| Jimmy Eat World Chase This Light |
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 | Tracklist:
1. "Big Casino"
2. "Let It Happen"
3. "Like She'll Always Be"
4. "Carry You"
5. "Electable (Give It Up)"
6. "Gotta Be Somebody's Blues"
7. "Feeling Lucky"
8. "Here It Goes"
9. "Chase This Light"
10. "Firefight"
11. "Dizzy"
| Ranking: #173 for 2007 | |
| | other reviews | SAvaGE888 (4)
The overall sense of optimism and energy found on this album hasn’t been matched since Jimmy Eat W... | Against Miik! (3)
A solid album for another band, but for Jimmy Eat World, it lacks that certain epic feeling we have ... | Davey Boy STAFF (3)
A passable listen with only so-so replay value, Jimmy Eat World’s sixth album is a disappointment ... | Ben Greenbank (2)
The sound of a band running desperately low on ideas...... |
On 22 Lists
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| Summary: The full realization of the band's pop rock sound that sounds cheerier and more celebratory than ever. |
The hardest part of writing reviews is starting. I like to start with an abstract idea that relates to the music and segue my way into more meticulous description. Formulaic? Maybe, but it has proven effective. Often times, my ideas for the starting of a review comes like a wave of realization whilst listening to the album, but when I listen to Jimmy Eat World’s Chase This Light, all I can do is bob my head and enjoy the music. Oddly enough, this is not due to a lack of emotion or musicianship from the band, or poor songwriting, but rather the mood of the music. Chase This Light is the band’s final evolution into pop rock, almost completely abandoning their beginnings as an emo band.
Where Bleed American sugarcoated Clarity and Futures kept a dark vibe underneath its sound, the latest release from Jimmy Eat World sounds completely celebratory. “Big Casino”, both the opening track and lead single, set up the mood and atmosphere perfectly with huge choruses and carefree lyrics. Adkins gleefully celebrates his success all while making a metaphor for the entire industry, seeing it as each band picked out of a random library. Producer Butch Vig accentuates their quiet to loud song structure by making the two dynamics extremely different, and the choruses now sound immense. In the actual songwriting, the band stacks the chords with screaming guitar notes high above the rest of the sound. Luckily, despite the quality of “Big Casino”, the album gets better from that point. “Always Be” combines perfected songwriting with catchy fingersnaps and handclaps, a perfect symbol for the band’s final entrance into pure pop rock. “Electable (Give It Up)” takes the anthemic energy of “Sweetness” and injects it with steroids, improved by the production and the smarter lyrics. “Here It Goes” rounds out the catchier songs on the album with a departure from the band’s typical sound, inputting synths and dance beats as Adkins leads with his infectious vocal melodies, the combination making quite possibly the most catchy Jimmy Eat World song to date.
As with almost all the band’s other albums, Chase This Light balances itself out between catchy pop rock and more atmospheric ballads. “Gotta Be Somebody’s Blues” steps out into new territory with droning strings and their most air-like song since Clarity, condensing the overly drawn out ideas explored on the Stay On My Side Tonight EP. The bassline and guitar progression present subtle blues inflections, but the strings and darker atmosphere stand out among the rest of the album’s cheery atmosphere. “Carry You” revolves around an acoustic guitar riff, bringing the energy down after the relentlessly catchy opening three songs. Here, the energetic numbers outnumber the ballads heavily, but due to the tone of the album, it fits together nicely. Lyrical lines spread all around the album flow as if from a different pen than the one used on the band’s past five albums, from “I’m a New Jersey success story” to “The beauty is in what you make it”, Adkins spins lyrics of hope rather than portraying lost love or his other usual subjects.
Overall, Chase This Light takes the pop rock sound of their latest albums and perfects the style, complemented with Butch Vig’s flawless production skills. Again, the choruses sound bigger and catchier than ever. The superb vocal harmonies always laced throughout the band’s music makes its biggest appearance ever, adding a whole new depth to the sound. What changes from their previous records, however, is the feel-good, cheery atmosphere presented in a few songs on Bleed American that fully spreads its wings here. Amidst heavy-hitter releases from Radiohead, Thrice, Coheed and Cambria, and others, Chase This Light might be overlooked, but in time, the catchiness of the record will find the airwaves and Jimmy Eat World might once again find themselves on top.
