This Friday, it’ll be officially 25 years since Thursday released Full Collapse. Emo was exploding in 2001, and their combination of aching expression with incendiary post-hardcore elevated what they started on 1999’s Waiting. The result was more than they imagined, attracting thousands to a sound that bands are still referencing. “People were sticking around for hours after shows outside to talk to all the kids — it wasn’t about autographs anymore,” vocalist Geoff Rickly said of the era in a 2014 interview. “I remember going from playing basements to being told we’re not allowed to play the Fireside in Chicago anymore because it will get shut down. It was this drastic, huge time for us then. Where other bands were just waiting for their big break, we felt a little ashamed and embarrassed and guilty about the whole thing.”
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With the milestone anniversary in mind, we wanted to know what readers think are the best songs on Thursday’s Full Collapse. You can find the top fan picks ranked below.
5. “Understanding in a Car Crash”
Full Collapse isn’t just influential within the worlds of emo and post-hardcore — it’s referenced generally because it draws on so many different sounds. Thursday were masters of bringing together various styles of music and making it feel seamless, as heard on “Understanding in a Car Crash.” When you listen to the way it goes from warm verses to a screaming outro, the craft of it all hits so much more deeply. Paired with Rickly’s profound, haunting lyrics, the band bang out a complexly sticky track about living with trauma.
4. “Autobiography of a Nation”
Like its production and wide-ranging palette, the storytelling on Full Collapse was a step up from their debut. While their peers on Warped Tour were writing juvenile, often misogynistic lyrics, Thursday got deeper and realer. That resulted in songs like “Autobiography of a Nation,” which explores the oppression and genocide of the Native Americans in the early history of the U.S. The lyrics pull from Michael Palmer’s Sun poem, where intense observations run up against even more intense screams. It’s topped with a biting remark: “Everything you say you stole/Every dream you dream you bought.”
3. “Standing on the Edge of Summer”
“Standing on the Edge of Summer” wasn’t a single and appears toward the back of Full Collapse, but it’s still beloved by our readers — proof that the LP is meant to be played in full. Before playing the live version on their 2002 Five Stories Falling EP, Rickly said, “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying, and that was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.” You can feel that depth and urgency from start to end.
2. “Cross Out the Eyes”
Thursday came up in New Brunswick basements, following in the footsteps of local veterans like You and I, whose frontman Tom Schlatter offers up the piercing screams on “Cross Out the Eyes.” That track remains a high point of Full Collapse, honoring their DIY roots while producing a song and video sticky enough to become the album’s second single. Throughout Full Collapse, Rickly’s ability to balance out ripping screams with melodic sung parts gives the album a potent contrast. It’s part of what has made Full Collapse get better with age.
1. “Paris in Flames”
Like “Autobiography of a Nation,” Thursday continued to dig deeper throughout Full Collapse. They spoke about topics that got little attention at the time, including LGBTQ rights. “‘Paris In Flames’ was a really cool song at the time, because there weren’t any bands in the scene talking about transgender or LGBT activism or rights,” Rickly recalled. “Full Collapse was really ambitious in the subjects we tackled, and that’s why I think I resented a lot of the bands that rode our coattails. They didn’t have any social consciousness.” Twenty-five years later, it remains a steadfast favorite among fans.
