Customer Reviews

Clear Hearts Grey Flowers

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Hearing "Clear Hearts Grey Flowers" and "Sexless Demons and Scars" back to back one would be hard pressed to tell they were even recorded by the same artist. Where "Sexless Demons" is a stripped down, raw, punk rock album "Clear Hearts" is a more soulful pop oriented offering. And by pop I mean the kind of music you can still chop the heads off your Barbies and scrawl pentagrams on your notebook to.

Jessicka has refined her vocal range and displays it nicely here. Her bloodcurdling screech and sickly sweet innocent little girl purr are still present but they take a back seat to more plaintive, sorrowful vocalizations. With the expressiveness of her voice and the intonation she puts on the lyrics she manages to wring every little bit of meaning out of her words.

Their lyrical content doesn't seem to have changed much between the two albums but, again, there's a more desperate/futile quality to it. As yet more evidence of this new tone is their cover of The Cure's "Love Song" which appears as a secret track. All of this is still backed by their telltale hard driving rythms but at the same time they too convey this melancholy.

"Clear Hearts Grey Flowers" is a crossover hit for Jack Off Jill which should appeal to goth fans (think Switchblade Symphony) and mainstream pop-punk (those of you who buy into Hole)lovers alike.

I'd never really heard of Jack Off Jill before a friend of mine recommended this album, but I'm quickly becoming a fan. JoJ takes a bonafide metal approach - not Korn-ish "nu-metal" or the like - and makes it catchy and tuneful. My favorite tracks here are "Strawberry Gashes" and "Nazi Halo" with their relentless barre chord wall of sound and angry screaming (it's really more melodic and engaging than the words "angry screaming" would hint at). The musicianship of the entire seems to have suddenly grown by leaps and bounds from their previous album, which is also a compliment to Jessicka's songwriting and band leadership talents.

Since I'm a man, most of the gynocentric lyrics examining the role women are forced to play are, frankly, not really something I can relate to. However, Jessicka's anger is not misdirected, and somehow manages to avoid the cliche fest it could have easily become.

I first saw Jack off Jill perform with Lords of Acid, and Jessicka threw her band-aid at me. I could tell she had class- And it shines through on Clear Hearts Grey Flowers! The words are quite intelligent and catchy. I find myself singing Cinnamon Spiders at work all the time. It's not chick rock or "I'm trying to be like the boys" rock..It's just plain and simple Jack off Jill. No one else comes close...and the cover of the Cure's Love Song alone is worth the purchase of the CD!

Jessicka said it best during track 7, 'Vivica,' when she sings, "The apple falls far from the tree." The difference between this CD and the last one (Sexless Demons and Scars) is amazing.

The last CD was pretty good, but alot of the lyrics were sketchy at best. (My Cat is a pussy superstar? Come on...) But all the lyrics on this CD are very solid, and very true. I love the difference in music, as well. You would have never heard anything like Vivica or Strawberry Gashes on Sexless Demons and Scars.

Truly, this is a wonderful album in it's own right, from the very beginning, when you hear the piano intro that ended 'Angels F*ck, Devils Kiss' on the last album, until you hear track 66, Love Song. When I Am Queen is just the perfect way to kick off the album, and it only gets better (Except for Underjoyed, that one rubbed me the wrong way for some reason).

The best songs along the ride are Strawberry Gashes, Vivica, and Star No Star. Strawberry Gashes wonderfully ties in awesome guitar riffs with Jessicka's voice at it's most beautiful, with great lyrics as well. Vivica is much slower, and I love it when bands can pull off tying in an acoustic guitar like Jack Off Jill does here. Again, I love the lyrics. Finally, Star No Star is one of the better songs on the album, and is at a bit of a slower pace than much of the album. Still, it all comes together very well.

Clear Hearts Grey Flowers is a beautiful way to end the era of Jack Off Jill (Don't be sad, there's still Scarling), and everyone should buy this album. NO EXCUSES!

Just like many of the previous reviewers have said, this cd truly is amazing, and I would say one of the best releases ever, girl band or not. Never boring, and always mesmerizing, Clear Hearts Grey Flowers is just as great to listen to now as it was 3 years ago. You just can't get enough of Jessicka's freakin' awesome voice. Whether she's yelling (When I am Queen), just singing (Strawberry Gashes), or if only basically talking (Witch Hunt), her voice is one of the best. I would listen to her singing knick knack paddy whack. I can't pick any stand out tracks cause I likes em all very much. I hate that Jack off Jill is no more...so where is Jessicka's new band Scarling???? ahhhh!!?!?!

