The Definitive 1000 Songs Of All Time 1955 to 2005: Number 561

Number 561

Jimmy Eat World

"Middle"

(2001)
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Genre:Alt Rock

Hi my name is Jasmine. I really don't know what im doing here as all this music seems pretty old to me. Something my dad would listen to and hes a total geekwad. But i have been give a chance to write on the more modern stuff like this song by Jimmy Eats World (even tho its old). I was 11 when this came out, so its as old as the Beatles as far as im concerned.
I have met the others who write here, like *Gazza (Hes always grumpy, he reminds me from someone in the muppets). *Tez, shes cool, im going to be like her when im really old too like her. *Hippy is always tripping on something, whether it be E or his shoe laces (He looks as old as Santa, but skinnier, with a pipe that he says he uses for tobacco, like yeah, right). *Crowbarred looks like a rockstar, acts like a rockstar, but really hes more like Pee Wee Herman, just without the court cases. I look foward to writing more here, im just hoping there is some decent new stuff, not like this old shit. Like Lata ~ Jasmine.

After being dropped by Capitol, Jimmy Eat World returned in 2001 with their most consistent and accessible album to date. Recorded entirely on the band's dime, before they had a new record deal, Bleed American features compelling lyrics, driving guitar work, and insanely catchy melodies. Left to their own devices during the recording process, it wouldn't have been surprising if the band had turned out another layered, sprawling album akin to their previous full-length masterwork, Clarity. Perhaps sensing that they wouldn't be able to top their previous work when it came to spacy emo, Bleed American heads in a new direction. There are no 16-minute songs here, just straight-ahead rock & roll, performed with punk energy and alt-rock smarts. The title track sets the tone for the album with its blistering guitar attack and aggressive vocals. "A Praise Chorus" and "The Middle improve upon that formula, maintaining the forceful instrumentation but toying with the lyrical themes. "A Praise Chorus" uses the most basic of rock emotions for lyrical inspiration, "I wanna fall in love tonight," while lifting lyrics from Tommy James' "Crimson and Clover," They Might Be Giants' "Don't Let's Start," and Mötley Crüe's "Kick Start My Heart," among others.

When used in a song about the comfort and trappings of nostalgia, this borrowing comes off more like a well-placed tribute than stealing. "The Middle" offers a pep talk about self-acceptance and fitting in, and one of the most memorable guitar riffs this side of Angus Young. Bleed American's quieter moments recall some of the band's signature instrumentation from their previous work. Gentle keyboards, bells, and stirring background vocals from former that dog. member Rachel Haden enhance the understated beauty of ballads like "Hear You Me" and "Cautioneers." Haden's most enjoyable contribution, however, is to the up-tempo rocker "The Authority Song." On the surface a song about a song (John Mellencamp's "Authority Song), it also name drops the Beatles' "What Goes On."

The numerous references to other bands and other songs reveal that although Jimmy Eat World is a critically acclaimed and incredibly talented band, the members are really just rock fans themselves. If they maintain this level of quality, however, don't be surprised if the next generation of ambitious rockers start writing songs that pay tribute to Jimmy Eat World. [The Japanese edition adds the bonus track "(Splash) Turn Twist."] ~ [Mark Vanderhoff, All Music Guide]

Trivia about the album

With the release of Bleed American and the subsequent success of second single "The Middle", the band found itself at the center of newfound attention to "emo". For most of the 90s, "emo" had been an underground movement that almost completely evaded major label and mainstream control. Nearly every late-90s emo band that signed to a major label broke up before releasing an album. But where Clarity was seen as the quintessential emo album, Bleed American was a step away from that sound, standing closer to mainstream rock. While songs like the title track were certainly emo-influenced, songs like "A Praise Chorus", "The Middle", and "The Authority Song" clearly were not. However, since the mainstream media had nowhere else to attach the "emo" label, Jimmy Eat World continued to be referred to as an "emo" band, meaning that the term "emo" began to describe something completely different and more mainstream than what existed in the 90s. Major labels pounced, and began signing bands and releasing music that subscribed to this "new" version of emo. [Source:Wikipedia] (Emo's are cool ~ Jasmine)

