Ranking The Jimmy Eat World Discography

Over this last year or two, while the new music being released has been underwhelming quite often, one thing that has allowed is for me to go back to some older music I never gave enough of a chance. The biggest impact of that change is my connection with Jimmy Eat World. I have long loved a couple of their records, but I thought of them as being a band with obvious towering triumphs, as well as pitfalls I needed to avoid.

What I realized, in listening to all those records again, with fresh ears, is that while the great records are still great, the ones that didn't make the same impact on me originally sound so much better to me. Perhaps that all comes down to my mood right now being more attuned to their pop melancholy, or maybe the current mediocrity has made the past look better than ever. All I know is Jimmy Eat World is now certainly on my list of favorite bands/artists ever, and their discography is worth taking a look at.

(For this list, I'm ignoring their first two albums. They sound like a completely different band, and without Jim Adkins singing, I'm not interested.)

1. Futures

The obvious choice as their best record, since I now consider it my favorite album ever. "Futures" is a record that lives under the dark storm clouds of doubt, fully cognizant we sometimes make our own forecast. It's a powerful, yet beautiful album, one that shines like the moonlight on the sleek curves of a set of brass knuckles as it hits us with a gut punch. It's Jimmy Eat World's saddest record, and sadness has never sounded so good.

2. Bleed American

Another obvious choice, but I can't argue with the obvious. It isn't just "The Middle" and "Sweetness", though. The record was Jimmy Eat World coming into their own, mastering the art of mixing the right amount of pop hookiness into both their angst-ridden alternative rock, but also their somber and droning acoustic songs. This record set the blueprint for the band's identity forever after.

3. Chase This Light

Originally, this was one of the most disappointing records I had ever heard, coming on the heels of those listed above it. What I hear now is that Jimmy Eat World had shifted from the darkness of "Futures" to doing exactly what the title suggested. It was a brighter record, one that was more akin to asking how we can crawl out of the hole, rather than asking for a shovel to keep digging. "Dizzy" is one of their best songs ever, and I now realize this is one of their best albums.

4. Integrity Blues

When this record came out, I considered it a spiritual successor to "Futures", even if they didn't sound much alike. What is wonderful about it is that the melancholy weighed more than the brightness once again, with the colder guitar tones reminding us things are not always pretty, even if we want to be optimists. This is a unique chapter, and one I feel is necessary to keep the story moving.

5. Invented
6. Damage

I hate to lump these together, but these two records feel like chapters of the same story. They followed the "Chase This Light" formula, but fell just a hair behind the spark of that record. The band had found their comfortable identity, and they mastered being themselves on these records. The familiarity doesn't breed contempt, but it doesn't inspire the same wonder as their more original entries. These records are comfort food, giving us exactly what we expect.

7. Surviving

This is another record that originally made a sour impression on me. I have since come around, seeing it as a bit of a career retrospective. There are songs that echo the pop joy of "Bleed American", the heavy hope of "Chase This Light", and the experimentation of "Integrity Blues". The record explores all the aspects of Jimmy Eat World's identity, and perhaps that is why I can't put it higher on the list. For as much as I have come to like it, this one feels the least like an album with a set mood and tone. It is harder to know when this is the album I need to hear, so that is just enough to keep it toward the bottom of a very strong list.

8. Clarity

This is a common pick as a favorite, but I can't agree with that assessment. The foundation of the band's sound is there, but it's too rough around the edges for my tastes. They didn't feel confident embracing their uplifting pop side yet, and they relied too much on the droning meditations. That is worst on "Goodbye Sky Harbor", which is perhaps the least necessary fifteen minute song I've ever heard, but it creeps in on other songs as well. It's a necessary album for finding their way, but the journey was incomplete here.