Description
The Only World in Town is the sophomore album by the American rock band JAG, released on Benson Records in 1991. The album was produced by Billy Smiley of White Heart fame.
Last year, JAG delivered ‘The Longest Road‘, which drew quite a bit of airplay and critical acclaim for John Allen Garies and company. The band’s terrific follow-up, ‘The Only World In Town’, finds the band shying away (ever so slightly) from the heavy White Heart influences which marred an otherwise solid debut.
«Hands Up in the Air» is a sure-fire audience pleaser, with splendid guitar hooks, “nah-nah” vocals and an unforgettable chorus. The angular guitar, swirling synth and tightly-layered harmonies on songs such as «40 Watt City» and «What God’s Love Means» recall Top 40 fare from bands like The Outfield and Men at Work. «Written in Stone», which I had the privilege of hearing the group perform a cappella, proves its vocal blend is no studio-doctored fluke. «Two Worlds Collide» and «Mastermind» simply out-rock Journey at its hook-laden best, while «The Last Time I Looked» may attract a few Petra and DeGarmo and Key fans.
Although Garies refers to the project as “a concept album about the Christian’s role in the world,” the songs easily stand on their own. The lyrics are inspirational in the best sense, in that they motivate the listener to self-examination and hopefully, repentance and a stronger faith walk. The subdued «Sense of Wonder» and «Somebody’s Watching» give one a chance to more closely examine Gariers’ writing. The former tune features a heart-rending lyric about the loss of innocence, while the latter reminds us that even at our loneliest, we’re never alone. ‘The Only World in Town’ capitalizes on all the strengths of JAG’s debut and contains none of its weaknesses. [Bruce A. Brown, CCM, June 1991]
Promo, Girder Music 2020 Re-issue
JAG’s second album was “arena rock” all the way. Even more importantly, the songs on this album have some significance. First, Billy Smiley, while touring Australia with White Heart, heard the hit song, «Hands up in the Air» from the band Boom Crash Opera and worked with JAG to record it as the first song on the album. The song, «Two Worlds Collide», was going to be cut and recorded by the band Giant. Since Giant already had 14-15 songs for their album, John Allan Garies (JAG) talked Billy into making it a JAG song. Dann Huff played all the guitars, and it became the 4th song on the album. The idea for the song «The Only World In Town» came from John’s eight-year-old daughter. “We were driving along and I was talking about the monopolizing phone company, saying ‘they were the only game in town’. Then my daughter, who was in the back of the car, pipes up. ‘Hey papa, this is the only world in town.’ The song looks at the way we are destroying this world of ours and speaks about the ‘source’ of all the world’s problems, about how, until we get our hearts changed, the world won’t change.”
CD tracklist:
01. Hands Up In The Air – 3:43
02. 40 Watt City – 4:41
03. What God’s Love Means – 4:22
04. Two Worlds Collide – 5:11
05. The Only World In Town – 4:42
06. Sense Of Wonder – 4:59
07. Mastermind – 4:01
08. Somebody’s Watching You – 3:40
09. The Last Time I Looked – 5:11
10. Written In Stone – 4:33
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Benson Records. Remastered and re-issued on CD by Girder Music in 2020, featuring 6 panel fold in Jewel Case, includes lyrics, enhanced cover, photos and more. Also released as a Limited Edition colored 180g 12-inch vinyl record.
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