Customer Reviews

Futures (Bonus CD) (Dig)

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

When I bought this I couldn't resist the urge to put the demo in first, I wanted to follow the evolution of the songs. I wasn't expecting much since it after all was a demo. Boy was I wrong, the demo completely blew me away. After hearing the demo I was thinking how in the world could they possibly improve this? But this is Jimmy Eat World we're talking about, (one of the most talented bands to ever come along) and they equally blew my mind with the original Futures as well.

Most bands couldn't take 5 years to make a cd that would even touch the quality of these songs. I can't even explain how good the music is, you just have to hear it for yourself. By all means this album is up to par with the rest of the Jimmy cataloge. You can't go wrong with any of their releases (I think everyone knows that by now). This is easily was one of the top 5 releases of the year, and well worth waiting 3 years for.

If you have a chance to get the deluxe edition by all means get it. I think I only paid 3 bucks more and it was well worth it, which is nothing compared to what some of these bands charge nowdays. And if you've never bought a JEW cd before, please ask yourself, "What am I doing with my life? Why am I wasting this beautiful gift of hearing?" Then slap yourself in the face because you deserve it.

First off, don't try comparing this album to their other works. They're completely different. If you absolutely adored Jim's happy crooning in Bleed American, this might be a little different than what you'd expected. The harmonics are still very evident. Jim's voice can now hit unimaginable heights. Don't expect the good times feeling you got from 'Authority Song', though, because JEW's new album has an evidently darker feel to it. The album doesn't hesitate, starting off with 'Futures', and a very addicting guitar riff that hooks you right in. Just Tonight takes you on a very energetic ride, with punk guitars that send you flying into Work, which is just as catchy and vulnerable to radio play as it is beautiful to listen to. Liz Phair apparently lent her vocals to this song, but it feels like she contributes nothing, as I wasn't aware, and still can't tell that she even sings throughout the song until I was informed of it. I miss Rachel Hayden! Kill provides even more powerful guitars backing harmonized vocals. The World You Love slants a little toward the pop side, with lyrics like 'I fall asleep with my friends around me/it's the only way that I feel safe' 'Don't it feel like sunshine after all?' Then Pain comes along, yes, that song you heard on the radio. Goes into a heartfelt song, Drugs Or Me, which leads in a bit slow, even more so than some of the songs on Bleed American. Polaris brings back some more shining guitars and crooning vocals, and Nothingwrong follows with that rockin' feel to it, with a riff that makes you want to bang your head...or at least mosh the guy next to you. But then the joy ends, with Night Drive hurling this horribly irritating high pitched yodeling that starts the song off, and reoccurs throughout many times more than it should. The rest of the song is fine, although very, very repetitive. '23' ends this album on a good note, the seven minute song offering cool instrumentals and Jim's usual heartfelt vocals that slowly wind this album down.

The demos provide a bit of alternative, almost like an alternate ending to a movie, except less crappy. In fact, not crappy at all. I liked demo version of pain even more than I like the final version of pain. Some of the demo versions didn't hold much difference from the final version, though, so most aren't that big of a shock.

There were few things that left me scratching my head throughout this album. Lyrics like 'Lay back baby and we'll do this right' sound like they belong in an N'Sync song. The dark sound that Jimmy Eat World produces was a slight shock after Bleed American. Perhaps they're desparately trying to detangle that dreaded 'E' word from their name. Dare I say it? No, noone likes being called emo. But come on, can you give us another Clarity? Pretty please?

Jimmy eat world returns with the rock you'd all expect to hear. That's not to say there aren't any quiet songs, there are. It's a very balanced album, I'd say half are loud and half are quiet.

The topics range from lost love, longing and drugs to selling out with many stops along the way.

Jimmy Eat World are not just "one trick ponies" either. There's the standard J.E.W. sound throughout but they're trying new things. The guitar riff in "Nothing Wrong" could easily be mistaken for Soundgarden. "23" could fool you into thinking you're listening to the Cure (until the singing starts). And I'm touched by the tip of the hat to Heatmiser in "Kill".

This is a very solid album and I've been listening to it for months now. It's still not getting old.

The bonus disc of demos is cool but not totally necessary. If you're a die hard fan or just interested in what songs sound like before they're recorded in a big studio, it's worth the extra few bucks. If you just want to get the meat and potatoes, go for the regular version.

Ok, so this album was way different than bleed american, but it definatly still JEW. They have this amazing talent for making singles that absolutely rock you from one end to the other. I became a JEW fan when I first heard "in the middle" since then I've been listening to older albums and my love for their music only grows. The new "Futures" album takes you on an emotional rollercoaster. You don't have any choice but to feel what Jim felt when he wrote the songs. Their amazing harmonies and layered sound is unique to only Jimmy Eat World. I'd buy it if I were you.

