Jimmy Eat World

Clarity (Capitol, 1999), the first album to feature Jim Adkins on vocals, was mostly devoted to songs of innocence and heartbreak (Crush), with a few notable exceptions (the sarcastic Your New Aesthetic). The elaborate Just Watch The Fireworks and the 16-minute Goodbye Sky Harbor enhance the concept with Phil Spector-ish orchestration (pianos, bells, chimes, violins, xylophone, piano). The dance novelty Lucky Denver Mint became a national hit.

Crunchy, heavily distorted guitars, fast and pummeling drumming, aggressive and loud bass lines make Bleed American (Dreamworks, 2001) a much tougher album, but that's what the masses wanted. Hear You Me, Sweetness and If You Don't Don't are still catchy and emotional, although they can hardly compete with their hit. The Middle (one of their classics), The Authority Song and Cautioners are more interesting, but hardly revolutionary.

Singles (Big Wheel Recreation, 2000) actually compiles rare and compilation-only tracks. Surprisingly, it contains some of their best material, anthemic rave-ups like Opener and the instrumental Ramina.

I Jimmy Eat World ( Jim Adkins alla voce, Tom Linton alla chitarra, Zach Lind alla batteria, Rick Burch al basso), formatisi nel 1994 in Arizona, sono una strana bestia. Apparentemente un gruppo emocore, non mirano alla vena giugulare, ma al cuore nel loro album di debutto Static Prevails (Capitol, 1996).

Clarity (Capitol, 1999) è interamente fedele alle canzoni dell'innocenza e al cuore spezzato (Crush, Your New Aesthetic). La elaborata Just Watch The Fireworks e Goodbye Sky Harbor valorizzano il concetto con orchestrazioni philspectoriane (piano, campane, campanelli, violini, xilofoni). La novità dance Lucky Denver Mint diventò un successo nazionale.

Chitarre scricchiolanti e pesantemente distorte, batteria veloce e battente, linee di basso aggressive e chiassose rendono Bleed American (Dreamworks, 2001) un album molto più duro. Hear You Me, Sweetness e If You Don't Don't sono ancora orecchiabili ed emotive, sebbene possano difficilmente competere con il loro successo. The Middle e Cautioners sono forse più interessanti, ma difficilmente rivoluzionarie.

Singles (Big Wheel Recreation, 2000) compila di fatto rarità e tracce inedite uscite appositamente. Sorprendentemente, contiene parte del loro miglior materiale, inni da festa scatenata come Opener e la strumentale Ramina.

Futures (Interscope, 2004) delivers emo for the masses, in the form of a cynically calculated mix of introversion and bombast that, fundamentally, is only another way to reinvent the power-ballad for a new generation. Nonetheless, Night Drive, Pain, Drugs or Me and the likes create a pleasant, while predictable, fresco of the emotional false and true pretenses of their generation. For a few minutes (Just Tonight, Nothingwrong) they even remember that they used to rock.

Chase This Light (2007) is trite punk-pop (Big Casino, Feeling Lucky, Electable, Firefight), and Invented (2010) struggles to concoct a catchy hook or a muscular riff (Coffee and Cigarettes, Action Needs An Ambulance).

At least, Damage (2013) contains a number of accomplished songs, although a six-song EP format would have sufficed. Their trademark emo-pop shows up in Appreciation, while lightweight singalongs such as Damage and the power-ballad No Never hardly fit in that genre. The album is, more realistically, a harmless collection of generic melodic rock, mostly inspired by the classics: the jangling Byrds-ian folk-rock of Lean, the Kinks-ian rigmarole Book of Love, and especially the Tom Petty-ian rave-up I Will Steal Your Heart.

Integrity Blues (2016) contains the angry Sure and Certain, the catchy Get Right, and even a synth-pop number (Pretty Grids).

Surviving (2019) cannot compete with so much power-pop of that era, containing only the emo-pop of Criminal Energy and compromised by a feeble ballad like 555.

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