The Illusion of Safety

The Illusion of Safety
Studio album by Thrice
Released	February 5, 2002
Recorded	July 2001
Genre	Post-hardcore, melodic hardcore
Length	38:33
Label	Sub City
Producer	Brian McTernan
Professional reviews
Allmusic link
Thrice chronology
Identity Crisis (2001) The Illusion of Safety (2002) The Artist in the Ambulance (2003)

The Illusion of Safety is the second album by American rock band Thrice, released in 2002 through Sub City Records. It is the last Thrice album released on the label before it was signed to Island Records. The album was recorded in Beltsville, Maryland. A portion of the proceeds from the release of the album were donated to A Place Called Home, a non-profit youth center in South Central Los Angeles.

Content

The album is vastly different from their debut. Moving from a more upbeat, traditional punk sound, the music from The Illusion of Safety is considerably darker than that of Identity Crisis. Lyrically, the songs deal with a diverse amount of topics, from suicide ("See You in the Shallows") to sexual affairs ("Deadbolt") to frustration with friends ("The Beltsville Crucible"). Song structures range from simple to more complex, with many songs featuring a bridge leading to an energetic climax. An acoustic version of "Trust" appeared on the 2003 Fearless Records compilation album Punk Goes Acoustic. The song "The Beltsville Crucible" was named after Beltsville, MD, where the album was recorded.

Links to other media

The Illusion of Safety is notable for its influence from short stories and poems. The song "The Red Death" is based on Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death". The lyrics to "A Living Dance Upon Dead Minds" were taken from the E. E. Cummings poem "But if a Living Dance Upon Dead Minds...". The final book of C. S. Lewis's Space Trilogy was titled "That Hideous Strength", which was borrowed for the b-side "(That) Hideous Strength" which later appeared on the If We Could Only See Us Now compilation. "Trust" may bear a surface resemblance to the short story "The Birthmark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Kensrue has also said that "A Subtle Dagger" is not at all a reference to Philip Pullman's novel The Subtle Knife, and that he had no awareness of the novel when he wrote the lyrics to the song.

Critical Response

"The Illusion of Safety" received generally positive reviews, with the majority of votes clocking in at 4.5 on sputnikmusic^[1]. The average ratings on Amazon.com and iTunes are both 5 stars. Many reviews applauded the polished mix of melodic hardcore, that was heavily influenced by 80's metal, and punk. The album was widely praised for its buzz-saw guitar riffs, lyrical depth and song structure^[2].

Track listing

All music by Thrice, all lyrics by Dustin Kensrue.

1. "Kill Me Quickly" – 2:46
2. "A Subtle Dagger" – 1:48
3. "See You in the Shallows" – 2:35
4. "Betrayal is a Symptom" – 2:49
5. "Deadbolt" – 3:00
6. "In Years to Come" – 2:16
7. "The Red Death" – 2:14
8. "A Living Dance Upon Dead Minds" – 3:32
9. "Where Idols Once Stood" – 3:08
10. "Trust" – 2:54
11. "To Awake and Avenge the Dead" – 3:06
12. "So Strange I Remember You" – 3:42
13. "The Beltsville Crucible" – 4:37

Personnel

• Dustin Kensrue - vocals, guitar
• Teppei Teranishi - guitar
• Eddie Breckenridge - bass guitar
• Riley Breckenridge - drums
• Brian McTernan - production, engineering
• Alan Douches - mastering

References