Jon 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" RE:THINK label which also gave us another reason for CCM to exist; Sarah Masen.
That debut, The Legend of Chin, was pleasant enough but the chances of the band getting a fourth album never mind making one as strong as this was never too certain. After a couple of songs on the movie soundtrack for the rather saccharine movie Walk To Remember last year Switchfoot are now signed to Columbia who maybe see them in Lifehouse territory. This album has the material if the major label has the clout to exploit it. It may be that Lifehouse are soon heading back into the Christian arena with their heart still drawn towards worship as Switchfoot pass them in the night towards a mainstream impression.
Surfer boys, Switchfoot (a surfer term) are on Beautiful Letdown riding higher and harder waves with a sense of balance that is literally poetry in motion. This is articulate stuff wrapped up in the radio friendliest of what now goes under the genre moniker "emo." In the press releases Foreman is quoting Einstein and T.S. Eliot as well as referencing Physics and Surfer movies! The opening "Meant To Be" is an indication of the themes throughout though musically it is a little edgier and harder in sound than much of what follows. Foreman is asking what went wrong with mankind, why have we not fulfilled our potential and what might be done to put things back in order. It is an objective interrogation of mankind in its broadest sense but it is also a subjective look inside himself to see what he is made for.
No let up on the interrogation on track two; "This is your life/Are you who you want to be/Is it everything you dreamed that it would be/When the world was younger and you had everything to lose." Gone is a torrent of humor and poignancy, throwaways and name checks all those things that have caused the messed up state that everything else here is about:
Life is more than money, time was never money
Time was never cash, life is still more than girls.
Life is more than hundred dollar bills and roto-tom fills,
Life is more than fame and rock and roll and thrills.
All the riches of the kings end up in will
We've got information in the information age
But do we know what life is outside of our convenient Lexus cages?
Adding "To The Noise" punks up the symptoms and diagnosis:
that T.V. set
Tells us what we've wanted to hear
But none of these sound bites
Are coming in clear
From the third world to the corporate ear
We are the symphony of modern humanity.
We need help and so "Redemption" looks for what the title suggests and heads to the Christian place of hope as the singer in his vulnerable authenticity sings, "I got my hands at redemptions side/These scars are bigger than, these doubts of mine." The title track veers more towards the ballad but comes with a warning that you will be singing along to it all day long. It is about the amazement of grace, the mystery of our screwed-upness is soothed with mercy.
The one liners and rhyming couplets abound. Clever and witty but detonating where they should:
Yesterday is a kid in the corner
Yesterday is dead and over"
Easy living, you're not much like your name
Easy dying, you look just about the same.
If we're adding to the noise
Turn off this song.
If we're adding to the noise
Turn off your stereo, radio, video..
I wrestled the angel
For more than a name
Philosophy and theology beautifully argued and the skill of the art form is that as he points his finger in the very eye the hopeless condition that we all share he leaves us not cringing in shame but inspired to make it different as the remixed song from Learning To Breathe, "Dare You To Move" encourages, "I dare you to move/I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor." Too many great songs to mention. Too many choices for radio singles. This is a classic Christian rock album happening right now!
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 John WehrleWith 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…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
2001Audio AdrenalineLift
2003downhereSo Much for Substitutes
2003By The TreeRoot
1998The NormalsBetter Than This
2004OverflowA Better Place
2004Smalltown PoetsIt's Later Than It's Ever BeenMore from Switchfoot
2005Nothing Is Sound
2004Live in San Diego (Video)
2000Learning to Breathe
1997The Legend of Chin
1999New Way To Be Human
