Thursday has busted onto the music scene with a perfect blend of post hardcore/punk music. There previous albums set the bar high for this album, and this album didn't disappoint. With tracks such as: Counting 5-4-3-2-1, Running From The Rain, and At This Velocity this album is not even close to disappointment.
Then why is the general reaction from Thursday fans that this is a disappointment? Well, mostly because it is not as hardcore as the other Thursday albums, less screaming, the beats aren't as rough, and there are even a few soft songs. But, I actually like this mix, it is what popular punk bands such as Thursday and Taking Back Sunday have done right, mixing up there songs.
The opener is perfect for this album at times it contains a soft beat of emotion but at other time the lead vocalist is screaming as loud as he can to add emotion to the song. The lyrics are nothing we haven't seen from Thursday:
"Car crash came and car crash went
So I went along with it"
But "The Other Side Of The Crash" is the perfect opener of the album because even in the softest parts of the song it contains just the right amount of emotion. 4/5
"Counting 5-4-3-2-1", is one of the most brilliant punk songs I have heard in a while. Even though the song repeats the quiet obsession punk bands such as Fall Out Boy have with burning cities, the song is more emotional then anything Fall Out Boy could have ever created. The simple but rocking beat is perfect for the song, and the change of tone in the lead singer voice is just right to make this song great. You have to give credit to the producers for making all these style and voice changes possible in this song and the video for this song is also very good and emotional. Overall it is a great effort from Thursday. 5/5
Though "Sugar In The Sacrament", is obviously about a sexual relationship it is still better than anything Brand New did on "Deja Entendu" with that particular theme. The song is a soft acoustic song that has some awesome guitar parts compared to the thin expectations most punk and post-hardcore fans have. The chorus and breakdown is very high on emotion as the lead vocalist practically loses his voice from screaming so hard and loud. Overall, the song gets a 5/5 for emotion but a 4/5 for structure which it seems to have many choruses and breakdowns not necessarily a bad thing but it still could have been handled better. So overall, the song gets a 4.5/5.
"At This Velocity", is something for the fans of the previous Thursday albums. The nonsensical screaming is done just right and even though the emotional level in the tone of the vocalists voice tends to disappear the lyrical content of the songs emotion doesn't tend to fade. The song again seems to be dealing with a crash, this time a plane crash, and the writer rights about trying to survive. The song even gets to a point emotionally where the singer asks if his mother and father can hear him. This is another thing about Thursday that you have to love that even though they are a punk/post hardcore band, they don't sing about little stupid relationships throughout the whole album. As for this song it gets a 4.5/5 because it proves that Thursday can still scream and rock out.
"We Will Overcome", starts with some great electric guitar and some beautiful piano which gets you into the song right from the gecko. After some simple lyrics, we have one of the shortest choruses on the album: "We Will Overcome" shouts the lead singer a simple chorus but it goes perfectly with the simple suicidal lyrics before it. Overall the song is soft during the supporting line and hard during the chorus, and the musicianship is great in the song because you can still hear the electric guitar in the background, during the second chorus you can still have your pretty electric guitar but this time it with better lyrics and an overall more catchy tune then the previous chorus. The breakdown is beautiful and it brings about a sense of success and with a choir singing in the background it is just perfect. The song gets a 4/5.
The instrumental interlude comes at just the right time. The song, "Arclamps, Signal Flares, A Shower Of White (The Light) ", gives a rest to all the emotional things this album is throwing at us at one time. The song would have been a bit better if there were some background vocals of any sort, but the cool drum beat thrown in with the occasional guitar is relaxing enough were you don't even need lyrics. Now that I think about it I don't even know if the lead singer vocals would fit this particular beat. But anyway's, it is a good break from the album. 4/5
"Running From The Rain", is one of the most beautiful tracks I have heard a punk band make in the 1st century. Even though that is in my opinion, the son is still beautiful. You really are relaxed from the last interlude and that mood continues in this song with a electric and emotional chorus and the supporting lines don't disappoint. Even the background vocals are perfect, and I love the beat of the song and the feeling that it gives you. And the production is so that it fits the vocals perfectly. You can honestly feel the singer crying with emotion as he pounds the vocals together into one brilliant song. The background vocals end the song with a sudden beat shift, were the background vocals get some background vocals and in the end Thursday pulls it all together.
"Telegraph Avenue Kiss", is another good song. The song features a soft beat in the begging but the listener is just sent waiting for a lyrical explosion and they get that and more in a chorus that is awesome. Even though simple in lyrics it is perfect for the beat. The song background vocals make the song have a even more spooky feel, and it is just awesome. Some soft instruments are played along with the drums after the second singing of the chorus, and some paranoid lyrics lead perfectly into a background. This background leads right into another explosion of lyrics in the breakdown. Overall a well-produced and thought of song. 4/5
"The Love song Writer", features some of the best lyrics of the album and some of the best instrumental work as well in the begging of the song. When you listen start listening to this song you get a little frustrated: "Not Another soft song!". But this is crafted perfectly and features my overall favorite section of lyrics in the pre-chorus:
"With the flick of his wrist he turns words into melodies
Chords into church bells, fill up the allies
Lovers intwine in the heat of the night
And by dawn are apart in the shivering silences"
But the middle of the song and the chorus doesn't live up to your expectations that this song has given you. The drums and guitar are played to there full throttle during the chorus which makes up for some lackluster song writing. But the breakdown is driven and charged enough to make this song a 4/5.
"Into The Blinding Light", is another great mix of hard and soft rock. And the lyrics are as sick and depressing as they have been all album, when this happens along with a hard beat in the chorus is when Thursday is at there best. The song combines the third track and fifth track perfectly, it is like the fifth track in the chorus and the third track in supporting lyrics. Just check it out:
"The fire is dying out and there's nothing left to burn except for ourselves.
The cinema speaks as you take off your clothes and burst in dissimulation.
Just let your body burst into a streak of light.
When there's nothing left, the wedding crashes
and the rings fall off, roll out the bedroom window into the blinding light."
Some great lyrics there and another great song by this band who seem to be on a mission to catch everyone off-guard with there mixture of hard and soft rock on this album. 4.2/5
What an ending to the album with: "Autumn Leaves Revisited", a song were at the begging the vocals are distorted, then a weird but timely instrumental break comes consisting of many instruments. And the lyrics are sick as the acoustic guitar starts back up the song. The lead singer boldly claims: "I will be here when you die" and the song resumes. Another beautiful instrumental break occurs not as random as the last and you can tell it is building to something special and significant just by the tone of the instruments. Some of the best lyrics occur at this spot and this is just a brilliant and significant closer to the album. There is no wussing out by Thursday as most bands tend to lay back on the last track but Thursday is possibly giving us a haunting image of what there next album will be like. 4.7/5
What an album, and what an accomplishment by a band that fused pop-punk originality with there post-hardcore roots and what we get is near perfection by this band. One of the best albums released this year along with "Louder Now" and "The Eraser" and the biggest surprise of the year in my opinion. What a special album, and even though it took me some time to get into but when I did it just clicked in my head that this was a near perfect album.
Pros:
Fusing there two most famous genres together perfectly
Soft and hard songs
The best song writing
Not a step back from "War All The Time"
Cons:
Only 11 Tracks!
Some soft songs get repetitive after first listen.
Tracks I would Recommend:
Counting 5-4-3-2-1
At This Velocity
Running From The Rain
