For a band often synonymous with a full-disclosure form of pop, Jimmy Eat World have a unique way of recusing themselves from their music. Nothing else even came close except for actual Greatest Hits collections.Ĭlarity, on the other hand, was Jimmy Eat World exposing their hearts in a messy, visceral way, a more elemental and temperamental album foreshadowed by its four-quadrant album cover. If I remember correctly, at least nine out of 11 Bleed American tracks were suitable for airplay (“Hear You Me” might not have made the cut sorry, “My Sundown”). In the summer of 2001, I was working as a DJ at 91.9 WNRN in Charlottesville, a college/Clear Channel hybrid that had a set rotation with a decent amount of leeway to play pre-approved album cuts. As far as pop-rock albums of the 2000s, not even Is This It can claim to be as filler-free. Their 2001 blockbuster - their fourth or third album, depending on whether you count their out-of-print, self-titled debut from 1994 (I assume they do) - was a product of focus and precision, a band that took one last shot on itself and dared not miss. I’ve always thought that Clarity and Bleed American should switch names. Granted, it took the rest of the music industry about two years to catch up. This is where Jimmy Eat World self-actualized and this is the point where emo became pop. Also, remove the disc and the back cover is inscripted with two unrelated phrases - a crucial lyric from a song called “For Me This Is Heaven” and the record’s eyebrow-raising runtime - that become the instructions for listening to Clarity: “Can you still feel the butterflies? 64:22.” Over an hour of asking yourself, “Can I still feel the way I felt when I experienced my own personal heaven for the first time?”
As a response, Jimmy Eat World made Bleed American “disgustingly catchy and straight ahead” on their own dime and the legend of Clarity is predicated on it being the album that killed their career and also sorta saved it.
First, the Capitol or Nettwerk logo on the back, which reminds you of what Clarity was rather than what it is - Jimmy Eat World were arguably the first emo band on a major label when they released Static Prevails in 1996, and three years later, Capitol still had no idea what to do with them in a market dominated by teen-pop and nu-metal. This one contains some information that needs to be accessible at all times. But there’s only one way to truly experience it as intended, and according to Discogs, it’ll run you no more than five bucks: Go get the original CD version. And I can say that I’ve probably blown a couple hundred dollars on all of them combined. There have been many ways to hear Jimmy Eat World’s Clarity: your favorite streaming service the 2007 reissue that included the original demo of “Sweetness” the 2xLP vinyl the 10th anniversary tour.
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