One of the better successors in a time of shitty successors

With "War all the Time" THURSDAY had to follow-up their massively influential masterpiece "Full Collapse" and that in the middle of the Hardcore-mainstream-hype. They got signed by Island Records in the run-up to "War all the Time", so there sure was some pressure there. And that's something you can hear, cause it's a pretty gutless record and definitely the most uncreative piece of music they put out in their whole career. "War all the Time" is basically a carbon copy of "Full Collapse", with the typical mainstream-makeup (cleaner production & a more streamlined songwriting) of the time. With that being said, damn, it's not like they did compromise much for this. At least not as much as other bands of that era. The HC-influence is still there and the loud/mellow-ratio is pretty much alike than on "Full Collapse". "War all the Time" definitely is one of the better succeeding albums to a masterpiece.

I still have the feeling that the songs aren't as strong as the ones on "Full Collapse". There's not one track I'd put above most "Full Collapse"-songs. Still, the quality is consistently high and I always tend to underappreciate some of these cuts. The opening two-punch of "For the Workforce, Drowning" & "Between Rupture and Rapture" is trademark THURSDAY and top notch, and "Division St." is nearly on the same level. "Signals over the Air" was one of the singles and sees THURSDAY at their most radio-friendly, though it remains a solid track. "Marches and Maneuvers" - oh, here we are with the songs I keep underrating. That's classic THURSDAY right there, and with the intro and the back-and-forth between singing/screaming and crushing/melodic very akin to "How long is the Night?". "Asleep in the Chapel" is the weakest cut for me, along with "M. Shepard". "Signals over the Air" is the better Midtempo-track. "This Song brought to you by a Falling Bomb" remains a classic in my books, probably cause it's the most distinctive track on the record, carried by Rickley's effective voice and a piano. "Steps Ascending" holds the intensity high, with the finale being one of the best moments of the whole record. Jonah Matranga's (FAR, NEW END ORIGINAL) vocal part really adds to it. The title track probably is the most well-known song on the album and a hit without  a doubt. Next is the already mentioned, lesser "M. Shepard", that somehow hinders the nice flow near the end of the album. But the strong closer "Tomorrow I'll be you" makes up for it. The bridge is beautiful and again, the final stretch is pretty epic.

"War all the Time" still leaves me with a strange feeling. Creativity and courage are at an all-time-low in THURSDAY's context, yet they stayed true to themselves and delivered a worthy follow-up to "Full Collapse". The main "problem" -at least for me- might be just that. It's the follow-up to "Full Collapse". And a pretty close one too. But damn, can you blame them for such a great record?