Album Review: Jimmy Eats World's "Chase This Light"

(This review was written a number of months back shortly after the release of "Chase This Light")

That's right, I'm listening to a Jimmy Eats World album. I'm on the last track - and since I'm writing this review while listening to it, you can safely assume that I don't think highly of it for one big reason..

It doesn't require any real thought to listen.

I'll break the review down into ADD-friendly pieces, so bear with me..

#1: The production. The entire album is mastered like any pop album - loud, pumping. There are practically NO DYNAMICS in this album - just loud. Take this album, and compare it to a quality recording of Holst's "Mars" (yes, a concert band piece). Of course, since this is a pop album, and is under Interscope records, it's obvious that it is designed to sell (obviously, Jimmy Eats World is selling, since they actually THANK their label in the liner notes - which means they managed to recoup the investment the label put in, even considering the dirty methods of Interscope). Loud sells. Sad, but true.

#2: The musical structure. I'll start with the good - plenty of harmonies, and some creativity with vocal structure and lead guitars. The bad? Everything else. 2 measures of one chord, 2 measures of another, 2 measures of another, usually even 8ths. Ad nauseum. The bass line only deviates from the root of the chord to lead into the next on occasion. Some of the progressions in the chords don't even make SENSE - see "Electable". It feels like the guitarist is just getting bored with standard major progressions with power chords and decided to change something somewhat musically sound and drop one or two chords half a step. As a supplement, also check out the lead in to 1:00 on "Here It Goes". Ugh.

#2.5: (2 was getting long) - more musical structure. I'm so sick of the verse-bridge-chorus-verse-

bridge-chorus-verse-chorus-chorus structure. It's a crutch for pop artists, and they need to stop - now. It's as if they spend their entire lives listening to what gets played on pop radio, and decide that's how to write music.. Oh wait, this is a pop band. Sorry.

#3: The lack of flow in the album. There is no obvious (or mildly subtle) progression of the songs. It's just a collection of stuff with the same vague pop themes put forth by bands in this style.

#4: Vocal melodies. Like many pop vocalists, you can hear the lead singer clinging to a single note in the scale like a blanket - he'll pull away every so often, but keeps climbing right back to it. No variation. Granted, he isn't given much room in the overall structure, but.. c'mon. Play a little more. It's not BAD, per se, but I know better could be had.

#5: Did I mention the album is loud? Even the quiet stuff? The strings in "Gotta Be Somebody's Blues" lose a lot of subtlety with the heavy compression they use, and it is depressing.

#5.5: "Gotta Be Somebody's Blues". Why, oh why, does the rhythm guitarist have to be chained to 8th note strumming? This song could be redeemed with a little creativity - even just arpeggiating the chord would be enough, maybe with a little freedom in the tempo.

Finally, I would like to say that there was one song I liked on the album. "Chase This Light" has a beautiful style that reminds me of some better pop-friendly songwriters (Trent Reznor's early stuff, and Jerome from neARLY). The chord structure works very well, and feels musical. Nearly all the criticisms from other songs on this album actually FIT here in this song (sans the loud part - please, just give me a little more in the dynamics dept).

In conclusion, I don't want to say I hate Jimmy Eats World. No. I hate the producers, I hate Interscope records, and I have a mild distaste for Jimmy Eats World. If it weren't for the profiteering of the record labels, managers, and producers in this world, we might actually have a great album right here.

Actually, I also blame the consumer, to an extent. Not their fault, though - not everybody wants to actually think about the music. Sure, they'll consider the meaning of the words, but you'll notice I left out any criticism there - I think that the lyrics are "ok". Well written, decent meaning in a few, but nothing spectacular.

I want more art. I want more meaning in the music - the melody, chords, and how it all comes together. This is nothing more than glorified poetry to a lute, to put things in a very blunt manner.

An open note to Jimmy Eats World - Jimi Hendrix pushed against his record label, guys - take a lesson from him (don't do the drugs thing and screw up the music, though). Look at artists like Radiohead, and Saul Williams. They are producing and distributing their works aside from the record label, and doing WELL! The music is over half the cost of a copy bought in a record store (on average - they actually allow you to pay what you want, or not pay at all, to download their new albums).

That's a business model to be proud of. Get off your butt and make make music - don't let other people tell you how, when, and who will be allowed to enjoy it.

-WFL