Good Monsters

Infobox Album
Name = Good Monsters
Type = Album
Artist = Jars of Clay


Released = September 5, 2006
Recorded = March–May 2006
Genre = Rock
Length = 50:32
Label = Essential Records
Producer = Jars of Clay
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:yef2zfd5eh2k~T1 link]
*Christianity Today Rating|5|5 [http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/reviews/2006/goodmonsters.html link]
*Cross Rhythms rating-10|9 [http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/products/Jars_Of_Clay/Good_Monsters/20066/ link]
*Jesus Freak Hideout Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/cdreviews/GoodMonsters.asp link]
*Patrol Magazine (7.4/10) [http://www.patrolmag.com/index.php?id=42 link]
Last album = "Mini Monsters"
(2006)
This album = "Good Monsters"
(2006)
Next album = "Live Monsters"
(2007)
Misc = Singles
Name =
Good Monsters
Type = studio
single 1 = Dead Man (Carry Me)
single 1 date = June 23, 2006
single 2 = Work
single 2 date = November 2006
single 3 = Good Monsters
single 3 date = N/A "(Note: Only video single)"
single 4 = There Is a River
single 4 date = April 2007

"Good Monsters" is the eighth full-length album from Jars of Clay, released by Essential Records on September 5, 2006. This is their last album of new material from Essential Records and it is said to be lyrically their most aggressive album to date. It features eleven original songs, and a remake of "All My Tears" by Julie Miller. It also features guest appearances by singer/songwriter Kate York (on "Even Angels Cry"), Leigh Nash, formerly of Sixpence None the Richer (on "Mirrors & Smoke"), and the African Children's Choir (on "Light Gives Heat").

"Dead Man (Carry Me)", the first single from the album, was released to radio stations on June 23, 2006. [http://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/news/June06.asp Jesus Freak Hideout - News from June 2006] ] "Work" was released as the second single, along with its music video, in late August. The band also released a music video for the album track "Good Monsters". In the September 2006 edition of CCM Magazine, the band credited fellow artist Ashley Cleveland with inspiring the improvisational sound of the album.

Overview

Concerning the album's title and themes, Dan Haseltine explains, "I was not sure how all of the experiences of the last few years would translate into music. There have been so many things to look at and describe. This record is part confessional, part euphoric love poem, bitter separation and part benediction. It was born out of many experiences and conversations between addicts, failures, lovers, loners, believers, and beggars. And so the language of recovery and the honest discourse about our attempts to live apart from God and apart from each other is a theme. Engaging people who are doing the hard work of laying their lives open to others, and avoiding isolation, has allowed me to see that there is both immeasurable evil and unfathomable good mixing under my own skin and it is grace, mercy and freedom that allow me to not simply be a monster, but to be a good monster."

Honors

*CCM Magazine named "Good Monsters" "Album of the Year", shortly after its September release, unusually early for such a distinction. According to editor Jay Swartzendruber, "Jars of Clay's new record is the landmark album of 2006. Consider that all six members of CCM's editorial team agree that choosing Good Monsters as our 'Album of the Year' is a no-brainer. In fact, it's an understatement. Practically all of us would say this is the most profound album the Christian music community has released in years." [ [http://www.wilsonpromotions.com/jarsofclay_pressrelease_ccmalbumoftheyear.html Wilson Promotions] rates "Good Monsters" as its Album of the Year.]
*"Good Monsters" was Christianity Today's #1 album of 2006, [ [http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/reviews/2006/2006bestof.html Christianity Today] rates "Good Monsters" as #1 album of 2006.] and ranked #5 of New Release Tuesday's top 10 albums of 2006. [ [http://www.newreleasetuesday.com/features/bestof2006.shtml New Release Tuesday] ranks "Good Monsters" as #5 in its Top Ten albums of 2006.]
*"Good Monsters" won the Best Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year at the GMA Dove Awards of 2007 held at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville.
*Peaked at #58 on the billboard 200, selling over 15,000 copies in its first week.

Track listing

Note: All songs written by Dan Haseltine, Charlie Lowell, Stephen Mason, and Matt Odmark unless otherwise noted

tandard release

#"Work" – 3:53
#"Dead Man (Carry Me)" – 3:20
#"All My Tears" (Julie Miller) – 3:45
#"Even Angels Cry" – 4:22
#"There Is a River" (Haseltine, Lowell, Mason, Odmark, Ron Aniello) – 3:51
#"Good Monsters" – 4:05
#"Oh My God" – 6:06
#"Surprise" – 3:50
#"Take Me Higher" (Haseltine, Lowell, Mason, Odmark, Aniello) – 4:40
#"Mirrors & Smoke" – 3:58
#"Light Gives Heat" – 4:42
#"Water Under The Bridge" (Haseltine, Lowell, Mason, Odmark, Aniello) – 3:58

iTunes Pre-release track listing

#"Work" – 3:53
#"Dead Man (Carry Me)" – 3:20
#"All My Tears" – 3:45
#"Even Angels Cry" – 4:22
#"There Is a River" – 3:51
#"Good Monsters" – 4:05
#"Oh My God" – 6:06
#"Surprise" – 3:50
#"Take Me Higher" – 4:40
#"Mirrors & Smoke" – 3:58
#"Light Gives Heat" – 4:42
#"Water Under The Bridge" – 3:58
#"Work" (Acoustic Version) - 3:36

Album Leaf

On the bottom of the last page in the album insert there is a quote which reads:

"All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing"- Edmund Burke 1729-1797 (This quote is apocryphal. [cite book |author= Paul F. Boller; John George |title= They Never Said It: A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes, and Misleading Attributions |publisher= Oxford University Press |date=1990 |isbn=0195064690] )

Personnel

Performance credits

* Jars of Clay - primary artist
* Leigh Nash - guest vocals
* Ashley Cleveland - guest vocals
* Rosemary Butler - guest vocals
* Kim Fleming - guest vocals
* Kate York - guest vocals
* John Catchings - cello
* Kris Wilkinson - viola
* Jennifer Kummer - french horn
* Ned Henry - violin
* Aaron Sands - bass
* Jeremy Lutito - drums

Technical credits

* Richard Dodd - mastering
* Jars of Clay - producer, art direction
* Terry Hemmings - executive producer
* Christopher Davis - horn arrangements, string arrangements
* Tim Parker - art direction
* Mitch Dane - engineer
* Jonathan Richter - art direction, cover design

In Other Media

The track "Good Monsters" was featured on the pilot episode of Eli Stone.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.good-monsters.com Good Monsters album site]
* [http://www.familychristian.com/jarsofclay/ Interview: 60 Seconds with Jars of Clay]
* [http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/interviews/2006/jarsofclay-0806.html Interview: The Monster Within]
* [http://www.newreleasetuesday.com/article.php?article_id=163 Interview: "Oh My God" by Jars Of Clay] (September 16, 2008)