On and On

by

Jack Johnson

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One would be hard pressed to find Jack Johnson interviewed in the pages of a music magazine going "on and on" about his music being innovative and ground breaking. He knows it's not and, for the most part, his biggest fans know it's not. The thing about Jack is he's good at what he does. He's a passionate singer with a great range, a competent guitar player, and a gifted lyricist. He keeps his melodies clear and simple which allows him to flex the emotions of his voice and allows the listener to explore the depth and weight of his lyrics. Johnson serves as a model for what singer songwriters should be. Simply, "On and On" is a fantastic album. It's much more cohesive than "Brushfire Fairytales" (which, to me, sounded like a collection of singles)and Johnson has finally become comfortable with his sound and mood. Not every track on the album is brilliant, but there's also no throw-away material either. The two songs that frame this album are "Gone" and "On and On." They both reveal Johnson's stoic acceptance of life's complications. Like every great artist, he asks his listener to sit back and ask him/herself what this all means. That's what I like about Jack, his songs don't inspire me to change the world, they inspire me to change myself.

Sorta hate to be the voice of dissention here...but I was quite disappointed w/this disc. I loved BF within the first 2 listens but found this to be just too....repetitive I guess. I was hoping JJ would've expanded his sound a bit more, or at least mixed it up more than was evident here. I enjoyed the 1st two tracks and was looking forward to the rest, but then it just seemed to me that it all sounded VERY SIMILIAR. While BF had very diff't rhythms and sounds to most of the tracks I viewed this offering as a fallback on a tried and true recipe, almost as if he was determined to make this album sound enough like the first so that it would be successful. For me, it wasn't.