After having this album for almost a month now, I'm still not completely sure
what to make of it.  At first I was really impressed at the musical
progression that Jimmy Eat World has obviously taken, but upon listening a
little longer I had to ask myself "is this really a progression?"  While
Jimmy's last album wasn't terribly challenging or out of the ordinary, the new
album seems to take a step even closer to mundanity.  


Step one: the music.  There isn't anything on this cd that's not curently
being played on commercial radio.  What little "edge" they had, they seem to
have lost.  This disc is full of radio friendly, clean, upbeat songs.  While
theres nothing wrong with this, I fear Jimmy is looking for an audience other
than the one in which I currently reside.  This cd is pretty obviously a move
into the mainstream. With that being said however, let me also add that these
songs are about a hundred times better written than most of the schlock on the
radio today.  If, by some chance, this band does get huge, at least the radio
will be playing something halfway decent.


Step two: the lyrics.  There isn't any way around it, the lyrics on this cd
are just plain bad.  Embarassingly bad. To quote them, "and how loong would it
take to walk around the United States all alone? The west coast has been
traumatized and I think I'm the only one still alive. When the world caves in,
wachya gonna do?" I think that says it all. 


I honestly can't decide if I like this cd. For now, I'm just content to sit
here and say "I think it's ok." We'll shortly see what the rest of the country
thinks, by the looks of it.