I absolutely love me some Invented, but I think the way it was written with Jim writing stories from other people's perspectives lead to it feeling slightly less cohesive and of a whole than their albums usually do.
When Damage first came out I was kind of disappointed and, at the time, liked Invented way more. But I’ve come around to Damage and really fucking love it now. Also, Appreciation stands up to any album opener.
For me Invented & Damage are both only a hair's breadth below Futures, Chase This Light & Integrity Blues, not because either of them are not amazing albums but simply due to the other 3 being so goddamn fantastic.
Chase This Light, Integrity Blues, and Invented are prob my top three. I'm def more of a fan of recent JEW which is amazing because I've been a fan for so many years and they're still putting out my favorite songs. Like compared with the other stuff I listened to when I was 11 especially lol they just get better and better
definitely agree that invented is less cohesive than most of their others, but I think bleed is a bit more so than their others as well
I think I’ve talked about it before but invented came out my senior year of high school; I always got a coming of age vibe from that record so it’s resonated with me much more than it seems other people
This is mind-blowing to me because I'm a stalker and know that we almost share a birthday but it came out my first year of college so we didn't graduate hs the same year despite having the same birthday!! #FunFact
so where I grew up the cut off date to separate grades was August 1st so I was super old for my grade but the cut off before that was July 1st and my older brother would have been old for his grade because he was July 2nd but he took some test in pre school and got to go to kindergarten a year early, I don’t think I even got the option to take the test lol
Ooh I was always one of the youngest in my grade so that makes sense! I'm not sure what the cutoff was in California when I started school but I graduated at 17 instead of 18. Crazy how a few days can make such a big difference!
Every time Jake posts a comment stating that “Heart is Hard to Find” is their best song I’m like “yeah I’m gonna like this comment again.” Invented came out after I graduated from college so different graduation experience certainly, but it still hit me at a very important time in my life. I got accepted into a film festival at the time out in California so I excitedly packed my bags as I listened to the lyrics: When I finally finished school It was the first thing that I did What every townie kid dreams of I packed and started west One of my favorite memories.
same except instead of senior year it was the year i moved to new york it’s a great album about change and identity and relationships imo
They're all various versions of "coming of age" for me. This band has an uncanny ability to drop albums at big times of transition in my life. But Damage is the really big coming-of-age album for me. I got my advance of that record I think three days before I graduated from college. It was what I was playing on all my last drives around campus, and the first album I played in the car when I moved out, packed up, and drove away forever. I think I love that album more than just about anyone, just because of that timing.
I picked up a copy of Futures on CD at Newbury Comics right around the time I dropped out of college and entered the real world. Hit pretty hard at that time.
I can’t believe Bleed American is almost 18 years old. I was 14 and heading into freshman year of high school when that came out! I vividly remember hearing those songs on the radio and the videos play on MTV. It’s so crazy to think about haha. The local bowling alley would play Bleed American and Take Off Your Pants and Jacket repeatedly during laser light bowling night too. Free hot dogs, soda, and popcorn for two hours haha
Also, they’ve been in the studio since November. Would be fun if there was another summer release from Jimmy Eat World.
Been on a huge JEW kick lately, trying to listen to all of their discography a bunch because I never really listened to these guys growing up and only knew The Middle. When Damage came out, AP got me to check it out and I really liked it and made me a casual fan. Started getting more serious after IB came out. I'm focusing on Invented right now and it's probably tied for my least favourite album since Clarity but I really do like it a lot and it's constantly growing on me. This is probably a kind of bad take but Futures is tied with Invented for my least favourite. Futures has a lot of great tracks but it just doesn't stand out to me like Clarity, BA, CTL, Damage and IB do at this point in time. But I'm having a blast falling in love with this band -- I feel like they're a hidden gem. How the hell did I go like 18 years without even listening to an album by them??
Been listening to Bleed American a lot today. It has just the right amount of fun/fast songs and slow/beautiful songs. I never really noticed that. Lots of nostalgic moments too.