Overview <I>The Long Fall Back to Earth</I>, produced by Jars of Clay and Ron Aniello (Guster, Lifehouse, Leigh Nash), melds compelling lyrical content with hints of an upbeat 80?s influenced, synth-driven flavor. Anthemic, arena-swelling textures and the band?s trademark vocals, amount to the ?biggest? sounding Jars of Clay project yet. <P> 1 The Long Fall 2 Weapons 3 Two Hands 4 Heaven 5 Closer 6 Safe To Land 7 Headphones 8 Don't Stop 9 Boys (Lesson One) 10 Hero 11 Scenic Route 12 There Might Be A Light 13 Forgive Me 14 Heart
Item Specifications...
Record Label Gray Matters
Dimensions: Length: 5.5" Width: 4.9" Height: 0.4" Weight: 0.2 lbs.
Binding CD
Release Date Apr 1, 2009
Publisher Provident-Integrity Distribut
ISBN 0829813675 EAN 0083061090326 UPC 083061090326
Availability 14 units. Availability accurate as of May 26, 2012 12:23.
Usually ships within one to two business days from New Kensington, PA.
Orders shipping to an address other than a confirmed Credit Card / Paypal Billing address may incur and additional processing delay.
This album is good, but it sounds very much pop... I wish they went back to the style of their first album.
The Long Fall Back to Earth Jan 18, 2010
After 2006's Good Monsters, this is Jars of Clay's first album of all original material having started their own label, Gray Matters, and releasing their first full length album of Christmas songs also known as Christmas Songs. After writing their last original album, which they wrote based on work with "addicts, failures, lovers, loners, believers, and beggars" according to Dan Haseltine, they felt that they were writing an album from far off, like they were looking at earth from space. As they saw relationships around them falling apart they felt the need to write songs that were less poetic than their previous albums speaking of relationships from the ground level in The Long Fall Back to Earth.
Jars of Clay is my favorite band. Having release their first album in 1994, and becoming one of the few Christian bands to reach mainstream success with the hit single Flood, Jars of Clay is kind of like The Beatles of the Christian scene. Each album sounds different than the next. Their first album is almost completely acoustic using a drum machine to fill in where they didn't have a drum. Since then they've dabbled in British rock, Americana, blue grass, country, rock n' roll, and now new wave. For those of you who choose not to listen to Christian music, Jars of Clay is typically a band that doesn't put their faith at the forefront of their music. Yeah, they write from a Christian perspective, but they choose to write about experiences and life from anyone that chooses to listen. The result, very introspective music that anyone can identify with, Christian or not. With their latest album they leave most of their beliefs behind to approach relationships and life head on with a style of music they've never dabbled in before: new wave.
The result: awesome. Channeling Tears for Fears and The Cult, Jars of Clay creates an album that reaches out to a new audience while not completely alienating their audience. Musically, they choose to experiment with beats and keyboards in a way that they have never done before. The result leads to melodies that will still have you repeating them over and over again like their past music, but will be a little jarring for fans of the band. Personally, it took me a couple listens to really get into the music, but while this isn't my favorite album from the band, I keep finding myself returning to this album over and over again to see what I've missed and enjoying it more with each listen. Here they not only experiment with instrumental choices but also with tempos in songs like "Scenic Route." The result in their experimentations is merely transcendent upon multiple listenings.
Lyrically, I've read many reviewers complaining about the simplicity of Haseltine's lyrical choices. Typically, Haseltine's lyrics are very poetic, but this time the band opted to lyrics that weren't as poetic to focus more on relationships from a personal perspective. One of the main songs that seems to be a culprit in critics minds concerning this album is the song "Two Hands" which features the lyric, "If I had two hands/ Doing the same thing/ Lifted high/ Lifted high." While it sounds simplistic, it can easily symbolize two different things, out of, or in, context the lyrics could easily mean lifting our relationships higher in our mind. In, or out of, context as well this song could speak to lifting God or Jesus Christ up in their lives. As you go on through the album you find further songs that expound on the themes on the album with songs like "Headphones" which is about how we don't always want to hear those things that are wrong in a relationship or life and just want to walk around with headphones on, "Forgive Me" about asking for forgiveness when you realize your not going to get, and "Boys (Lesson One)" which is a song written as a reminder for their, and our, children of the rules of life.
Jars of Clay's new album is an extremely fun listen whether you're just looking for fun or looking for a message, something just a little deeper than you'd normal listen to, or something just fun to listen to. I highly recommend that you check it out if you're a Jars of Clay fan, a fan of indie music, or if you like 80's new wave. It's naturally not going to be for everyone, but check it out, it definitely grows on you!
4.5/5
From the secular side of things Dec 3, 2009
Christian rock, often is not considered "cool". But Jars of Clay always made very "cool" music. Cool, because musically it is so well done, as it is here again. And when they write more metaphorically, as the Jewish reviewer noted, this great music becomes that more accessible. Many songs are then thought provoking at any level. On this outing, there is plenty of variety. Monsters had some variety too. So I give it another thumbs up from the secular side.
Great cd Dec 1, 2009
One of my favorite groups, Jars of Clay, produced a fantastic cd with low beat songs, ideal for all types of venues and situations. Thumbs up.
Jars of Clay, The long trip back to awesome :-) Nov 23, 2009
This is a reinvigorated Jars of Clay that continue to stay relevant as they embrace shades of the modern indie rock scene (see Death Cab for Cutie) to update their sound. The electronic touches are never too much, as seen on songs like "Headphones" and "Boys (Lesson One)," and while the last three tracks of the album slow the momentum gained with the epic closing of "Scenic Route", it does nothing to detract from the fact this is the most alive record the band has made since The 11th Hour.
(0 Items)
