Jars Of Clay are one of those bands unfortunate enough to have their biggest hit and signature tune “Flood” come from their debut album in 1995. This had the interesting effect of the album sales halving every album cycle with their self-titled debut selling 2 million records, and then their sophomore effort “Much Afraid” still selling a commendable 1 million copies, before ending their box office success with their third record “If I Left The Zoo” going gold (though they did have a surprise gold record from an acoustic/live recordings double disc set in 2005). This left the band in an interesting place by the time they crossed the millennium. Were they have beens? One hit wonders who were at their “eleventh hour” as it were? With these questions and an ever changing music industry in front of them they went back into the studio to record their fourth album “The Eleventh Hour”.
Self-produced due to being unable to secure their preferred producer the album has an almost “indie” feel to it that still carries that distinct Jars Of Clay vibe, including wonderful interplay between guitarists Matt Odmark and Stephen Mason and subtle keyboard and sound effects from Charlie Lowell. Additionally the groups live backup band were brought into the studio giving this album a real shot in the arm of energy and coherence. While certain songs seemed hand crafted for specific markets I appreciate how this band takes what could be seen as a cynical approach and turns in some of my favorite tracks. A good example includes the beautiful Adult Contemporary rock of “Fly”, which to my ears sounds like the better version of Mercy Me’s “I can only imagine”. Another single “I Need You”, was a self-titled album throwback that fit nicely in the emerging worship genre of Christian radio while still playing into vulnerable human emotions. The rest of the album has a poetic and mysterious quality to it. Tracks like “Something Beautiful” and “The Eleventh Hour” have a very mellow coffee house vibe, while other tracks like “Revolution” do their best to be straight up rockers. The real highlight of the album though is the lyrics, with a consistent theme of being the middle of an uncomfortable or even bad situation and hoping, praying, for God to make it better. Even when the lyrics could be about God or a human relationship, they still work on the level of just praying things will work out in the long run, such as these lyrics from the chorus of “Something Beautiful”, “Close my eyes and hold my heart, cover me and make me something, change this something normal into something beautiful”. Probably the high point of this poetry and mystery is the track “Silence” a song that has some of the most simple and yet profound lyrics, "I thought You were silent, and I though you left me, for the wreckage and the waste, on the empty beach of faith“ before later stating "All I pray is wrong, and all I claim is gone...I got a question, where are you?”. An honest and often hard question to ask of God when we feel like we’ve hit bottom, or even when we’re just in the mundane but no less fun “middle”. Really that is the main theme of this album and one I have related to and continue to relate to so strongly. Life involves a lot of slow moving drudgery before we get to the good parts and this album is the perfect soundtrack for that. All in all, this album laid the groundwork for where Jars would go moving forward. No longer set on selling millions of records the band seemed content to just be themselves and make the music they wanted to make. Asking questions all along the way. Suggested Tracks: Disappear Fly Silence Scarlet
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
December 2023
Categories |