Good Monsters (2006)
Good Monsters is the seventh studio album by the American rock band Jars of Clay, released on September 5, 2006 by Essential Records/Provident Music Group. The band produced the album themselves.
After returning to their acoustic roots as heard from their previous albums The Eleventh Hour and Who We Are Instead and releasing an album of reinvented hymns and spiritual songs titled Redemption Songs, Jars of Clay put out their most aggressive, raw and rock-focused project to date. Not since their 1995 debut album Jars of Clay, has Good Monster been this much critically acclaimed. CCM Magazine named Good Monsters its Album of the Year shortly after its September release, unusually early for such a distinction. Editor Jay Swartzendruber declared it "the landmark album of 2006." He noted that all six members of CCM's editorial team agreed on the selection and that it was "the most profound album the Christian music community has released in years." Christianity Today also named Good Monsters as "The Number One Album of 2006," giving it five stars. Christian music websites, Jesus Freak Hideout and Cross Rhythms, have also praised it with positive reviews.
Lead singer Dan Haseltine noted that the album explores themes of community, vulnerability, recovery, and avoiding isolation, capturing the idea that human nature contains both "immeasurable evil and unfathomable good." Good Monsters was preceded by its lead single "Dead Man (Carry Me)," which was released to Christian radio on June 23, 2006. The track centers on themes of surrender and spiritual exhaustion. The imagery depicts a person who realizes they cannot fix themselves or "make it work" on their own strength, crying out for outside help and renewal ("So carry me, I'm just a dead man... Make me breathe, I wanna be a new man"). The official music video of "Dead Man (Carry Me)" was released in early 2007. Instead of a traditional Hollywood-style shoot, Jars of Clay created a unique, interactive project using a fan contest called the "Mobile Mash Up." The video was constructed entirely out of cell phone video footage captured by fans during three of the band's West Coast concerts in November 2006. The resulting music video serves as a fast-paced concert montage completely from the crowd's perspective.
"Work" was released as the second single and also serves as the album opener. "Work" explores heavy themes of loneliness, relational exhaustion, and depression. The lyrics focus on the arduous emotional and mental toll required to fix broken relationships and maintain human connection ("Do you know what I mean when I say it's gonna take a work?"). Unlike the crowd-sourced video for "Dead Man (Carry Me)," "Work" received a highly stylized, cinematic official music video. Directed by The Resolute and filmed in an indoor pool setup, it features the band members meticulously dressed in suits while performing the song while submerged waist-deep in water, almost reminiscent of their music video for "Flood."
Special vocal guests on Good Monsters are Ashley Cleveland (whom Jars of Clay credit her with inspiring the improvisational sound of the album), Sixpence None the Richer lead singer Leigh Nash, singer - songwriter Kate York and the African Children's Choir. Jars of Clay also covers alternative folk singer Julie Miller's tune "All My Tears." Musician Ron Aniello, who worked with the band producing some tracks on Who We Are Instead, co-wrote three songs with them. Good Monsters debuted and peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Top Christian Albums and at No. 58 on the Billboard 200. More than 15,000 copies were sold in its first week. In 2007, Jars of Clay won two Dove Awards out of its six categories they were nominated for, winning Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year and their music video for "Work" was named Short Form Music Video of the Year. Good Monsters served as their final album on Essential Records, after being on the label for more than a decade.
Track listing
All songs written by Jars of Clay, except where noted.
1. Work -3:54
2. Dead Man (Carry Me) -3:20
3. All My Tears (Julie Miller) -3:46
4. Even Angels Cry -4:22
5. There Is a River (Jars of Clay, Ron Aniello) -3:52
6. Good Monsters -4:06
7. Oh My God -6:06
8. Surprise -3:51
9. Take Me Higher (Jars of Clay, Ron Aniello) -4:41
10. Mirrors & Smoke -3:59
11. Light Gives Heat -4:42
12. Water Under the Bridge (Jars of Clay, Ron Aniello) -3:58
Personnel
Jars of Clay:
Dan Haseltine -lead vocals
Charlie Lowell -keyboards, backing vocals
Stephen Mason -guitars, backing vocals
Matt Odmark -guitars, backing vocals
additional musicians:
Aaron Sands -bass guitar
Jeremy Lutito -drums
Ashley Cleveland, Kim Fleming and Rosemary Butler -additional vocals (tracks
3 and 9)
Kate York -additional vocals on track 4
Leigh Nash -additional vocals on track 10
African Children's Choir -additional vocals on track 11
John Catchings -cello on track 12
Elizabeth Panga -soloist
Ned Henry -violin on track 8
Christopher Davis -horn and string arrangements
Jennifer Kummer -French horn
Erin Horner -French horn
Kristin Wilkinson -viola
Jonathan Beach -violin
Radio singles
2006 "Dead Man (Carry Me)" -#14 Billboard Hot Christian Songs, -#14 Billboard
Christian Airplay, -#20 Billboard Christian AC Airplay, -#2 R&R Christian CHR,
-#24 R&R Christian AC
2007 "Work" -#27 Billboard Hot Christian Songs, -#27 Billboard Christian
Airplay, -#4 R&R Christian CHR
2007 "There Is a River" -#22 Billboard Hot Christian Songs, -#22 Billboard
Christian Airplay, -#17 Billboard Christian AC Airplay, -#17 R&R Christian AC,
-#12 R&R Christian Inspo
Previous release: Mini Monsters (EP) (2006)
Next release: Live Monsters (live EP) (2007)
Watch the music video of "Work" here:
Watch the music video of "Good Monsters" here:
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