Jars Of Clay If I Left The Zoo CD

Jars Of Clay: Dan Haseltine (vocals, toy piano, drums, percussion, loops); Stephen Mason (acoustic, electric & lap steel guitars, keyboards, percussion, background vocals); Matt Odmark (acoustic & electric guitars, percussion, background vocals); Charlie Lowell (accordion, piano, Wurlitzer piano, toy piano, Hammond B-3 & pump organs, Mellotron, Moog synthesizer, percussion, background vocals).
Additional personnel: Clay Jones (acoustic guitar, mandolin); Dennis Herring (acoustic guitar); Ben Egan (lap steel guitar); Ned Henry (violin); David Henry (cello); Aaron Sands (bass, percussion); Ben Mize (drums, percussion); Joe Porter (drums); Jonathan Noel, Oxford Coffee Choir (background vocals).
Principally recorded at Steet Tea, Oxford, Massachusetts.
IF I LEFT THE ZOO won the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album.
Recording information: Sweet Tea, Oxford MS.
If the stripped-down, neo-vaudevillian sound of If I Left the Zoo's opener suggests that Jars of Clay is following a different path with their fifth album, that's because it's a little misleading. There are a few new quirks in the group's mature jangle pop, but overall, If I Left the Zoo is very much in the same vein as the group's other releases. That's not necessarily a bad thing, however, since Jars of Clay does this kind of thing really well, and with producer Dennis Herring, they have figured out how to add little sonic flourishes that distinguish the album, even if it's stylistically similar to their other efforts. The reason the record works is that the band's songwriting is getting stronger, and Herring has decided to let the music be direct and even a little ragged. The result is a bit like Herring's work with Counting Crows -- at its core, it's simple, immediate melodic folk-pop, but there are enough little quirks in the arrangements, from accordions to a toy piano on "Sad Clown," to keep things interesting and flowing smoothly. Consequently, If I Left the Zoo is Jars of Clay's strongest since their mainstream, self-titled breakthrough. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
In the '90s, groups like Jars of Clay began to address the perceived gap between Christian music and rock. For young rock/pop artists of the Christian faith, there seemed to be no happy medium until groups like this one learned how to keep the beat while keeping in close contact with their spiritual values. IF I LEFT THE ZOO proves to be a rather ambitious effort for this quartet. It opens with "Goodbye, Goodnight," an eccentric tune whose chamber string section and sophisticated harmonies recall SGT. PEPPER-era Beatles. After that, though, it's straight into a hard-grooving rocker ("Unforgetful You") laced with funky rhythms and buzzing synths. The incidental studio noise and occasional self-parodic touches that crop up throughout the album show that, though their lyrics often address spiritual themes, Jars of Clay have an extremely well-developed sense of humor. Make no mistake, Jars aren't a bunch of scripture-obsessed proselytizers; their message is a subtle one. The only thing they're trying to convert listeners to is the subtly enthralling power of their arrangements and compositions.Q (3/00, p.102) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Dan Haseline can pen a proper tune and sing it plaintively too....the results go beyond the merely pleasant. None of this is likely to rock anyone's world. Sometimes it can help smooth out some of the wrinkles..."
CMJ (11/8/99, pp.21-2) - "...The Jars' spirituality, conveyed by rich three-part pop harmonies and folky strumming, is subtle....will magnetically attract fans of adult contemporary rock..."