Thursday's latest shows different sound, direction

Thursday / `War All the Time'

Sometimes a bigger record label isn't better. In the case of Thursday's latest album, "War All the Time," a major record label seems to do more harm than good.

Thursday's most recent CD sounds drastically different from its previous release, "Full Collapse."

While that CD was full of energetic and emotionally intense punk music, the energy is all but vacant from "War All the Time." Both CDs have hard-core rock sounds, but the group's latest CD isn't nearly as unique as the earlier one.

"War All the Time" is not all bad. Tracks like "Signals Over the Air" have a great sound. The problem is for every great song, there is an equally mediocre one. Tracks constantly talk of war and the things associated with it. Sometimes that gets old after a couple of songs.

A surprise track is "This Song Brought to You By a Falling Bomb." The track is an excellent, very mellow song, but the problem is it significantly throws off the CD's mood. Right after the soft song, you get thrown back into more fast-paced hard rock.

A plus on the record is great lyrics such as, "In the veins of the ultraviolet light, the phosphor is starting a fire."

The group's new sound signals a loss of the old, which may surprise some fans, leaving some of them feeling betrayed. Nevertheless, that is a calculated risk that Thursday has taken. It may prove successful; it may not.

Thursday is in its early years and is likely to be around for a long while. Only time will tell what new direction the band will take next.

Grade: B

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