Listening to Jimmy Eat World's Bleed American won't take you way back to the sounds of your childhood. It won't make you nostalgic for a time long gone and far from memory, but it will bring back the some of the earliest memories we have of this decade. It was a time where George Bush just looked like a silly choice for President, not someone that would for all intents and purposes ruin our nation. We were coming out of a prosperous run there for a while and though the popular music of the time leaves more then a lot to be desired there were a few minor bright spots before that New York resurgence really kicked in.Obviously this is as emo an album as one can possibly, I won't sugarcoat it and I know I'm not supposed to like the album, but after hearing "The Middle" on WXRP the other day I felt compelled to listen to the record once again and of course one thing led to another led to this. Bleed American, now known as a self-titled album thanks to September 11th, was a top to bottom crowd pleasing record. It had hooks and tunes that could be sung along with by absolute morons and it had a music video with half naked people when music videos still mattered. It all added up to a really successful record, one that went platinum and actually got some pretty decent reviews across the board. Of course we were comparing it to the likes of N*Sync, Papa Roach, Limp Bizkit, and more.
My personal memories of Bleed American also run towards the MTV world as the band played a special $2 Bill show at Irving Plaza to celebrate the success that they were having. I managed to score tickets and passed one on to my little brother, even though he was already knee deep in the indie rock scene. My brother "lost" his ticket and it wound up being the first of many shows that I went to by myself. It was a freeing experience being at a show and not knowing anyone there. I could push to the front or stay in the back and wound up staying at the stage throughout a very solid show. It was a great time and I sung my heart out when "The Middle" and "Sweetness" were played.
Listening to Bleed American now I can still sing along with every word on the album, I'm not ashamed to say it my head has the lyrics glued in for good and I was really excited when it came on the radio the other day. Sometimes music reminds us of things and I have a lot of positive memories surrounding Jimmy Eat World even if most indie die hards would scoff at such a notion.
Jimmy Eat World - "A Praise Chorus"
Jimmy Eat World - "The Middle"
Jimmy Eat World - "Your House"
Jimmy Eat World - "Sweetness"
4 comments:
I didn't buy the album when it came out, but something similar happened to me. I was listening to the radio about a year ago when I realized I actually like Jimmy Eat World. I like the post.
"A Praise Chorus" is the reason I wanted to play music.
love this album, I can sing along to all the songs too.
nice post.
i really enjoyed reading this, even though i haven't bought the cd. i always meant to get it, and might soon buy the reissue.
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