Thrice - The Artist in the Ambulance (2003)

Thrice - The Artist in the Ambulance (2003)

The Artist in the Ambulance is the third full length LP by American rock outfit Thrice, and the first to be released on a major label. Musically speaking, Thrice were still playing around with a melodic hardcore style at this point, complete with gruff yells and heavy, distorted riffs. These aspects of their music kind of disappeared on later albums like Beggars and Major/Minor. There are also elements of emo, punk rock and post-hardcore in The Artist which Thrice used to develop a fairly unique and definitive sound for themselves over the years that they were active.

Regardless of what style Thrice played with, they were always skilled musicians first and foremost. Sure, they occasionally wrote some pretty cliched songs and not everything they tried musically ended up working (like many of the string arrangements on this album), but they did write a lot of kick-ass melodies and grooves that make up the bulk of personality on this record. The Artist was never my favourite Thrice album, and of their discography it's an album that I'm not all that familiar with. But after giving it a couple of full listens, I found that I was really enjoying a lot of what I was hearing. The whole middle portion of this album seems to be its strong point. Songs like Paper Tigers and the groove oriented Hoods On Peregrine are addicting thanks to Thrice's uncanny ability to write memorable harmonies and guitar riffs that are constantly crossing the thresholds between alternative rock, melodic hardcore and even progressive metal. And The Melting Point of Wax is the only song on The Artist where I thought the string arrangements actually complimented the rest of the song.

Then there are a few songs that didn't stand out to me, or that I really just didn't enjoy. I found the title track to be one of the most cliched songs that I've heard from Thrice, with a simple pop punk intro riff that feels really out of place with the every other sound that the band carved out on this album.

When I'm in the mood to listen to Thrice, I'll probably keep coming back to the same albums that I love. But I'm glad I gave The Artist a chance because it's still a very solid album that features some excellent song writing.