Safe To Land –

Boys (Lesson One) –

For this week’s LP, let’s dive into something I haven’t featured here yet: Contemporary Christian! W-Wait! Don’t leave just yet! I promise, they’re really worth your time ^^;

The Long Fall Back To Earth (2009), Jars of Clay. One of the very first bands I remember finding that wasn’t introduced to me by my parents. I loved the John Denver, Bob Dylan, Elvis, and Eagles music that my parents showed me as a kid (and I still do!), but Jars of Clay were easily one of the first bands I recall looking for CDs of in Wal-Mart by myself. While not my first introduction to the band (that would have been the amazing Good Monsters), I received this album as a gift (in CD form) shortly after its release, and it has rarely ever left my active listening catalogue 😀

The Nashville quartet Jars of Clay is…well, yes, a Contemporary Christian band – technically – but they do an amazing job of avoiding some of the negative criticism that the genre receives. The genre often gets slammed for its lack of creativity, lower quality of musicianship, and overly “in-your-face” messages (kinda similar to how some psychedelic music isn’t taken seriously with its recurring “hippie” lyrics). I’m not saying that all Contemporary Christian is bad, unoriginal, and preachy, but there sadly is a large selection of music from the genre that will fall short in one of those categories. Christian music ain’t the only genre to suffer from these problems, but they do have their fair share of them though.

However, I feel like the difference with Jars of Clay’s music should be apparent right out of the gate. Their music is rich with interesting sounds and an impressive range of musical instruments, from acoustic to electric. Their lyrics are poetic, complex, and often the complete opposite of the straightforward lyrics associated with the genre. Launching their career with their platinum selling self-titled album in ’95, they made an immediate impression with their acoustic, folk music that blended mandolins, violins, and organs (and that was during the era of grunge!). Several of their albums would have them changing gears and focusing in on different styles. Sometimes it exceeded expectations, other times it flopped (that type of plan can do that), but either way they were able to provide something new and often refreshing with each release.

The album The Long Fall Back To Earth came after the critical success of Good Monsters and I feel there was a decent amount of interest as to whether or not they would stay with their new, well-received sound or try something new once again. The truth ended up being the latter, but this time it was an even greater shift than normal. They had laid aside their folk music and their newly acquired rock for something mostly digital. The album, as a whole, has a distinct Indie feel with an 80s influence like music from The Cure or even Bowie. It could also be described as having an almost ethereal quality that is reminiscent of something you could expect from the Flaming Lips or certain Radiohead tunes. Another thing to note about the album is its largely melancholic nature with several noteworthy uplifting songs, but still a more somber tone overall.

The record is literally chockfull of great tunes that I could listen to for forever, but I had to somehow narrow it down to only two songs. As much as I really, really wanted to list “Hero” on here, it regretfully had to be set aside for these two (also equally amazing) songs. “Safe To Land” is a great example of the beautifully subdued, calm sound the album features. It is initially driven by the constant droning of a lone electric guitar that begins quietly before being overcome by the (synth) strings and the crescendo of the drums. Also take a close listen during the bridge for some nice synth work that adds just that nice flourish to the track. The other tune, “Boys (Lesson One)” also displays a unique music direction, this time being propelled mostly by drum loops and synth. The lyrics, while still very poetic, are less abstract and more in the form of a story. The song was originally written directly for the band members’ sons (hence the title “Boys”) and I feel that alone can easily explain most of its lyrics. I’m pretty sure I could feel a whole page on the lines that I love from this song, but instead I would just encourage you to listen closely and savor each part of it.

While I’m not sure what Jars of Clay album I would label as “their best” (it’s so hard to compare them since they’re all so different) I can pretty confidently state that The Long Fall Back To Earth is my personal favorite. If you’re not convinced this album is for you, but your curious about their other music, there really isn’t a terrible album you could pick up from them. Although, they’re most recent album, Inland, is an awesome starting point if you want a little bit of everything they can offer.