By Omar Tanamly (October 28, 2003)

Rating – 

With the odds against them, Thursday, a veteran screamo band from New Brunswick, New Jersey, crushed the underground music scene with the window-shattering release "War All the Time." While some fans wondered whether or not Thursday had it in them to top their revolutionary "Full Collapse," the new full-length, released as a cooperative effort on Island and Victory Records in September 2003, shatters all doubts. With the first single, "Signals Over the Radio," peeking its head all on radio stations around the country, Thursday manages to attract new fans, yet maintain all their devoted followers of old.

Singer Geoff Rickly’s often undecipherable yet mystifying lyrics retain their power and subsequent intellect and multiple themes on the new record. Lines like "If we fly a white flag, under a black and blue sky, will the red sun rise?" have enough interpretive power to leave even the best asking for more. Guitarists Tom Keeley and Steve Pedulla, bassist Tim Payne, drummer Tucker Rule, and touring keyboardist Andrew Everding, throw their amazing musical talent into the mix that is "War All the Time." Skyscraping and booming riffs on songs like the starting track, "For the Workforce, Drowning" and the colossal "Division St.", coupled with the more mellow themes of "Asleep in the Chapel," and the title track, "War All the Time," demonstrate Thursday’s clear capabilities as musicians, while easing away from some of the more basic, expected methods used on their previous full-length.

"War All the Time," passionately tackles serious issues, from hate crimes, (on "M. Shepard," dedicated to the memory of Mathew Shepard) to widespread mayhem, yet is not a purely "negative" album, focused on the awful. It incorporates elements of hope, faith, and happiness in its songs as well, which are often overlooked by fans drawn by the band’s hardcore side. As a screamo band, Thursday mixes elements of, naturally, raw screaming, and the heart-felt emotions of emo, into a beautiful, eclectic, and powerful mixture that sets precedent for other bands to follow.

Younger bands like Story of the Year, The Used, and Yesterday’s Rising (to name a few) have followed in Thursday’s footsteps, molding their craft and pursuing a very similar style of screamo music, causing some to believe that screamo has lost some of its esteem, due to the "cloning" of several bands. However, Thursday set the bar for screamo music, and raised it yet again with their intense and passionate "War All the Time," a CD that was made for your stereo. 

Guaranteed to be a veritable classic among hardcore, screamo, emo, and punk fans alike, "War All the Time" is a mind-blowing CD that will hopefully allow you to, if nothing else, appreciate a new musical group for its powerful lyrics and pioneering sound, which by no means have lost any of its value through the test of time. Bottom line, this CD will blow your mind, check it out.

Tracklisting:
1. For The Workforce, Drowning
2. Between Rupture and Rapture
3. Division St.
4. Signals Over The Air
6. Marches and Maneuvers
7. This Song Brought To You By a Falling Bomb
8. Steps Ascending
9. War All The Time
10. M. Shepard
11. Tomorrow I’ll Be You

Thursday Online: http://www.islandrecords.com/thursday/

Island Records: http://www.islandrecords.com/