There comes a time in most abdns life when they try to explore stuff outside out what they usually do. When they have fun with their sound. These experiments can either succeed or fail miserably. Jars Of Clay took a risk with this album, and while its not their best, their experiment has worked for the most part.
1. Goodbye Goodnight.
THis is quite a weird song for an intro. It's a very minimilist song, with no percussion, and not a lot of anything else. . It's still really good though. The string arrangment, while fairly simple, is excellent, it fits the song perfectly. The chord changes have also been very well though out. All in all, it's a pretty good slow folky song. 4/5
2. Unforgetful You
Quite possibly the heaviest (in a relative sense) song that Jars of Clay have ever recorded. This song is a big change from the first song. It's got big drums, an electric guitar solo, Handclaps (which work REALLY well), and a big confident vocal delivery from Dan, far from his vocals in the first song. It works really well though. The guitars, while still clean are pretty ... rocky And the solo is fairly good. All in all, a very good song. 5/5.
3. Collide
For the first (and maybe last) time ever, Jars use a distorted electric mfor the main riff. This song starts with a nice piano line, and then the riffing (!) begins. It doesnt last long though, as the song drops down in the verses. ALl in all, this is a pretty good song, expect that the parts dont always fit too well. Still, its pretty good. 3.5/5
4. No one loves me like you.
This is a great song, with a gorgeous mandolin line for the intro, along with some nice strings. This song soudns quite similar to the sound of their first album, which is good. The chorus is fairly uplifting, although the bridge isnt really up to much. Still, its a really good song, very mellow. 4.5/5
5. Famous Last Words
A bit of an upbeat song. The chords at the start sound like theyre ina really weird time sig, but according to my tab book it's in 4/4. Ah well. This is a fairly good song, its nothing incredible though, just a typical Jars cong. 3.5/5
6. Sad Clown
A slow ballad. By slow, I mean slow. Thats the problem with this song. the vocals are quite good, and its a moving song, but its jsut so slow! The weakest song on the album. 2/5.
7. Hand.
One of the best songs on the album. It's a very slow (and hard to play) song, with a really mellow vibe to it. The chorus is amazing. "My hand inside your hand" Whether Dan is talking about love, or God, or whatever, its really good. The rest of the song aint too shabby either. 5/5
8. Im Alright.
This song starts off with a cool little acoustic riff. It's a pretty good start. The chorus is good too, while the hook "Im Alright, Im Alright.." Will be stuck i your head for ages. Problem with this song is the ending. It turns into a retarded gospel sing a long thing. It's quite possibly the worst thing Jars have ever done, and it ruins a great song. 2/5
9. Grace
This song is a much bigger improvement. It's got a real country vibe to it, but it still works really well. There's a strong chorus too. There's not really much to say about this song, except that it has no gospel ending. Phew! 3.5/5
10. Can't Erase It
This is a pretty fast song, with a real cool country style Drop D lick. Otherwise.. theres not really much more too say. Good verse, good chorus. 4/5
11. River Constantine.
The best song on the album. It sounds a lot like Frail from Much Afraid (Jars' 2nd album.) Theres some really awesome fingerpicking stuff in this song. It's really beautiful. The vocal line is awesome as well, as Dan does teh occaisonal vocal, so teh guitars are allowed to ring out, and teh ambience of the song is allowed to overwhelm you. This song is an incredibly ending to this CD. The best song on the Album by far. 5/5
