Witticus Insightful Dwelling into Albums + Reviews

[Witticus]

Today marks a very special day in the history of Rock Band for me. Today marks the day we get one of my all time favorite bands the Toadies into Rock Band with a 3 pack from their Rubberneck album. What better way to start my review series with one of my all time favorite albums? In this series I will be deconstructing each and every song on an album and give it a rating and personal insight into what its strengths and weaknesses are. So lets get to it.

(Note: I'm using live versions of the songs on some links)

Rubberneck by the Toadies

Release Year: 1994
Genre: Grunge

Mexican Hairless
So begins the madness of Rubberneck with possibly my favorite opening track ever. It's essentially an instrumental with one unsettling scream 60 seconds in (on the album version) in concert the scream is placed randomly. It's got driving distorted guitars, booming bass, and chaotic drums. This lets you know 2 things about the Toadies, sure this isn't the fastest or craziest you've ever heard a band play and in fact this song may be the fastest the Toadies ever do play. Two, Mexican Hairless despite any real lyrics is unsettling, would you dance to this? no. Would you feel romantically enticed listening to it? No. It's emotional without words which is the truest form of music where you let the instrument speak for you. This leads us to the power of the Toadies, they are masters of expressing villainous attitudes through simplicity.

Rating: 8/10
No Words, a little repetitive, but short so it knows it's perfect amount of allowed time.

Mister Love
Believe it or not this may be the most important song on this album. It ties everything together in the album.

"Ya gonna make me happy? Ya gonna make me smile?
Can you save me? Tell me, mister love"

I see this song as more or less a continuation from Mexican Hairless. You now hear a man explaining that he needs love and throughout the album there is a continual quest for love from 3 different sources. Family, Romance, and Religion. This track is essentially the mission statement for the album and ties them together into kind of a story. We'll dwell into this song more later.

Rating: 10/10 in the context of the album 9/10 on its own.
Every first album needs a mission statement from the band so you know what they're about. Using cryptic unsettling approach to not just wanting but demanding love helps put the Toadies to light in what they hope to achieve.

Backslider
Backslider brings us to one of the earliest memories for the narrator to find love. The first form of love we should all experience is love from a family. However by definition a "Backslider" is "To revert to sin or wrongdoing, especially in religious practice." So the narrator is losing the love of his family because he is going against an unspoken sin.

Rating: 8/10
This song teaters between pop and alternative, but still keeps it's signature villainous vibe.

Possum Kingdom
Heere we are to what is considered the Toadies signature song. It's cryptic, unsettling, and 18 years later is still capturing the imaginations of newer audiences. To me this song is the Grunge version of Stairway to Heaven or Bohemian Rhapsody, iconic songs without concrete lyrics that are still sparking debates to this day. What sets this song apart from the generations of normal love songs that came before it was the violent imagery presented in the song. Instead of love being presented as a token of appreciation, its worded as though this love is something forbidden. Possibly the backslider sin mentioned before. But then we're presented the "Do you wanna die?" lyric repeated to an uncomfortable degree.

"Is he going to kill her? What the hell is going on in this song?" Well I'm here to clarify a few of these tidbits.

I feel this is a reference to "Le Petite Mort" which is French for "little death" which is an orgasm and in the culture it was created, orgasms are seen as a spiritual release. (So help me Jesus seems a whole lot dirtier) French literature would have this translate to "I died" in English which is actually quite confusing if you don't understand the context. So essentially "Do you wanna die, means he wants to give her the highest sense of pleasure. Possum Kingdom, that title nobody gets either is the slang term for a lake in Texas where Toadies are from. This is the romance part of the story. Hopefully this clarified the song a bit.

Rating: 10/10
Young love feels wrong sometimes, its awkward and mysterious. This song exemplifies that mood better than any song I've ever listened to.

Quitter
Quitter follows Possum Kingdom in the sense it goes from the best spot of a relationship to the worst, the end. It's the most obvious song on the album and lacks the cryptic charm of the others. You can guess that the narrator just got his heart broken and he's now regretting everything he ever did for her. To aid my idea that this was his first love, he flat out mentions himself as their "first lover."

Rating 5/10
Great beat, just way too freaking obvious for its own good.

Away
Before we go into my analysis I'd like to point out that this is one of Toadies earliest songs. The origin of this song lies some 6-7 years before arriving on Rubberneck.

Back on topic, Away is a good kick back to the wonderful cryptic attitude of Rubberneck.

Away-
"To be in the shade
The oldest trees above my head
When I'm away, I know in my heart
There is a heaven"

Death is being contemplated as many young people feel after being betrayed by a lover. The only love he knows now is the love from religion since his family and girlfriend have rejected him at this point. He sets his sights on heaven and referring to death as just being away.

