Great review! Not gonna lie when I read the Radiohead comparison I was a bit confused but after listening to both totally get it, clever comparison between bands I wouldn't normally think to compare.
I'm definitely hearing the influences, a bit, from Beggars, but not to the degree I was expecting. Beggars is my favorite Thrice album, and tied with TDAG as my top, ever. So I went into this having read most of Jason's impressions, and picturing a Beggars sequel, but it isn't how I anticipated. I'm obviously still happy with it, but that's what jarred me the most on these first few listens.
Thrice is a rock band, so it makes sense. At it's core it's a rock record, most of their stuff is. With this, it's a rock record that flexes experimental design throughout the tracks, to give them an added push of excitement.
I'm giving in just slightly by reading these.....but I can't bring myself to listen to the tracks online before I hear it in a physical state. This needs my full, undivided attention. I've (we've) waited a long time for this......so close.
My only problem with Whistleblower is that the intro sounds derivative. Once it gets going, I'm fully invested as I really dig what Dustin is doing. The music just doesn't break new ground for the band.
Agree with the review that Stay With Me is a standout, it's such a good song and kind of reminds me a bit of Dustin's solo stuff - his vocals are on top form on that track especially.
It's as well-rounded a song as there is on this album. And Teppei makes it a Thrice song. That chorus arpeggio wouldn't be on Dustin's record as much as I love his playing.
Yeah I'll go ahead and not listen to any critic who uses "Many hardcore Thrice fans have been bitching about the band changing their sound" in the first sentence of their review. First off, I don't like using "bitch" in that, or really any, way, but it's also just really petty and aggressive towards the fanbase of the band.
Aren't those "fans" gone by now? The fans that are left LIKE what they've been doing the last few releases.
Obviously not if some of these hardcore fans are writing overly critical and petty reviews like this just because they're not releasing Artist In The Ambulance Part 2...
LOL. Friends of mine were out once VHEISSU made the departure that it made. So, these "hardcore fans" have been bitching for 11 years. That's a long time to bitch.
That's exactly what im saying. Thrice is my "forever band". I guess I'm a bit biased but they can do no wrong in my eyes. I never understood the great shift in fanbase. I don't want the same album every year or two from an artist I enjoy. We all grow as humans, have new life experiences, and change our tastes. Why shouldn't that be reflected in the art we create?
Interesting. I just wonder how I'd feel about it if I hadn't played it to death until the album's release. It flows nicely on the record but the only part I like is the intro. Anyway, this isn't an indictment. Great review, sir.
Haha, thanks. The only part of that song I don't really care for is the pre-chorus. Love the chorus melody and vocals though
I have to believe that "those" fans would eventually complain how Thrice never changes if they kept releasing Artist/IoS rehashes. If you rewatch their 2005 DVD, you can tell how anxious they were to change their sound. The DVD ends with them teasing what would become the shift in sound by way of Vheissu.
Radiohead fans/everyone praises their massive transition from OKC to Kid A, yet a relatively less dramatic leap from Artist to Vheissu and the successive releases is derided by fans still to this day, it makes no sense...of course great musicians like Thrice are going to experiment and develop their sound over 11 years as they age instead of releasing the same punk album 5 times. Really it's damned if they did change and damned if they didn't, for some bizarre reason