Jimmy Eat World Album: “Static Prevails”

if you like to listen to music as more than just a passive hobby, meaning if you regularly sit down and do nothing but listen to an album all the way through, taking note of exactly what it contains, then this album is your holy grail. this is honestly the best album i have ever heard, it is the most amazing piece of art i have ever experienced, in fact. from the raw, powerful yet powerless "thinking... thats all", with its exquisite screams and builds, to the beautifully sad and touching "anderson mesa", that will chill you to your very soul, this album is brilliant. the earliness of this album combined with JEW's inherent talent for the intense makes it more incredible than any of their other stuff, but also make it a difficult listen at first. watch the way each song fades or rises into the next, each piece setting the stage for the next... no one has made an album flow like this since the beatles with "sgt. pepper". listen to it once and you will be hooked by "rockstar" and "seventeen", they are the highest point of punk/pop... listen to it twice and others gain luster, "claire", perhaps the best combination of quiet beauty and rock n' roll on the cd... "caveman", with the tiny sound of crickets and a forlorn harmonica or accordian in the end, "world is static" which provides the title... and eventually all of them. this album is a must have for anyone who ever liked punk, pop, and especially emo. please buy it for your own sake, it is magical.

Through the album Static Prevails, Jimmy Eat World have a crafted a true masterpiece.

It is difficult to accurately categorize Jimmy Eat World, as it is with most exceptional groups. The members of J.E.W. form a synthesis of post-punk rock taken to a rather sophisticated level, melodies which at any one given moment make you want to fall into a solitary slumber, and the next inspire you to erupt in a burst of exalted energy. They then combine this incredibly powerful music with thoughtful lyrics recalling regret, the importance of now, love and life. All while harmonize like no other through the albums' entirety.

It begins with a rush of adrenaline and structured, melodic chaos through the opening track "Thinking, That's All" and proceeds to bring out another good handful of superbly crafted modern ballads. Midway through the album appears the song "Digits" where it begins as lonely rumble meandering through the heart of a lost person. Only to explode into an uplifting movement which seems to catapult you to the next extreme, and then ending with a simple yet beautiful melody with a drawn out minor chord. It's like witnessing the transformation of a persons' stance on life with in the span of seven and a half minutes. The album continues to roll along fluidly. Filled to the brim with rolling drums, driving guitar and swooping melodies all the way to the very last note.

Static Prevails is one of those albums which has an immortal quality to it. It's a work of art which simply had to come to fruition. It takes you from one emotional extreme to the next, showing you darkness and pure light, and reminding you that in the end only static prevails, and that that's beautiful.

They might sound a bit like this.

"Thinking, That's All" is probably one of the best opening tracks on any album in a long while. Jimmy Eat World rocks a lot harder than some of these tracks (and "Clarity") would lead you to beleive and "Thinking..." provides proof. There's hints of the direction the band would take on "Clarity" in other tracks particularly "World is Static" and "Episode IV." "In The Same Room" and "Anderson Mesa" manage to skilfully blend balad style pop with post-punk guitar rock. A little bit of J.E.W. trivia: "Seventeen" ended up in part of what was an otherwise perfectly awful Drew Barrymore movie.

A good sign at how much I like this was that the original CD was stollen out of my car with about 4 others. This one got replaced within days. By all means, buy this CD. But if you get a chance to see J.E.W., DO IT!

This is the first cd I ever heard of Jimmy Eat World. I was a little 15 year old kid who loved Weezer and Smashing Pumpkins. My sister who worked for Capitol Records (their first label, who didn't give them the time of day, but that isn't important..) gave me this cd. ...weird name, I thought. This album blew me away. The 12 songs on this album helped shape my teenage years. The third song,"Claire," still remains the song I scream for them to play when I see them live. This is a record you roll the windows down and blast in your car. Every song is amazing. If you only know Jimmy Eat World for the pop of Bleed American (self-titled to the ultra trendy kids), then please PLEASE!! do yourself the utmost favor of getting into Jimmy Eat World's earlier cds. You'll be a better person for it. This is a jewel of a find=)

This is my favorite Jimmy Eat World album. Not as "perfect" as Clarity, but that's one of its most attractive qualities. The vocals are harsher (and shared with Tom, who is a great singer), the songs less perfectly structured. But there is something about a band's first recordings, when the only thing fueling the music was passion.

Static Prevails rocks hard when it rocks, but at at the same time manages to put you in a dreamlike stupor. That is one of the best things about Jimmy Eat World. No matter how aggressive the song, they always have a warm quality. Listening to this band is like being wrapped in a big musical blanket.

Highlights of this album are Episode IV, World Is Static, Robot Factory, and the closer Anderson Mesa. This is probably my favorite album closer of all time, and is a song I could listen to on repeat for hours- subtle at the start and it builds up to an extremely powerful end.