Long Defeat is amazing, and that ending is haunting live when the crowd sings it out....but it doesn't pack the punch that Earth Will Shake does so I hope it's a short lived closer (but still kept in their set lf course).
I get what he's saying though, its expectations. Kinda how I feel about some St Anger songs. If it was some unknown band I'd say "not bad" but by Metallica standards....
i think its still the worst on the album and thats probably because of the standards you speak of but i wouldn't call it bad even as a thrice song
THRICE has set the bar so high that we, as hardcore fans, can recognize when a song is maximizing their potential. Every single one of their B-sides is better than "Wake Up" including "Sea Change." Do they always have to write the perfect song? Not necessarily – just as long as it fits on the record. "Wake Up" doesn't bother me in sequence, but it goes against Eric's advice of revisiting THRICE's archive of sounds. Thus, it clashes with everything else while "Sea Change" fits in perfectly a la Water/Air.
I can recognize that Thrice did not set the bar high with M/M and that Wake Up is better than at least half of the album
Well, Major/minor is a different argument altogether. However, "Wake Up" fits in with M/m a lot more than TBEITBN. Swap "Sea Change" for "Wake Up" on TBEITBN and you truly have "The Force Awakens" of THRICE albums where all their sounds are revisited and remixed since "Sea Change" was our 'Water' song. Now, I know some will argue "Salt and Shadow" is Water-y, but I've always likened it more to "Silver Wings" and 'Air.' It's really a hybrid of both if we're being honest. The more important point is: it should've been on TBEITBN – in place of "Wake Up" or in addition to it.
The Breckenbros and Teppei would shred on those songs. "It's Not Enough" was supposed to be a THRICE song at one point, sadly. Mars Hill didn't deserve the brilliance of 'Enough' (and still doesn't). Hindsight is 20/20.
While I enjoy ALL of Dustin's music, I still expect to hear Teppei, Ed and Reilly whenever I revisit a song like "It's Not Enough." You can actually hear the precise moments where Teppei would normally crash the party with some crazy effect or hook. Silver Lining: That time away helped Dustin rediscover his love for THRICE. Thus, his absence led to one heck of a comeback record including their most successful album since Artist. Now, they're prepping for their summer record via Epitaph and it's gonna rule since they've had real time to write/jam on the road together.