Jack Johnson
Album: Sleep Through the Static
Release Date: February 5, 2008
Label: Universal Records

Track Listing
01. All At Once
02. Sleep Through the Static
03. Hope
04. Angel
05. Enemy
06. If I Had Eyes
07. Same Girl
08. What You Thought You Need
09. Adrift
10. Go On
11. They Do, They Don't
12. While We Wait
13. Monsoon
14. Losing Keys

Reviewer: Tom

I don't know what it is folks! All of a sudden, every dude with an acoustic guitar writes an album...and I end up reviewing it. This time around, it's Hawaii native Jack Johnson. One of the more popular recent singer/songwriters of the new millennium.

The former surfing prodigy recorded the hugely popular “Brushfire Fairy tales” at the urging of some of his close friends. His meteoric rise to fame has come virtually overnight. His sound blends elements of jazz, folk and the blues together with his highly recognizable smooth voice over top.

This new release of his, Sleep Through the Static, is not a far cry from his previous efforts. The instrumentation is similar, although a lot mellower than usual. What is different from most of his previous records are the lyrics. This album, unlike “Brushfire Fairy tales” and “On and On”, focuses on relationships and love.

As a Johnson fan, I was initially excited when I first heard of this album. After listening to it, I wasn't that excited anymore. Not that I didn't like it, but I thought it was a little TOO mellow. And, if you hadn't guessed by now, I don't like sappy love songs. This album was littered with them.

Songs that I did like (and there were a few) were “Angel”, “They Do, They Don't” and “Monsoon”. It wasn't hard to pick these songs out. They were the only ones that weren't very stereotypical love songs.

Final Verdict:
“Sleep Through the Static” isn't Jack's best album. Each of his previous albums have a couple of songs that are just bonkers....like ridiculously good. Brushfire had “It's All Understood”. On and On had “Rodeo Clowns”. Sleep Through didn't really have any. Nothing sticks in your head.

The songs are great to listen to if you're trying to get you're groove on with your significant other, but there not good for an everyday listen. If you've never heard of Jack before this review, I would start with “Brushfire Fairy tales” if you really want to get an amazing album from him.

Rating:
6.75 out of 10

Jack Johnson Official Web Site
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