| The On-Line Music Review & Information Ministry |
| Jars of Clay |
|
1. The Long Fall [Listen]
2. Weapons [Listen]
3. Two Hands [Listen]
4. Heaven [Listen]
5. Closer [Listen]
6. Safe to Land [Listen]
7. Headphones [Listen]
8. Don't Stop [Listen]
2. Weapons [Listen]
3. Two Hands [Listen]
4. Heaven [Listen]
5. Closer [Listen]
6. Safe to Land [Listen]
7. Headphones [Listen]
8. Don't Stop [Listen]
The Long Fall Back to Earth
[Release Date: April 21, 2009] (Essential Records)
Track Listing:
Track Listing:
9. Boys (Lesson One) [Listen]
10. Hero [Listen]
11. Scenic Route [Listen]
12. There Might Be a Light [Listen]
13. Forgive Me [Listen]
14. Heart [Listen]
10. Hero [Listen]
11. Scenic Route [Listen]
12. There Might Be a Light [Listen]
13. Forgive Me [Listen]
14. Heart [Listen]
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
3.9 out of 4
2.9 out of 3
2.0 out of 2
0.9 out of 1
9.7 out of 10
Message
Music
Production
Creativity
Overall Score
| 97% A+ |
Jars of Clay has built an extraordinary career based on the uncompromising integrity of
its music, worldview, and humanitarianism. Jars of Clay’s last album, Good Monsters,
was my favorite Jars of Clay album since the amazing self-titled debut. That album
managed to reinvent the band’s sound while tackling subjects as diverse and demanding
as social responsibility, spiritual doubt and the duality of the human heart. Now, three
years later, Jars of Clay returns with The Long Fall Back To Earth. The album’s first
single, “Two Hands,” builds on the duality theme from “Good Monsters.” Haseltine’s
lyrics observe, “I use one hand to pull you closer / The other to push you away,” before
going on to suggest that this internal conflict can be overcome with a simple, but
profound course of action: “Two hands doing the same thing / Lifted high.” According
to Dan Haseltine: “‘Two Hands’ was the last song we wrote for the record. We'd been
trying to find a way to try to connect all the various themes of the album--relationships,
faith, social justice--with one unifying anthem.”
That desire to connect is the primary theme of The Long Fall Back To Earth and
nowhere is it more explicitly stated than in “Closer,” the first song recorded for the
record. When Haseltine sings “I’ll drop out of the race for more personal space / ‘Cause
the rockets we’re in get so cold, and I miss your skin,” he’s never sounded more direct
or personal. One of the last songs written for the record is the instrumental opener “The
Long Fall,” which gently introduces the theme of the record before giving way to the
marching wake-up call of the song “Weapons.”
This is the most amazing album I’ve heard in the past year and ranks right with Third
Day’s Revelation last year. Jars of Clay has managed to channel the best of themselves,
almost unanimously agreed to be the self-titled debut album and give fans what they’ve
come to expect with anthems like “Weapons,” “Two Hands,” “Safe To Land” and
“Heaven,” the stand-out songs for me. However similar to Third Day, they’ve also
mixed up their sound and pulled out all of the stops with inventive new electronic songs
like the instrumental opener “The Long Fall,” “Closer,” “Don’t Stop,” “Boys (Lesson
One)” and the closing song “Heart.” I immediately replayed the songs “Hero” and
“Scenic Route,” which are both amazing instrumentally and lyrically.
Closing Thoughts:
I’ll be measuring all other albums this year against “The Long Fall To Earth”. Whether
you are a long-time fan of Jars of Clay or have recently discovered them, you won’t be
disappointed with this album which for me is a 5 star masterpiece.
its music, worldview, and humanitarianism. Jars of Clay’s last album, Good Monsters,
was my favorite Jars of Clay album since the amazing self-titled debut. That album
managed to reinvent the band’s sound while tackling subjects as diverse and demanding
as social responsibility, spiritual doubt and the duality of the human heart. Now, three
years later, Jars of Clay returns with The Long Fall Back To Earth. The album’s first
single, “Two Hands,” builds on the duality theme from “Good Monsters.” Haseltine’s
lyrics observe, “I use one hand to pull you closer / The other to push you away,” before
going on to suggest that this internal conflict can be overcome with a simple, but
profound course of action: “Two hands doing the same thing / Lifted high.” According
to Dan Haseltine: “‘Two Hands’ was the last song we wrote for the record. We'd been
trying to find a way to try to connect all the various themes of the album--relationships,
faith, social justice--with one unifying anthem.”
That desire to connect is the primary theme of The Long Fall Back To Earth and
nowhere is it more explicitly stated than in “Closer,” the first song recorded for the
record. When Haseltine sings “I’ll drop out of the race for more personal space / ‘Cause
the rockets we’re in get so cold, and I miss your skin,” he’s never sounded more direct
or personal. One of the last songs written for the record is the instrumental opener “The
Long Fall,” which gently introduces the theme of the record before giving way to the
marching wake-up call of the song “Weapons.”
This is the most amazing album I’ve heard in the past year and ranks right with Third
Day’s Revelation last year. Jars of Clay has managed to channel the best of themselves,
almost unanimously agreed to be the self-titled debut album and give fans what they’ve
come to expect with anthems like “Weapons,” “Two Hands,” “Safe To Land” and
“Heaven,” the stand-out songs for me. However similar to Third Day, they’ve also
mixed up their sound and pulled out all of the stops with inventive new electronic songs
like the instrumental opener “The Long Fall,” “Closer,” “Don’t Stop,” “Boys (Lesson
One)” and the closing song “Heart.” I immediately replayed the songs “Hero” and
“Scenic Route,” which are both amazing instrumentally and lyrically.
Closing Thoughts:
I’ll be measuring all other albums this year against “The Long Fall To Earth”. Whether
you are a long-time fan of Jars of Clay or have recently discovered them, you won’t be
disappointed with this album which for me is a 5 star masterpiece.
Review Written By: Kevin Davis [kevin.davis@christianmusicreview.org] Date Written: April 13, 2009
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Main Review & Closing Thoughts
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