it seems like it's been a lifetime since bleed american was released during the summer of 2001. i had gotten into jimmy eat world in the early part of the year 2000 when i was 15 years old, a sophomore in high school, less than a year after clarity had been released. i heard clarity, fell in love with it, got static prevails and the singles compilation when it was released later that year. i saw jimmy eat world at the wayne firehouse in wayne nj in october or november of 2000 while on tour supporting their split with jebediah. their evolution into my favorite band was cemented the next year. i remember being 16 years old and my excitement for their new record. bleed american came out and i was so excited and loved that record too. imagine my astonishment when the second single, "the middle," was released in late 2001 and slowly shot up the charts, eventually catipulting jimmy eat world to major rockstar status. seeing them at the asbury park convention center in the spring of 2002 was surreal. jimmy eat world were superstars. i figured that they would take some time off after their extensive touring and the general fatigue that comes with all of that hard work. when they finally got back in the studio with longtime producer mark trombino (clarity, bleed american, blink-182, finch, the jealous sound), they found that something just wasn't clicking like they had hoped. what are you supposed to do when you've already released what most of your longtime fans consider to be your masterpiece (the moody, atmospheric clarity) and your breakthrough mainstream AOR pop-rock record (bleed american)? they did the only thing that they could do, it seems, by finding a new producer, gil norton (the pixies, foo fighters) and starting from scratch. of course, this prolonged the release of this record, but it is truly well worth the wait. it seems that they chose to be a little bit more adventurous with their layering of instruments throughout the entire record. there's tracks that really don't sound like anything that they have ever done in work and night drive, there are tracks that are much more reminiscent of the poppy cuts on bleed american like the world you love and pain and there are those songs that sound like they could fit into clarity very well such as 23 and kill. where they really shine is in songs like futures, polaris and just tonight, in which they seem to have found a medium. production-wise, i've heard a few complaints about the glossy nature of the record, but i think that's why the bonus demo cd was included with the digipack version of this record. it's hard, in my eyes, to judge this record on the same level as their previous records because it's been so long. musically, this record just moreso confirmed jimmy eat world as my favorite band. their entire discography, in my opinion, is gold and futures is only the next record in a long line of hopefully more to come.

BAck in July or so I bought the now self titled album and i wasn't impressed. Bleed American was great, Praise Chorus was good, Get it Faster was one of the best songs I heard in my life, and sweetness was good. The rest of the songs were terrible, way too many acoustic. THis album was better. Futures is a good song with cool verses and good choruses. Just Tonight is a very good song that has the best parts at the second verse and final chorus. Work is simply one of the best songs I've heard this year. It has a great riff centered around it, and the guitars seem great. The next two didnt' cut it for me, but pain was very good. The other songs are alright, with the exception of Nothingwrong, which is very good. I consider it money well spent.

OK, I've never heard any of Jimmy Eat World's older stuff, but I'm seriously tempted to buy one of their older CDs. Futures is a brilliant album, with a lot of really catchy songs.

Now for a song-by-song breakdown.

Futures--Eh, a bit disappointing. 3/5

Just Tonight--Worst song on the album! I really don't like this one. 1/5

Work--YES! This is where the CD really picks up. It's a very catchy tune, a radio-friendly love song. It also has a twinge of sadness. This is my favorite song on the album. 6/5

Kill--Another really good song. I like how the choruses are all different. 5/5

The World You Love--A rather catchy, happy-sounding song. 5/5

Pain--The most rockin' song on the album...it's really a song you can bang your head to. 5/5

Drugs Or Me--Very slow, quiet song. Not the best song on the album, but not bad. 4/5

Polaris--Really good. It's kind of sandwiched in between a catchy pop song and a more melancholy sound. 5/5

Nothingwrong--Another more rockish song, but not as good as Pain. 4/5

Night Drive--Some sort of love song. Pretty good. 5/5

23--Another slow song, and a very good one. 5/5

Overall, this is a really good album with a variety of sounds.

I think most of the people here who are rating this CD 3 or less stars were expecting something along the lines of "clarity". so I'll break the news as gently as is humanly possible. NO OTHER CD EVER MADE BY HUMANKIND WILL EVER MATCH UP TO CLARITY. STOP EXPECTING ANYTHING TO EVER DO SO. "futures" isn't a dissappoitment at all... just ask any of the new jimmy eat world fans. jim said they were letting these songs "breathe"... so all we can do is hope that jimmy eat world will go back to it's inhuman coolness. SO KEEP LISTENING!!!

I was pretty bothered to see a few 1's and 2's through the reviews, which seemingly were from either people who thought Bleed American was the bee's knees or people who were expecting Clarity.
That being said this is by far overall the best work this band has put out.To me this is what an album should sound like a decade years later from a band who wrote a near masterpiece like Static Prevails. The hooks are back, the harmonies are at their best and this album undeniably makes me feel the tingles that Static Prevail did and still does to this day.
Any true Jimmy Eat World fan has no reason not to eat this album up.

After hearing that some of the titles on the CD were "Drugs or Me" and "Kill", I said to myself "Oh, please don't tell me that they are gonna go dark for this CD". Turns out, those are two of the best songs on the CD. Not at all what I expected. I expected this CD to be a dark, depressing, heavy mess of rock. Instead, it has the best vocals and melodies I have ever heard. It reminds me of Clarity, but much much better.
Bleed American (self-titled) was good, but it was really more like a mix of all different kinds of pop-rock with just a hint of their own style. This album deffinitely has a unique sound. It takes the sound that they created with Clarity, and perfects it. This album is so much more than I expected. Their best album by far. You're missing out if you don't buy it.