Jars Of Clay Album: “Who We Are Instead”

This is Jars of Clay's best album, period. More than that, it is a superb album for any band, period. I don't consider myself a fan of "Christian" music. Rather, I consider myself a fan of GOOD music, and "Who We Are Instead" clearly qualifies as such.

Jars have put out some good stuff in the past, but I had all but stopped following their work once I no longer heard them on mainstream radio. Indeed, I only purchased this album after receiving a tip from Mark Joseph's August 2004 article on National Review Online. Joseph's review of the album intrigued me. He wondered: Did I hear that right? Was they really make an album THAT good? Yes they did, he concluded. I totally agree with Joseph, and I strongly recommend this album.

There is no single standout track here, out of the 13. Nonetheless, every track is a gem, and their sound is excellent. The band really seems to be in its element. The vocals are terrific and the blending of acoustic and electric guitars is fantastic. And the songs have real heart and depth to them-songs about love, longing and weakness. Amazing Grace, Lonely People, Lesser Things, Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet, Jealous Kind, Sing...all are exceptional tunes. Furthermore, while Christian themes are touched upon in some of the songs, one need not be a Christian to enjoy the music-a true sign of the music's quality.

Get this album! You will thank me for it.

Jars of Clay. Everytime I even hear the name mentioned, quoted, or passed in an ongoing sentence, it always throws me into a loophole of the past 5+ years that I have been listening to the band. Ever since the original self-titled debut album, I have been following Jars of Clay and their music has just gotten better and better. Before November 4, my all-time favorite Jars album was The Eleventh Hour. How does every album they release always live up to the previous album and surpass it time after time? Surely, the Eleventh Hour, with awesome songs like Disappear, Something Beautiful, Fly, I Need You, and the Edge of Water get any better? Well, with the amazing album of Who We Are Instead, I am again quickly reminded that Jars of Clay has held the standard of Christian music and there has never yet been a band to match them as soon as they entered the scene. Whether or not you are a Jars of Clay fan, buy this album, because you will be most pleased with it, I am sure. Get the deluxe edition too, because it has the most amazing song of Tonight on there and it is awesome! It has a "Rose colored stained glass windows" sound to it. Jars of Clay is the best, I hope and pray they continue making albums!

When Jars of Clay released their fifth studio album, Who We Are Instead, in November 2003, many fans initially dubbed it a return to the sound of their first album. They were wrong, and some of them later revised their opinion. This album is a mostly downbeat work that is challenging both lyrically and musically. At the same time, it could alienate many fans, but those who persist with it will find their efforts rewarding.

The album contains two songs that are arguably Jars of Clay's most optimistic lyrically. The band leads off with "Sunny Days," a song with mostly cheerful lyrics (even Jars' "sunny" songs always have some touch of melancholy in them), complete with an allusion to Sesame Street. At the midpoint of the album, "Show You Love" is almost as upbeat and was the album's first (and most successful) single. (It later was used in trailers for the 2004 film Spanglish.) "Sunny Days," however, is lyrically and musically the more impressive track.

The other eleven tracks are considerably more melancholic. Lyrically, they focus on themes standard to the band: human brokenness/frailty and the great distance between God's holiness and human sinfulness. "Trouble Is" contains the album title and neatly sums up the album's theme: "Man, the trouble is/We don't know who we are instead." The other songs generally explore this theme in a myriad of introspective ways -- as Jars of Clay did consistently through every album prior to their most recent album, Good Monsters. (Good Monsters keeps some of this emphasis but also takes the band in some new directions lyrically.)

While the lyrics are almost uniformly excellent, this album really stands out musically. This is not the acoustic musical journey of the band's much loved self-titled debut, nor is it a return to the sound of any other previous album. Rather, the album is chock full of slow, deliberately plodding songs that head the band in a folk/roots/blues/gospel/country direction. As such, it's challenging, and you may either love the music or hate it. If you want high-energy pop/rock, your one bone on this album is "I'm in the Way," a song so jarringly different musically from the remaining tracks that it should have been a b-side.

