Jimmy Eat World – Futures

Jimmy Eat World will always have a special place set aside for them in my heart. It was back in grade 8, right before The Middle started tearing up the airwaves, and Jimmy Eat World were passing through town so I decided to go. That show ended up being the first concert I ever went to. Although I didn’t know all of their catalogue, it is a show that I will never forget, and after the concert I picked up a t-shirt and wore it proudly the next day at school, but it took me a couple of years before I actually got off my lazy ass and bought Bleed American and Clarity (Static Prevails is still missing from my collection, but that hole will hopefully be filled in a couple of weeks). Bleed American was an instant classic in my mind, merging rock and emo together to form a very readily accessible album that I love. Leaning more towards the emo side of things, I loved Clarity as well; but for me, it wasn’t quite as big a standout as their 2001 release. Well, it’s been three years since then, and Jimmy Eat World are back with Futures; and it falls right between Bleed American and Clarity.

Once again merging rock and emo together, Futures is an album which will appeal to most fans and critics alike. For some, it will be an instant pleasure giver, while others will have to listen to it more to really get a feel for it. I am in the latter group. After my first listen, I was slightly disappointed. It was missing that punch which made Bleed American so good. But after more listens, it has grown on me a lot. Still not quiteBleed American, but a very happy medium which will provide me amusement for quite some time.

Jim Adkins vocals are strong and vibrant. Changing from fast hard songs to slow melodic songs with ease, something which Jimmy Eat World have always been able to do. They are able to successfully write and record fast pace songs like Pain and Nothingwrong (which could easily be compared to Get It Faster off Bleed American), to sing along songs like The World you Love, and slow melodic songs likeDrugs or Me and 23. The songs can last over 5, 6, or 7 minutes at times, and you don’t really care. Even though they are so long, they don’t drag on, they are just good. Something which the band showed they could do back on Clarity.

Jimmy Eat World are able to bring together many tempos, structures and beats, throw them all together, and still make an album which flows easily. Many bands try this, but only a rare few succeed, andJimmy Eat World is one of them.

Jimmy Eat World will always have a special place in my heart, and Futures just made that place a little bit bigger. It is a solid album that grows on you, and although its not quite as good as Bleed American, I will still listen to it a lot.