SOMEONE HERE IS MISSING

With The Pineapple Thief's 2010 release 'Someone Here is Missing', we come to their 8th studio release, and with some great albums and some mediocre albums under their belt, one is never quite sure where any one album is going to land until you listen to it. The band has never really been 100% progressive, though they have had some excellent forays into the genre, and their style of alternative art rock is quite intriguing at times. Many people have compared the band to 'Porcupine Tree' or 'Radiohead', however, even though for me they remind me more of the latter band, mostly in vocals than anything else, they do have a sound of their own, and it is always a step or two ahead of your typical alternative rock.

It's also interesting to note that most of their average ratings on ProgArchives come out around 4 stars. There is a reason for that. You have half of the reviewers claiming they are mediocre band, and others who are rabid fans that feel that their music is quite excellent. I tend to land right in the middle of those two extremes in that, for the most part, I like their sound, but there are times when I feel like it is just okay, and would rather listen to something else. I do have my favorites by them, like 'Variation on an Dream' and 'Tightly Unwound', but others I have a hard time sitting through because they are just not unique or challenging enough.

'Someone Here is Missing' is one of those that is nice to listen to once in a while, but not when I am in a progressive mood. That is the main problem I have with it. The album cover hints at a progressive album as the cover art is done by Storm Thorgerson, the same person that did the cover art for Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon', but other than that, it seems this is about the only tie to progressive music on this album. Other than that, the album is full of nice, melodic and pleasant tracks. Bruce Soord's at his best in producing his Thom Yorke style vocals, but in a more accessible way. The music, for the most part, is more in the band's average music, interesting and pleasant, but nothing outstanding.

Now, there are a few really great tracks here, and they are the longer ones. For example, 'Preparation for Meltdown' is a great mix of electronics and heavy guitar riffs, and it ends up sounding more like the Porcupine Tree side of the band. The 'average' sound of the first 3 tracks on the album get lifted to another level by this track, as you reach a new level of dynamic usage as the band stays out of the trap of repetitiveness and explores some more experimental and heavy sound. This one goes down as one of their best. If only the band could consistently put out music as great as this, I think their ratings would be higher and more consistent.

The problem is, that after a great track like 'Preparation for Meltdown', the music returns to that more 'average' sound. It sounds good, but doesn't elevate things to the next level. 'Barely Breathing' is a nice acoustic driven melody, and quite lovely with expressive vocals, but can be easily forgotten after. The album starts to sag again at this point, returning to the more electronic-based sound of a poor-man's Radiohead with the challenge taken out. Things don't get stellar again until '3000 Days' and the psychedelic sounding 'So We Row'. The best tracks are the 3 longer ones, proving that the band does best when they are allowed to expand their songs and are not locked in the time constraints of the 3-4 minute tracks.

The album is good, but not great, except for those 3 tracks mentioned and as far as progressive music is concerned. It is enjoyable, it just tends to sag in a few places wehre things just aren't that interesting. Fortunately, the thing that saves the album are the 3 longer tracks, and so when the album is playing, I end up playing it in its entirety. But they do have better albums. This one ends up being more average than excellent.