The Essential Jars of Clay

The Essential Jars of Clay

I guess greatest hits albums sometimes give you a better appreciation of an artist. If you're a die hard fan of a particular artist, then naturally you'll love their greatest hits compilation. Now I'm not a die hard fan of Jars Of Clay. In fact, up until their release of Good Monsters, I kept waiting for them to make some real noise. They had their breakthrough debut album when they released Flood, but they haven't made any big waves in the music scene since then. But something in me knew they had hidden guns just waiting to be pulled out, and they did just that with Good Monsters. I think at this point in time, with such a wide open field of music styles, it's the ideal moment for them to flex their skills. So in light of the Good Monsters album, and now The Essential Jars of Clay, I can appreciate their work more. Looking back on their older songs in light of their newer ones shows the potential they always had. The Essential Jars of Clay is basically a greatest hits album spanning their career from when Flood was released up until now. There's a couple tracks I was surprised that didn't make it (Show You Love for example). But it's a good compilation to cover the progress they made through the years.

* Funny observation: If you look on the right of the album cover, Steve Mason looks stoned out of his mind. Just thought I'd add that additional info. Haha...