Origin of the "Name"

The name Jimmy Eat World did not refer to lead singer Jim Adkins. Tom Linton's younger siblings, Ed and Jimmy, fought constantly when they were younger. Jimmy, who was stronger and heavier, would usually win. In one instance, Ed, as revenge, drew a picture with crayons of Jimmy shoving the entire world into his gaping mouth with the caption, "Jimmy eat world. The picture, and by extension the band name, may have been inspired by an episode of the cartoon show Tiny Toon Adventures, where the main characters put on a student film festival. Dizzy Devil's film, "Dizzy Eat World", was a 5 second piece drawn crudely in crayon where Dizzy's gaping maw engulfed the Earth. [Source:Wikipedia]

For John Mellencamp see Number 828 & Number 637

What does Rolling Stone think about Jimmy?
Sporting a dry, sunny crackle that befits their home base of Mesa, Arizona, Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle" is a great summer rock song that actually sounds like summer. Guitars click at a rapid clip; drums are punchy, actually danceable, not merely mosh-worthy. Jim Adkins' tenor delivers a hopeful message to a fallen friend, tension mounts, the chorus hesitates for a split second of silence and then pow! The track explodes into a pure pop heaven of cheery possibilities. Moments like these reveal why Jimmy Eat World are Blink-182 frontman Tom DeLonge's favorite group (they recently played his wedding). This is a band of positive passion armed with an album of glorious potential hits. Bleed American's title track, bound to blow up a radio near you, is the best Nirvana-like tune since Kurt Cobain left this earth. Another churning cut, "Sweetness," runs a close second. Both conjure that shock of near-bubblegum catchiness, airtight ensemble attack and bittersweet mingling of anguish and uplifting melody that many bands fake but few can pull off. Better news is that the album boasts nine other tracks that don't sound anything like these two but are every bit as concisely designed and ardently delivered.

But Bleed American sports the tender turbulence that insular emo kids have been enjoying in private for years, presented in a sure-shot package ready for Creed and Blink buyers, as well as anyone old or savvy enough to know New Wave's hooky delights. "All I need is just to hear a song I know," Jim Adkins pleads in "A Praise Chorus" before letting loose a string of lyric snippets quoting Tommy James, Madness, Motley Crue and more while channeling the Romantics on a collision course with the Ramones. Elsewhere, the band suggests early U2 on the slow-building balladry of "Your House," "Hear You Me" and "My Sundown"; the mechanical glow of "Cautioners" recalls the Cars; you can hear Cheap Trick in the nasal, high-pitched catchiness of "The Authority Song."

Whatever their influences, Jimmy Eat World retain emo's essential element: emotion. Using a disarming sensitivity, they speak to a youth culture frosted over by irony, prefab fun and knee-jerk belligerence. Jimmy Eat World favor technique over the unfocused outbursts of other emo bands, but their earnestness is breathtaking. "We once walked out on the beach, and once I almost touched your hand," Adkins admits in "If You Don't, Don't," invoking pop's eternal longing. Somehow he avoids being melodramatic - the only thing corny about this band is its typically emo name (although its acronym should adorn some kickass T-shirts). Jimmy Eat World have managed to be radical by just being sincere. And eleven killer songs don't hurt. ~ [BARRY WALTERS(RS 875 - August 16, 2001)]

For Blink 182 visit Mellow Mix Vol 1 #117
For Creed visit Mellow Mix Vol 1 #048
For Madness see Number 794

For U2 see Number 661

For more U2 visit Mellow Mix Vol 1 #129 & #038

For Cheap Trick see Number 651

Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (WTF?) the Album ranked at Number (Emo?)

This song has a Jasmine rating of 73.4 out of 108