Review Summary: This picture turns out to be hit or miss.
Ian Thornley just can’t catch a break. Despite his undeniable talents, which he demonstrated rather convincingly on the albums of
Big Wreck and his eponymous solo band, wider popularity keeps eluding him. Even his attempts to pander to the more modern tastes did not achieve the required results.
Come Again proved that if need be Thornley can release a record, which is easily measured up to the albums of his hard rock contemporaries. Although, it should be noted, that regardless of its definite accomplishments the LP had no special qualities to help distinguish it among other releases. Because of this or any other reasons the album failed to attain a larger following and the next
Thornley record saw the light of day only in 5 years. Will Ian get lucky this time?
It can be easily stated that the second (and, most likely, last) Thornley release, named
Tiny Pictures, continues the set out course. However, it’s worth noting that the record is not a simple copy of its predecessor, but a next step in the chosen direction. On
Come Again Thornley dropped the 70s sound and progressive elements present on the Big Wreck releases, and focused predominantly on the heavy riffs. This resulted in a solid and a lot more straightforward hard rock debut in line with the popular trends of the 2000s.
However with
Tiny Pictures the situation is somewhat different. Despite the fact that it is still tailored for radio format, the new album does not focus on riffs but has a larger attention to melodies. Although it has a number of heavier songs, they feel like leftovers. In terms of quality
Man Overboard and
Another Memory leave a more pleasant aftertaste, whereas other hard rock cuts –
Underneath the Radar,
Better Side of Me and
Conscience & Consequence – resemble B-sides from the
Come Again sessions. The same goes for the quality and general value of the rest of the tracks. The first half of the album is filled with songs, which are radio-ready fodder, such as
Make Believe and
This Is Where My Heart Is. They are solid enough, but intentionally generic and expectantly sweet, as if designed not to break the flow of a radio broadcast. More interesting cuts –
All Fall Down and
Be There for Me (also the abovementioned
Another Memory, written together with underappreciated Alain Johannes and Natasha Shneider) – are located on the second half. Stylistically they are closer to the Big Wreck output, going more for the atmosphere that gradually opens up the tracks than the obvious pop hooks. Still these cuts flow nicely within the album, creating a consistent feel for
Tiny Pictures.
And so the final picture turns out to be hit or miss. In one of the interviews Ian stated that with this album he aimed for a vintage sound, so that it would take multiple listens to discover more and more layers, instead of consuming it quickly. In the end, he achieved this only partially. It is definitely a success that the album doesn’t wear out after one listen but is capable of entertaining following a number of spins, thanks to the diversity available. But as for those new layers, it turns out it doesn’t have that many, and the bottom can be reached fairly easily. Nevertheless, considering all of the abovementioned, it can summed up that the record is a pleasant but optional listen. Thornley managed to fit everything into the radio format, as he set out to do, but his true voice is missing on
Tiny Pictures.
