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Jon Foreman and his brother and mates have rushed the palaces of CCM and claimed the throne. Without arrogance or pride or even wanting to be, they have simply grown into the finest thing that exists in Christendom today. Fair play to Charlie Peacock who way back in 1997 discovered these Californian tanned boy band faces and conspired to launch them at the world on his “big idea/short lifespan” RE:THINK label which also gave us another reason for CCM to exist; Sarah Masen.

That debut, The Legend of Chin, was pleasant enough but the chances of the band getting a fourth album never mind making one as strong as this was never too certain. After a couple of songs on the movie soundtrack for the rather saccharine movie Walk To Remember last year Switchfoot are now signed to Columbia who maybe see them in Lifehouse territory. This album has the material if the major label has the clout to exploit it. It may be that Lifehouse are soon headings back into the Christian arena with their heart still drawn towards worship as Switchfoot pass them in the night towards a mainstream impression. 

Surfer boys, Switchfoot (a surfer term) are on Beautiful Letdown riding higher and harder waves with a sense of balance that is literally poetry in motion. This is articulate stuff wrapped up in the radio friendliest of what now goes under the genre moniker “emo.” In the press releases Foreman is quoting Einstein and TS Elliott as well as referencing Physics and Surfer movies! The opening "Meant To Be" is an indication of the themes throughout though musically it is a little edgier and harder in sound than much of what follows. Foreman is asking what went wrong with mankind, why have we not fulfilled our potential and what might be done to put things back in order. It is an objective interrogation of mankind in its broadest sense but it is also a subjective look inside himself to see what he is made for. 

No let up on the interrogation on track two; “This is your life/Are you who you want to be/Is it everything you dreamed that it would be/When the world was younger and you had everything to lose.” Gone is a torrent of humor and poignancy, throwaways and name checks all those things that have caused the messed up state that everything else here is about: 

Life is more than money, time was never money
Time was never cash, life is still more than girls. 
Life is more than hundred dollar bills and roto-tom fills,
Life is more than fame and rock and roll and thrills. 
All the riches of the kings end up in will 
We've got information in the information age
But do we know what life is outside of our convenient Lexus cages?

that T.V. set 
Tells us what we've wanted to hear
But none of these sound bites 
Are coming in clear 
From the third world to the corporate ear 
We are the symphony of modern humanity.

The one liners and rhyming couplets abound. Clever and witty but detonating where they should:

Yesterday is a kid in the corner 
Yesterday is dead and over”

Easy living, you're not much like your name
Easy dying, you look just about the same.

If we're adding to the noise
Turn off this song. 
If we're adding to the noise 
Turn off your stereo, radio, video..

I wrestled the angel 
For more than a name

Steve Stockman 3/25/2003
 
 

With the release of their fourth CD, The Beautiful Letdown, Switchfoot sets sail on course of a new horizon.  Based out of San Diego, California, the four-piece band has garnered quite a following and now has the ears of the world with their new management and deal with Columbia Records.  Already known for being one of the coolest bands in Christian music, the new release takes them to an all new level. 

The Beautiful Letdown is the musical journey of Switchfoot with the heavy emphasis on living a Christian life in the world. The first song, "Meant to Live," is an amazing edgy rock song which challenges the listener that people were "Meant to live for so much more, have we lost ourselves."  The song sets the stage for a CD which is a collaboration of the carpe-diem philosophy along with the constant challenge to live with a God-outlook on life.

The CD is an incredible array of songs which fit together like a self-fulfilling puzzle.  The second album song, “This is Your Life", poses the question of being satisfied with what you've done with the limited time God has allowed.

The songs are walking mini-sermons but done in a classy dignifying way.  Basically, this is a CD you don't mind throwing in the car to impress your friends (Christians or non-Christian) of new music they've never heard.  While each song has a point and message, they all tend to be very well written and just plain fun.

One of the CD's best songs is, "Gone," a carpe-diem filled, tune about how the shortness of life.  The song has striking similarities to the Jackson-5 "ABC, 123" hit.  The song shows Switchfoot's domination of American's modern pop-rock.  Once compared to a combination of Third Eye Blind or even Sugar Ray, Switchfoot shows that they can hold their own with a unique sound.  The highlights on the CD are every song, but to choose a few, the re-recorded "Dare You to Move," "On Fire," "Adding to the Noise," and the last song "Twenty-Four."

The release is hook line and sinker for anyone with an appetite for amazing pop-rock band.  Christian or not, this music will satisfy. 

John Wehrle 3/29/2003

Great. So here's another incredibly talented group of Christian musicians, too talented to be noticed by the mainstream market, suddenly being "discovered" by a major label and whisked away to a compound called a "studio." There, the recently "discovered" artists remain in confinement for a good two years and are given a budget (roughly the size of a small Central American country's gross national product) in exchange for making an aesthetically pleasing album, which will more than likely completely contradict any stances that were taken on their more modest offerings. (Any takers at guessing my opinion of the new Juliana Theory disc?)

Happily enough, Switchfoot has not suffered from its platform with Columbia Records but has used it to the band's advantage on The Beautiful Letdown, an eleven-song effort highlighted by lead vocalist/songwriter Jon Foreman's trademark transparent vocals and fun-filled, philosophical style of songwriting, as well as the all-or-nothing musical approach for which the band has become known.

