The Seven Albums of Switchfoot (Part 1: The Legend of Chin to Learning to Breathe)

So this is how this is going to work: I'm going to listen to an album or a bunch of albums and then I'm going to review them, write what I like or don't like about them and give them a rating out of five, just like how I do for books. I decided to do all seven of Switchfoot's albums first, so I listened to them all from first to last while I was at work today and I will review them all in this post. Unless I come up with a better method, I'm going to use the following categories to review each album: Personality, Lyrics, and Sound.

The Legend of Chin

This album was released on June 17, 1997 by re:think records, which was bought by Sparrow Records.

Billboard called it "an intriguing and surprisingly mature effort for a debut release." Here's my take:

Personality

This is a unique album. It's a little bit goofy at times, it has a goofy sound and some goofy lyrics. Nevertheless, it tackles some pretty heavy issues in a disarmingly lighthearted way. For example, the track Chem6A chides self-centered, aimless, and entertainment greedy youth with, "I don't know what love is/I don't know who I am/And if I ever want to find out/I'll watch the movie/'cause it's not me/I'm just like everybody else my age."

Other tracks, like Home and You, are  little more mellow. Home seems a little mournful, with "I've been poison/I've been rain/I've been fooled again/I've seen ashes/shine like chrome/someday I'll see home."

Overall, it's a moody album. It gets a little aggressive, in Bomb and Ode to Chin and Underwater and broody in You, Don't Be There, and Concrete Girl but it keeps being lighthearted with enough goofiness to keep me thinking that it's a fun album. Well done. I'll give it a 5/5.

Lyrics

The writing in this album is great. I think it's clever, original, and unique. Chem6A is a particularly clever lyric, it remains lighthearted and a little silly where it might have or could have sounded either preachy (at one extreme) or mocking (at the other extreme). Jon Foreman, the lead singer, aims the song's criticism at himself but the message retains its poignancy.

Might Have Ben Hur, although weirdly titled, is a very sweet and original love song, I find its refrain: "'Cause I want someone to share my smile/to share the pain/to be there when the sea turns gray/to share the joy/for better or worse/and I thought that it might have been her" really evocative.

My favourite thing about these lyrics is that they're consistent. The whole album follows a few themes like purpose, love in human relationships, the meaning of life, and faith. This album is kind of like an exploration of life that's a little reminiscent of the best and worst parts of my High School experience. 

The lyrics work, they do what they're supposed to do and they communicate emotions well. Overall, a well written album. Again a 5/5.

Sound

Of all of Switchfoot's albums this one is the most raw and unrefined. But that's not a bad thing. The music goes well with the lyrics. It delivers a kind of bumpy pop-rock sound. But it's also a sound that's unique to Switchfoot.

Conclusion

A good album. It tackles important themes, like love, purpose and meaningfulness, and remains lighthearted and optimistic. The optimism of this album is probably it's most winsome feature. Even when it gets a little broody, it never gets dark. It gets a 5/5 chin ups.

New Way To Be Human

New Way to be Human was released on March 23, 1999 under the label re:think Records, which was owned by Sparrow Records. The track titled Only Hope was featured in the movie A Walk to Remember and became an international favourite.

A book with the same title was written by the band's producer, Charlie Peacock. Its introduction was written by Jon Foreman. I haven't read the book, but I plan to.

Personality

Another quirky album, New Way to be Human retains a little of The Legend of Chin's lighthearted optimism and goofiness. It's a little less broody, a little more upbeat, but also a little more detached. By 'detached' I mean that it doesn't connect emotionally like The Legend of Chin did. Instead, it's a more philosophical album. The result is that it's also a more forgettable album, for me, because I tend to remember things that make me feel.

The songs Sooner or Later and Something More are based on the writings of the philosophers, Soren Kierkegaard and Augustine of Hippo respectively. 

Although I like many of the individual songs on this album a lot, overall the album isn't among my favourites. I give it a 3.8/5.

Lyrics

As with the last record, the lyrics are mostly very well written.

