I await the coming of The Eleventh Hour probably more than any other Jars of Clay fan out there. Rumor has it, The Eleventh Hour is reminiscent of the sound of the first album. I don't get it - the same thing was said about the third album, which in fact sounded nothing like the first if you actually come down to it. I think that Jars, though sticking to their alternative, innovative, imaginative, meditative roots, has gradually been evolving their sound into something different, with the advent of each new album.

The element that characterizes the first album, Jars of Clay, is very distinctively the fiddle (Jonathan Yudkin), and the awesome strings (led by the one and only Carl Gorodetzky). I liked this sound the best. However, they chose to skip this in the following albums.

If The Eleventh Hour has these elements back, I'd say it was reminiscent of the first release. Have you ever paid attention to the hidden track at the end, where they are discussing the string arrangements for "Blind"? It is brilliant! My favorite number on this record is "Love Song for a Savior" which never fails to paint in my mind that picture of simplicity and innocent love as we "thank our Jesus for the daisies and the roses" and run up to Him and "fall in His arms", the tears falling down as we say "I want to fall in love with you, I want to fall in love with you..."

The second album, Much Afraid, is a lot more passive meditation, with a ton more introspection and quiet reflection, though the emotion is played out here by the acoustic guitar. Good, beautiful songs, I love them, but it may seem way too slow for some. It served as a bridge, however, for the Jars' sound to progress into plugged-in rock in their third album, which features the el guitar sound! My favorite song on Much Afraid: "Hymn" (!!!). Surprised? I surprise myself too at times. But I wish more artists would create the modern hymn instead of trying in a million different ways that are all the same, to recreate the magic of medieval works.

A lot of sounds come through in Jars' third album, If I Left the Zoo... more like experimentation than defining culture. Kicking off the album with"Goodbye, Goodnight" definitely took guts! The songwriting style is also a good deal different. I guess that's because Dan had started to open the floor a little and allow the other Jars' members to collaborate in the songwriting. (In an interview, Stephen Mason says that in The Eleventh Hour, Dan completely opened the floor, so it is likely to have a more rock-oriented groove than all the others.)

I think the backing vocals are especially prominent on Zoo, and none better than the chorus of "Can't Erase It", a worthy chart-topper. I didn't like the gospel touch on "I'm Alright"-a very, very un-Jarsy sound with a kiddy groove. My favorite song on If I Left the Zoo? A tie between "Collide" (which has the best introduction to a song that I've ever heard!) That toy piano followed by the 4-count, and on come the driving guitars in a cool riff! Incidentally, a similar musical concept to that of Collide is used on Audio Adrenaline's song "Some Kind of Zombie" on the CD of the same name, and "Sad Clown" ("I wore all this paint just for you..."Sound familiar?)

I believe if The Eleventh Hour resembles the sound of any album, it could only be the third. Hope these million-dollar ramblings have made some sense...