Jars of Clay released their self-titled label debut back in
1995. It included ‘Flood’ which became a
mainstream hit. Fast forward to 2006 and
they released their seventh full-length studio album GOOD MONSTERS (Essential
Records). Band members were: Dan Haseltine,
Charlie Lowell, Stephen Mason, and Matt Odmark.
The album was produced by the band and executive produced by Terry
Hemmings. CCM Magazine named it ‘Album
of the Year’. It was also Christianity
Today’s top album of 2006 and won a Dove Award for ‘Best Rock/Contemporary
Album of the Year’. As well, it peaked
at #58 on the Billboard 200.
Starting things off is ‘Work’, the album’s second
single. It’s one of eight songs written
by the four band members. This pounding
rocker displays great vulnerability: “Just in case/I will leave my things
packed so I can run away/I cannot trust these voices/I don’t have a line of
prospects that can give some kind of peace/There is nothing left to cling to
that can bring me sweet release/I have no fear of drowning/It’s the breathing
that’s taking all this work/Do you know what I mean when I say/’I don’t want to
be alone’”. Next up is ‘Dead Man (Carry
Me)’ the album’s first single. It’s a
catchy pop/rock song about spiritual renewal: “Carry me/I’m just a dead man lying
on the carpet/Can’t find a heart beat/Make me breathe/I want to be a new man,
tired of the old one, out with the old plan/Can You find a beat inside of
me?/Any pulse?”
‘All My Tears’ is a Julie Anne Miller composition. It’s a rootsy rock song anticipating heaven:
“When I go don’t cry for me, in my Father’s arms I’ll be/The wounds this world
left on my soul will all be healed and I’ll be whole/Sun and moon will be
replaced with the light of Jesus’ face/And I will not be ashamed for my Savior
knows my name/It don’t matter where you bury me/I’ll be home and I’ll be
free”. Kate York contributes vocals on
‘Even Angels Cry’. It’s a ballad of
encouragement: “Cold fingers find the curve below your tired eyes/No comfort in
familiar places not this time/You hold it deep inside/Oh sister if you wake up
in the night, walls have fallen letting in the light/No need to worry/Baby,
even angels cry”.
‘There is A River’ is one of three songs penned by the band
and Ron Aniello. It’s an adult
contemporary song that urges us to lay our burdens down: “On all of those
nights spent alone in the darkness of your mind/Give it up, let it go/These are
things you were never meant to shoulder/There is a river that washes you
clean/There is a tree that marks the places you’ve been/Blood that was spilled,
although not your own/For all of your tears/Love will atone”. The title track is a rock song that makes you
think: “Not all monsters are bad, but the ones who are good never do what they
could, never do what they could.../We are bored of all the things we know/Do
you know what you are?/Cause we are, we are so in love with ourselves/And we
are forms of all the things we love”.
‘Oh My God’ includes these intriguing lyrics: “Babies
underneath their beds, in hospitals that cannot treat them/All the wounds that
money causes, all the comforts of cathedrals/All the cities of thirsty
children/This is our inheritance/All the rage of watching mothers, this is our
greatest offense/Oh my God (3X)”. Ned
Henry plays violin on the ballad ‘Surprise’.
It’s one of reflection: “We are so beautiful when we sleep/Hearts of
gold and eyes so deep, deep, deep/But love won’t cure the chaos and hope won’t
hide the loss/And peace is not the heroine that shouts above the cause/And love
is wild for reasons/And hope though short in sight might be the only thing that
wakes you by surprise”.
Background vocalists on ‘Take Me Higher’ are Rosemary
Butler, Ashley Cleveland, and Kim Fleming.
This rock song is one of personal testimony: “It took a lot to turn
away/Blood and water from one side/It took Your eyes to stare me down/It took
the truth to set me free, to set me free/Lookin’ for a place to hide/Waitin’
for the wind to rise/My soul is waiting/Lookin’ for a place to hide/I need a
little peace tonight/Take me higher than the sun/Yeah, You are the only
one”. Leigh Nash of Sixpence None the
Richer fame sings on ‘Mirrors and Smoke’ another rock song. It’s about a male-female relationship: “You
will always want me and I’ll always want to leave/Even though I cut your wounds,
you still deny they’re real/Rivers flow into the oceans and oceans never fill/I
want to lay my life down, but I know you never will/Love’s a strange condition
with all the doubts it can invoke/Your love keep me wishing and my heart it
keeps me broke”.
‘Light Gives Heat’ makes use of the African Children’s Choir
and soloist Elizabeth Panga. These words
are addressed to Africans: “Will you teach us how to love?/To see the things
you see/Walk the road you walk and feel the pain that you feel/At your feet I
kneel/I want to see you shine/See your light not mine/Cause light gives
heat/Your light gives heat”. John
Catchings plays cello on the ballad ‘Water Under the Bridge’ which is addressed
to one’s partner: “I do not love you the way I did when we met/There are
secrets and arguments I haven’t finished yet/But it’s only that grace has
outlived our regrets we’re still here/Maybe we can stay till the last drop of
water flows under the bridge/We can stay till the last drop of water flows
under the bridge”.
GOOD MONSTERS is comprised of seven faster paced songs and
five slower paced ones. While the main
musical genre is rock, there is plenty of adult contemporary influence. There are songs about spiritual renewal and
rebirth, heaven, helping the poor and hurting, and about male-female
relationships. The lyrics are definitely
more obscure than say Petra’s or Newboys’, but different bands have different
callings and giftings. I’m rating this
one 87% and recommending it to adult fans of Switchfoot and Needtobreathe. For more info visit: www.jarsofclay.com.