Rating 9/10
I love this song and its place right after Quitter is perfect. Would I have chosen this as Rock Band DLC. Yes, it would have been part of a full album download, but I digress.

I Come From the Water
This is another one of Toadies songs that appear 6-7 years before its release on Rubberneck. It seems to have arrived from a time period when the Toadies wanted to write songs about being actual frogs. One might take this as the turning point where the album goes insane, but it actually fits quite nicely behind Away. Having contemplated religion as the only option, I come from the water can mean baptism. So he's returning from his religious rebirth. However the narrator has new plans in his mind.

"Life in the desert
Just to be together
The sand forever
The same forever
It moves beneath me
It pulls my body
My pulse beats hotter
So far from the water"

He wants to go back to being the same with his former lover. His love is pulsating through him and he's off to go find his former lover.

Rating: 10/10
At first glance it seems skin deep, but there is way more mischievous fun going on in this song than meets the eye.

Tyler
Welcome to the creepiest song on the entire album, Tyler.

"And she runs, and she waits, and I wait"

The narrator is back, his name is Tyler and he's going to make his way through the kitchen window to be with her tonight. I'd like to note that the Toadies don't actually explicitly explain in details the terribleness of the actions unfolding, but instead leave it up to the imagination. Is it rape, is it consensual, is she underage, why the hell are they going to Mexico. Is it kidnapping or is it a sick imagination?

Rating: 10/10
This is antihero rock to the maximum. It exemplifies the evil songwriting that had an influence on bands that came afterwards. Seriously go listen to Queens of the Stone Age and you will see the influence Toadies had on them especially this song.

Happyface
For the longest time I felt this song was out of place on the album. It goes from trying to climb through a girl's window to pushing her away... Or does it. This is when the mental disorder of the narrator comes to light. He wants the obsessive thoughts of this girl out of his mind. When you're not thinking clearly to begin with, death seems like the only option.

Rating: 4/10
I still do not like this song, its gone from using clever references to primitivism. It does feel like the breakdown of the album is happening so it makes sense, just musically it leaves way to much to be desired, especially the strongest points of the album beforehand were the lyrics.

Velvet
The madness is finally here. And all he can seem to communicate is, "You hurt me you (insert f word or c word depending on the line) I feel the album after Tyler takes a dip in quality, but it still makes sense. This is the confrontation with his lover. He's breaking down to the lowest form by instead of blaming himself for being what she can't love, it was her thats the problem.

Rating: 5/10
Distorted enough and short enough to be interesting still just a terrible dip in quality compared to the other tracks.

I Burn
This is the final arch to the story of a love scorned man and it also represents the development of the album.

In the beginning
We were smarter
And the flame was heaven-sent

Through the ages
We got stupid
Now we must repent

They even acknowledge the dip in quality as a planned event... Holy crap... And you thought I was just pulling things out of my ass. This is the genius planning of this album. This feels like the back to basics reflection on where the narrator has been lead. He's about to kill himself and the former lover in a murder suicide. But not with "tooth and bone" which he finds unimpressive, it has to be fire. Man's first invention and still captives the imagination. The primitivism comes out as He burns the air she breathes and then himself. The story ends. And it was all done in the name of love. Love makes us all do stupid things, especially the rejection of said love. Mister love.

Rating: 7/10 as a song. 10/10 as part of the album.
It ties together the album at the end and acknowledges itself as a degrading beast. The brilliance of it all gets lost in the music which many feel sound too similar. But when broken down lyrically it becomes fascinating.

Rubberneck overall: 9/10 Better than the sum of its parts, some great songs and some mediocre ones intertwined to make something far greater. Not perfect, but a genius finish of self awareness make it an experience more so than just listening fodder.

Favorites: Mister Love, Possum Kingdom, I Come From the Water, Tyler

Tell me if you liked my review and also tell me if you'd like me to review an album.

Upcoming reviews in the coming weeks
Caravan Palace - Caravan Palace
Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
Ween - The Mollusk
Dandy Warhols - Welcome To the Monkey House
Jimmy Eat World - Clarity

[BachiG]

I haven't even read more than the opening paragraph, and I can tell this is gonna be way awesomer than the Cipher's opinion thread. Looking forward to reading this one in a bit when i get home and the JEW post when that comes up.

[Marlboro]

Great write up, Witt!

The only thing I completely disagree with is: "would you dance to this? no." I can totally see myself doing the Beavis and Butt-Head butt shake to that :P

Thanks for clarifying "Away" in the context of the album, for the life of me I couldn't make sense of it.

