A Little Bit Longer [ENHANCED]

Jonas Brothers

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 12, 2008)
• Original Release Date: August 12, 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Label: Hollywood Records
• ASIN: B001AJVR5M
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (115 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,093 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

For Jonas Brothers, the last year has been all whirlwind, all the time. Yet somehow, on the road to becoming a pop culture phenomenon, the trio never broke a sweat - other than on the stage, giving their all, and living their dream. If anything, Jonas Brothers have embodied the calm within the storm. And since the release of their 2007 self-titled platinum CD, Kevin, Joe and Nick have used their time wisely. As they prove on their new Hollywood Records CD, "A Little Bit Longer," Jonas Brothers have grown exponentially as songwriters, musicians and recording artists. "The lyrical content has gotten more in-depth," says Nick Jonas of the new album. "It's about who we are as people and our personal lives, things we've gone through in the past 12 months." That year was about much more than simply handling a media frenzy with grace and humor. The brothers also took stock of themselves. In the new album's 12 songs - all written by Jonas Brothers - they put their feelings on the line, while still rocking the house as only they can. In the past 12 months, Jonas Brothers made headlines and created hysteria with sold out concerts from coast to coast; the Gibson Amphitheater in Los Angeles was the fastest sold out show in the venue's history. Jonas Brothers also sold out 3 shows at New York's Madison Square Garden. They rung in the New Year performing live in New York's Times Square on Dick Clark's New Year's Rocking Eve, collected their RIAA-platinum plaques on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," sang from a White House balcony as guests of the President at the annual Easter Egg Roll, and even played on the hit shows "Dancing With the Stars" and the season finale of "American Idol."

Their appeal is growing by leaps and bounds internationally as well. Jonas Brothers have seven platinum and gold certified records outside the US, as well as a sold out European tour, and sold out 80,000 seat stadium shows in Latin America. Sure, they had a blast with all of it. But bottom line: The Wycoff, N.J., natives are musical soul brothers every bit as much as they are blood brothers. For them, it has always been about the music. Their first performances came years ago, in the family basement, when the three - usually led by Nick - would mount their own impromptu concerts. Encouraged by their always-supportive parents, they started getting commercial gigs, with Nick landing roles in Broadway musicals like "Les Miserables," "Beauty and the Beast," "A Christmas Carol - The Musical," and "Annie Get Your Gun." Joe auditioned, too, and landed a part in "La Boheme." In 2005, the trio finally signed their first label deal, but it took a second time around, signing with Hollywood Records in 2006, for all the pieces of the puzzle to fit. With the August 2007 release of their Hollywood debut, nothing more stood in their way. Their premiere single, "S.O.S.," quickly hit #1 on iTunes. In most cities on their "Look Me In The Eyes" headline tour, concerts sold out in minutes. They shot their own reality TV series, "Jonas Brothers - Living the Dream." The brothers recently starred in the Disney Channel original movie, "Camp Rock," which averaged 8.9 million viewers and was the network's most-watched non-sequel movie ever. Jonas Brothers debuted their "Burnin' Up" video following the debut of Camp Rock on Disney Channel (with a repeat the following night on ABC) to over 12.5 million television viewers, and over a million views on YouTube. The "Burnin' Up" video immediately shot to # 1 on iTunes. Coming up, Jonas Brothers have their own Disney Channel comedy series this fall, titled "J.O.N.A.S."

Product Description

Produced by John Fields (with Jon Lind and Kevin Jonas, Sr., serving as executive producers), "A Little Bit Longer" covers much musical and emotional ground, kicking off with the joyful jam "BB Good." Says Joe of the track, "It's a big sing-along song, and it's fun." The funky and danceable debut single, "Burnin' Up," keeps the party going, with Big Rob, the brothers' hefty security guard, rapping midtrack. "It's about this girl," adds Joe. "Maybe she's at a party, and you feel that immediate connection. You both know it's there." Though relentlessly upbeat, most songs on "A Little Bit Longer" explore star-crossed standoffs and missed romantic opportunities. Songs like "Shelf," the hard-rocking "Pushin' Me Away" and "One Man Show" survey love's unequal playing field, bad break-ups and the defiant isolation that follows. "'Shelf' is one my favorite songs on the record," says Nick. "Basically, it's about a girl that has a gallery of hearts." Other songs take a light-hearted look at the craziness of fame and fortune. "Video Girl" paints a portrait of the shallow wannabees dotting the entertainment landscape (" Move to L.A., got no talent/Not even like you won a Miss Teen pageant"), while "Lovebug" starts out as sweet-tempered acoustic love song before ending up a crashing Queen-like rocker. Of course, the brothers made sure the album breathes. The power ballad "Sorry" features classic JB harmonies and an eternal message of forgiveness. But the song that will have people talking is "A Little Bit Longer," Nick's stunning account of his struggle with diabetes. With strings underscoring a plaintive piano/vocal, he sings about his battle ("A little bit longer and I'll be fine/Waitin' on a cure/But none of them are sure"). Recalls Nick, "I was having one of those days where I was discouraged. So I went into this empty hotel ballroom and wrote this song." Adds brother Kevin, "Nick sings this song every night and it brings people to tears. It's amazing." The brand new album from the Jonas Brothers includes a 30 page CDVU+ experience including: Exclusive Video Performances 60 Printable Photos Complete Album Lyrics Downloadable Graphics Hidden Links Package Made from 100% Recycled Materials!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New hooks, new tricks, top notch production, engineering, and mixing, make for another great CD, August 13, 2008

By	Jonathan Appleseed - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

4.5 stars

Here I am, surprised again by the Jonas Brothers. What an outstanding offering.

