There appear to be two camps for this album - those that love the complex, introspective music with powerful lyrics, and those that hate the plodding and moodiness of this album.
Where do I land? Well, not nearly as polarized, I'm afraid.
First, let me just say this - the music itself is incredible. It runs the gamut from bluegrass to contemporary, hitting just about everything in between. The experimentation with instruments, for the most part, is exciting and welcome.
The songs themselves... well, the first word that springs to mind for most of these is "melancholy." It is a very moody kind of album, and, if you are in that certain mindset, I'm sure there are levels of complexity within the lyrics to be mined thoroughly.
Me? I'll admit it... some of the album just brought me down.
There are some real highlights on the album. Amazing Grace, which is not the well known hymn, is just a fantastic song. The first of two songs to feature Ashley Cleveland (as background vocals), the music is punctuated by the use of an organ, and features strong lyrics.
Another solid tune is Faith Enough, which features some of the strongest, deepest lyrics on the album. I got more and more out of this song with each subsequent playing.
At the risk of sounding pedestrian, I really do like Show Your Love, which I would say is the closest of a more "traditional" Jars of Clay song. It isn't a particularly complex song, just one I enjoy. The fact that it is the most mainstream type of song on the album doesn't change that for me.
The faster paced I'm In The Way was a welcome inclusion on an album that is generally slow and reflective. It has an absolutely fantastic drum beat that makes this a favorite on the album for me, a former percussionist.
Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet, one of the two covers on the album, is set to an almost Waltz beat. There is an inviting quirkiness to the music itself, and the repeated words take on a reflective mantra that can be quite powerful if you simply focus on them.
But, all of those songs serve as preamble to the "wow" song of the album - Jealous Kind. Just a thoroughly powerful song in tone and word, everything clicked. I could listen to this song over and over, and never grow tired of it.
Only Alive, while a strong song lyrically and musically, suffers mainly due to the wrong voice singing it. Dan Haseltine does a passable job, but this song would obviously be benefitted with the voice of, say, a Johnny Cash giving it the strength it needs.
The lowest point of the entire album is the song Trouble Is. A song so blatantly influenced by Man of Constant Sorrow from the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, invites criticism if for no other reason than it simply does not measure up to that song. Well, that and the bluegrass music with the drum machine slammed underneath.
As for the rest of the album, I found two major problems. First, it was unremarkable. Second, it was uneven, probably due to the experimentation with so many styles, or maybe the ill-fitting voice for the songs on the album.
This one is tough. Where the album excelled, it blew me away. Where it didn't, it really, really didn't. Making the album a 13 song album was a mistake, as the album probably could have been stellar with the weeding out of two or three songs. As it is, with the extra songs, it detracts from the whole. On the 1 to 10 scale, I'm giving it a 6.5.
So, what's on tap in my Sansa for the next week? How about a little Chris Tomlin, and his album, Arriving?
As always, if you have a suggestion of something you think I should be listening to, let me know.
Type at you later!
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