Jars of Clay

Description

The self-titled major label debut album by the American alternative pop band Jars of Clay was released on Essential Records in October 1995, a division of Brentwood Music (later collectively entitled Provident Records). (The band’s name is derived from 2 Corinthians 4:7; “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” This verse is paraphrased in their song “Four Seven”, which appears as a hidden track on their debut album.) The album was produced by the band except “Liquid” and “Flood” produced by Adrian Belew. “Liquid” and “Flood” were recorded and mixed by Jon Easterling at Adrian Belew’s Studio with all other songs recorded by Easterling at Icebox/Brentwood Studios (except “He” which was recorded at Greenville College). Overdubs recorded at Texana Studio and Recording Arts Studio. Tracks 3, 5, 6 and 9 to 10b mixed by JB Baird at The Battery in Nashville, Tennessee. Tracks 1, 2, 4, 7, and 8 mixed by Noah Evens.

After considering several offers, Jars of Clay signed with the smaller Essential label, which nonetheless had ample distribution power through its parent company, Brentwood, as well as its arrangement with mainstream label Silvertone. As the group was recording its self-titled debut album, the previously self-released demo CD Frail caught the ear of guitarist Adrian Belew of progressive rock band King Crimson fame, who offered to produce a couple of tracks for the record, leading to him producing two songs – “Liquid” and “Flood”. The latter track became a runaway hit on Christian radio upon the album’s release in the spring of 1995. When “Flood” began to catch on with secular stations as well (particularly in the Northwest), Silvertone threw its full promotional muscle behind the album, and by early 1996, the song was a major crossover hit on mainstream rock radio, modern rock radio, and the pop charts. (Its peak of number 37 on the latter makes it one of many ’90s-era hits whose release formats affected its chart eligibility, thus obscuring how massively popular it really was.) “Flood” helped push sales of Jars of Clay past the double-platinum mark, a stunning showing for a Christian group. The album was certified Gold (500,000 copies sold) by the RIAA in April 1996 and Platinum (one million copies sold) in September the same year. January 1999 the album was certified 2xPlatinum. The album has now sold over 3 million copies worldwide.

Jars of Clay began as a band for what we call “the middle space.” We did not want to be a Christian band. We did not want to be a mainstream band. We wanted to live in the tension of both worlds. We were comfortable with the tension of that middle space.

We loved the conversations and debates it would stir. We felt like we were right where we needed to be. We fought and elbowed our way to keep ourselves in that tension. We’ve written songs for R-rated movies and for church music albums. We’ve played for Billy Graham festivals and for modern rock radio station festivals.

We like the middle space. It is a place where real conversations about doubt, struggle, faith, love, joy, and pain exist in their most genuine and uncensored forms. We love that the middle space has room for the drug addict and the preacher. It is a table big enough for those who love God, and those who don’t care about God. [Dan Haseltine, Jars of Clay, April 2012]

Anticipation for this album has been high, especially among those who own the band’s indie CD, ‘Frail’, or saw the band snag top honors at last year’s Gospel Music Association New Talent Competition. Although together barely two years, ‘Jars of Clay’ has turned out to be a remarkably cohesive major label debut. Many young artists (especially those allowed to produce themselves) succumb to the temptation to take their demos and indie projects and make everything bigger. Jars takes exactly the opposite tack, scaling back the more bombastic aspects of ‘Frail’, in favor of an alternative folk/rock approach that stresses layered vocals, inventive acoustic guitar parts, programmed rhythms, ethereal keyboard accents and other embellishments such as violin, cello and mandolin. The sparse arrangements help to highlight Dan Haseltine’s emotional delivery of the imaginative lyrics, which were mostly penned by the lead singer. Haseltine can turn a poetic and gripping phrase, as evidenced by songs like «Liquid» (“Blood-stained brow/ He wasn’t broken for nothing/ Arms nailed down/ He didn’t die for nothing”), «Sinking» (“You see through my forever lies/ And You are not believing/ And I see in Your forever eyes/ And you are forever healing”) or «Worlds Apart» (“Did You really have to die for me?/ All I am for all You are/ Because what I need and what I believe are worlds apart”). Factor in some high-profile tour dates opening for artists like PFR, and you’ve got all the ingredients for a well-deserved hit. [Bruce A. Brown, CCM, June 1995]

> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/jars-of-clay/309887579)

CD tracklist:

01. Liquid – 3:31
02. Sinking – 3:48
03. Love Song For A Savior – 4:46
04. Like A Child – 4:35
05. Art In Me – 3:58
06. He – 5:17
07. Boy On A String – 3:30
08. Flood – 3:33
09. Worlds Apart – 5:18
10. Blind / Four Seven – 27:15

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Essential Records. (“Blind” has a running time of 3:59. At the 5:59 mark a hidden track – “Four Seven” – begins.) Jars of Clay Platinum is the title of the special edition album that Jars of Clay released in 1996 when the self-titled debut attained platinum status. The album has the same track listing as the original with the hidden track “Four Seven” added as the hidden track without the Strings Studio Sessions for Blind. The cover and artwork are different from the original album, designed specifically to commemorate the album being a platinum release. Each of the 20,000 discs are numbered. Re-issued as a 12-inch vinyl double LP by Essential Records in 2010.

A full-page advertisement for Jars of Clay’s self-titled debut album was featured in the July 1995 issue of CCM Magazine.