I have one complaint, though: Sooner or Later is, according to Jon Foreman, Soren Kierkegaard's thoughts "as best as he understands them," but they're awfully vague. Here's a sample: "Sooner or later they'll find out/there's a hole in the wall/sooner or later you'll find out/that you'll dream to be that small." From what I remember from Philosophy class, Kierkegaard was pretty deep. I mean, he was the founder of existentialism. The most I get from this song is that he was a Christian who wanted to shrink (and possibly go through a mouse hole ... but I'm grasping). I mean, I'm sure there's a giant metaphor here, but I don't see it. So that's my complaint. The lines "Oh God I believe/Please help me believe" along with the final line of Ode to Chin from The Legend of Chin: "Doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs" allude to Kierkegaard's thought that to have faith is to also have doubt, which is cool. I mean, I like the idea of lyrics being philosophical.

So, anyways, like The Legend of Chin the lyrics here are fairly consistent and follow a theme that can be seen developing through the album. The main theme I see in this album is introduced in the first and title track: New Way to Be Human: that there is a life beyond the physical.

Company Car at once illustrates Jesus' words: "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36) and chides those who sell out their dreams and authenticity for success.

So the lyrics are solid, mostly. And I like the way the theme is developed through the album. All in all, a 4/5.

Sound

This album is a little heavier than The Legend of Chin, a little more aggressive, a little more rocky. Also, New Way to be Human has got to be one of the oddest sounding songs I know. Give it a listen and see what I mean. I like it a lot, but it'll never be one of my favourites. There are some quieter, softer songs like Only Hope and Under the Floor and they work well. I really like the sound on this one, so 5/5.

Conclusion

Another good album. More philosophical than emotional, but good nonetheless. And it retains all of the optimism and brightness that Switchfoot introduced in Legend of Chin. 3.5/5 bearded philosophers.

Learning to Breathe

This third studio album by Switchfoot was released on September 26, 2000. It was the last album released under the independent label re:think Records, which was owned by Sparrow Records. This album received a Grammy award nomination for Best Rock Gospel Album in 2001 (not because its music fits into the "Rock Gospel" genre but because it was distributed by Sparrow Records, a 'Christian' label.

Incidentally, Learning to Breathe is also the title of many unrelated books. I don't plan on reading any of them.

Personality

More of what we've come to expect from Switchfoot. A little bit goofy, a little bit broody, a little bit tackling heavy serious issues. Although this album is a little more mature, a little less goofy, and a little more aggressive than anything Swithfoot has done yet.

The song Poparazzi is a funny and goofy song that chides the world of pop culture (I say chide because it's more serious than "mocks" or "pokes fun at" but much less preachy or serious than any other kind of word I could think of) for creating idols and being ridiculous. It clumps Nirvana, Elvis, Marilyn Munroe, and 90210 into one category and calls them all ridiculous, and it does it pretty cleverly too.

Dare You to Move challenges a hesitant person to put pain and failure behind them and make a leap of faith. And it's pretty catchy.  Learning to Breathe is kind of the same: picking it all up and beginning again after having your "head kicked in." So you see the tone of the album right there in the first two songs. Upbeat.

Again, an optimistic album, very bright. I like it a lot so it gets a 5/5.

Lyrics

Thematically, this album picks up where The Legend of Chin left off. It talks about faith, salvation, dumping stupid baggage, redemption, forgiveness, new beginnings.

I particularly like the words of Loser: "I've been the burnout kid/I've been the idiot head/I'll turn the other cheek to be hit/You can take what you want from me/Empty me 'til I'm depleted/I'll be around if I'm ever needed" compared to the opening words of that same track: "Only the losers win." It echoes the spiritual principle of humility.

Overall, another very consistent album, thematically. What I like best is seeing how the themes introduced in Legend of Chin get developed here. A solid 5/5.

Sound

Learning to Breathe is Switchfoot's most polished album yet. It still has a few goofy, weird sounding songs (not at all a bad thing) like Poparazzi but that helps make their sound as unique as it is. Not that it wouldn't be unique if those songs were excluded, mind you. Like Switchfoot's themes, its sound develops and matures from one album to the next. I like that. It's not a radical change, it's just the same as before only more so. 5/5.

Conclusion

A great album. Fun to listen to, enjoyable, and deep. Great stuff 5/5.

So that's it for the first three albums. I'll write again later to cover a few of the next ones. Thanks for reading!