Clarity- Jimmy Eat World

While Arizona rockers Jimmy Eat World finally hit it big with their subsequent release "Bleed American" in 2001, it was their 2nd full length, released in 1999, that cemented them as one of my best loved recording artists.

"Clarity" was an amazingly brave record for such a young band. Already stifled by their label's bristling interference on "Static Prevails" (so named because of Jim's feeling that the album was too static, that every song sounded the same), Jim Adkins and Tom Linton holed up in their basement in Mesa and wrote the album in 7 weeks. Jim then sought out producer Mark Trombino with a copy of the demo. Upon listening to the songs, Trombino told Adkins he would produce the record for half of his normal label rate, explained that he thought the songs needed no rearrangement and he could start recording that week. They rented out studio A at Sound City in Hollywood for a month on the label's advance and didn't even tell the label they'd begun writing/recording. In a little over a month Trombino and J.E.W. had produced a stunning album with a great deal more variety than 'Static". Capitol's primary criticism was that the album didn't have a uniform sound, but they were frankly thrilled at the product to cost ratio and consented to release the record. They waited an entire year, until a handful of fans were literally picketing the label to release the record. Sales were not what Capitol had hoped and following the tour supporting Clarity, Capitol dropped Jimmy Eat World.

Clarity is an amazing recording to me, because it's a pallet of great sounds. Every drum hit, bass swell, and guitar tone is planned. The best colors are selected and perfectly blended to form the ultimate musical bed for some of the best written songs I have ever heard. From the first strains of organ on "Table for Glasses", you feel like you're in for something. You're intrigued just enough by the brevity and intensity of that first track, when the assault of heavy, delayed drums in "Lucky Denver Mint" takes things up a couple notches. The crunchy guitars in "Your New Aesthetic" back a thinly veiled contempt of the label's efforts to make their music "marketable". The record continues as a dynamic roller coaster until the early climax. "For Me This Is Heaven" has perhaps one of the most beautiful lyrics I have ever heard. "And this is what she says gets her through it... If I don't let myself be happy now, then when? If not now, when?" The record concludes with "Goodbye Sky Harbor" and a 13 minute CODA of drum and vocal loops, orchestrated by Trombino's genius in ProTools. Most engineers will tell you Mark Trombino is good for drums and vocals. His drums are great, but his vocal approach to Clarity has forever defined the unique sound we now associate with Jimmy Eat World. There are moments on Clarity where 10 or more vocal parts are going at a time. And there's almost always at least 3 harmony lines to choose from. That makes this album one of the most enjoyable to listen to over and over. You can sing a different part every time.