10 songs

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Genre: Popular Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
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Release Date: 21-APR-2009

Jars Of Clay, Greatest Hits

It would be easy to pass off this latest Jars of Clay release as a marketing gimmick, especially as more and more Christian artists are turning to casting age-old hymns in their own creative image. Has the modern praise-and-worship songwriting well run dry or are artists truly looking back over time to gain that "renewed and refreshed perspective" as Jars describes this effort in the liner notes for Redemption Songs? The thoughtful listener will quickly discover that the latter is true. Jars of Clay's acoustic, organic sound is an ideal approach to presenting "very old words set to almost completely modern music" as never once does the music overshadow the power of the words. The band captures the essence of hope and joy in tracks "God Will Lift Up Your Head," "It Is Well With My Soul," and the rousing "Nothing But the Blood," aided by the great Blind Boys of Alabama. On the other side of the emotional spectrum, the needful ache of man seeking God is well captured with melancholic "I Need Thee Every Hour" and "Hiding Place." Other special guest appearances by Sarah Kelly on "I'll Fly Away" and Delirious' Martin Smith on "Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder" all fit well within the reverential mood of this marvelous release. If this record doesn't renew and refresh you, it may be time to check your pulse. --Michael Lyttle

Album Notes MUCH AFRAID is an Enhanced CD containing both a full audio program as well as multimedia computer files.Jars Of Clay: Dan Haseltine (vocals, percussion); Matthew Odmark (guitar, mandolin, background vocals); Stephen Mason (guitar, bass, background vocals); Charlie Lowell (keyboards, piano, organ, background vocals).Additional personnel includes: Kate St. John (English Horn); Greg Wells (bass, drums, percussion); Neil Conti (drums).Recorded at The Aquarium, London, England; Secret Sound, Franklin, Tennessee; 16th Avenue Sound, Nashville, Tennessee.MUCH AFRAID won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album.Personnel: Matt Odmark (vocals, guitar, mandolin); Stephen Mason (vocals, guitar); Charlie Lowell (vocals, piano, organ, keyboards); Dan Haseltine (vocals, percussion); Kate St. John (horns); Neil Conti, Greg Wells (drums).Audio Mixer: Heff Moraes.Recording information: 16th Avenue, Nashville, TN; Acquarium; Aquarium, London, England; Secret Sound Franklin, TN.Photographers: Martyn Gallina-Jones; Norman Jean Roy.Unknown Contributor Role: Stephenmas Marussen.Arranger: Ronn Huff.The follow-up to Jars of Clay's almost minimalist first album features a bigger sound, with a wider lyrical scope and a more solid, grownup production (by Steve Lipson, of Sting and Annie Lennox fame). These new developments give MUCH AFRAID a real sense of staying power. The Christian alternative rock group appears to have broken out of the often-narrow confines of the genre. There's a hint of psychedelia on "Overjoyed," some Bee Gees-style harmonizing on "Tea and Sympathy," and lush, '70s rock-esque arrangements throughout. Spirituality plays a more subtle role on MUCH AFRAID, but continues to be a vital theme. On songs like "Overjoyed" it is sometimes difficult to separate the personal from the divine. And that's probably just the way the band wants it.

Multi-platinum and triple Grammy winning band Jars of Clay have long held a reputation for creative excellence. With their latest record Good Monsters, the band continues to create music that stretches the imagination and offers a new perspective on who we are as a church today. Dan Haseltine explains,

"I was not sure how all of the experiences of the last few years would translate into music. There have been so many things to look at and describe. This record is part confessional, part euphoric love poem, part bitter divorce, and part benediction. It was born out of many experiences and conversations between addicts, failures, lovers, loners, believers, and beggars. And so the language of recovery and the honest discourse about our attempts to live apart from God and apart from each other is a theme. Engaging people who are doing the hard work of laying their lives open to others, and avoiding isolation, has allowed me to see that there is both immeasurable evil and unfathomable good mixing under my own skin and it is grace, mercy and freedom that allow me to not simply be a monster, but to be a good monster."

1. "Sunny Days" - 3:30 2. "Amazing Grace" (featuring Ashley Cleveland) - 5:18 3. "Lonely People" (America cover) - 2:45 4. "Only Alive" - 4:04 5. "Trouble Is" - 3:50 6. "Faith Enough" - 5:24 7. "Show You Love" - 3:33 8. "Lesser Things" - 4:36 9. "I'm In The Way" - 2:33 10. "Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet" (Gavin Bryars cover) - 3:39 11. "Jealous Kind" (featuring Ashley Cleveland) - 4:10 12. "Sing" - 4:11 13. "My Heavenly" - 3:29