Much Afraid

Description

Much Afraid is the sophomore studio album by the American alternative pop band Jars of Clay, released on Essential Records in September 1997, a division of Brentwood Music. The album was recorded on both sides of the pond; at The Aquarium in London, England; and at Secret Sound in Franklin, Tennessee, USA; with Stephen Lipson producing. Engineered by Heff Moraes. “The record is kind of looking at different levels of life from our perspective of who we are and our perspective of Christianity.”

The album debuted at No. 8 on the October 4 Billboard’s Top 200 album chart, outperforming albums by such artists as Sarah McLachlan, the Spice Girls, Oasis, and Third Eye Blind, and setting a new record for the Christian music industry with more than 100,000 copies sold. The album was certified Gold (500,000 copies sold) by the RIAA in October 1997 and Platinum (1 million copies sold) in August 2000.

Jars of Clay’s lead singer Dan Haseltine feels that the new record is reflective of the band’s growth. “We tried to dive a little deeper into metaphor and things like that to try to express things in a more creative way,” he says. “I think the songs are more mature than the first record.”

The album’s title comes from Hannah Hurnard’s book “Hinds’ Feet On High Places.” “It’s an allegory of the Christian life,” Haseltine says of the book. “Basically, most of the characters are different emotions. There are characters named Fear and Insecurity. The main character, Much Afraid, is on this journey to the high place, up to the tops of the mountains, and she is crippled and can’t walk very well … On the way she has to confront these fears and all these different characters.

“Most of us have read the book, and it’s more than just being inspired by the book; it was the actual concept of moving from a place of fear to a place of faith. It was the underlying theme of that book, but it’s also the underlying theme of most people’s lives. It seems like so much of our society is being motivated by fear more than love. It seems that everything we do is reactionary because somebody did this or something happened here. Those were the kinds of concepts we drew from in writing a lot of the songs for the record.” [Excerpt from an article entitled “Jars Of Clay Grow Bolder With ‘Afraid'” featured in the August 23, 1997 issue of Billboard Magazine]

Never underestimate the motivational power of fear. How does this apply to the members of Jars of Clay? What would they have to be afraid of? After all, with their debut album they were nominated for a Grammy, won a few Dove awards, toured all over the world and, oh yeah, sold several boatloads of records along the way.

But that’s exactly what they have to be afraid of. The expectations for ‘Much Afraid’ were and are so high that it’s amazing that the members of Jars of Clay don’t implode upon themselves.

But they don’t. With the aid of producer Stephen Lipson, they step up to the mic and produce an album that accurately reflects the talented young men that they are.

From the quiet opening strains of «Overjoyed», to the end of the self-penned hymn that closes the record, Jars of Clay defies the impulse that so often comes with a second record, that of being bigger, bolder, louder, faster or weirder.

The collection of songs on ‘Much Afraid’ all have a common thread of fragility, be it of spirit, mind or body. «Fade to Grey», one of the standout tracks on the group’s 1994 indie that brought them so much attention, gets a lyrical and musical reworking here, with driving drum loops and B3 weaving around a bridge of brokenness and loneliness, leading to a final payoff of hope and salvation within “arms open wide, trying to embrace me.”

«Fade to Grey», along with the first single «Crazy Times» and the not-to-be-overlooked «Truce» are really the only times on the album where Jars breaks loose with instrumental intensity close to that on «Flood», the breakout song from the band’s debut.

The bulk of the album’s material is quieter and more contemplative, like the instrumentally-driven «Frail» and the regret-laced «Portrait of an Apology», where the group’s signature acoustic approach is only heightened by the addition of strings and organ.

Where Jars may find success in the general market this time out comes in the form of «Tea and Sympathy», once again shining the spotlight on a broken situation, this time a broken heart. «Five Candles», a pithy pop tune originally intended for the Liar Liar soundtrack, also has Top 40 radio potential written all over it.

The only distraction comes with «Weighed Down», built upon the same musical base of the hidden track «Four Seven» on Jars’ debut record. If you’re familiar with the first album, you keep wanting «Weighed Down» to speed up or go a different direction than it eventually does.

The biggest surprise of the album is the confidence with which Dan Haseltine commands the lead vocal, confidence without sounding arrogant or aggressive. Haseltine’s strength on the first record was his lyrical ability. Here, he not only provides thoughtful and interesting lyrics, but also he finds his niche vocally, very ably filling in the spaces left for him by the tracks.

All in all, ‘Much Afraid’ proves once again that you can make good art within this realm called Christian music, and it shouldn’t scare away any of the fans Jars of Clay has already picked up on this crazy ride thus far. [Lucas W. Hendrickson, CCM, October 1997]

> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/much-afraid/309732023)

CD tracklist:

01. Overjoyed – 2:59
02. Fade To Grey – 3:34
03. Tea & Sympathy – 4:52
04. Crazy Times – 3:34
05. Frail – 6:57
06. Five Candles (You Were There) – 3:48
07. Weighed Down – 3:39
08. Portrait Of An Apology – 5:42
09. Truce – 3:11
10. Much Afraid – 3:52
11. Hymn – 3:56

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette, Limited Edition 12-inch vinyl LP, and CD by Essential Records. The album contains two tracks (“Frail” and “Fade To Grey”) that originally appeared on the band’s demo and were re-recorded for this album. “Frail”, originally an instrumental, had lyrics added for this version.

The October 1997 issue of CCM Magazine featured a cover story on Jars of Clay.