ALL THE WARS

It has been a long time Vulgar Unicorn's guitarist Bruce Soord decided to stretch his wings and create another vehicle for his music, but I hadn't realised that it was 1999 when 'Abducting The Unicorn' came out; it all seems so very long ago now. Over the years Bruce has kept developing the sound of the band, and in many ways is still very 'progressive', but to be honest that label may not be used much by many reviewers these days. To me it is truly progressive in that the band has kept changing and are bringing in loads of influences, most notably lots of Muse with some Porcupine Tree and Radiohead, and aren't afraid to mix up the instrumentation. But while I think that "Believe A World" is a great example of progressive music, i.e. music that is trying to break down barriers and cross genres (some great strings, simple staccato piano chords, combined with a pop mentality and a great distorted guitar break) there will be many that do not and instead will call this alternative rock.

Yes, that is indeed one way of looking at it, but frankly who cares about labels anyway? It is just a way of describing music so that someone reading a comment might get an idea of what the music is about and then may make a decision based on that. In this case it is definitely a case of if you enjoy the bands mentioned above then this is an extremely polished rock album that you will gain a great deal from and you ought to investigate further. www.pineapplethief.com

Pineapple Thief is something your non-proggy friends could absorb whilst playing Cards Against Humanity and not feel like a deer caught in headlights. There are enough pop hooks and secular references to keep the music community at large interested -- yet it could also be the catalyst for the masses to investigate more crossover prog titles. Once again, you'll have the confidence to breech your party with sonic flagellations without fear of them throwing their Hot Pockets at you in musical disgust. It's even plausible that you may make new friends when you play Airbag, Amplifier or Von Hertzen Brothers immediately following.

Pineapple Thief's sound is not a shot served straight. It's as if a cosmic bartender muddled together the music of Travis, Porcupine Tree and Radiohead, then garnished with a twist of Billy Corgan. Seriously? listen to "Build A World." Is that Billy Corgan singing under a pseudonym? ?Is it prog? It'll be up to the listener to decide. It's definitely modern -- well produced and recorded, gladly taking part in the overly compressed, sonic loudness wars. The strings and the vocal phrasing is very Travis inspired music, drawing vocal comparisons to Fran Healy at certain intervals. There are even parallels in the lyrical content. It's a solid 4 star album for mainstream music, one star less for attempting the progressive genre.

My turn to deal. The card: Instead of coal, Santa now gives the bad children ________.

The Pineapple Thief has managed to maintain an excellent level of production and composition in their music since VARIATIONS ON A DREAM. All The Wars is the last album they have worked on and it is really excellent in quality and, as I said above, composition. The musical arrangements are outstanding, the use of orchestration in songs like "All the Wars" or the use of the Prague choir in "Reaching Out". This album along with the bonus CD are really amazing and they should be considered a must for every fan of progressive music or fan of music. I have shown this album to many experts in other types of music and they acknowledge the good level The Pineapple Thief has. Even though, Bruce Soord is compared to Corgan, I would say, they are a way different one from the other! Lovely album!

This is the first PINEAPPLE THIEF album that left me unimpressed after my first listen, and I do own all of their studio albums save for "10 Stories Down"(but I do have "12 Stories Down") and yes i've been a big fan for a long time now. In fact the opening track is one I still can't get into. Maybe it's because they've taken a turn into more of a MUSE territory. For some reason i've always loved that sameness they've always had about their music with the lack of dynamics. Still, I can see this album being popular with music fans in general.

"Burning Pieces" for whatever reason bugs me when it kicks into that heavy sound. Now i'm sure it would be cool hearing this in concert but I still get annoyed with it. "Warm Seas" is better as once again we get those contrasts of heavy and mellow but it just works better here for me. Great tune. "Last Man Standing" sounds so good early on reminding me of PT with the atmosphere and lyrics. It kicks in before 2 minutes as contrasts continue. Classic PINEAPPLE THIEF right here and a top three track. "All The Wars" is a mellow tune with strummed guitar and melancholic vocals. Good tune. "Build A Word" opens with orchestration and piano before this catchy beat kicks in with vocals. I did tire of it quickly though.

"Give It Back" is quite powerful as it kicks in hard before a minute. It settles some when the vocals arrive. A good rockin' tune. "Someone Pull Me Out" is laid back with reserved vocals. Sad is the word. It gets fuller with orchestration on the beautiful chorus. A top three tune for me and it reminds me of their older sound other than the orchestration. "One More Step Away" is mellow with drums, picked guitar and vocals. I like this one. "Reaching Out" is my favourite. Great intro with guitar as it builds. This is a ride as it goes on for almost 10 minutes. Vocals before a minute then orchestration as we get that classic mood and emotion from Bruce and the boys. I like the bass when it settles back as the vocals stop. Great section. Just a killer track !

I'm not big on orchestration which is fairly prominant on this album yet it is tastefully done. But it's more the bombastc parts that for some reason don't work for me. Lots to like here but not enough to offer up that fourth star. Not a fan of the cover art either. My favourites from this band coninue to be "Someone Here Is Missing" and "Little Man".