Oh and you didn't really give us your interpretation of "Tyler" would you mind dwelling upon it or you feel as dark as the song is its best left alone?

[Witticus]

Great write up, Witt!

The only thing I completely disagree with is: "would you dance to this? no." I can totally see myself doing the Beavis and Butt-Head butt shake to that :P

Thanks for clarifying "Away" in the context of the album, for the life of me I couldn't make sense of it.

Oh and you didn't really give us your interpretation of "Tyler" would you mind dwelling upon it or you feel as dark as the song is its best left alone?

Tyler I feel is more of a fantasy. It was based off a stalker who went around Tyler, Texas. He never did anything except peep and it caused a stir around the town even though there were not any real victims. So Tyler is more fantasy in the narrators mind of going into the room of his former lover and what he wants to do with her. However as apparent in Happyface he never carried through with his plan and instead resented her instead of idolizing her.

[robstin3]

good review sir! you've done this album justice and i commend you highly!

[Witticus]

Welcome back to another installment of my review series. Today we have an album that has grown to a certain level of prestige over the years despite almost destroying the band after they dropped from Capitol Records for making one of the most highly acclaimed albums of the 90s. Today's review is for Arizona's own Jimmy Eat World. However just to let you know how influential this album was on the alternative rock/ emo scenes of music, I'm going to accompany an artist that was influenced by Clarity. Get angsty it's time to dwell into Clarity, an album that if it hits you at the right point in your life, it never lets go.

Clarity by Jimmy Eat World

Release Year: 1999
Genre: Alternative Rock/ Emo

Table For Glasses
In the opener, Table For Glasses we are treated to almost lullaby of sorts. This doesn't get you pumped like Mexican Hairless did for the Toadies, instead it speaks a poem of trying to understand. This is the first hint that Clarity might be the most appropriately named album you're ever going to come across.

Not asking of me anything, saying nothing about what it means,
without anybody telling me how I should feel,
lead my skeptic sight.

Haha, we've hit a moment of Clarity, nobody is telling you what to do, you're making your own decision. This is the most important step in our lives, the second we understand that we are in control of ourselves even when our parents aren't around. This sets the theme for the album and despite not being the kick we wanted to bring us into the album, it cleverly makes its mission statement to enlighten our mind and think for ourselves.

Rating: 7/10
The truth is its a slow song. It's beautiful beyond comprehension, but in the age of ADD, it might turn off who decided to dwell into Clarity.

Who did J.E.W. influence?
Blueside by Rooney
......

Lucky Denver Mint
This is easily the most well known song off of this album, it gained a little fame from its use in the hit movie Never Been Kissed, but still the album didn't do so hot. This saddens me in a sense, this song spoke to me more as a teenager than any other crap geared toward my age group... I'll give you a hint, most pop music is geared toward my age group so what made this different?

This time it's on my own
Minutes from somewhere else
Somewhere I made a wish with Lucky Denver Mint

Exploring the world around us for the first in our lives without parents dragging us around is our first taste of freedom. It's a rational approach to growing up compared to other generic crap that told me growing up meant smoking, drinking, sex all that cool stuff. But really our best experience in our moment of clarity in development is exploration of our world and what we think about it. However its not always what we expect which we're reminded with the chorus of "You're not bigger than this, not better" We're still feeling small in our own allowed area.

Rating: 8/10
Lucky Denver Mint may be another great song, but the over drilling of the chorus combined with real lack of musical diversity keeps it from truly thriving.

Who did J.E.W. influence?
Lights and Sounds by Yellowcard
.....

Your New Aesthetic
Clarity at this point is ramping up, you're starting to see the beginnings of Emo shine through. Looking at the song now, it almost feels like the same tired formula, but this is the song that set up that formula!!! Those angst filled lyrics telling you to not accept rules, that emotional singing, its coming into place. This was new, this was exciting!

This song reflects forming an identity. We all go through a phase where we feel we have a message and everyone else is just blindly following the same tired trends. That's juvenile narcism, that is the next step after exploring the area around us and seeing what we don't like. We try to make a change to our environment.

Rating: 9/10
Although the message may be tired, its got a harder edge that wakes you up from the dreamlike feel of the first 2 tracks. You've been pushed over the cliff and there's no turning back.

Who did J.E.W. influence?
MakeDamnSure by Taking Back Sunday
....

Believe In What You Want
First off I have to recognize that this is one of my all time favorite opening statements to a song.

Don't bother going through your motions.
Nothing that makes sense ever works out.
Don't kid yourself, you know they want money.
Nothing can be good on its own merit.

