JIMMY EAT WORLD
CHASE THE LIGHT
This is a trip down memory lane where the bands that may have influenced Jimmy Eat World shine on a majority of tracks. "Gotta Be Somebody's Blues" has a Beatles feel as in some of the older songs where the band was beginning to experiment with unusual instruments. They do an excellent job of bringing the Beatles’ sound to a modern day musical feel.
The first singles, "Big Casino", "Electable" and "Let It Happen", however, have a momentary feel of what the band started building with their best album, Bleed American, but quickly fall back into a pattern of trying to make a hit song. This only leads to a more pop/rock feel as opposed to a real rock record. "Carry You" originally was a song from Jim Adkins's side band, Go Big Casino, which is something the band has done in the past.
Fans can often be a two-headed coin where they want something new with each release, but can be picky if a band strays too far from what they are used to. Jimmy Eat World built up to Bleed American with a slow progression that not only kept the fans they had, but acquired more fans with each album. There is no mistaking that the band is sliding in a backward free fall spiral without a rope. The sounds almost seems stolen from their very early work and with three years to write and perfect a great release it almost seems that time was wasted.
Lyrically the band was never a powerhouse but there were songs that had very high-caliber lyrics. The guitars just strum along and it is very easy to picture them singing the songs on stage without even thinking about going to the show. When listening to a new CD it is always a good sign when the listener is craving to see what the band can do with the music live. Anticipation is the biggest draw to a live show but these 11 tracks are far from encouraging. The band has again changed producers and it is discouraging that Mark Trombino and Jimmy Eat World, who together put out one of the best albums of 2001 and will stand to the end of the decade, cannot find a means to an end. When they are able to put differences aside and coordinate their schedules, another great album can emerge.
11/29/10
RUSTY
10/16/07