Jack Johnson
On And On
On Sale Now
For $13.48

Let me preface my review of Jack Johnson’s second album On And On by saying this; I absolutely love this album. Jack manages to stuff 16 songs in 45 minutes and it plays seamlessly, like a concert. For what Brushfire Fairytales lacked in variety from song to song, he more than makes up for with On And On. To plagiarize myself, in addition to the Blues, Folk, Rock, & Pop from his first album, this time around there’s a little classic Jack, some Reggae, I even think I heard some Rap. Basically Jack is back with his “stoner acoustic folk rock” (copyright).

Taking an excerpt from “Times Like These”, the opening track, can sum up the theme of this album. “And there’s always been laughing, crying, birth and dying/Boys and girls with hearts that take and give and break/And heal and grow and recreate and raise and nurture/But then hurt from time to times like these/And times like those/What will be will be/And so it goes”. Those are perfect, beautiful lyrics. As my friend would say, I think Jack’s point is “hey everybody, step back and chill out”. Music like this just makes you feel good and forget about all the crap. I like to listen to it at work at the risk of getting fired. “Who cares about that client, man? Lets just grab a Corona, medicinal marijuana and fix our cataracts”.

I could write a senior thesis on this record detailing why each and every song is a blessing from the heavens, but then you would stop reading right now. So let me highlight some songs I feel had the perfect mix of lyrics and instrumental accompaniment. Track 3, “Traffic in the Sky” has got to make the list. Another sexy masterpiece by the man. “Maybe it’s a dream and if I scream it will burst at the seams/ This whole place will fall into pieces and then they’d say…/Well how could we have known?/I’ll tell them it’s not so hard to tell/If you keep adding stones/Soon the water will be lost in the well”. Hey, I hope Jack isn’t talking about you in track 5. He’s like a singing philosophy major. “Look at all those fancy clothes/But these could keep us warm just like those/And what about your soul? Is it cold?/Is it straight from the mold, and ready to be sold?” All joking aside, I think it’s great to hear music from an artist who clearly sees the world for what it is. If he is true to his music, you know that this is a man who values the important things in life. Not the Mercedes, “bling bling”, or cash, money, hoes. Even if he is a hypocrite, the message is till good and I dig it man.

Moving on down the line, we come across a true gem in track 12, “Cookie Jar”. A powerful commentary on how the media has affected violence in America. Take this excerpt for example; “well it wasn’t me says the boy with the gun/sure I pulled the trigger but it needed to be done/because life’s been killing me ever since it begun/you can’t blame me cuz I’m too young/ Well you cant blame me, sure the killer was my son/but I didn’t teach him to pull the trigger of the gun/it’s the killing on his TV screen/you can’t blame me, its those images he’s seen”. The general consensus is that “on and on” dabbles more frequently in political and social issues than “Brushfire Fairytales”, and I tend to agree. However, if that’s not your thing, don’t be turned off. Jack isn’t all stone-faced on this album, sometimes he’s stoned-face.

Continuing with his strong finish, we see track 13 “Rodeo Clowns”. For those G Love and Special Sauce fans, this will be a pleasant addition to the record. A playful song Jack performed with G Love that actually makes for a great partay song. Caution: don’t try to use it as a party song. Finally I need to mention what is probably my favorite track so far, Numero Fifteen- “Mediocre Bad Guys”. To be honest I think what I like most about it is the chorus. It’s just got a sound that I don’t get tired of, much like the rest of the album. And that’s all I have to say about that.

Let me side track for a second before I wrap this up. There is a certain major music magazine named after a famous rock band that I have a bone to pick with. They beat up Jack’s new album and its burns me up because they fail to see things from the listener’s point of view. I just want you to feel assured knowing that this is a review written by an objective Jack Johnson fan who actually knows a little bit about the artist. I’m not a bitter, 40 year old English major that dissects an album at the expense of the truth. It’s either good, okay, or bad and that’s all I have to say about that. Now with that out of the way…

I know I have spent the whole time kissing Jack’s ass, but this time its because I truly mean it. You know how at the beginning of every Conan O’Brien show he says “we have an excellent show tonight” even though you know Liza Minelli and musical guest Meatloaf is going to suck? Well, sometimes I tell people an album is good and I’m really lying. But rest-assured, this time its good, real good. Buy in confidence friends. This record gets my highest praise…..Super Duper!

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