This ironically sums up the relationship between Jimmy Eat World and Capitol records. The hard work they put into making one of the most influential albums ever wasn't seen by the higher ups because of money. Sad.

Now this represents the heightened sense of not just having self awareness, you realize all the things that hold you back. That first cynical look into realizing you're not going to win this fight, the enemy doesn't want rational, they want substance that benefits them.

Rating: 10/10
Incredible lyrics accompany a diverse track that feels like a swirl of emotions. And those harmonies that feel like an argument in singing.

Who did J.E.W. influence?
Swing Swing by All-American Rejects
......

A Sunday
I'm going to sum up just how amazing this song is with 3 lines.

Now as I drive back, there's thirty six less hours
I have to change the course I send myself
I've gotta live with that

Contemplation that whatever you do in your life you're going to have live with the consequences. What does a 36 hour drive have on the impact of your entire life? You could have been doing a million other things, but instead this time of your life is spent in a car. Clarity continues its presence and it grabs you on this song and makes you understand repercussions of whatever action you may choose.

Rating: 10/10
The lyrics of this song still bring tears to my eyes. It is the single most criminally underrated song in the history music. It gives you a perspective on what you're doing with your life.

Who did J.E.W. influence?
You Stole by Brand New
.....

Crush
Crush continues the trend of world class song writing with another simile that gives you a new perspective.

Take in restraint like a breath
My lungs are so numb from holding back

Not only has the narrator discovered his heightened sense of being, he's now falling in love. Remembering the snow falling, hands around a waist, the fence on the clothing. Falling in love is a powerful emotion and this is possibly the most powerful emo love song, because the words and music correlate so freaking well.

Rating: 10/10
The music even feels like breaths, that imagery, it stays with you. It's absorbing and top tier. I'm not being generous with this album, it really does what an emo album is supposed to do and gives you real emotional impact.

Who did J.E.W. influence?
Misery Business by Paramore
......

12.23.95
To be fair this is the only Christmas song I like that isn't Transiberian Orchestra. I find the genre normally cluttered with the same message that never changes. However this is one of the exceedingly few Christmas songs ever done right. It actually feels to be continuing the snow theme mentioned in Crush so its another enlightening time in a persons life, spending a holiday with somebody he loves. The anxiousness of trying to make your first holiday perfect, its overbearing and becomes something that is near obsessive.

Rating: 5/10
The problem is despite being good for a Christmas song, its still irrelevant 80% of the year, and really there's no thought provoking poetry or intense instrumentation to help it. It's really the weakest song on the album.

Who did J.E.W. influence?
The Kill by 30 seconds to Mars
......

Ten
Another point of Clarity in our own lives is when we realize something may not last or we see the faults in someone we love. However one thing we rarely do is rationalize it to find a compromise.

Our weekness is the same
We need poison sometimes
So take another drink with me

Will understanding what is wrong with us that the other person may not like help us? Will this work, will it save us? Or are they stuck going nowhere?

Rating: 8/10
Not as emotionally driven or poetically beautiful as others on the album, but still a nice song.

Who did J.E.W. influence?
Famous Last Words by My Chemical Romace
.......

Just Watch the Fireworks
I'm kind of ashamed to admit this, but I found out my copy of Clarity off of iTunes didn't have this song? So this is weird hearing this song. From what I notice it takes a style that later Jimmy Eat World songs tend to resemble. This feels like a song that accidentally got left off of Futures, its kind of weird.

However it does relate to the clarity of an argument. You want to be honest without hurting the other, but sometimes we need to be put in our place. But the narrator still knows that they're in love so he's going to fight.

Rating: 7/10
I'm sad I never knew of this songs existence... It's beautiful and possibly the most instrumentally diverse song on the album. However for what it says, it still goes on for an uncomfortable amount of time.

Who did J.E.W. influence?
Nine in the Afternoon by Panic! At the Disco

For Me this Is Heaven
This is a saddening change in the relationship dynamic. The characters have now separated. The mention of great plans the narrator has have taken their toll as they now separate in the most beautiful and levelheaded song. Generally there is animosity, but with the character's growth he understands things must end sometimes and that they'll both be much happier.

Rating: 10/10
A wonderful song that shows a breakup in a light much better than the douchebag antics of Eminem or countless other people who respond to rejection of love in a worse manner. It's the clarity of knowing you'll both be better off to live what you want to do instead of having to settle.

Who did J.E.W. influence?
Situations by New Found Glory
.....

Blister
Blister speaks to me more so than most. I grew up in Augusta Georgia a place full of pretentious conservatives who hate anything different than them almost as much as they hate helping out causes that aren't removing unsightly people from around them. I feel this is my song for wanting to get out of a place you feel trapped in.

