2008 Woodie Awards
CD Review: "Chase this Light"
Set the Record Straight
Philip Lasseigve
Issue date: 11/1/07 Section: Features
Jimmy Eat World
"Chase this Light"
Interscope
When Jimmy Eat World first hit the punk-rock scene in the mid 1990s, their alternative style of music was considered a huge success. This new style of music they brought to the mainstream was original, catchy and practically unheard of when it first came out.
Fast forward to 2007 and the "original" type of music that they first featured coming out of the gate has become the norm with the teen and pre-teen audience.
Instead of continuing their originality, the band's creative juices seem to have frozen, giving way to the trendy pop-punk or better known as "emo" music. This change in the band's philosophy is evident in their latest CD, "Chase This Light."
Instead of pursuing a new, revolutionary sound that they started out with, the band opted to emulate the pop music seen on MTV and heard all over the radio. While the band has always had these "emo" lyrics and sounds, this CD shows that the band chose to woo a younger audience rather than please their already established listeners.
While this CD is still quality, as well as just as catchy as their previous albums, it lacks much of the originality they had once featured. When their targeted audience is taken into consideration, catchy tunes, not mind-blowing lyrics, are expected. On this CD, the words to the songs seem to seriously regress. There are no true can't miss hits on "Chase This Light" like there were on previous albums with "Sweetness", "Pain", "Bleed American" and "Hear You Me", just several songs with a good beat.
The album starts off with "Big Casino" ,a song that will confuse Jimmy Eat World and music fans from the get go. The extreme punk sounding guitar and drum introduction sounds too much like songs done by Fall-Out Boy. Minus the predictable beginning, "Big Casino" is a great way for the band to start the song off. It sets the tone for the rest of the CD: ridiculously pop-ish and "emo."
"Let It Happen" and "Always Be" follow in succession on the CD. Both songs follow the traditional Jimmy Eat World model of catchy music with cheesy lyrics. The beats to these songs are both unusual, but still quality. "Let It Happen" features more of a mellow guitar sound while "Always Be" also sports a low-key tempo with great percussion. Yet, since the songs describe dramatic relationships that pertain to adolescents, the overall quality of the music is mostly negated.
"Chase this Light"
Interscope
When Jimmy Eat World first hit the punk-rock scene in the mid 1990s, their alternative style of music was considered a huge success. This new style of music they brought to the mainstream was original, catchy and practically unheard of when it first came out.
Fast forward to 2007 and the "original" type of music that they first featured coming out of the gate has become the norm with the teen and pre-teen audience.
Instead of continuing their originality, the band's creative juices seem to have frozen, giving way to the trendy pop-punk or better known as "emo" music. This change in the band's philosophy is evident in their latest CD, "Chase This Light."
Instead of pursuing a new, revolutionary sound that they started out with, the band opted to emulate the pop music seen on MTV and heard all over the radio. While the band has always had these "emo" lyrics and sounds, this CD shows that the band chose to woo a younger audience rather than please their already established listeners.
While this CD is still quality, as well as just as catchy as their previous albums, it lacks much of the originality they had once featured. When their targeted audience is taken into consideration, catchy tunes, not mind-blowing lyrics, are expected. On this CD, the words to the songs seem to seriously regress. There are no true can't miss hits on "Chase This Light" like there were on previous albums with "Sweetness", "Pain", "Bleed American" and "Hear You Me", just several songs with a good beat.
The album starts off with "Big Casino" ,a song that will confuse Jimmy Eat World and music fans from the get go. The extreme punk sounding guitar and drum introduction sounds too much like songs done by Fall-Out Boy. Minus the predictable beginning, "Big Casino" is a great way for the band to start the song off. It sets the tone for the rest of the CD: ridiculously pop-ish and "emo."
"Let It Happen" and "Always Be" follow in succession on the CD. Both songs follow the traditional Jimmy Eat World model of catchy music with cheesy lyrics. The beats to these songs are both unusual, but still quality. "Let It Happen" features more of a mellow guitar sound while "Always Be" also sports a low-key tempo with great percussion. Yet, since the songs describe dramatic relationships that pertain to adolescents, the overall quality of the music is mostly negated.
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