Review: Thursday - Full Collapse

artist: thursday album: full collapse label:victory records released: 4/10/01 by: eduardo moutinho I’ve told my friends this story quite a few times, yet it never seems to get old to me. About two and a half years ago, I went to my first basement show. It was being held somewhere in Lakewood, and I was going because I felt that it would be interesting to check out. Plus, I was looking forward to seeing some friends. At that time, I was a “newbie” to the scene. To be quite honest, I was wearing a Nonpoint shirt, and into hard rock. I was in a cocoon of power chords, double bass, rap metal, clown masks, and Fred Durst. I remember enjoying myself quite a bit, and wanting to get more involved in what was going on. The music wasn’t necessarily what I enjoyed listening to, then and now, yet it was different and interesting. I wanted to know what the people involved were listening to. I remember talking to Ryan Nee, one of my good friends, who got into this before I did, about forming a new band. I asked, “Who do you want to sound like?” And he quickly responded with, “I wanna sound like Thursday!” And from then on, I began breaking out of my cocoon… I know that a lot of people that come to this site are relative newcomers to our underground music scene, like I was, and would like to know about a release or a band that would be a good place to start at. Well folks, this is the release, and this is the band. Thursday is a hard band to categorize. They epitomize the post-hardcore genre, by fusing together many elements from hardcore, punk, indie rock, and emo. In fact, Thursday’s sound has been copied by many upstart groups, who have failed to capture the same essences that make it so great. This sound has helped Thursday emerge as one of the most popular bands in the scene. The band is relentless in their passion for what they do, as they are known for putting on zealous performances, literally matching the ferocity of their music with the energy they display on stage. This ferocity is accurately exhibited on Full Collapse, Thursday’s second album, and debut on Victory. This release is strong, from start to finish. You can put it in, and leave it alone, because there really isn’t one song that’s not worth listening to. Thursday’s incredible talent and intense songwriting shines through, rendering this album into a true tour-de-force. The first track on the album, “A0001” is an atmospheric mainly instrumental piece, with hints of voice haunting the track. It acts as one of those soft-to-hard transitions, which has become cliché with recent bands, with the second track on the album, “Understanding in a Car Crash.” This track is quite spectacular, and is probably Thursday’s most popular song. The song is fast, with charging verses and choruses, accentuated by excellent guitar work. There are quiet moments in the song, yet they are few and far between. They almost act like little breaks for the listener. The song culminates with a breakdown where the guitars and vocals duel with each other. There are high-pitched string parts, choppy chords, singing, screaming, etc. It’s an appropriate end to such a veracious piece. Thursday likes to experiment with dichotomies. It’s quite easy to see them playing a song with a very slow and melodic opening piece, that leads to a crushing verse. This is evident in quite a few songs, such as “Autobiography of a Nation,” “A Hole in the World,” and a form of it is seen in “Standing on the Edge of Summer.” While this is done frequently, it never becomes boring, and is in fact quite wonderful. In addition, another dichotomy is frequently seen: the use of singing and screaming vocals. Thursday didn’t pioneer this at all, yet they really helped popularize it. I like this combination a lot, yet it has to be properly done. Thursday does it brilliantly. Almost every member in the band does some form of singing. So in many instances, you can hear up to three voices going on at the same time during a song. The screaming is distinct and unique to each member, along with the singing. It flows together well, and adds rawness to the music that is much appreciated. Also, the use of spoken word is used masterfully on the record, which adds poignancy on top of all the organized chaos. The strongest track on the album, in my opinion, “Paris in Flames,” demonstrates all of these things. The song is sinusoidal in nature, and has quite a bite to it. The vocals are all over the board, with a lot of contribution from backup vocals in addition to well-placed spoken word. The epic-sounding end is quite spectacular, and is a good segment of sound to personify the band with. While I could go on and talk about other great tracks on the album (“Cross Out the Eyes,” “I Am the Killer,” etc.), I’m going to stop here. I don’t want to make this any longer than it has to be. I want you to go out there and listen to this record, if you haven’t. This is definitely one of those albums that define our scene, and what we’re all about. It’s a beautiful compilation, and definitely the strongest release Thursday has put out. It’s not the newest release out there, yet I’ve wanted to review it for a long time. In fact, this release has catapulted Thursday to an almost mainstream-like acceptance, which may prove to be unfortunate. They have recently signed to Island Records, and will put out a record on that label in the coming months. Nevertheless, Full Collapse will always be here, and for those who haven’t embraced it yet, please do. You won’t regret it. favorite song: "paris in flames" rating: 97%/100% listen to thursday