No matter how pleasant the breakup was, no breakup is pain free. You still wake up with thoughts of being hurt no matter how ok you think you are. The narrator doesn't even mind walking across the United States just to get out. This version of clarity is wondering how realistic their dreams really are, a sign we all must confront. This reflects the later part of the album which we'll get to after the song Clarity.

Rating: 10/10
That reserved dramatic feeling you have for dealing with an ex to not show weakness has busted out, holding it in is no longer an option. Let it out, it feels good! The most powerful song on the album.

Who did J.E.W. influence?
Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying by Fall Out Boy
......

Clarity
I feel that the album at this point works itself to a climax. The final confrontation to explain its really over in a less civil manner. It's not violent it just reflects raging emotions expelling that were pent up for so long on this album. Blister boiled it out and Clarity bursts it out.

Wait for something better
Maybe that doesn't mean us

Maybe clarity isn't always finding a compromise. It's about knowing what is best and fighting to stay together is not the way most should live. Just because you love someone doesn't mean that they're right for you. You're given one life to live and so are they, don't spend it miserable.

Rating: 10/10
After the power of Blister comes a followup that is every bit as intense, but also more levelheaded. Clarity is about seeing through the emotions and knowing what's right and what direction you're going in life as mentioned in A Sunday

Who did J.E.W. influence?
Check Yes Juliet by We The Kings
.....

Goodbye Sky Harbor
We've hit the end and its time to get out of Sky Harbor and on with the rest of our lives.

So here I am above palm trees so straight and tall
You are smaller, getting smaller
But I still see you

It's a goodbye story to a town and possibly the love as well. The real genius of this song shows in the extended ending. Clocking in at over 16 minutes this song want you to understand you actions and feel for what just happened. Every time I have ever driven away from a breakup or some life changing event, I always play this song. The space in excess that feels like an overdone ending is actually reflection as it slowly fades away.

Rating: 9/10
It may be really hard to get through, but it always feels like an accomplishment. After listening to this, you'll feel like you're in a different place in your life especially if you're driving while playing this. Still though its longer than hell.

Who did J.E.W. influence?
The Taste of Ink by the Used

Overall Rating: 10/10
This is a game changing album. At one time Jimmy Eat World were the greatest song writers that influenced so many people and essentially made an outline that every emo band has followed with their own twist. Emo music takes a lot of flack nowadays, but unhindered emotion combined with songwriting that is smart and heartfelt. Emo is emotion and even though many terrible bands have arisen from the influence of Jimmy Eat World, this is still a world class album. Not a single bad song on the album and many spectacular songs will make this an album that continues to live on after the ones that were popular in 1999 die off into irrelevance hell. This album holds up really well over time. However it also scared Jimmy Eat World into a more comfortable pop crevice due to the rejection of this album.

[GandWuser]

I really like your reviews. I didn't want to read them at first, but when I did they were pretty good.

As a bit of a jerk-ish question, do you take album suggestions for reviewing?

[Witticus]

I really like your reviews. I didn't want to read them at first, but when I did they were pretty good.

As a bit of a jerk-ish question, do you take album suggestions for reviewing?

I do, it's actually kind of hidden in the opening.

Tell me if you liked my review and also tell me if you'd like me to review an album.

Right now I'm working on ones I actually have something to say for. But that doesn't mean I won't give other stuff a listen. The first ones are going to be albums I really do enjoy.

So far lined up are albums by Ween, Primus, Franz Ferdinand, Dandy Warhols, and Caravan Palace. Since I find it easier and more connecting to write articles on ones I actually know. But I do want to try an album I've never listened to before the review.

[GandWuser]

I do, it's actually kind of hidden in the opening.

Right now I'm working on ones I actually have something to say for. But that doesn't mean I won't give other stuff a listen. The first ones are going to be albums I really do enjoy.

So far lined up are albums by Ween, Primus, Franz Ferdinand, Dandy Warhols, and Caravan Palace. Since I find it easier and more connecting to write articles on ones I actually know. But I do want to try an album I've never listened to before the review.

Oh I see it now.

I see you tend to like alternative, if I gave you an album that wasn't alternative (i.e. electronic, metal), how fairly do you think you could rate it?

[BachiG]

Finally got around to reading the reviews, Witt. Your writing style and prose are awesome for this. Both of these albums I've listened to previously (hell, I grew up listening to the Toadies, but unfortunately only really got familiar with JEW for Bleed American, and Futures) but your take on them makes them "fresh" again. So, thanks.

There's a couple of albums rolling around in my head I might think of submitting for your review... Just gotta decide which would be best.