Thursday: Full Collapse : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Thursday play melodic hardcore with enough verve and originality to be heroes of the Warped Tour -- but that hasn't made them cheerful. On its second album, this New Jersey group peels the scab off endless varieties of pain: heartbreak ("Standing on the Edge of Summer"), watching a friend die ("Understanding in a Car Crash" -- a true story), even guilt over genocide ("Autobiography of a Nation"). Whenever Thursday's guitars become slow and subdued, it's because the band is preparing to unleash a withering assault: In Thursday's world, there's nothing constant, nothing safe to hold onto. The weak spot is Geoff Rickly's vocals, which sometimes soar but other times employ a broken-glass howl to communicate anguish -- a little of that goes a long way. But if you wear black on the outside because black is how you feel on the inside, Thursday are for you.

GAVIN EDWARDS
(RS 905 - Sept. 19, 2002)