The Beautiful Letdown contains a nice assortment of songs ranging from modern rock ("Meant to Live," "Ammunition") to the musingly moody ("The Beautiful Letdown") to simple, honest ballads ("Twenty-four", "On Fire"). Every song seems to build upon the theme of movement on faith, which is found throughout the band's last release Learning to Breathe, but with more persistence than before.

On the opener, "Meant to Live," an unavoidable, gritty entrance meets the listener head on with a message of a more abundant life provided in Christ's salvation that is ignored by the majority of the world today. Foreman's lyrical approach lends a fury of meaning to the already chaotic musical blend, which continually builds to a frenzied ending: "We want more than this world has to offer. We want more than the wars of our fathers and everything inside screams for second life."

Easily Switchfoot's most aggressive song to date, the tune features meaty guitars meeting Jon Foreman's plaintiff vocals to form a poignant dichotomy of purpose and sets the tone for the rest of The Beautiful Letdown.

"This is Your Life" is a picture of someone at the crossroads of life, looking in the mirror and evaluating how life has been spent. An encouraging message of hope in the future, the song sports some of Foreman's best writing:

"Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead. Yesterday is a promise that you've broken. Don't close your eyes. This is your life...is it everything you dreamed that it would be when the world was younger, and you had everything to lose?"

Musically, the song is characterized by more sonic quirks and electronic elements than on previous Switchfoot offerings, which could be attributed to the addition of new member Jerome Fontamillas.

"I Dare You to Move" returns from Learning to Breathe for an encore performance and actually sounds better than its predecessor, at least partially in thanks to mixing talents of Tom Lord Alge. Fitting well thematically with the album, the song features swinging extremes in dynamics, which add to the culminating fervency. Chad Butler, in particular, shines on the drums, and Foreman's voice leaves little, if anything in reserve.

"More than Fine" takes a simple acoustic guitar-driven melody, layers it with sonic nuances and keyboards elements, adds a plea for daily renewal and completeness in God and results in a complex paradox of simplicity. There's much here that I've heard before within the CCM crowd, yet Switchfoot proves that they can take the most common of elements and craft them into something extraordinarily unique.

In light of present concerns, "Ammunition" might come off sounding like an anti-war, political rant, but is a commentary on the human condition being the real culprit for the world's troubles. Foreman sings, tongue-in-cheek style, "I have no generation, show me my motivation," and then flips roles, "one world, one desperation, one hope and one salvation." At a March 15 concert in Atlanta, Georgia, Jon Foreman explained that he sees humanity searching to place blame for the evil in the world on anything but itself, when the issue is that the human nature is the problem. He related that until humanity realizes its need for salvation, it will only add to the tumult. 

Foreman continues his trend of introspective, serene moments on two offerings. "On Fire" finds Foreman taking another step deeper into the mysteries of faith in Christ and "standing on the edge of everything I've ever been", while "Twenty-four", written on the occasion of Foreman's 24th birthday, could be considered "Let That Be Enough: Part Two" (the original gem being from the band's sophomore release, New Way to Be Human).

The production is slick and nearly flawless, and remarkably, the members of Switchfoot don't seem to have lost their heads over the whole matter. Sure, the packaging doesn't include the fun pictures of the band crowded onto a bicycle anymore and there's only one reference to Chin, their debut album muse (if you liked that album, you'll be able to find it), but there's a seriousness of purpose, mixed into the quirks, that wasn't quite as cohesive on past efforts and demonstrates maturity.

And the clincher is this: everyone wins. Switchfoot has gained a bigger platform to proclaim the Gospel and display their monstrous talent, while remaining true to their convictions and Columbia Records gets an album of catchy, soundtrack-ready songs, that better yet, contains substance and quality that cannot be ignored. There is not letdown here.

Matthew Williams  4/11/03

What's left to say that our previous writers haven't? Lots! Please read The Phantom Tollbooth's previous reviews of Switchfoot's The Beautiful Letdown to see that I'm simply underscoring that this band has hit an excellent stride!

Yes! With the band on a dual course on both Sparrow and Columbia Records, I was surprised and pleased at the same time to hear "Meant to Live" one of the few times I tuned to my "alternative rock" radio station. This little revelation led me to ask myself if we could have heard "New Way to Be Human" or "Chem 6A" on the same radio station. No. Why? Give The Beautiful Letdown another listen to see that the guys have tightened their focus across the board, on all counts, production-wise and lyrically.

A reason for a bigger sound is the addition of Jerome Fontamillas on guitars and keyboards, adding to what was already an excellent-sounding trio. The basic formula of Switchfoot hasn't changed since The Legend of Chin, as there's a lot of the Jon Foreman-led pure pop ("Meant to Live"; "More Than Fine," which I hope will be released as a single; "Redemption"; "Gone"; and "Adding to the Noise"). Long-time Switchfoot fans will be pleased. Musically, there are a couple of unexpected gear shifts here: the title track and "On Fire," a ballad!

What struck me immediately about The Beautiful Letdown is that there are incredibly intense lyrical moments, specifically the last two tracks mentioned (the "gear shifts"). Foreman writes of the title track, "Entropy, pain, beauty, love, hope... mix them together and call it living." "On Fire" and "24" are clearly from writer Foreman's heart, as he admits, personal. A fascinating listening experience.

It's my hope that Switchfoot continues on this fast-paced stride, since The Beautiful Letdown is the band's most consistent project. Despite the few gear shifts, the guys are definitely on the right track.

Olin Jenkins   July 28, 2003