Unlike their earlier work everything has come together in this album. The bleak lyrics, the liquid voice of the singer, the breathy breaks and peaks and valleys in the intensity of the music is perfect. The mood is wicked. A great album to put on late at night as you are cruising through the city after all the humans have gone to bed. A must have.

After hearing much about this band from people around the scene. I decided to venture out and listening for myself. You see peoples opinions are like, well you know. So I checked out some of the MP3s and decided to buy the album.

Let me first say the one true tale sign if an album is going to be good is by it's choice of producer by the band. Chris Verrena known from NIN already gave great promise that this CD would kick much ass, with that said let's begin.

Lately the musical climate has been a dormant struggle to find good music. Let me point out here the key to Jack Off Jill's whole enjoyment is that key word 'MUSIC'. Nothing is more deifying about a band then the song writing. Sure you can have a great vocalist who prances around the stage like a puppet but it is the song writing that matters most. No matter how good the vocalist may be without the backbone of the actual music you got nothing.

The music on Jack Off Jill is brilliant. Only someone with at the true craftmans (or in this case craftwoman LOL) could have constructed such wonderful sound. Each song takes you for a ride and it crunches along to put a punishing on your eardrums of sweet candy confections that will send you into an orgasmic state of aural XTC OK sold yet?? Looks like Agent Moulder who it seems handles the duties here on constructing these sonic masterpieces is the one who gets the credit. Just to also point out after some investigation I learned that Jack Off Jill is no more however Agent Moulder has her hands in something new called TCR so I am anxious to get my hands on it.

Over all the bottom line to this review is simple. If you love music that has a real sensibility of being constructed by a metal maestro then this is your ticket. If you are a fan of the same old boring trite bs that radio keeps pumping to the mindless masses you won't get this CD. However I will say this is the best female metal band, with the exception of Kittie to come around in a long time.

My props to Jack Off Jill for it's musical mastery. Thanks for the tunes ladies! Can't wait to hear TCR!

I bought this cd about a year ago in my local store. A great buy for you JOJ fans! This cd is the best one so far then any other JOJ cd. It shows their true self threw every song that they put on. There is no song that I hate in the album because there all just too good.
-Katie

I just got this CD 3 days ago and I have already listened to it about 10 times now. From the artwork which is amazing in itself to look at it only gets better when you hear the CD. This is the only CD by JoJ I own and I have been contemplating buying it for at least six months, wish I had bought it a long time ago. Each time I listen to the CD I love it more and more. So far my standout tracks are "When I Am Queen", "Fear of Dying", "Nazi Halo", "Rabbiteen", "Strawberry Gashes", "Author Unknown", "Vivica", "Cinnamon Spider" and "Underjoyed" but I like every song. By the time I listen to this CD ten more times I'll probably proclaim JoJ as music gods, at least this CD of theirs. This CD has been around for 3 1/2 years, I have to make up for lost time listening to it. The CD is hard to define, I was looking for Goth music and ran across this CD but it's really hard rock or borderline metal in my opinion. Bottom line is I can only say very good things about this CD. The lead singer Jessicka is great from screaming to soft and mild. She co-wrote most all the songs on this CD. If you have thought about buying this CD but still haven't, don't wait like I did. Get your copy A.S.A.P.

I love this CD. One listen and I was totally hooked. After listening to the samples on amazon I waited impatiently for a month until I was given this CD as a birthday present. I've only had it a few days, but I have a feeling that the more I listen to it, the more I'll love it, as it gets better each time. The songs are much more mature, displaying harrowing lyrics and incredible musicianship. Each song is different, and I can honestly say that there is not a bad song on the album. My favourites at the moment are 'When I am Queen', 'Nazi Halo', 'Star No Star' and 'Surgery'. The whole album seems like a piece of art, with the beautifully painted and thought out album cover, and the lyrics manual inside. Too many CDs now seem cheap and tacky, or plain boring, but the album art and concept really fits in with the music. The songs have a great flow from each one to the next, but yet no song sounds the same.
Oh yeah, and just so you know...I have read lots of reviews of this CD, but not a single bad review. Sold yet?