by Chris Alexion, Copyright January 20, 2007, all rights reserved. 380 views
Oh! Gravity, Switchfoot's sixth album, continues the San Diego band's musical innovation. Once again Jon Foreman and company have reinvented their sound, creating a blend of rock and alternative influenced by folk and punk. Switchfoot's originality–not only as contrasted with other bands, but even within their own albums–really sets them apart in a world of musical cardboard cut-outs.
The album's title track is far and away the best, delivering catchy pop/rock social commentary that ought to do well as a radio single. The only criticism this song merits is that it really needs to be longer. "American Dream" and "Dirty Second Hands" continue in the same vein as "Oh! Gravity," while "Circles" ratchets up the intensity. A retro British influence is even evident in "Amateur Lovers," my third favorite after "Gravity" and "American Dream."
Lyrically, Foreman pursues the same lines he sketched in Nothing is Sound, echoing Solomon's disenchantment with life under the sun. Where Solomon said "All is vanity," and the last record answered, "Nothing is sound," Gravity adds, "We don't know what we're doing / but we do it again." Foreman narrows the focus of his beef with modernity, targeting American capitalistic materialism, a worldview in which "success is equated with excess."
Such an American Dream, as Foreman points out, actually limits the freedom it claims to create. Foreman isn't calling for socialism or a removal of free enterprise; he's trying to get us to see the Gospel as the only solution to human selfishness. Business and market forces can't buy freedom any more than government bureaucrats can enforce equality. "I want out of this machine," sings Foreman. "It doesn't feel like freedom."
The worthlessness of materialism is Gravity's theme as a whole. "4:12″ admits to almost believing that "all we are is material" but realizes that "it's nonsensical." "Dirty Second Hands" emphasizes materialism's inability to beat time:
In the land of the free
And the home of the remedy
The old clock is a thief
With dirty second hands.
Again, the problem is the heart: "You might be right; the fight might be right inside you–the blind leading the lied to."
Like Ecclesiastes, "Circles" finds nothing but disillusionment under the sun: "I've lost all that I wanted to leave / I've lost all that I wanted to be … / Don't believe in this modern machine." "Faust, Midas, and Myself" combines the themes of two classic literary works, pointing out that the smooth-talker who promises everything at once is a devil, and that Midas' gift was really a curse. Foreman sings about the allure of gold and lust, which always pull up short of their promise. "As my reflection passed / I hated what I saw; / The golden eyes were dead / A thought passed through my head: / A heart that's made of gold can't really beat at all."
While "Faust" contrasts lust and love, the Rolling-Stones-tinged "Amateur Lovers" cries out for more of the latter: "My baby and me / We're missing the same stuff; / We've all got a disease / Deficiency of love." In "Faust" Foreman finds love in his wife's arms, and in "Head Over Heels" he finds God's love: "You're everything that's fair in love and war."
While on the whole I'm not sure Gravity really tops Nothing is Sound, there's no question that it's a great record. My advice would be to listen to it several times before making a judgment; Switchfoot's songs tend to grow on the listener with each hearing.
Oh–and lest I forget, there's one other great point about the title track: It brings back the phrase "the fallout."
1 • Chris • January 20, 2007 • 4:40 PM
Well said Chris. Oh! Gravity is an incredible album. Combined with The Beatiful Letdown and Nothing Is Sound, the three create a powerful collection of songs that really tap into the roots of our modern problems.
2 • Janet • January 25, 2007 • 1:50 AM
Your comment about this possibly not topping NIS is interesting. Most reviewers like Beautiful Letdown quite a bit better than NIS, but I find that both are very special. I've often said that my favorite is whichever one I'm listening to at the moment.
I've only listened to Oh! Gravity once, and that's because I'm still finding reasons to listen to the other two. Eventually I'll move on, and I've heard enough to know that O!G will also find its way into my list of favorites.
If you've never seen them in concert, find a way to get there. The CDs are good, but their live performance is on another level entirely. I'm in my mid-40s so I've been to several concerts in my life, but nothing topped Switchfoot. My teen daughter loved it as much as I did, proving that this is a group that can touch a wide age range.
3 • Chris • January 25, 2007 • 10:10 AM
Actually, you won't believe this, but after I wrote the review (and, naturally, kept playing the album in its entirety over and over again), "Yesterday" really grabbed me. I get a lump in my throat every time I hear it. Foreman's grief is so palpable; he really succeeds in making his loss our own.
Musically, the song is beautiful, almost haunting. The chorus, I think, is really what gets me: "I remember you like yesterday, yesterday / I still can't believe you're gone…"
Yet, as you said, the song isn't only about grief; it's about hope. The lost person is still "free" from pain and sin (though hopefully Foreman isn't endorsing a platonic divorce of body and soul). Another line that speaks to those of us still here is "I dreamt that you were by my side / Reminding me I still have life in me."
So, yes; "Yesterday" is one of the best tracks. And, no; I didn't totally forget it!
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