#122

Glad to be of service :slight_smile:

They’re one of those bands where you’ll be hard pushed to find fan consensus on their best album, or even their best song. Makes for an inconsistent live show (they’re always on top form, but the setlists can be all over the place as they try to please everyone) but if you listen to, say, The Artist In The Ambulance and write it off as “of-its-time” screamo (which wouldn’t be an unreasonable conclusion) then you don’t have to look further into the future for something completely different.

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#123

Excellent post. Nice to see such a deep dive of Thrice. They are genuinely a special band, reaching outside screamo and being so successful in so many of their experiments. I even think Beggars, which they released quite late in their career and has pretty much no screamo elements, is my absolute favourite of theirs, because the songwriting and lyrics are phenomenal.

Do you think they had periods of producing good material, then bad material, and then good material though? I think the quality of their material, since The Artist in the Ambulance at least, has been consistently and commendably high.

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#124

I do. I found the alchemy index borderline-unlistenable at the time. I’m definitely overdue a reappraisal of those albums, but they’re always the low spots of the live set for me.

Beggars has some of their best songs, but for me the 2 most recent albums are the best of their career.

I do wish they were a more interesting band to cover, from a journalistic standpoint. I’ve had the pleasure of chatting to them a couple of times and unless you want to go in-depth on the muso side, there’s really very little to pull on there. 4 nice guys who are very good at their instruments, writing criminally underrated songs.

I interviewed them on the To Be Everywhere cycle and trying to get insights out of them was like trying to get blood from a stone. I think that’s really played against them historically. They’re not a “fun” band to cover.

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#125

Gets tricky judging this once an artist has had a long career with ups and downs or maybe albums where your personal opinion doesn’t chime with general critical consensus.

Noticed The Flaming Lips have announced a new album - early stuff is all over the place, had a brilliant run then lost it with Mystics, regained with Embryonic, then generally lost again with side projects and Oczy (which I don’t actually think is terrible, just terrible in parts). But I don’t know maybe the sheer mess of the discography is all part of it anyway.

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#126

Wire. I love the classic first three but got very lost in their 80s output. I have enjoyed their last few records a lot though.

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#127

Interpol. Started strong, faded and I think el pintor is good again. Personally I didn’t really dig marauder but I think that it was well thought of.

#128

I’m not sure Underworld releasing one shit album (barking) means they completely lost it. Given its a collaboration album as well. I think they’ve been pretty consistent across their career tbh.

#129

I would definitely hold up Wire’s later records up to their earlier and (rightly) well-regarded stuff.

It’s completely different (to their credit), but still experimental and furious.

What a band.

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#130

Weezer had it, had it, kinda had it, kinda had it, lost it, kinda had it, vapourised it, lost the vapour, recrystalised it for a lesser yield, had it again, lost it again -->

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#131

American Football from LP 1 to LP 2 to LP 3

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#132

Great shout, love LP3 so much

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#133

Simplified it for ya

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#134

I’m praying that Placebo find it again. We should know soon enough :grimacing: :crossed_fingers:

#135

Jonny Cash must be the best example of this

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#136

Deaf Havana and Enter Shikari? I wouldn’t hold your breath…

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#137

Can’t say I fully understand your implication. But I can say, if you aren’t already aware, Reynold (new label Exec) says he’s already heard the new tracks and loved em. Given this, don’t think it’s too far off :wink:

#138

Oh, implication is just that I think both of those bands are terrible :grin:

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#139

Got it :blush:

No idea what to expect. Just ready to hear something new :man_shrugging:

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#140

I’ve not really engaged with anything they’ve done since Takk, including Kveikur but given your comment I think maybe I need to give it another shot.

I seem to remember Kveikur being described in NME (possibly) as Sigur Ros does metal. Maybe it was tongue in cheek and I was just a bit gullible, but that was something I really wanted to hear. I think maybe it set my expectations of the album all over the place and they never recovered.

Googling it now and I can see some similar references to it.

#141

Just thought of another- A Tribe Called Quest.

First three albums are all great. Then, two very middling to bad albums, and returned with We Got It From Here… which is just solid brilliance.

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