Before I go any further, I want to explain my ranking system. I'm not comparing this CD to Abbey Road, Dark Side of the Moon, or even Thriller. I'm placing it into its intended category: young boy bands making pop music. Then I assign it a rating, 1-5 stars, based on how well I believe they represented their genre of music.

And boy (pun intended), are they making good pop music.

I came upon the Jonas Brothers last year when I saw their last CD debut in the top 5 on Billboard. As always with a group or performer of whom I'm unfamiliar, I checked them out and saw that they were "Hanson-ish". As Hanson, mostly full grown, had released a terrific and highly underrated CD (Underneath) not too long ago, I was interested to see if Jonas Brothers was another Hanson in the making. I sampled a few tracks, liked what I heard, downloaded it, and instantly loved it. I was, and still am surprised by the maturity evident in their music (if not always their lyrics).

When they announced a new album, so close upon the heels of Jonas Brothers, I was worried that they were moving too quickly, especially as I read that they had been on tour, filmed a movie, and apparently did at least one hundred million different things between then and now.

When they announced that that they would be releasing four singles off the CD prior to its release, I thought they were insane. Most bands have one commercially appealing single, if they're lucky, and if they're phenomenally talented, they'll have several. I hadn't made the jump yet to thinking that the JBs were quite that talented.

The first song, "Burnin' Up" was a great song, musically, though again the lyrics were suspect, and the video (sorry guys) was really, really cheesy. "Pushing Me Away" was a good song, but it didn't elicit the number of listens that "Burnin' Up" did. Still, I thought it was a commercially viable single. The third was "Tonight," and while that wasn't my favorite of the bunch, I still liked it. It has good guitar work, and a strong, driving beat. With that driving beat, though, I was somewhat concerned that they were leaning toward that style. We've seen it on a few of their songs already. "A Little Bit Longer" went a long way toward quelling any concerns I had, as it was very different from anything I've heard from them in the past (I am not familiar with their first CD, and wish it would be re-released). It seemed strange to listen to Nick singing a song about his diabetes, especially with the clichéd line, "you don't know what you've got until it's gone," normally reserved for human relationships, but that strangeness wore off quickly, and I found the song very touching - especially after I found the lyrics online (being a bit hard of hearing, I rely on seeing the lyrics, and often tend to judge music first on the music, second on lyrics - odd because I'm a writer...).

And now the whole CD is here.

My other concern, that they would be releasing the only songs worth listening to, thus making the CD a downer, was blown away with the first chords of BB Good. Really excellent song, amazing beat, silly but fun lyrics, and the guitar work reminiscent of some of the 70s stadium bands like Queen or Journey, with great keyboard accompaniment. And their ability to craft insanely addictive hooks is so evident here. I haven't been able to get the chorus of this song out of my mind all day.

Lovebug, too, was a standout. It had a touch of bluegrass to it, reminding me somewhat of Michelle Shocked combined with the calmer sensibilities of "Anyone Else But You", from the movie Juno. I thought the talking in the song was funny - unlike others, it didn't throw me off, but felt organic.

The rest of the CD is strong too. They've really grown, musically, and that's good to see. They're not relying on old hooks or tricks, and are, for the most part, finding new ones.

Now my concern is that they're over-saturating the market with everything JONAS, especially with the upcoming sitcom on Disney. Flames that burn too brightly when they're first lit sometimes are the quickest to die. It didn't happen to the Beatles, though, or their solo careers, so let's hope it doesn't happen with these guys. They're still very young, and they seem (well, Nick's the leader, and he seems) to have an innate ability to write music people want to listen to. I hope that they're able to stick to what they seem to best at: making great music that's easy to love.

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars tepid, dead dull, nauseating,, November 9, 2008

By	Bartok Kinski "A casual stroll through the lu... (Prague) - See all my reviews

An extremely unsatisfying smorgasbord of tepid, dead dull instruments mixed in with haggard teen vocals. I was forced to listen to this immature rubbish on an airplane flight. I was stuck by some individuals wearing headphones and then the Jonas Brothers also appeared on the airplane TV so we were all forced to watch them.

If I were to describe it in physiologically terms, it's gut wrenching, like a depressing vacuum inside your guts. There's also an over indulgence in queasiness, then a complete urge to vomit sporadically. The sickness seems to dissipate once you stop listening to it.

Seriously, I did not feel well after listening to this and I would highly recommend that any true fans of music, AVOID this. There is nothing worthy or "catchy" or even redeeming about this.

Invest in real music. Franz Ferdinand, Fugazi, Tom Waits, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Modest Mouse, John Coltrane, Ghostland Observatory, Interpol, etc.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointed, November 16, 2008

By	Lizzy Feld "Music is my Life" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

From there previous album, I was very disappointed of this one. There previous one was amazing and this one is like.. blaaahh! they have a few good songs like Burnin Up and Tonight isn't to bad but the other songs were just plain stupid!! like for example BB Good To Me: it had a good beat and all but come on BB-- so cheezy!! When they come out with another album- which they most probably will- i will deff. check it out more before buying it.