Better than Beggars? I have not heard Major/Minor but I have heard everything else and I liked the Alchemy Index and Vheissu the most. Beggars was okay but in my humble opinion it was more monotone mood-wise than Vheissu (my only minor complaint with that album) and it was also more repetitive. It was catchier but I think Thrice does "experimental" and diverse song styles better than more pop oriented rock.
Probably not, but ... maybe. I can't quite say yet. Personally think this less experimental, and more rock. I think it's more of a Beggars follow-up than M/m was.
I think Beggars is far more experimental than M/m since they still used the Rhodes a bit on Beggars, albeit not as much as Vheissu. They've even got a segue on the record ("We Move Like Swing Sets") while the style jumps all over the place with songs like Wood and Wire, Doublespeak, At the Last, Beggars and The Great Exchange. Even the singles, All The World is Mad and In Exile, were doing things a bit different, musically, compared to their prior work. M/m is a grunge record which doesn't deviate too much except in songs such as Blur, Cataracts and elements of Yellow Belly. That being said, those songs still fit the record's overall style. M/m really hasn't aged well for me. Even Beggars' two awesome b-sides (Red Telephone and Answered) prove how all-over-the-place that record was. Update: I started writing this at 5:45 AM and misread the question as which record was more experimental/rock between Beggars and M/m. Please forgive me as this will never happen again.
Sorry. As I've updated above, I started writing at 5:45 am and was still waking up. There were a couple other posts above involving Beggars and M/m so I must've associated them with yours.
1. Initially it might, but there's also a good chance of it being forgotten if its published two weeks before anyone can hear the album. Then, those who wait to hear the album before reading about it might only see the most recent reviews published. 2. It is, but promotion doesn't stop after an album is released. Most PR people prefer a good spread of promotional material going out during an album cycle, so a few reviews going up the days leading up to, on, and following release date is often common and preferred.