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The 11th Hour
a review by Chris
After Jars of Clay's self-titled debut stampeded out of the gate, the bar was set extremely high for subsequent Jars releases. Their sophomore attempt, Much Afraid, showcased the Jars focusing on introspective songs with deep lyrics, but without a strong lead hit single, it failed to generate as much excitement in the music industry as the first record. On their last project, If I Left the Zoo, we found the band writing mostly quirky pop songs but losing some fans of their earlier work in the process. On their latest project, entitled The Eleventh Hour, we continue to see Jars evolving but also harkening back to their roots.
During the making of their new album, they took a trip back to Greenville College, the place where they wrote "Flood" and "Love Song for a Savior." The first record, written partially in a college dormitory at Greenville, exuded an experimental spirit, tempered with a pop sensibility that made for an album that was both critically acclaimed and chart-topping. The new record, written and recorded in Steve Mason's basement, seems to capture some of the spirit of the first record, but it also shows maturity far beyond the walls of a college dormitory. With The Eleventh Hour, Jars of Clay delivers a batch of lyrically mature and musically interesting songs. The band paints a soundscape with a varied palette of songs--some playful, some peaceful, and some intensely emotional. Jars of Clay makes a conscious effort to try to combine the best elements of all their past records into this project, and they take this synergy and make it into an evolution in sound known as The Eleventh Hour.
The album starts out simply enough, with a pop number named "Disappear" that lets you know that the guys are not an "alternative-grunge" band defined by their unrepresentative hit song "Flood," but rather a pop-rock group with a skill for crafting tuneful melodies. As the song progresses, you hear some of those old drum machines creeping in, reminiscent of the first album. There are also some production touches, such as Charlie's prominent keyboard line, suggestive of Dennis Herring's production on If I Left the Zoo. But Jars of Clay produced this album on their own--no help needed from any industry heavy-hitters this time around. Their creative imprint becomes more evident as the album progresses.
The second number, "Something Beautiful," brings to mind the first record with its acoustic introduction and sweet harmonies by Stephen Mason. As the song progresses, it's clear that Jars are going to flex their production muscles throughout the album and turn every track into a musical tour-de-force. There is a moment in the song when everything cuts out except for Dan's longing voice praying for God to stare back down at him as if he is "something beautiful." Dan's emotional, understated reading of this song is very nice indeed.
The song "Revolution" takes us into some unfamiliar Jars territory, a feat we will see repeated throughout The Eleventh Hour. The playful lyrics remind us of "Unforgetful You" from If I Left the Zoo, but there is more force and less play here. Even though the song initially sounds like a simple party number, the words are exhorting us to "be a revolution," to "cross that line and let love find a way." If you're not jamming by the end of this song, you're not breathing. This one will sound fantastic live.
The first radio single, "I Need You," is a song that was written with the spirit of "Love Song for a Savior" in mind. On this track, Jars of Clay takes us back to those early days of simple but powerful expressions of love for God, with a repeating chorus of "I need you, I need you, I need you. You're all I'm living for." But there is a striking difference between "I Need You" and "Love Song for a Savior." Once you delve deeper into this song, you bump into more challenging and difficult lyrics such as, "You are the shelter from the rain and the rain to wash me away," and "I only had a second to spare, but all the time in the world to know you're there."
There is a group of songs on this project that will touch you deeply, especially if you understand exactly what they are about. The first time I heard "Fly," I thought to myself, hey, nice pop tune, very catchy chorus, but nothing special. After reading Dan's description of this song, however, I took a totally different listening approach and focused in closely on the lyrics to this track. Inspired by real-life events that were happening to friends close to the band, this song tells the story of a man in a hospital room holding his wife's hand as she passes into the afterlife after fighting a losing battle with cancer. Don't let the somewhat upbeat sound of this song deceive you into thinking it's just a pretty pop tune. This is a serious and powerful ballad. Think about the lyrics as Dan pours all of his energy into them. Feel the goose bumps as he implores the wife in the story, "shed your heart and your breath and your pain and fly."
