In 2000, Thrice signed with Sub City Records and released two LP's. The first, Identity Crisis (2000), only received 1.5 stars in the AMG review and little buzz. The second, The Illusion of Safety (2002), was widely acclaimed and received attention from major record labels. Even though Thrice's music has always included metal influences, The Illusion of Safety contained a heavier metalcore sound. The album was recorded in Beltsville, Maryland and the track The Beltsville Crucible reflects this.
In 2003 Thrice signed up with Island Records and released The Artist in the Ambulance, which featured more metal oriented songs while keeping true to their hardcore influences. In 2005 a DVD outlining their entire career to date was released under the title If We Could Only See Us Now. It included a CD with live tracks from the Apple Store and various b-sides.
Thrice released their fourth full-length album, Vheissu, on October 18, 2005. The album was characterized by many critics as being experimentally different, using non-traditional Thrice elements in the process. From keyboard melodies ("For Miles") to Japanese music-box undertones ("Music Box") to chain gang chant choruses ("The Earth Will Shake"), Vheissu introduced a new sound to the band's post-hardcore roots. UK producer Steve Osborne, whose past credits include many Brit-pop hits, was sought by Thrice to gain a new perspective on the songwriting process, enabling the band to expand their musical influences and produce a different album. The album garnered widespread critical acclaim and peaked at #15 on the Billboard 200.
The band releasedRed Sky, an EP comprised of various b-sides as well as live recordings, shortly after Vheissu.
Thrice released the first and second volume of The Alchemy Index, a highly experimental project based on the four traditional elements (fire, water, earth, and air), on October 16th 2007. Over the summer Thrice parted ways with Island records and signed with Vagrant. The Alchemy Index Vols. I & II - Fire & Water was released on October 16, 2007, and sold 28,000 copies in its first week. The album consists of the first two volumes, Fire and Water, and features 12 songs, 6 on each disk. The third and fourth volumes, Air & Earth were released on April 15, 2008.
The "Fire" disc features the heavier post-hardcore sound traditional Thrice fans will quickly embrace, harking back to their pre-Vheissu albums. The "Water" disc, however, is comprised of ambient songs similar to those found in Vheissu, Thrice's previous album release. The "Air" disc brings a whole new element of electronic elements and delayed guitar riffs to Thrice's sound. In "Earth", much like Dustin Kensrue's solo album, "Please Come Home", Thrice introduces an indie-folk sound combining intricate piano and acoustic guitar.
Thrice's sixth studio album Beggars was released digitally through Vagrant Records in the UK on August 9, 2009 and in the US on August 11 with a physical release containing bonus material pencilled in for September 15. These dates deviate from the original proposed release date of October 13 because of a leak via Vagrant Records web player, which has meant the artwork for the album has also changed. The first single to be taken from the album is All the World Is Mad and was first made available through Guitar Hero: World Tour on July 23.
Dustin Kensrue has described the album as being "more visceral and more raw - both in the songwriting and in the overall sound. It moves with a different energy than any of our past records. It was born out of us playing together in a room, almost as a backlash to the giant headgame that was The Alchemy Index" and has been well received critically.
The seventh studio album Major/Minor came out on September 20, 2011 through Vagrant Records. Yellow Belly, Promises and a few other songs were made available for the listeners to stream online before the release date. The album received extremely positive reviews from many online websites. Alex Djaferis of Absolutepunk.net gave Major/Minor a rating of 95%. Tracks like Promises and Listen Through Me reflected a natural progression from the sound Thrice created in Beggars, which was widely appreciated by the early listeners.
Thrice decided to take a break from being a full time band on November 21, 2011. In late spring/early summer Thrice announced the 'Farewell' tour for the spring/summer of 2012 , which would be the bands final tour before going into an indefinite hiatus.
In early 2015 it was announced that the band intends to release new music and tour again. Announcements were done via the bands website http://www.thrice.net/ and social media outlets with an accompanying picture with "Thrice 2015" text.
