Posted in: Country by Dylan Doherty on February 8th, 2008 | 3 Comments
A review of Jack Johnson’s new album, “Sleep Through the Static”.
The cult of Jack Johnson exploded a few years ago with the huge commercial success of “In Between Dreams” leading to a retrospective discovery of his beautiful, wistful, acoustic, musical poetry, from previous releases. So why is his latest album suffering from such harsh, negative reviews?
It seems that the answer lies somewhere in that “explosive cult” moment. As with many artists who have integrity, true musical brilliance and find commercial success, Jack Johnson is afflicted with two types of listeners. There are the genuine lovers of his music and the pop-whores.
This latter category want nothing more than endless variations on “the big hit single” and have no interest whatsoever in hearing something new, something original or anything different. These, unfortunately, have been the people responsible for the slew of unfavorable reviews of “Sleep Through The Static” appearing all over the internet and print press.
Since this album lacks the instant appeal, demanded by the pop-whore contingent, it has been rubbished in virtually every review I have seen. In this article I will attempt to set the record straight. First thing you need to know, as with much of Jack Johnson’s previous work, this is a “grower” of an album, not a “grabber.”
The catchy, radio friendly melodies of “In Between Dreams” may have caught the attention of the world but their lasting power was diminished by that instant immediacy. “Sleep Through The Static” represents a return to the earlier album’s subtler, softer content. The danger with such sublime beauty is that at first listen it can tend to blend together and seem “samey.”
It is not surprising that the pop-whores are so disappointed by this album, they have no time or patience, to let it grow on them. The majority of negative reports about this album were posted within hours of its release, likely cobbled together after one quick skim through the songs. The affliction of the I-Pod generation, we listen to the first thirty seconds of a song then skip on, thinking we have heard it and know its worth. No wonder they are so wrong.
So on to a review derived from a slightly longer exposure to the material. As must be clear by now my opinion is it’s another masterpiece from an artist of true genius and apparently endless talent. The lullaby sweet sounds and poetic brilliance blend seamlessly, the production is perfect, Jack’s earliest albums occasionally suffered from being slightly over-produced. The improved and extended palette of instruments and styles add variation, while the whole album still retains that distinctive Jack Johnson sound. His lyrics are, as always, insightful, sensitive, wise and thought provoking.
Standout tracks on this album may seem few, but that is because it defies that other trend of the I-Pod generation, an album as a collection of filler material serving no other purpose than to pad out the single. This is not only a body of work in the album’s entirety, but also a continuation of the ongoing Jack Johnson story in music. Each album has been a page in his book of poetry. Taken alone they are wonderful, but considered together, they are far greater than the sum of their parts. Having said that, there are still a few tunes that particularly caught my attention.
cool runnin' February 12th, 2008 at 3:48 am
Dude,
This was a great article that made me want to go out and get the album. Thanks for helping me get deeper inside this great artist.
Toby March 2nd, 2011 at 8:46 am
I agree with your theory regarding the “second-album-effect” it happens to many successful new artists. Consumer expectations run amuck after a glitz in success, then once expectations are not realized… boom. Point taken.
Though, I will have to respectfully and strongly disagree with you on the idea that JJ has ‘insightful, sensitive, wise and thought provoking’ lyrics.
On the surface, a first-time listen to JJ elicits a sense of wonder and amusement with the “idea” that this song has some “greater meaning.”
Hmm. To be frank, his lyrics are crafted, actually, in a ridiculously abstract way, and are seemingly formed together in the most arbitrary of fashions. This greater meaning is just not there. Think about it..
The second-time-listener.. the third-time-listeners…., (and, if they’re still interested and not too frustrated with confusion) fourth-time listners should – given a certain level of intellectual capacity – certaintly question his merit as a musician, especially as an artist…and poet should most definitely be excluded from the list altogether.
His lyrics are intrinsically weak. There is “hardly” no logical sequence of supporting ANY overall arching message. Actually, there are just a collection words representing loose phrases of a half-hearted attempt towards clarity of message in terms a holistic-song framework.
Main point: conisider the basic definition of the process of communication–>
Where, the process of communication CANNOT take place without a “Message”; where a message can be distorted with “noise,” there is still always a message… Artists are always communicating a message… JJ seems to do a superior poor job in doing that.