The next song in this category of touching songs is to me the best song that Jars of Clay has ever written. "Silence" was written for the Doubting Thomas in all of us, for those moments when we have no answers to the questions of life. This song is as distinctively Jars of Clay more than any other tune on the album. This song would be virtually impossible for any other artist to cover, due to the difficulty of the material and the strength of execution. The chord structure of "Silence" is incredibly simple, but all the elements combine to form a complex tune. The emotion conveyed in the words and in the musical details is astounding. Small touches make this song a gem, such as Steve's discordant guitar coming in just as Dan sings about being left for "the wreckage and the waste on an empty beach of faith." This one will make you reflect on your toughest times-the ones that made you stronger.
The last of the emotional trio of tunes is also the last track on the album, "The Edge of Water." This song is very ambitious in that it seems to have several different moods breaking through in the music. The song starts out very soft, with a spiritual-sounding Hammond echoing along with Dan's whispered vocals. There is a nice string passage in this tune, once again hinting at the first project with its beautiful string work. But the maturity in the group's songwriting shows this to be a much different work than anything on the first project, with a dramatic modulation and a surprise banjo part that fits very well. Dan spent some time during the writing of this record scoring a movie soundtrack, and it shows on this track in its dramatic flourishes. The only criticism I have of this song is that it almost tries to do too much. It covers a lot of ground musically, but it seems to lose momentum as the song goes on. Maybe on the next record we will see them perfect a tune like this.
There are two songs that fit nicely together on the record as somewhat striking and surprising tunes from Jars. The song "Scarlet" invokes the power of the color red as representing both sin and the washing away of sins. Charlie provides some mysterious-sounding keyboard effects on this entrancing song. The other song in the breakthrough category, "Whatever She Wants", according to Dan, "may be the most confrontational song we have ever written." I would agree with that statement, as we are presented with an almost disturbing lyric about a woman who "like a vampire, parasite, strech[es] the necks of her victims, she finds her prey in broad daylight." This is definitely not a song about a relationship between God and man, but rather a song about a co-dependant relationship between a man and a woman. This is a weighty issue, and the music and lyrics seem to accurately portray the pain and suffering that a co-dependent relationship can bring. Lyrically, it is somewhat reminiscent of "Famous Last Words" with its interpersonal relationship angle, but musically it is another creature entirely.
The title song, "The Eleventh Hour," presents us with some complex ideas masked in the guise of a pleasant-sounding song with some haunting harmonies. On the surface, this song seems to deal with the familiar (but nonetheless wrenching) struggle of making a decision just before time runs out. But in the way the lyrics are crafted, a far more complex notion ripples just below the surface. With phrases like, "I'll find you when I think I'm out of time," and "In time, will I be what you're thinking of?" this song seems to be intimating the notion of our earthly concept of time contrasted against God's atemporality. The concept is so complex that it's hard to capture in words exactly what the song seems to convey-it's a complexity well represented in the line, "I won't give up on giving you the chance to blow my mind." (You'll notice this theme of time and yearning woven into other songs throughout the album as well.)
The only track I was not very impressed with on this album was "These Ordinary Days," a slow song with something of a country sound. The lack of production on this song is a nice change from the elaborate production on the rest of the album, but the song just never gains much energy. I would agree with the title--it is simply an "ordinary" song.
As with all new Jars albums, expectations are sky-high for The Eleventh Hour. The depth of the lyrics, the complexity and originality of the music and the arrangements, and the heart that is evident throughout should satisfy the loyal fans and the music critics alike. The detail in each song is incredible, and this can only be explained by the fact that the Jars were intimately involved with every aspect of this album. Only their first album had this much involvement from the group. In fact, you might have to go all the way back to their indie project Frail to find the Jars this involved in the creative process from start to finish. I would suggest listening to this album with headphones to fully absorb the production values. You can tell that even the mixing was well thought out and creatively approached on this new project. From the overall feel of the record, down to the intricate musical details that will have you listening intently over and over again, this is another powerful entry in the Jars of Clay canon. This is not a perfect record, as there are a few mis-steps, but these are few and far between. Overall, an encouraging effort from a band that continues to evolve and move from strength to strength. 4 ½ ****'s.