Motion Without Meaning
Thrice Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
This sort of graceful defeat
We found a pattern out on the pavement
Sound the siren out through the streets
Advance in perfect nonchalance
Do it together with a rifle report
Don't marvel at our confidence
Tell me that you wanna stop the war
But baby you can't dance if there's no floor
Motion isn't meaning
It's just another drug
But it's all we've got...
What a way to keep it together
A black box, a prescription for speed
We found a freeway that goes on forever
Drown the demon in the deep black sea
Shield your eyes
It keeps burning to the rhythm of the rifle repeating
Paralyzed
But I gotta keep movin' if I wanna keep breathing
Tell me that you wanna stop the war
But baby you can't dance if there's no floor
Motion isn't meaning
It's just another drug
But it's all we've got...we've got nowhere to go
I'll take the life on the easy ship
We have our guns for the moment
I'll take the life on the easy ship
We have our guns!
The lyrics of Thrice's "Motion Without Meaning" present a bleak and desolate vision of the world, where people have lost their sense of purpose and are merely going through the motions of life. The opening lines describe this state of being as a "beautiful way to fake it," where the appearance of grace and dignity masks a profound sense of defeat. The "pattern out on the pavement" and "siren out through the streets" suggest a society that is both orderly and oppressive, where any dissent is immediately quashed.
The chorus of the song offers a stark realization that there is no inherent meaning in our actions, that "motion isn't meaning." The repetition of the phrase "tell me that you wanna stop the war" suggests a yearning for change, but also acknowledges the futility of such a desire. The line "but baby you can't dance if there's no floor" implies that our movements require a context or framework to make sense, and without such a framework, we are lost.
The final verse speaks of drowning our demons in the deep black sea, suggesting a willingness to give up our struggles and simply exist in a state of numbness. The repetition of the phrase "I'll take the life on the easy ship" suggests a desire for escape, but also a resignation to our circumstances. The final line, "We have our guns!" suggests that we cling to the instruments of violence as a means of control, but also as a symbol of our own impotence.
Line by Line Meaning
What a beautiful way to fake it
This is such a well-crafted fake that it seems real.
This sort of graceful defeat
Even though we are defeated, we are moving gracefully.
We found a pattern out on the pavement
We discovered a pattern while walking on the pavement.
Sound the siren out through the streets
Let the siren sound loudly throughout the streets.
Advance in perfect nonchalance
Advance without any noticeable effort to seem calm.
Do it together with a rifle report
Accomplish it all as if we are shooting a rifle in unison.
Don't marvel at our confidence
Don't be fooled by our seemingly confident attitude.
It's troubled, bottled, and above-all deformed
Our confidence is an artificial creation that is troubled, hidden, and unformed.
Tell me that you wanna stop the war
Tell me that you want to put an end to this conflict.
But baby you can't dance if there's no floor
But it's hard to dance without a foundation.
Motion isn't meaning
Just because we're moving doesn't mean we're making genuine progress.
It's just another drug
It's just another means of deluding ourselves like a drug.
But it's all we've got...
But it's really our only option and all we have right now is ourselves.
What a way to keep it together
This is a great way to stay unified under trying circumstances.
A black box, a prescription for speed
A mysterious, opaque solution that's meant to rev us up.
We found a freeway that goes on forever
We stumbled upon an endless path.
Drown the demon in the deep black sea
Let's get rid of the devil in the bottomless ocean.
Shield your eyes
Protect your eyes from the light.
It keeps burning to the rhythm of the rifle repeating
It keeps getting worse in time with the repeating gunshots.
Paralyzed
Consequently, we are completely powerless to move.
But I gotta keep movin' if I wanna keep breathing
However, in order to survive, I have to keep going anyway.
We've got nowhere to go
We are stuck between a rock and a hard place now.
I'll take the life on the easy ship
I'll choose an easier path of life.
We have our guns for the moment
There's a short window of time where we have the tools to make a difference.
I'll take the life on the easy ship
I'll choose an easier path of life.
We have our guns!
So let's use these guns while we still have them.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DUSTIN MICHAEL KENSRUE, EDWARD CARRINGTON BRECKENRIDGE, JAMES RILEY BRECKENRIDGE, TEPPEI TERANISHI
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind