Jars World : Music : Tim's Reviews
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Jars of Clay
a review by Tim
It may be hard to believe but the first few times I heard the Jars of Clay album I didn't care for it. I thought it was catchy but that was all. I don’t remember the exact time of year I first heard it but I believe it to be early winter of '96. And at that point in my life I wasn't ready for any new artists or bands. It wouldn't be till the night of Agape '96 that I would become a fan. The song that caught my attention was "Boy on a String". There was something about it that sparked my interest in the band. The rest is pretty much history.
The Jars self-titled album is pretty amazing. It has a wide variety of songs and styles. Some of the songs are slow and quiet while others are fast and loud. The rest of the songs in it are a mix. This variety really helps balance the album out. I think this is also what helped the album sell really well. That and the fact flood became a smash hit on the radio and thus convinced a lot of people to check them out.
There are both pros and cons about this album. The pros would be the attention to detail in each song or the background music. The detail on the album seems just right. Everything was balanced out perfectly. No item in each song is too loud or quiet. I like the background music on Jars of Clay. It doesn’t seem like something you would hear from a bands first album. The cons would be the fact that it seems to be way too short. It seems like the album could go on for another 10 to 15 minutes more. But maybe I am just being greedy. The other thing is the way 4:7 put on the album. It was added as a hidden song to same track of Blind a couple minutes after it ends. This was the in thing at the time. This means on a CD or MP3 player to hear it you have to wait through several minutes of silence or fast forward threw it to hear it. This tends to be more annoying than anything. One alternative for MP3 player owners is to edit the Blind MP3 file into two separate MP3 files to fix this.
Out of the 11 songs on Jars of Clay (even though 4:7 is hidden it still counts) "Boy on a String" and "Blind" are my two top favorites. I like "Boy on a String" because of its lively strings and catchy lyrics. "Blind" is my other favorite because the lyrics make you think.
It may be hard to believe but the first few times I heard the Jars of Clay album I didn't care for it. I thought it was catchy but that was all. I don’t remember the exact time of year I first heard it but I believe it to be early winter of '96. And at that point in my life I wasn't ready for any new artists or bands. It wouldn't be till the night of Agape '96 that I would become a fan. The song that caught my attention was "Boy on a String". There was something about it that sparked my interest in the band. The rest is pretty much history.
The Jars self-titled album is pretty amazing. It has a wide variety of songs and styles. Some of the songs are slow and quiet while others are fast and loud. The rest of the songs in it are a mix. This variety really helps balance the album out. I think this is also what helped the album sell really well. That and the fact flood became a smash hit on the radio and thus convinced a lot of people to check them out.
There are both pros and cons about this album. The pros would be the attention to detail in each song or the background music. The detail on the album seems just right. Everything was balanced out perfectly. No item in each song is too loud or quiet. I like the background music on Jars of Clay. It doesn’t seem like something you would hear from a bands first album. The cons would be the fact that it seems to be way too short. It seems like the album could go on for another 10 to 15 minutes more. But maybe I am just being greedy. The other thing is the way 4:7 put on the album. It was added as a hidden song to same track of Blind a couple minutes after it ends. This was the in thing at the time. This means on a CD or MP3 player to hear it you have to wait through several minutes of silence or fast forward threw it to hear it. This tends to be more annoying than anything. One alternative for MP3 player owners is to edit the Blind MP3 file into two separate MP3 files to fix this.
Out of the 11 songs on Jars of Clay (even though 4:7 is hidden it still counts) "Boy on a String" and "Blind" are my two top favorites. I like "Boy on a String" because of its lively strings and catchy lyrics. "Blind" is my other favorite because the lyrics make you think.