After Jars of Clay's self-titled debut stampeded out of the gate, the bar was set extremely high for subsequent Jars releases. Their sophomore attempt, Much Afraid, showcased the Jars focusing on introspective songs with deep lyrics, but without a strong lead hit single, it failed to generate as much excitement in the music industry as the first record. On their last project, If I Left the Zoo, we found the band writing mostly quirky pop songs but losing some fans of their earlier work in the process. On their latest project, entitled The Eleventh Hour, we continue to see Jars evolving but also harkening back to their roots.
During the making of their new album, they took a trip back to Greenville College, the place where they wrote "Flood" and "Love Song for a Savior." The first record, written partially in a college dormitory at Greenville, exuded an experimental spirit, tempered with a pop sensibility that made for an album that was both critically acclaimed and chart-topping. The new record, written and recorded in Steve Mason's basement, seems to capture some of the spirit of the first record, but it also shows maturity far beyond the walls of a college dormitory. With The Eleventh Hour, Jars of Clay delivers a batch of lyrically mature and musically interesting songs. The band paints a soundscape with a varied palette of songs--some playful, some peaceful, and some intensely emotional. Jars of Clay makes a conscious effort to try to combine the best elements of all their past records into this project, and they take this synergy and make it into an evolution in sound known as The Eleventh Hour.
The album starts out simply enough, with a pop number named "Disappear" that lets you know that the guys are not an "alternative-grunge" band defined by their unrepresentative hit song "Flood," but rather a pop-rock group with a skill for crafting tuneful melodies. As the song progresses, you hear some of those old drum machines creeping in, reminiscent of the first album. There are also some production touches, such as Charlie's prominent keyboard line, suggestive of Dennis Herring's production on If I Left the Zoo. But Jars of Clay produced this album on their own--no help needed from any industry heavy-hitters this time around. Their creative imprint becomes more evident as the album progresses.
The second number, "Something Beautiful," brings to mind the first record with its acoustic introduction and sweet harmonies by Stephen Mason. As the song progresses, it's clear that Jars are going to flex their production muscles throughout the album and turn every track into a musical tour-de-force. There is a moment in the song when everything cuts out except for Dan's longing voice praying for God to stare back down at him as if he is "something beautiful." Dan's emotional, understated reading of this song is very nice indeed.
The song "Revolution" takes us into some unfamiliar Jars territory, a feat we will see repeated throughout The Eleventh Hour. The playful lyrics remind us of "Unforgetful You" from If I Left the Zoo, but there is more force and less play here. Even though the song initially sounds like a simple party number, the words are exhorting us to "be a revolution," to "cross that line and let love find a way." If you're not jamming by the end of this song, you're not breathing. This one will sound fantastic live.
The first radio single, "I Need You," is a song that was written with the spirit of "Love Song for a Savior" in mind. On this track, Jars of Clay takes us back to those early days of simple but powerful expressions of love for God, with a repeating chorus of "I need you, I need you, I need you. You're all I'm living for." But there is a striking difference between "I Need You" and "Love Song for a Savior." Once you delve deeper into this song, you bump into more challenging and difficult lyrics such as, "You are the shelter from the rain and the rain to wash me away," and "I only had a second to spare, but all the time in the world to know you're there."
There is a group of songs on this project that will touch you deeply, especially if you understand exactly what they are about. The first time I heard "Fly," I thought to myself, hey, nice pop tune, very catchy chorus, but nothing special. After reading Dan's description of this song, however, I took a totally different listening approach and focused in closely on the lyrics to this track. Inspired by real-life events that were happening to friends close to the band, this song tells the story of a man in a hospital room holding his wife's hand as she passes into the afterlife after fighting a losing battle with cancer. Don't let the somewhat upbeat sound of this song deceive you into thinking it's just a pretty pop tune. This is a serious and powerful ballad. Think about the lyrics as Dan pours all of his energy into them. Feel the goose bumps as he implores the wife in the story, "shed your heart and your breath and your pain and fly."
