M/M just feels like a longer and more complete experience to me I guess. A perfect example of them doing different types of songs on one album. Some of my favorite songs come from that album, Yellowbelly, Words, Promises, Cataracts, Anthology , Disarmed. As confused as I am about the reception from M/M, I'm super happy the majority loves the new album though. Thrice deserves all the love
The band doesn't do anything 'hastily.' You're entitled to your opinion but that's disrespectful given the band's established work ethic.
"It feels" Save your melodramatic faux outrage. Listeners are allowed to be critical of their favorite band(s). Unless you can provide more insight into this album's, or any other albums', "objective" qualities, that is.
The haste (or lack thereof) with which the the songs were written and whether the band felt inspired to write them are objective qualities. You can't just put "it feels" before something and claim it's opinion and therefore can't be wrong.
I think that the problem is that Tom left and took his arpeggios with him. And, the new record just sounds way too much like Goldfinger. That is why the songs FEEL like they were hastily written and that the band isn't really into them. *checks thread title* Oh, wait, this is the Thrice thread? Ummm. Deadbolt?
um....I don't really know a lot about production. They both sound great to me. The guitars sound a little louder and more grunge on the new one, but I'm not sure if that is because of production or just the way they wrote the songs. I just prefer M/M because I think they play better on that album, has more variety and of course the songs. Love them both though, even if the new one doesn't have the staying power the other ones have had for me.
Something can sounds like it was hastily written or feel or sound uninspired to a listener. Unless I'm saying that it was hastily written, or that the band was uninspired as an assertive factual statement, there's no "objective quality" described. Thrice was uninspired while writing this album =/= I can't get into this album because it sounds uninspired to me. I'm not sure how this is not easily grasped.
I had no problems with the production on M/m on its own, but listening to it after the new one, it sounds muddy. The new record is just so crisp and clear, it sounds fantastic. I also don't think the new record suffers from any lack of variety in the songs. Hurricane: Beatles-influenced modern rock Blood On the Sand: as "punk" a song as Thrice can be expected to write these days The Window: Vheissu meets Beggars Wake Up: blues-inspired alt-rock The Long Defeat: epic and the kind of song I think only Thrice can write Seneca: fairly straightforward, but I don't think Thrice have ever done a standalone instrumental interlude before Black Honey: also straightforward, but damn catchy Stay With Me: the most "pop" we've ever gotten from Thrice Death From Above: killer riff in the chorus which is by far the heaviest moment on the record Whistleblower: a barn-burner through and through Salt and Shadow: that ethereal "Air" sound that Thrice can do so well
I love this album, and while it isn't my #1 favorite on the album, "Hurricane" is a tough song to get out of your head.
What 'Blood on the Sand' comment? : ) It was just an ironic thing to say (calling the album 'hastily written') and then saying 'Blood on the Sand' was one of only two songs he likes. That's the most straightforward song they've written in 11 years.
Not liking the news songs does not make them uninspired. Furthermore, no one can "feel a lack of inspiration" in somebody else's work. Songwriting is an inspired art form in and of itself. Every song written is inspired by something, whether it's the sound of a music box or the tempo of an alarm clock. Thrice even posted their individual inspirations for this record. If you check out the tracks each member listed (something I'm sure you haven't done), you'll notice direct connections to the new record while hearing the exact inspirations behind these songs. If you don't like the new songs, that's fine. But saying they're uninspired is nonsensical because every song is inspired by something. We wouldn't have new music if there wasn't inspiration to write them. These songs may not inspire YOU but they were still written via some form of inspiration.
That it seems hurried or hastily written. I don't get that feeling at all, and I don't equate straightforward with those things either, or consider straightforward to necessarily be a negative. It's one of the most political and, I think, one of the most "punk" songs they've written in a long while. But the way the lyrics pull double duty as commentary on American foreign policy/war on terror and police violence/Black Lives Matter issues, and the way the energy of the music lines up perfectly with the lyrics throughout, I think elevates it and makes it seem quite carefully considered.
If you'd like me to post a slew of album reviews in which "uninspired" is used to describe the sound of an album or song, I will, just because your argument is petty and semantic. If I say the album sounds like they employed a different drummer, that statement doesn't conflict with the facts of the actual lineup used in the recording process. If more analogies is what you need.
Also, read the Vheissu liner notes that somebody posted above. Does that sound like a band that writes uninspired music or music without some form of inspiration? You'll discover all the little things that provide the group inspiration because every song is inspired. If a song doesn't inspire YOU, that's a completely separate issue and it has nothing to do with the band's songwriting being inspired or uninspired. You're projecting your feeling towards the band's songwriting and that's a fallacy. So, here's how you should re-word your statement instead of making a fallacious judgement of the band's songwriting when no one can feel a lack of inspiration in somebody else's art. "Thrice's new record, except for The Long Defeat and Blood on the Sand, doesn't inspire me like their previous records do, including Major/Minor."
Hard to disagree with any of that. I don't really see the Vheissu in Widow but actually feel it in Death from Above, but that may just be me. Black Honey has moved up to one of my favorite Thrice song and your description of Long Defeat is the only way I could describe it lol. About the production, I still feel M/M sounds clear. Esp the leads in Words, Anthology, Blinded...who am I kidding, it all sounds great. Like I said though, I'm probably not the person to talk to about sound production. Video we can talk all day though
I'm about to have a ham and turkey sandwich. Like I do most days. Actually that's thrice this week. Also, here is the audio of "Hurricane" that I recorded from the show at House of Blues Chicago last week:
And you were inspired by something to eat such choices. Probably your personal fitness or paleo diet. So, of course your lunch choices were inspired.