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| Recent reviews by this author | | | |
Album Rating: 4
If my intro didn't imply it enough, I couldn't get going with this review so some editing will probably be in store.
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The hardest part of writing reviews is starting
Hell yes.
Digging: Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind
| | | Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off
I'm going to the store to pick this up today, I think. I have to get my FEMALE FRIEND a couple albums for her birthday, so I might as well give it a shot. Between a 4 and a 2 so far, I'm a little bit hesitant, but I'm sure I'll dig it since I loved their last two LPs.
Digging: Saves the Day - Stay What You Are | | | Album Rating: 3.5
The hardest part of writing reviews is starting. Troo
This wasn't as imediately enjoyable as Bleed American or Futures, but it's pretty fun.
Digging: Tegan and Sara - Sainthood | | |
I've tried quite a few times, but I've never gotten into JEW outside of Futures. I probably won't look into this at all.
Nice review.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off
I'm going to the store to pick this up today, I think.
Right, so after a couple runs-through, I think somewhere between a 3-3.5 for me, so with room to grow, I'm going to go with a 3.5. I really loved Bleed American and Futures, as I said earlier, and I honestly feel that the swifter-tempo cuts are when Jimmy Eat World are at their best. There are obvious exceptions (see: '23') but their biggest appeal, for me, are tracks like "Pain," "Futures," "Sweetness," "The Middle," and obviously in this album's case "Big Casino" as well as "Distraction" (the bonus track). "Let It Happen," "Always Be," "Electable (Give It Up)," and "Here It Goes" are equally awesome cuts as well.
| | | Album Rating: 2
I have to get my FEMALE FRIEND
hahah
Digging: Converge - Axe To Fall | | | Album Rating: 3.5
Album is pretty great...
Digging: Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion | | | Album Rating: 3.5
Definately great! I wish there was a bit more emo but this is just perfect to chill to.
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I've never gotten into JEW outside
lawl
Digging: Lync - These Are Not Fall Colors
| | | Album Rating: 4 | Sound Off
Clarity is their best in my opinion- what an album!
Can't wait to hear this record, anyway. I really like the opening paragraph here :D
Digging: Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions | | |
I picked this up yesterday.
I'm a huge fan of JEW; they're easily my favorite band. All their albums have their merits. Like most I'd say Clarity is the best.
This album, well, I'm not going to rate it yet because I've only gone through it twice. But, my initial impressions are mixed.
On one hand, the instrumentation is tight and powerful, I like it. On the other; the lyrics are the worst JEW has ever produced. There's nothing poetic about them anymore; they're just pure pop, which bothers me. The album itself is happy which I don't particularly like but don't mind either; but all the songs run together.
Course, maybe it'll grow on me, but as of this moment it's my least favorite jew album by far.
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I like it, but not as much as the demos, I had a copy of those before summer started and they are so much better all acoustic and unmixed.
| | | Album Rating: 4
The more I listen to it the more I like it. My favorite are: Big Casino, Always Be, Electable (Give It Up), Here It Goes and Chase This Light.
| | | Album Rating: 4
I like this a lot. However, they haven't seemed to make that much progress since Bleed America. Still great though
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I'm not a fan of JEW, but Big Casino is a hell of a catchy song.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off
However, they haven't seemed to make that much progress since Bleed America.
I'm in the minority because I wasn't really big on Clarity or Static Prevails, but I loved their previous two albums, and this one is slowly growing on me... but I suspect it'll still stay between a 3 and 3.5 for me.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
Clarity through Futures was great. This is a step down though.
Digging: Animal Collective - Spirit They've Gone, Spirit They've Vanished | | |
This album is really good. I feel sorry for Jimmy Eat World because they may never top Clarity but this album is pretty consistent right through. Chase this Light sounds like a happy album but there is just the right amount of sorrow in all the catchy pop-punk and it makes the songs sound very honest and fun and its really something you can relate to. There is some new sounds out of them also, not really a whole lot but enough to make up for anything lacking from there old albums. Overall I don't see how any Jimmy Eat World fan could be let down by Chase This Light.
This is the only Jimmy Eat World album where a ballad isn't my favourite song. My favourite song so far is "here it goes".
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I've listened to this album once and nothing really grabbed me. I am so desperate for them to make an album as good as Clarity.
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