The next song in this category of touching songs is to me the best song that Jars of Clay has ever written. "Silence" was written for the Doubting Thomas in all of us, for those moments when we have no answers to the questions of life. This song is as distinctively Jars of Clay more than any other tune on the album. This song would be virtually impossible for any other artist to cover, due to the difficulty of the material and the strength of execution. The chord structure of "Silence" is incredibly simple, but all the elements combine to form a complex tune. The emotion conveyed in the words and in the musical details is astounding. Small touches make this song a gem, such as Steve's discordant guitar coming in just as Dan sings about being left for "the wreckage and the waste on an empty beach of faith." This one will make you reflect on your toughest times-the ones that made you stronger.
The last of the emotional trio of tunes is also the last track on the album, "The Edge of Water." This song is very ambitious in that it seems to have several different moods breaking through in the music. The song starts out very soft, with a spiritual-sounding Hammond echoing along with Dan's whispered vocals. There is a nice string passage in this tune, once again hinting at the first project with its beautiful string work. But the maturity in the group's songwriting shows this to be a much different work than anything on the first project, with a dramatic modulation and a surprise banjo part that fits very well. Dan spent some time during the writing of this record scoring a movie soundtrack, and it shows on this track in its dramatic flourishes. The only criticism I have of this song is that it almost tries to do too much. It covers a lot of ground musically, but it seems to lose momentum as the song goes on. Maybe on the next record we will see them perfect a tune like this.
There are two songs that fit nicely together on the record as somewhat striking and surprising tunes from Jars. The song "Scarlet" invokes the power of the color red as representing both sin and the washing away of sins. Charlie provides some mysterious-sounding keyboard effects on this entrancing song. The other song in the breakthrough category, "Whatever She Wants", according to Dan, "may be the most confrontational song we have ever written." I would agree with that statement, as we are presented with an almost disturbing lyric about a woman who "like a vampire, parasite, strech[es] the necks of her victims, she finds her prey in broad daylight." This is definitely not a song about a relationship between God and man, but rather a song about a co-dependant relationship between a man and a woman. This is a weighty issue, and the music and lyrics seem to accurately portray the pain and suffering that a co-dependent relationship can bring. Lyrically, it is somewhat reminiscent of "Famous Last Words" with its interpersonal relationship angle, but musically it is another creature entirely.
The title song, "The Eleventh Hour," presents us with some complex ideas masked in the guise of a pleasant-sounding song with some haunting harmonies. On the surface, this song seems to deal with the familiar (but nonetheless wrenching) struggle of making a decision just before time runs out. But in the way the lyrics are crafted, a far more complex notion ripples just below the surface. With phrases like, "I'll find you when I think I'm out of time," and "In time, will I be what you're thinking of?" this song seems to be intimating the notion of our earthly concept of time contrasted against God's atemporality. The concept is so complex that it's hard to capture in words exactly what the song seems to convey-it's a complexity well represented in the line, "I won't give up on giving you the chance to blow my mind." (You'll notice this theme of time and yearning woven into other songs throughout the album as well.)
The only track I was not very impressed with on this album was "These Ordinary Days," a slow song with something of a country sound. The lack of production on this song is a nice change from the elaborate production on the rest of the album, but the song just never gains much energy. I would agree with the title--it is simply an "ordinary" song.
As with all new Jars albums, expectations are sky-high for The Eleventh Hour. The depth of the lyrics, the complexity and originality of the music and the arrangements, and the heart that is evident throughout should satisfy the loyal fans and the music critics alike. The detail in each song is incredible, and this can only be explained by the fact that the Jars were intimately involved with every aspect of this album. Only their first album had this much involvement from the group. In fact, you might have to go all the way back to their indie project Frail to find the Jars this involved in the creative process from start to finish. I would suggest listening to this album with headphones to fully absorb the production values. You can tell that even the mixing was well thought out and creatively approached on this new project. From the overall feel of the record, down to the intricate musical details that will have you listening intently over and over again, this is another powerful entry in the Jars of Clay canon. This is not a perfect record, as there are a few mis-steps, but these are few and far between. Overall, an encouraging effort from a band that continues to evolve and move from strength to strength. 4 ½ ****'s.
