Jimmy Eat World Band • Page 380

They did it the right way.

 

Are you a big fan of this album Craig?

 

I think so too at the end of the day but I also could have seen Invented closing the album. The problem is I couldn't see Mixtape happening before Invented.

 

Oh yeah, Invented is super important to me. It's probably my least favorite of the Clarity to now run, just because something has to be, but I still love it.

I don't think "Invented" is a closer. "Mixtape" is 100 percent a closer, even though it's the weaker of the two songs. Sometimes, it's okay to put the best song on the record second to last!

 

Now I'm going to be spinning my Invented vinyl today. Probably Damage also.

 

invented is def the better song but mixtape is a really effective closer and I can't imagine it anywhere else in the tracklist

 

I thought “Mixtape” was a bonus track for the longest time lol

 

I kind of hate Mixtape. Don't like the production on it. I rarely return to Invented, though Cut is a very cool song. I think a lot of the songs on Invented are good but are held back by a fairly flat and dry production. Trombino worked on some of the band's best albums but I think he failed the band on Invented.

 

Not here for Mixtape hate

I absolutely love Invented. Honestly is probably top 3 for me in their discography

 

Wut? That album sounds incredible.

 

Yah if there’s a problem with Invented it’s not the production for me, it’s the smattering of half hearted aggro pop tunes like My Best Theory, Higher Devotion and Action that just don’t play to JEW’s strengths

Most of the rest of the album does

 

I’ve kind of just resigned myself to the fact that Invented will be criminally underrated forever

 

Just how I feel about it man. I'm not talking about the actual mix/master quality of the thing necessarily--it sounds crisp and nice for sure--but the kind of decisions that producers tend to make when albums are put together (tonal choices, what elements of the song to emphasise and where, etc.).

 

guess I'll be listening to Invented tonight. Don't think I've gone back to it since it's release year

 

I've listened to it again a couple of times since it was brought up in this thread this week. Before I just resigned myself to not liking it, but now I'm starting to really hear the potential of the songs and how they might have sounded if they were taken in a slightly different direction production-wise. The core songwriting is decent, it just doesn't come together for me.

 

Definitely have never had any production gripes with Invented.

 

This is super surprising to me, because I thought even the people who didn't like that record generally thought it sounded immaculate. I was so floored by it that I actually went and bought the CD so I could blast it in my car and hear all the little nuances.

How specifically do you wish the album had been produced differently? Rawer? Different focus points?

 

To be clear, I'm not saying there are any problems with the production, I'm just not a fan of the direction that some of the songs took, and my suspicions are that some of that is down to choices made by the producer, because we know that producers often have a very involved role in putting the songs together beyond the chords, riffs and lyrics.

 

It does sound immaculate, yes. I'll have a listen again tomorrow to try to find some examples of what I mean. But yes things like a part of a song not sounding as big or explosive as it could do, or a part of a song being handed to a synth rather than a guitar. Or the lack of reverb on some of the drums. The chorus in Movielike sounds a little lacking in "bigness", for example. The drums and guitars sound pristine and clear but not necessarily big or energetic. I'd say Littlething is pretty much spot on though, production-wise, as far as what I like from a jimmy eat world song. I think apart from that song, and maybe Coffee and Cigarettes, a lot of the songs sound a little too "close" for my liking, like I'm listening to them in a small soundproofed studio rather than a nice, medium-sized auditorium. The drums in general could bloom a little more to make choruses pop. And Evidence could do with being a bit more dynamic as the loud guitars come in--the song is quite compressed for loudness, as all songs are, but that song in particular rides on the loudness of its guitars so I feel it was held back a bit. Think about Pass the Baby for example, the song is quieter at the beginning than all other songs on the album, but it's necessary to allow the end of the song to have the loud impact that it does, and I think Evidence could have benefited from the same treatment.

Just a couple of little examples from memory.

Of course this is all just personal opinion from my own tastes of what I like out of Jimmy Eat World's music, but everyone's tastes are different so hopefully people will respect me having a different opinion on it.

 

My best theory is a pretty bad song. Just needed to get that out

 

i have always loved my best theory dearly

 

I was telling a friend of mine earlier that there isn’t another artist I listen to that has had a better run of albums than Jimmy Eat World.

Clarity - Bleed American - Futures - Chase This Light - Invented - Damage - Integrity Blues

Jesus Christ.

I get that some people don’t like Invented or Damage, but I adore both and the others seem, for the most part, universally loved by most fans.

These guys are an absolute treasure.

 

I really came around on Damage last year, it has some great JEW songs. Listening to Invented now, whilst there are some good songs here it just all sounds very samey. But I am doing chores whilst listening, probably needs a few car trip spins to get back into it.

 

Know you said “artists that you listen to”, but Every Time I Die would be up there and Deftones as well for me

 

And Copeland.