Nothing But the Truth

In 2020, melodic prog rockers the Pineapple Thief issued the stellar studio outing Versions of the Truth. Recorded before COVID-19 shut down travel and public events, the album was released during the pandemic -- so touring in support was out. While that proved daunting for most acts, it was particularly poignant for this band, whose performing identity is as essential to their makeup as recording. The solution was an on-demand live event offering a visually stunning studio concert -- sans audience -- using many cameras as they performed material from Versions of the Truth and catalog selections. Nothing But the Truth is the soundtrack from that online concert. Exceptionally recorded, this multi-format release offers all the discipline of a studio set, along with the creative visuals, kinetic energy, and tightrope-walking risk of a regular gig. The 17-song set opens with Versions of the Truths title track as the first of six selections from that album. This performance is a bit edgier and spacier but is otherwise faithful to the original version. Its followed by a fine presentation of In Exile from 2016s Your Wilderness, which is more deeply textured and dynamic than its studio counterpart and captures the feel of the band revving up. An explosive Warm Seas from 2012s All the Wars follows, with the band careening across hooky melodic hard rock and prog. Our Mire is a set highlight. Drawn from Versions of the Truth, it sprawls in all the right places with killer flights of noisy brilliance in the guitar and drum kit work. There are four selections from 2018s Dissolution, among them the sinister, brooding Uncovering Your Tracks, and Threatening War, which transcends it elegiac opening section to transform itself into a snarling labyrinthine rocker. The earliest tune included here is a grandly imaginative re-envisioning of Wretched Soul from 2006s angular 10 Stories Down. Dissolutions Far Below is delivered with fiery intensity showcasing canny interplay between power riffs, a scorching guitar break, jazzy keyboards, and syncopated tom-tom invention. Just before the set closes, the band delivers a compelling, slightly disorienting version of The Swell, a bonus track on Versions of the Truth offering some of frontman Bruce Soords most poetic lyrics. The Final Thing on My Mind, from Your Wilderness, is an appropriate set closer. Sprawling across nearly ten minutes, it offers a striking suite-like portrait of the groups instrumental prowess and Soords compositional skill in juxtaposing a lyrical ballad, moody prog, and almost elegant post-punk. As a whole, this is a live-in-studio retrospective that offers fans stellar performances of highlights from the Pineapple Thiefs vast discography. [Nothing But the Truth is issued in several physical formats. In addition to double-vinyl and double-CD releases, there is a hardbound deluxe edition that contains a Blu-ray and a DVD with hi-res Dolby Atmos 5.1 audio, four bonus cuts, four music videos, six documentary video shorts, and a 60-page book containing lyrics, exclusive performance photos, and more, as well as the two audio CDs.] ~ Thom Jurek