Altsounds - The Pineapple Thief

The Pineapple Thief is a band borne from the mind, heart and soul of Bruce Soord, coming about after the demise of his former band Vulgar Unicorn in 1999. Ten years later and The Pineapple Thief have released a ten year best of collection entitled "3000 Days." Any band that has survived for ten years in what is a cut throat music industry, must be applauded, and The Pineapple Thief are no exception.

'3000 days' encompasses ten years of The Pineapple Thief and includes some acoustic versions, some re-edits and some re-masters. "3000 Days" is well-packaged and features some insights from Bruce Soords himself in the in-lay regarding each song, its history and why it was chosen for the "3000 days" celebration offering. The Pineapple Thief over the years have garnered what I can imagine is quite a distinctive and loyal fan base. The Pineapple Thief's gig list takes in the US, The Netherlands and China, while also remaining rooted and dedicated to their home: the United Kingdom.

"3000 days" is quite a release: emotional, stirring and at times, sublime. The only negative is that the subject matter can be quite repetitive, with a myriad of songs about loss, death and loneliness. Even the songs about love are immensely melancholic and sparse. Let that not take away from the fact that The Pineapple Thief are a quality outfit, well packaged, well produced and with a distinctive sound. The band members are highly proficient in what they do and Soords voice is as emotional, crisp and distinctive as they come. The only real pity, and in fact it is a major let down, is that over the course of their ten year life, there does not seem to be any coherent musical progression from the band.

In 1999 The Pineapple Thief were producing heart wrenching, emotional and driving rock music,well produced and beautifully arranged. In 2007 they were doing the same. Ok, so The Pineapple Thief in 1999 sounded like a cross between Muse and Radiohead, so you would think that in the time since that they would have progressed as those said bands have. The Pineapple Thief haven't. Now this may be harsh, as The Pineapple Thief do have a new album coming out next year and they should well be judged on that and not this "Best Of." Also, it must be said that the The Pineapple Thief have a style and a uniqueness to them, not to mention great talent. Personally though I would have liked to have heard some evolution and development in their sound, especially in a ten year celebration album such as this.

There are some real highlights on this beautifully packaged double album. 'Part Zero' and 'We Love You' are reminiscent of some of the best rock music this century so far; melodic, musical, driving, with subtle pad and synth textures underlying stirring guitar and drum rhythms and delicately topped off with Soords quality lead vocal. 'We Love You' at times sounds distinctly like a Tricky or Massive Attack attempt, with delicate electronic layers surrounding a dark emotive vocal line "I need your soul, to feed my world, we need your soul, to feed our world."

Disc-One also features some nice acoustic numbers like 'Clapham' which contains some flute elements while 'Remember Us' is a 15 minute epic that actually combines 4 songs using a chorus. As you can imagine the listener is taken on a real trip with 'Remember Us,' as in Track Seven 'Dead in the Water' where it is obvious to the listener that The Pineapple Thief love the music that they make, and truly enjoy taking their listener on an emotional journey full of peaks and troughs. I would imagine that their live show can be just as epic.

Disc-Two continues in the same vein, with the opener 'The World I Always Dreamed Of' being a very strong start to what is fast becoming a strong collection of songs. Other stand outs on Disc-Two include 'How Did We Find Our Way' and 'Subside' which are both stripped down love songs. Love Songs that remain on the darker side of love, rather than the Roses and Chocolate love spectrum.

As I have said quite a few times, "3000 days" is a strong offering from The Pineapple Thief and fans will probably be delighted to get such a carefully selected and coherent set of The Pineapple Thief's best work. I personally can't help but feel that there could have been even more form "The Pineapple Thief," what with their undoubted talent and their musical drive, there is no reason why they can't become as successful as, lets say, a Muse or Radiohead. Perhaps the only thing that has held them back is a lack of experimentation, but perhaps a 'best of' album is not the best place to judge that side of The Pineapple Thief.