four songs were sung by Gil Moore, and one track was sung as a duet by the two vocalists. The recording of The Sport of Kings was marred by tension between Triumph and their label MCA. Perhaps not surprisingly, Emmett has since expressed his dislike for much of the album. Adding to the tension was Emmett's request that the recording be done at Estudio L2K in Majorca, Spain. Only three of album's songs have ever been performed live by Triumph, and one track was performed live by Emmett during his first three solo tours.
^Henderson, Paul (18 September 1986). "Triumph 'The Sports of Kings'". Kerrang!. Vol. 129. London, UK: Spotlight Publications. p. 18. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)