Common Existence
| Common Existence | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Thursday | ||||
| Released | February 17, 2009 | |||
| Recorded | August–November 2008 Tarbox Road Studios Cassadaga, New York |
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| Genre | Post-hardcore | |||
| Length | 44:51 | |||
| Label | Epitaph | |||
| Producer | Dave Fridmann | |||
| Thursday chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | (72/100) |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |
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| Alternative Press |
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| Drowned in Sound | (7/10) |
| Entertainment Weekly | B- |
| musicOMH |
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| PopMatters |
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| Rolling Stone |
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| Slant |
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| Spin | (7/10) |
| USA Today |
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Common Existence is the fifth full-length album from rock band Thursday. It was released on February 17, 2009 on Epitaph Records. The band began recording at Dave Fridmann's Tarbox Road Studios on August 11, 2008. The album was completed in November 2008.
The band explores many subjects, including marriage (”Last Call”), fatherhood (”As He Climbed the Dark Mountain”), and physical abuse (”Time’s Arrow”).
In a March 2009 interview, Rickly explained the album's title refers to humanity's shared experience, and that many of the songs were influenced by the words of his favorite poets and authors.
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The album includes the track "As He Climbed The Dark Mountain," which previously appeared on the band's split EP with Japanese hardcore band Envy. The song "Last Call" originates from 2005 when five demos were leaked. While the first four were released on A City by the Light Divided, "Last Call" had not been released up until now.
On December 9, 2008, the band released the first new track from the album, "Resuscitation of a Dead Man", on their MySpace page. In early February, another new track, "Friends in the Armed Forces", was released for streaming on the band's MySpace page. In successive interviews with Spin.com and Rock Sound, keyboard player Andrew Everding and vocalist Geoff Rickly explained the track's significance:
"[The song] is about a personal experience that Geoff had with someone we know who's serving in the Iraq conflict. It can be forced down your throat to support someone who's fighting for a cause you don't believe in... We support you as people but we don't support your efforts." - Andrew Everding, Rock Sound interview
"I have a close friend in the service and several others that have finished their tours... The song was inspired by my conversations with them and by my conversations with their family members. It's about the shifting of perspective when it comes to wrong and right - ultimately, the song is a wish for peace and wellbeing for my friends." - Geoff Rickly, Spin.com interview
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