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The Pineapple Thief - 10 Stories Down CD (album) cover

10 STORIES DOWN

The Pineapple Thief

 

Crossover Prog

3.29 | 121 ratings

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Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer
4 stars The pictures in the liner notes of each member of the band jumping off of a building looks really cool. This was the hardest PINEAPPLE THIEF record for me to get into. It's more mature then past albums with less guitar and energy. Their sound is becoming more their own now.

"Prey For Me" has this ten second bombastic intro before Bruce's vocals come in and I can't help but smile. His vocals are accompanied with acoustic guitar. Violin 2 minutes in.The chorus rocks out pretty good, while the verses are dreamy and beautiful. "Clapham" has some piano and strings in it. It sort of has the same style as the opener only a lot more laid back. "Wretched Soul" has processed vocals and a great beat.This is a catchy tune with some more dreamy passages. "The World I Always Dreamed Of" is a fantastic song with PORCUPINE TREE sounding synths and acoustic guitar. "Start Your Descent" is a beautiful, melancholic song with violin, and believe it or not accordion. "My Own Oblivion" is kind of funky to open with processed vocals. This is a heavier song with a good beat to it.

"It's Just You And Me" is spacey with lots of synths until we get a good guitar solo then it's back to the dreamy sound. "The Answers" is a slow paced, mellow, laid back tune. It's very relaxing with some violin. "From Where Your Standing" is more upbeat and actually is a catchy, radio friendly song with some aggressive guitar 3 minutes in. "Light Up Your Eyes" is divided into two parts consisting of over 15 minutes of music. The first part is "I Light Up Your Eyes" while the second part is "Who Light Up Your Eyes".This is the best song I have heard from the band so far.The way the first part builds to an emotional high is incredible. To the way it relaxes to almost nothing.This contrast continues throughout. Amazing violin melodies as well.The second part has a real PORCUPINE TREE feel to it. This album just continues to grow on me. Barely 4 stars though.

Edit : October 14/2011 Well I just purchased the remixed and remastered version of this album and they've added a bonus disc called "8 Days Later" which was on the original "12 Stories Down" release. I should mention that "12 Stories Down" was released in a hurry and the wrong master was used for it. It sounded bad enough (Bruce said it was crap) that the band recalled all of the sent out cds and eventually re-released it as "10 Stories Down" which was my original review here. I want to touch on the bonus disc here which I feel is better than the first one. I would say the first one is my least favourite PINEAPPLE THIEF album but certainly with this bonus disc of material it's raised my appreciation for the overall recording. Still this is a low 4 stars.

First up is "Sunday : Crash" with samples and strummed guitar then it kicks in around a minute.Vocals before 3 minutes. "Monday : Sleep" is an instrumental of gentle guitar to start as drums and bass join in. Mellotron-like sounds 2 1/2 minutes in. Love this track. "Tuesday : Haboob" is even better with the picked guitar as a beat and atmosphere join in. It kicks in hard at 5 minutes. Nice. Great tune. "Wednesday:The Snail Song" has strummed guitar early on. We get a calm before 1 1/2 minutes then vocals and guitar come in.Excellent ! "Thursday : Fifty Four" kicks in hard then settles back as these contrasts continue. "Friday : 5 Minutes" is a vocal track as the piano comes and goes. Guitar before 3 1/2 minutes. "Saturday:Reverse" is an instrumental that begins in an experimental manner. Drums before 2 minutes.There's silence before 4 1/2 minutes then it kicks back in with some raw guitar. Cool song. "Sunday : King Street" opens with piano as acoustic guitar joins in then drums after 2 1/2 minutes. A beautiful track.

I do believe they've finally got this album the way they want it (haha). And the final result will make PINEAPPLE THIEF fans very happy.

Mellotron Storm | 4/5 |

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