Good Monsters

Good Monsters
Studio album by Jars of Clay
Released September 5, 2006
Recorded March–May 2006
Genre Rock
Length 50:32
Label Essential Records
Producer Jars of Clay
Jars of Clay chronology
Mini Monsters
(2006)		 Good Monsters
(2006)		 Live Monsters
(2007)
Singles from
Good Monsters
  1. "Dead Man (Carry Me)"
    Released: June 23, 2006
  2. "Work"
    Released: November 2006
  3. "Good Monsters"
    Released: N/A (Note: Only video single)
  4. "There Is a River"
    Released: April 2007
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
CCM MagazineA+[2]
Christianity Today[3]
Cross Rhythms[4]
Jesus Freak Hideout[5]
Patrol Magazine(7.4/10)[6]
Soul Shine Magazine[7]

Good Monsters is the seventh full-length studio album from Jars of Clay, released by Essential Records on September 5, 2006. This is their last album of new material from Essential Records and it is said to be lyrically their most aggressive album to date. It features eleven original songs, and a remake of "All My Tears" by Julie Miller. It also features guest appearances by singer/songwriter Kate York (on "Even Angels Cry"), Leigh Nash, of Sixpence None the Richer (on "Mirrors & Smoke"), and the African Children's Choir (on "Light Gives Heat").

"Dead Man (Carry Me)", the first single from the album, was released to radio stations on June 23, 2006.[8] "Work" was released as the second single, along with its music video, in late August. The band also released a music video for the album track "Good Monsters". In the September 2006 edition of CCM Magazine, the band credited fellow artist Ashley Cleveland with inspiring the improvisational sound of the album.

In an editor's fall albums overview in CCM Magazine, Good Monsters was called, "the album that Jars of Clay will be remembered for." It ended up taking the award for the CCM Magazine staff picks as album of the year, winning four out of the five spaces.

Overview

Concerning the album's title and themes, Dan Haseltine explains, "I was not sure how all of the experiences of the last few years would translate into music. There have been so many things to look at and describe. This record is part confessional, part euphoric love poem, bitter separation and part benediction. It was born out of many experiences and conversations between addicts, failures, lovers, loners, believers, and beggars. And so the language of recovery and the honest discourse about our attempts to live apart from God and apart from each other is a theme. Engaging people who are doing the hard work of laying their lives open to others, and avoiding isolation, has allowed me to see that there is both immeasurable evil and unfathomable good mixing under my own skin and it is grace, mercy and freedom that allow me to not simply be a monster, but to be a good monster."[8]

Honors

Track listing

Note: All songs written by Dan Haseltine, Charlie Lowell, Stephen Mason, and Matt Odmark unless otherwise noted

Standard release

  1. "Work" – 3:53
  2. "Dead Man (Carry Me)" – 3:20
  3. "All My Tears" (Julie Miller) – 3:45
  4. "Even Angels Cry" – 4:22
  5. "There Is a River" (Haseltine, Lowell, Mason, Odmark, Ron Aniello) – 3:51
  6. "Good Monsters" – 4:05
  7. "Oh My God" – 6:06
  8. "Surprise" – 3:50
  9. "Take Me Higher" (Haseltine, Lowell, Mason, Odmark, Aniello) – 4:40
  10. "Mirrors & Smoke" – 3:58
  11. "Light Gives Heat" – 4:42
  12. "Water Under The Bridge" (Haseltine, Lowell, Mason, Odmark, Aniello) – 3:58

iTunes Pre-release track listing

  1. "Work" – 3:53
  2. "Dead Man (Carry Me)" – 3:20
  3. "All My Tears" – 3:45
  4. "Even Angels Cry" – 4:22
  5. "There Is a River" – 3:51
  6. "Good Monsters" – 4:05
  7. "Oh My God" – 6:06
  8. "Surprise" – 3:50
  9. "Take Me Higher" – 4:40
  10. "Mirrors & Smoke" – 3:58
  11. "Light Gives Heat" – 4:42
  12. "Water Under The Bridge" – 3:58
  13. "Work" (Acoustic Version) - 3:36

Album Leaf

On the bottom of the last page in the album insert there is a quote which reads:

"All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing" - Edmund Burke 1729-1797 (This quote is apocryphal.[12])

Personnel

Performance credits

Technical credits

In Other Media

The track "Good Monsters" was featured on the pilot episode of Eli Stone.

Notes

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ Newcomb, Brian Quincy (September 1, 2006). "In Review: Jars of Clay: Good Monsters (Essential/Sony/BMG)" (PDF). CCM Magazine. Salem Publishing. p. 47. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
  3. ↑ Christianity Today review
  4. ↑ Cross Rhythms review
  5. ↑ Jesus Freak Hideout review
  6. ↑ Patrol Magazine review
  7. ↑ Soulshine review
  8. 1 2 Jesus Freak Hideout - News from June 2006
  9. ↑ Wilson Promotions rates Good Monsters as its Album of the Year.
  10. ↑ Christianity Today rates Good Monsters as No. 1 album of 2006.
  11. ↑ New Release Tuesday ranks Good Monsters as No. 5 in its Top Ten albums of 2006.
  12. ↑ Paul F. Boller; John George (1990). They Never Said It: A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes, and Misleading Attributions. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-506469-0.

External links

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