Futures [Enhanced, Extra tracks]

A lot of JEW fans stand firm that Bleed American is the best JEW album but I disgree and would choose Futures as my favourite album from the band. The reason for this is simple - from the opening and title track, Futures, I cannot stop singing when I listen to this album. The music and lyrics are just so fabulous it draws me into a world of music where whatever I am doing at the same time (washing up, cleaning etc) becomes easier. It is quite simply an album to turn up loud and get lost inside.

The album contains a perfect mix of loud rock tracks and slower ballad style songs. My favourite tracks of the "louder" variety are Work, Pain and Kill all of which are fabulous rock songs. On the slower side it is songs such as the Shame and Polaris which I adore. The stand out track on this album though is undisputed as far as I am concerned and that is 23. Seven minutes which pass by all too quickly from the beautiful introduction to the stunning vocals and heart breaking lyrics. This song is one of my all time favourite songs and it alone is my reason why Futures is the best JEW album.

I would buy this album for 23 alone but the rest of the album is fabulous aswell - a real emotional ride along which everyone should relish.

It's unlikely that Jimmy Eat World will reach the same heights with 'Futures' that they achieved with 'Bleed American'. However, it's the better record of the two. The logic? 'Futures' is a secular, dense, brooding album of 11 tracks that hearkens back to the days of the band's sophomore major-label album 'Clarity' moreso than their platinum-selling follow-up. That's not to say that the tracks aren't immediate; lead single 'Pain' is a snarling 3-minute gem about paranoia and drug-culture (topically similar to Bleed American's Title Track), follow-up 'Work' is an upbeat highlight, and Just Tonight is a vivaciously danceable number. Even so, most of these tracks have a dark, almost sinister undertone; 'You fill me up but just to watch me break' Adkins proclaims on 'Kill'. Jimmy Eat World have been heralded as 'Kings of Emo', but Adkins finds a voice on Futures that maintains its sincerity and catharsis without branching into screamo territory, distancing Jimmy Eat World from the modern-day emo scene of acts like The Used, Taking Back Sunday and Thrice.
The band have never been shy of releasing a few epic 6-minute-plus numbers-- the unforgettable 'Goodbye Sky Harbor' and yearning 'Just Watch the Fireworks' to name but two-- and Futures deals another great hand in this area: the piano-centred ballad of 'Drugs for Me' and the epic album-closer '23', the latter in serious contention for the best thing the band have yet released. They've even strayed into blatant political territory with the title track, as well as the obscure connotations towards old Label 'Capitol' in 'NothingWrong' ('Turn them off/Our blacklist singers/Don't ask why/Don't cry; don't make a scene').
If there's any problem with Futures it's most probably due to its slight over-production, which is mostly prominent on 'Kill'. Thankfully the song has become a staple on their recent tour setlist, seeing it return to its raw form. Indeed, you may be better served buying the Deluxe 2CD Edition of Futures; the second CD features demos of every track on the album from various stages in their conception.
Sure, nothing says media hit like 'The Middle', but 'Futures' harnesses the side of Jimmy Eat World wanting to be taken more seriously...and what it reveals, listen after listen, is that desire unfolding, and it's a startling thing to behold. My album of 2004.

Jimmy Eat World-Everytime I mention it to someone, they reply, 'Cheesy 80's style music', or, 'Catchy, but I won't buy the albums'. How much are they missing. If you give JEW a chance, they'll take control of your heart and pull every string. This album can raise you up to a state of euphoria or send you into a comfortable happy sadness. Kinda like a mother crying at her daughters wedding day sort of thing.
I think '23' would be the stand out track on this album.Beautiful. Perfection in song. If I die, I want either this tune or Sundown from the Bleed American album played at my funeral.