Search - Thumb :: Thumb Encore!

It's not "Exposure," but that may be the point...

Andrew Peterson | Waltham, MA, United States | 09/27/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I first got into these guys on their "Exposure" CD, and based on the strength of that, and its followup "3," they've become one of my favorite bands. I knew there was one other disc of theirs out there somwhere, so i came onto this site to do some searching, and found this.
These guys were young when they cut this CD, and it shows. The production is a bit raw, not in the "on the edge of blowing up your speakers" way of their next two CD's, but in a "local studio, pulling long hours to get this in under budget" sort of way. Nothing wrong with that, in some instances it adds to the energy of the cD. However, a comparison of "Red Alert," and the bonus track, "Red Alert '96" really shows you how they've changed- they turn the guitar riff on it's head, going from a grinding korn-esq metal riff (more on that later) to something more reminiscent of Rage Against the Machine, upping the tempo a bit, and all in all giving a more mature, ferocious performance. This is a great CD... but there's better stuff to come from these guys.
Is it worth buying? Very much so. Even an early Thumb is still an amazing band, the live tracks at the end are cool, and while the bonus material (live tracks and re-recorded peices) are the real highlight of this disc, a few tunes off the original (most notably "Deny") are incredible. Also, as far as i'm concerned, these guys invented nu-metal. Rap-inflected hardcore with turntables... When you think that these guys were distributed stateside by victory records, which was for a time the premiere american hardcore label, and that Limp Bizkit first broke out in the Boston hardcore scene, suddenly a lot of things start to click. And this is a '95 recording... anyway, good CD. Better stuff to come from these guys, but had i never heard "Exposure," i'd be raving about "Encore" as much as i do about that disc."

The best agro metal style

Gabriel Ortiz | Iquique, Chile | 05/29/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This band has the best sound mixing I've ever heard. The bass and the guitar sound exellent. They have a personal style that I had never heard before which I really like. The vocalist is the one that makes up the band because of his great talent."

Thumb is Rapcore!

Gabriel Ortiz | 09/24/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Thumb is an awesome band! The vocals can be melodic to grinding! You gotta get this album!"