The 1990’s were the peek of my obsession with independent music, my love of underdog working bands was matched by the massive quality of the music being released by those bands. A great lesson for a later career in the music “business” in that a great band and great songs almost never equal great success, mediocrity, hard work and pure luck is as, if not more important than the quality of the artist.
In 1994 my band played a show with a Tempe Arizona band named “Carrier”, the next night I sat in a beat down tour van in the parking lot of Vacaville’s social hub in the 90’s; Lyons restaurant. Steve, Carrier’s singer/guitarist and I sat comparing notes on our local music scenes. I filled him in on the very popular local favorites Papa Roach and he told me about Temp’s equivalent “Jimmy Eat World” within 5 years Carrier’s bass player Rick Burch would end up in Jimmy Eat World and both Jimmy & Papa Roach would rise to become national acts and eventually would end up on the same record label; DreamWorks.
Soon after learning about Jimmy Eat World I fell in love, first after their split 7″ release with Christie Front Drive and cemented forever with “Static Prevails” (1996 Capitol). Unlike our hometown heroes Papa Roach, Jimmy had a rough and long road after signing to a big label. “Static Prevails” sold terribly, By the time the second album “Clarity” was released in 1999 the band was on the chopping block, radio station playlists of heavy bands like Korn, Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach, & Linkin Park had little room for the airy pop melody’s of “Clarity”. The band was eventually dropped from Capitol and where most bands would fade into obscurity Jimmy Eat World forged a plan, toured the US & Europe on their huge independent fan base and would earn a rare second and ultimately very successful stab at main stream success.
But the album that failed to break the band in 1999 was truly special and would be noted as their most creative and influential release, not unlike Weezer’s Pinkerton, commercial failure proved to be just the right thing for long term respect and credibility. In celebration the 10 year anniversary of its release Jimmy Eat World embarked on a “ClarityX10 Tour” playing the whole album live front to back, and have now released a live recording of the final night of that tour, their hometown show. Weather your a old school fan or only know Jimmy Eat World from the radio and their inclusion on RoackBand, the story of Jimmy Eat World and this release in particular is one to be celebrated. A great band, great songs, mixed with massive amounts of hard work resulted in one of the best American bands of their time. Luck is noticeably absent from the story of Clarity & Jimmy Eat World, thankfully they didn’t need it.