In all of this, the band reveals their musical influences. A cover of America's "Lonely People" makes the band's love for 1970s folk pop explicit if anyone somehow missed it in their previous albums. "Sunny Days" is lyrically and musically evocative of a typical Christine McVie tune from Fleetwood Mac's Mirage (1982) era. (The opening riff and the guitar and keyboard playing throughout are very Macish.) "I'm in the Way" sounds like a distant, much faster-paced relative of Toad the Wet Sprocket's "Good Intentions" from the early 1990s.

Regardless of their influences, Jars of Clay certainly do not lack ambition. The album's most complex and epic song, "Faith Enough," essentially is a "Worlds Apart" (a much-loved tune from their debut album) for the whole world as opposed to an individual. "Amazing Grace" steals the title of the classic hymn and provides a more melancholic take on the same subject matter. "Jealous Kind" examines a topic rarely (if ever before -- I cannot think of one instance) covered by contemporary Christian artists: God's jealous love for his people.

The latter two songs are graced by vocals from the always welcome Ashley Cleveland. There's a surprise, though: lead singer Dan Haseltine's vocals actually prove the equal of Cleveland's. Some Jars of Clay listeners have criticized Haseltine's voice as being childlike and too sweet. I think there's a smidgeon of truth to those complaints; while I like Haseltine's voice, it hasn't sounded in the past like he's stretched himself very much. That's not true on these two songs. It's amazing to hear Haseltine in his own way match Cleveland's formidable vocals. He, and not Cleveland, makes these two songs work. (Cleveland's presence is a bonus.) When he sings "You know I've been unfaithful/With lovers in lines" near the end of "Jealous Kind," it seems to come from a deep well within him and is wrenching.

How much you like Who We Are Instead may well depend on your musical tastes. Do you like a slower-paced album full of thoughtful lyrics that delves into a variety of musical genres but almost entirely avoids a pop/rock sound? If so, you may love this album. Personally speaking, I've found that while I don't listen to it regularly, I'm always amazed by how good it is when I do give it my attention. Lyrically and musically, it's nothing short of excellent.

Postscript: An early special edition of the album featured an extra disc with two additional songs and special internet features. The two songs are both very good to excellent, even though the first one, "Tonight," is labeled a B-side. "Tonight" is catchy and upbeat musically; since it fits in well musically with the rest of the album, it would have been a better choice for the album than "I'm in the Way." More significant is "Shipwrecked," a tale of a life on the rocks that could have been sappy but surprisingly is moving. Even though it sounds like a demo, it should have been on the album.

This is definitely a change for Jars. Normally I write pretty long reviews, but I'll keept it short this time. To put it quite simply, it sounds like they're now farmboys. I don't normally like country. And I'm not saying I make an exception. Sliding steel guitars in the high freq. range still do little to please my ear, but there are some really good songs here. I read a review here someone wrote that basically complained just because they were looking for Jars to produce stuff they'd already done before cause she liked it. Why should they? To be a Jars fan means to be prepared for a surprise. No two albums from theirs are alike. 'Dyou notice that? The debut was strictly acoustic. Much Afraid was electronica. If I Left The Zoo was summer sound (or as close to such as Jars will ever stoop), The Eleventh Hour was a next-to-nill production of pop-rock (essentially an electric guitar version of their debut style), and now we have Who We Are Instead, a blugrass southern gospel influence as it were. Who cares? Change should be expected. One is completely entitled not to like this CD, but only for the right reason. Dislike it because you hate the style, not just because it wasn't what you expected. This is still a collection of good songs. I like the songs, I like what they mean. I don't like the sound, but I like the songs.

The moment I heard the funky electric and catchy drum beat opening up the album, I knew that I was hooked....again. I'll admit that I am slightly biased because I am a Jars of Clay fanatic.

This album continues the streak of excellence that began with the release of Jars' self-titled debut in 1995. It is really eye-opening to listen to how they have matured both musically and lyrically since that first album. Each album explores a different lyrical theme to go along with a slightly different musical theme.

Who We Are Instead might be the biggest musical leap that Jars has taken yet. This album explores several new musical styles. And they make it all sound very good. These guys are some seriously talented musicians and songwriters. This album comes across as being straight from the heart.

All of the songs on this album are solid if not great. My personal favs are:

1. Sunny Days (really catchy, great way to start the album)

2. Amazing Grace (The chorus to this song is awesome)

3. Lonely People (Gotta love this remake of a great America song)