The Pineapple Thief
Someone Here Is Missing


4.5
superb

Review

by greg84 EMERITUS
August 20th, 2010 | 106 replies


Release Date: 2010 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Equally thrilling and innovative, this is a major contender for the progressive album of the year.

As reliable as they might have been, The Pineapple Thief led by Bruce Soord have always presented a highly derivative brand of progressive rock. Their influences also seemed easy to trace on their last critically acclaimed album, Tightly Unwound. Released two years ago disc was an intricate love letter to their fellow English peers: Porcupine Tree and Radiohead. While these acts' features are still occasionally a part of the new album's soundscape, Soord finally manages to pull off a number of innovations that help to create the unique plethora of sound. "Someone Here Is Missing" cohesively showcases his new vision of music making for an album that stands as a testimony to its very own kind of progressiveness. Most tracks don't even eclipse the 5-minute mark, yet they often pack more ideas than the sprawling epics of their contemporaries. The ingenious compositions are supported by the supreme production that requires a proper stereo system to truly appreciate.

The influences are diverse to say the least, but the two additions to The Pineapple Thief's dreamy progressive style happen to be revolutionary. The daring use of electronica seems particularly striking from the get-go. "Nothing At Best" is an overall catchy rocker filled with synthesizers that along with robust guitars and dynamic rhythm section create an unconventional type of attact. For a change, "Wake Up The Dead" starts with ominously dark beat resembling Nine Inch Nails. The old prog fans might be disgusted, yet the composition effectively builds to a wall-of-sound climax not unlike the majority of songs collected here. The other notable reinvention involves the guitarwork. Soord opts for energetic metallic riffs more often than ever before. They may be very direct and catchy as hell like in the album's most condensed song, "Show A Little Love" or impressively sawing like in the epic "Preperation For Meltdown." Bassist Jon Sykes doesn't fall behind as his bass lines superbly chug around heavy guitar chords and swelling keyboards in "3000 Days" to give an example.

The only musical aspect that remains unchanged is Soord's vocal delivery. Although his emotive work channels both Tom Yorke and Steven Wilson in equal measure, it always feels genuine. As the title suggests, lyrically "Someone Here Is Missing" is a record about break-up. The gloomy state of mind associated with a failed relationship is illustrated by the most mellow and conventional tracks on the album. Both "The State We're In" and "Barely Breathing" are good renditions of Radioheadesque melancholy. Not being entirely homogenous with the full-fledged experimental style of the album, they also don't stand the comparison with album's more complex compositions. In this field, the last two tracks especially push the envelope. Alluding to the time of the band's existance "3000 Days" is an amazing excercise in the use of dynamics incorporating some of the heaviest traits of earlier compositions, whereas tremendous "So We Row" utilizes its simple leading motif so as to achieve a brilliantly psychedelic effect.

According to Bruce Soord, "Someone Here Is Missing" is "a record of dark edges full of love and regret...my life in the last eighteen months, pretty much." It strucks as unexpected that his painful experience translates into the band's most stellar and fully realized work to date. It's a masterly conceived album that, while heading for clever songwriting tactiques, doesn't neglect the band's trademark melancholy and raw emotions that permeate from every track. Equally thrilling and innovative, this is a major contender for the progressive album of the year.



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3.8
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Comments:Add a Comment 
greg84
Emeritus
August 20th 2010


7654 Comments

Album Rating: 4.6

The video to the song Nothing At Best:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjJxSng0N_4

crazyblinddude
August 20th 2010


3388 Comments


Nice review. Not entirely certain on the rating for this, but I need to give this another listen anyways.

greg84
Emeritus
August 20th 2010


7654 Comments

Album Rating: 4.6

Thank U good sir.

scissorlocked
August 20th 2010


3538 Comments


nice review

I'll probably check this out

too much shitty prog out there these days

greg84
Emeritus
August 20th 2010


7654 Comments

Album Rating: 4.6

Thanks. I agree about shitty prog. Many bands just pack their albums with over-10-minute "epics" that don't lead to anything interesting. However, this one + Demians - Mute are albums that actually expand on the genre. Both are worth your attention for sure.

coneren
August 20th 2010


11111 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Sooooo good

greg84
Emeritus
August 20th 2010


7654 Comments

Album Rating: 4.6

Finally someone agrees!!!

SeaAnemone
August 20th 2010


21429 Comments


Tightly Unwound really rubbed me the wrong way

greg84
Emeritus
August 20th 2010


7654 Comments

Album Rating: 4.6

I'm not a huge fan of this record either. This is totally different. Ok. Maybe with the exception of two tracks.

Jethro42
August 20th 2010


18281 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

'Too much to loose' from Tightly Unwound is one of their best.

'Nothing at best', 'Preparation for Meltdown' and the two last ones are all ace. Good review.

greg84
Emeritus
August 20th 2010


7654 Comments

Album Rating: 4.6

Agreed. Still have to check out the compilation of their supposedly greatest songs "3000 Days."

cb123
January 12th 2011


2238 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

great album, liking this change in sound alot for them

greg84
Emeritus
January 12th 2011


7654 Comments

Album Rating: 4.6

Yeah. They definitely got better thanks to this change in direction. Their previous albums (from what

I've heard) hadn't been so good.

cb123
January 13th 2011


2238 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

yeah they werent bad, they just kind of struggled to maintain interest for the entire disk, this is alot better though

menawati
October 26th 2012


16730 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

radiohead influence pretty strong

greg84
Emeritus
October 26th 2012


7654 Comments

Album Rating: 4.6

I prefer it to any Radiohead record tbh, but yeah. You can tell they're influenced by them at times.

menawati
October 26th 2012


16730 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Bit of muse in there too, damn good album tho.

greg84
Emeritus
October 26th 2012


7654 Comments

Album Rating: 4.6

I don't know about it. I've never listened to their full record. They've always annoyed the hell out of me.

menawati
October 26th 2012


16730 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

just some of the keyboard bits are sorta like some early Muse but these guys are totlaly superior to Muse

Mad.
January 14th 2013


4916 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

This album is so freakin' good. So We Row is just... wow.



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