Clarity for the Winter

amazon.com

As I was driving up to Eau Claire today, one of the CD's that I put on in the car was Jimmy Eat World's Clarity. Released in 1998 and considered by most JEW fans to be their best, listening to the CD on the ride made me realize how incredible it is as an entire CD. There are no tracks that can hold the same effect when taken out of the context of Clarity. I honestly think that it is in my top 5 CD's of all time because of how whole it is. It's also a great CD for the winter because it just envelops you from start to finish in all of its musical folds and soundscapes. With Clarity you can just zone out, watch the snow fall, and think about whatever you want.

Clarity holds a truly indie/emo rock feel and takes you from some powerful songs with dual vocal choruses and driving drums such as "Lucky Denver Mint" and "Believe in What You Want" to harmonizing ballads that make you want to stare off into the distance such as "For Me This is Heaven" and "Ten". It is an incredibly beautiful CD, and I would definitely recommend anyone to check it out. And please, please, please if you do check it out....listen to the entire CD through once..trust me, it's worth it. I'm sure that many of you have heard JEW before (The Middle was a huge MTV hit off of their CD Bleed American), but I think you should forget all you know about JEW if it is your first time checking out Clarity. Give it a shot I think you will enjoy it. Two tracks off of JEW's newest CD Futures that have a Clarity-esque feel are posted below...this is because I really think that you should listen to Clarity as a whole CD. Ask me for it if you want it, I'll gladly lend it to you.

Oh, and Meg, you were right about Clarity.

Jimmy Eat World - The World You Love

Jimmy Eat World - Drugs or Me