Album Rating: 3.5

first listen, fantastic album

Album Rating: 3.5

Goodbye Sky Harbor is beautiful

Album Rating: 5.0

Damn 2 JEW albums get bumped in close proximity gave me an overwhelming excitement that the new one might have leaked.



Yeah this is beautiful I'm glad you checked this out AitB.

Album Rating: 3.5

haha sorry to mislead you with the bump man. gotta give this more listens but it feels like a 4-4.5 to me, easily

Album Rating: 5.0

No worries. Have you checked out any other Jimmy? I recommend Futures next.

Album Rating: 5.0

"Futures next" [2]

Album Rating: 3.5

This was my first Jimmy, Futures just rec'd this to me today. Gonna spend some time with this one for a while before moving on

blasted BA today for the first time in ages. I need to check out more of their albums.

Album Rating: 5.0

too bad this blows every other jimmy out of the water (sorry rowan, i just had to let asleep know)

Album Rating: 4.8

unnerving.

Album Rating: 5.0

glad ya dig it, Asleep

Album Rating: 3.5

yeah man, I felt like there was a bit of pressure to like this considering a fair few people whose opinions I respect love this, so I'm glad that I ended up really enjoying it

Album Rating: 3.5

'too bad this blows every other jimmy out of the water (sorry rowan, i just had to let asleep know)'



Only heard this Bleed American and Futures, and while this is the best I find the other two pretty close imo.

Album Rating: 5.0

the love for futures i can understand but bleed american isn't really interesting at all imo

Album Rating: 5.0

BA is a great pop rock album. Doens't really strike the same chords as this or Futures though. There was a time when the band acknowledged that they tend to alternate between brooding albums and pop albums. I can see somebody liking one of those categories and not so much the other, it makes sense.



At least I think that holds up for this run of albums:



Clarity (brooding) -> Bleed (pop) -> Futures (brooding) -> Chase (pop) -> Invented (brooding)



Bleed does have some of the band's slowest/softest songs, for sure, but they don't really escape the bright "sheen" that that album has overall.

Album Rating: 5.0

"Clarity (brooding) -> Bleed (pop) -> Futures (brooding) -> Chase (pop) -> Invented (brooding)"

I've always found their albums have a fairly decent mixture of both, especially considering some of their most brooding stuff can be found on those "pop" ones (Hear You Me, Cautioners, My Sundown, Gotta Be Somebody's Blues, Dizzy), and vice versa (Lucky Denver Mint, A Sunday, Work, most of Invented, etc.)

Album Rating: 5.0

You're right one thing that is constant with JEW is their style is never homogenous. Songs always have their own identity and they vary their sound. But what I put there acts as a very rough guide I think. If someone loves Clarity, they're more likely to enjoy Futures than Bleed. If someone loves Chase This Light, they're more likely to enjoy Bleed than Futures. At least that's what I think. But then lots of people love all different styles of JEW so yeah it's just a rough thing but it is something that Jim himself has acknowledged before. In fact before Chase This Light came out he asked people on the JEW message board what kind of album they would like next: "Would you like brooding like Futures or pop like Bleed American"?



I think most people replied "brooding like Futures" (myself included)... but ultimately the band went on to make the album they wanted to make anyway, which is always good for them to stick with what motivates them (even if I don't love Chase). Also I guess Stay on My Side Tonight was in some ways another instance of them getting that "brooding" sound out of their system.



I know I'm over-using the word "brooding" but I'm just taking that word literally out of Jim's mouth.

Album Rating: 5.0

all very fair points there, minty

Album Rating: 5.0

Bleed is fine. It has some super solid songs on it in the front half, but it doesn't retain my interest a lot throughout the album. The t/t, sweetness, and a praise chorus are all phenomenal songs, but otherwise, while i don't dislike anything, the album isnt as interesting as futures, which is consistently solid

Album Rating: 4.5

The first half of Bleed is definitely the one with the highlights