With the release of their fourth CD, The Beautiful Letdown, Switchfoot sets sail on course of a new horizon. Based out of San Diego, California, the four-piece band has garnered quite a following and now has the ears of the world with their new management and deal with Columbia Records. Already known for being one of the coolest bands in Christian music, the new release takes them to an all new level.
The Beautiful Letdown is the musical journey of Switchfoot with the heavy emphasis on living a Christian life in the world. The first song, "Meant to Live," is an amazing edgy rock song which challenges the listener that people were "Meant to live for so much more, have we lost ourselves." The song sets the stage for a CD which is a collaboration of the carpe-diem philosophy along with the constant challenge to live with a God-outlook on life.
The CD is an incredible array of songs which fit together like a self-fulfilling puzzle. The second album song, "This is Your Life", poses the question of being satisfied with what you've done with the limited time God has allowed.
The songs are walking mini-sermons but done in a classy dignifying way. Basically, this is a CD you don't mind throwing in the car to impress your friends (Christians or non-Christian) of new music they've never heard. While each song has a point and message, they all tend to be very well written and just plain fun.
One of the CD's best songs is, "Gone," a carpe-diem filled, tune about how the shortness of life. The song has striking similarities to the Jackson-5 "ABC, 123" hit. The song shows Switchfoot's domination of America's modern pop-rock. Once compared to a combination of Third Eye Blind or even Sugar Ray, Switchfoot shows that they can hold their own with a unique sound. The highlights on the CD are every song, but to choose a few, the re-recorded "Dare You to Move," "On Fire," "Adding to the Noise," and the last song "Twenty-Four."
The release is hook line and sinker for anyone with an appetite for an amazing pop-rock band. Christian or not, this music will satisfy.
Other coverage for this album
The Rebel Base 2003Reviewed by Josh HurstFormer President Calvin Coolidge once said that "the business of America is business." Well, if that's true, then the business of Switchfoot is crafting fun, profound, and delightfully edgy pop/rock, and the business of yours truly is writing remarkably cheesy opening paragraphs in his album reviews. You'll have to excuse my less-than-professional approach; when my copy of Switchfoot's latest,…The Phantom Tollbooth 2003Reviewed by Steve StockmanJon Foreman and his brother and mates have rushed the palaces of CCM and claimed the throne. Without arrogance or pride or even wanting to be, they have simply grown into the finest thing that exists in Christendom today. Fair play to Charlie Peacock who way back in 1997 discovered these Californian tanned boy band faces and conspired to launch them at the world on his "big idea/short lifespan"…The Phantom Tollbooth 2003Reviewed by Matthew WilliamsGreat. So here's another incredibly talented group of Christian musicians, too talented to be noticed by the mainstream market, suddenly being "discovered" by a major label and whisked away to a compound called a "studio." There, the recently "discovered" artists remain in confinement for a good two years and are given a budget (roughly the size of a small Central American country's gross…The Phantom Tollbooth 2003Reviewed by Olin JenkinsWhat's left to say that our previous writers haven't? Lots! Please read The Phantom Tollbooth's previous reviews of Switchfoot's The Beautiful Letdown to see that I'm simply underscoring that this band has hit an excellent stride! Yes! With the band on a dual course on both Sparrow and Columbia Records, I was surprised and pleased at the same time to hear "Meant to Live" one of the few times I…The Phantom Tollbooth 2002Reviewed by John WilsonSwitchfoot's big break came in 2001, when the band scored several songs on the Walk to Remember soundtrack. The general market took notice, and now waits to see what Switchfoot can come up with next. The answer is the album The Beautiful Letdown, which is their most mature and fully-realized work to date. The title track tackles both celebrity and the idea of being "aliens and strangers", as…Similar sounding releases
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2003downhereSo Much for Substitutes
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1998The NormalsBetter Than This
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2004Smalltown PoetsIt's Later Than It's Ever BeenMore from Switchfoot
1999New Way To Be Human
2005Nothing Is Sound
2004Live in San Diego (Video)
2000Learning to Breathe
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