That's all as a fan/consumer of music of course. If I were a serious musician or something I may have a different opinion but yeah
Music critique is always a good thing. Whether or not folks agree with the reviews. There should always be more writing about music, writers getting fairly paid for it, and unlimited access to readers.
Had no idea reviews were like that back then. Horrifying. It did not age well at all. I knew that p4k didn’t really favor emo from all my browsing from both this site/the old site but I guess I never really went out of my way to read them. Pretty much every review I have read was from a poster of this site / a colleague from someone of this site, so I always thought there was, to some degree, a standard of professionalism also, on the topic of what album people got into the band VS what’s their favorite now, as that’s fun, i got into the band with Damage in 2013. i think i dove deep into Invented after. was hooked on Futures when I eventually got to it. i remember listening to half of it on a car ride to my relative’s house and the only thing i could think about was wanting to go home to hear the rest. both it and Clarity tie for my favorites now, but Clarity took a long time for it to click. i didn’t understand it for a solid few years - thought it was only okay but still worth listening to - until i started to really enjoy it one night on a balcony view in Brazil. took another 4 years to really sink in that it’s one of my most cherished albums of all time. i love it more than i like most things in life. it’s very dear to me now
I “discovered” Jimmy Eat World in Summer 2016, right before Integrity Blues hit (that’s still my favorite). I’d heard their hit singles, but had never really spun their albums. Chase This Light was the first album to really click with me, then Futures, and then Integrity became such an incredibly important album for me. Wouldn’t have given them the time they deserve if not for this forum (and by extension AbsolutePunk), while I suffered from derangement syndrome over another band I obsessed over. Discovered so much incredible music that Summer, all of which has completely replaced that “obtuse as fuck and should have stayed canceled” other band.
This so much. It always infuriates me when I read reviews which are egregiously trashing an album and relishing it at the same time. As someone who works in sports journalism, I really struggle to vibe with any sort of cynical knife-twisting for the sake of it masquerading as critical analysis. It's easy to be critical without being a dick.
Music criticism is so interesting in that regard, because the sheer size/scope of music means that you're more likely to have a journalist or critic who views a genre (like emo) as a punching bag, even when it might be the entire world to someone reading the reviews. But then the funny flip side of that is how then, as an entire new generation of writers comes of age, they start going against what they were reading growing up and building their own canons, and often it's the stuff that got shit on by the older generation that is most beloved by the new generation. Like, I know way more people my age or a little bit younger who love Jimmy Eat World or Dashboard Confessional or My Chemical Romance than I know who still give a shit about The Strokes or Arcade Fire.
while stomp clap and tote-bag indie fall by the wayside, Jimmy is forever. it's really heartwarming to see people talking about getting into the band so far into their career.
I think seeing the band live can help overcome this. I first saw TGA on the American Slang tour and before that hadn't really listened to Sink or Swim. Hearing Red At Morning and Wooderson live made something click for me, I was obsessed with that album for the next month
Jim’s Spotify playlist is one of my favorite follows. Some weeks it’s cool to see what current bands he keeps up with, but this week seems to be a reminder that he’s still a “punk” at heart
It just makes his enthusiasm for the wider scene seem fake as fuck in hindsight and makes him seem even more insufferable lol
Jimmy boots up here for shirts and pullovers JIMMYS AMERICA tee *PREORDER* BFBoots JIMMYS AMERICA hooded sweatshirt *PREORDER* BFBoots Brings me back I had the OG
Funnily enough, if you scroll up a bit, I mentioned how those songs have popped for me way more live than on record. Even after experiencing them like that, though, I just don't like how that album sounds. I'd love a live album or a re-record of that one, because I think they could do those songs better justice now.
Very curious who they get for the eventual US Bleed American Anniversary tour. Rise Against and Pup are notable gets, so I am intrigued.
Super old BA era picture (the last of the whole band series they did) celebrating the BA 25 year shows feels ... like it's not happening to be honest.