His listners are either so enthronnged to the idea of understanding this “deep guy” or enjoy “feeling deep” because they listen to his music, that they haven’t yet taken the time to take a literal interpretation of his music and the messages they communicate, because if they did, they would be dissapointed or be under the impression that “I’m the one ‘whose missing the point’ and feel as if ‘they know’ the true meaning and I’m just not ‘getting it’ or they may say ‘music is what you make it’ … but, either way, when you and the person sitting next to you – listening to the same JJ song – cannot come to a similar articulation as to how the song should be interpreted or what the song ‘actually means’ then there’s obviously a lacking message in his music and it is pathetic to see someone whom lacks as much depth as JJ receive such a fan base.. It pains me to realize there are THAT MANY people out there.
The guy just isn’t saying much. And, in America, that’s what we’re about when it comes to music: “what do you got to say?”…Hm, well let’s just hope I figure that out soon JJ becuase I’m becoming extremely bored and irritated with your monotonous melodies and reappearing song themes that communicate no central message. Just new abtract and unorganized thoughts that seem “deep” to people because they truly just don’t understand them, because, in actuallity there’s nothing to be understood. His song’s have seriously lack a sense of clarity that, needs to addressed. Though, where some songs find strength in withholding clarity in exchange for power in message…. JJ has yet to understand that there still needs to be power in message, and he HAS to understand that great songs, powerful messages have, in recent popular music history, arised from being ’short,’ scattered and emotionally lacking in their songwriting..
His music is for the”free-love-hippies.” Coffee shop bums. Not for the intellectual music lover.
I truly believe, that JJ may be the ONLY one, whom truly understands his songs (sometimes I’m not even sure that he does). His songs represent meaningless nothing
Toby March 2nd, 2011 at 8:46 am
I agree with your theory regarding the \”second-album-effect\” it happens to many successful new artists. Consumer expectations run amuck after a glitz in success, then once expectations are not realized… boom. Point taken.
Though, I will have to respectfully and strongly disagree with you on the idea that JJ has \’insightful, sensitive, wise and thought provoking\’ lyrics.
On the surface, a first-time listen to JJ elicits a sense of wonder and amusement with the \”idea\” that this song has some \”greater meaning.\”
Hmm. To be frank, his lyrics are crafted, actually, in a ridiculously abstract way, and are seemingly formed together in the most arbitrary of fashions. This greater meaning is just not there. Think about it..
The second-time-listener.. the third-time-listeners…., (and, if they\’re still interested and not too frustrated with confusion) fourth-time listners should – given a certain level of intellectual capacity – certaintly question his merit as a musician, especially as an artist…and poet should most definitely be excluded from the list altogether.
His lyrics are intrinsically weak. There is \”hardly\” no logical sequence of supporting ANY overall arching message. Actually, there are just a collection words representing loose phrases of a half-hearted attempt towards clarity of message in terms a holistic-song framework.
Main point: conisider the basic definition of the process of communication–>
Where, the process of communication CANNOT take place without a \”Message\”; where a message can be distorted with \”noise,\” there is still always a message… Artists are always communicating a message… JJ seems to do a superior poor job in doing that.
His listners are either so enthronnged to the idea of understanding this \”deep guy\” or enjoy \”feeling deep\” because they listen to his music, that they haven\’t yet taken the time to take a literal interpretation of his music and the messages they communicate, because if they did, they would be dissapointed or be under the impression that \”I\’m the one \’whose missing the point\’ and feel as if \’they know\’ the true meaning and I\’m just not \’getting it\’ or they may say \’music is what you make it\’ … but, either way, when you and the person sitting next to you – listening to the same JJ song – cannot come to a similar articulation as to how the song should be interpreted or what the song \’actually means\’ then there\’s obviously a lacking message in his music and it is pathetic to see someone whom lacks as much depth as JJ receive such a fan base.. It pains me to realize there are THAT MANY people out there.
The guy just isn\’t saying much. And, in America, that\’s what we\’re about when it comes to music: \”what do you got to say?\”…Hm, well let\’s just hope I figure that out soon JJ becuase I\’m becoming extremely bored and irritated with your monotonous melodies and reappearing song themes that communicate no central message. Just new abtract and unorganized thoughts that seem \”deep\” to people because they truly just don\’t understand them, because, in actuallity there\’s nothing to be understood. His song\’s have seriously lack a sense of clarity that, needs to addressed. Though, where some songs find strength in withholding clarity in exchange for power in message…. JJ has yet to understand that there still needs to be power in message, and he HAS to understand that great songs, powerful messages have, in recent popular music history, arised from being \’short,\’ scattered and emotionally lacking in their songwriting..
His music is for the\”free-love-hippies.\” Coffee shop bums. Not for the intellectual music lover.
I truly believe, that JJ may be the ONLY one, whom truly understands his songs (sometimes I\’m not even sure that he does). His songs represent meaningless nothing