Album Review :
Jon Foreman - Limbs & Branches
By Eric Pettersson in Reviews | Comments closed
Artist: Jon Foreman
Album: Limbs & Branches
Label: Credential Recordings
Release Date: October 28, 2008
Review by: Eric Pettersson
Tracklist:
1. Your Love Is Strong
2. Behind Your Eyes
3. The Cure for Pain
4. Resurrect Me
5. Southbound Train
6. Broken from the Start
7. The House of God Forever
8. Instead of a Show
9. A Mirror Is Harder to Hold
10. In My Arms
11. Learning How to Die
12. Over the River
Taking a break from the crunching guitars and loud sing-a-longs of bestselling modern rock band Switchfoot, vocalist Jon Forman spent the past year recording a series of four EPs, each named after the season in which it was released (starting with Fall and ending with Spring). The EPs were incredible. Each had six songs that sounded like the season they were named for, and some of the lyrical themes correlated as well. To recap the project, Jon and the people at Credential have put together ten of the favorites from the EPs as well as two new ones (“Broken from the Start,” “Over the River”) to create Limbs & Branches.
While it could sound like a mish-mash of songs that are obviously meant for different occasions (or, um, seasons), Limbs & Branches works it all together beautifully into a cohesive record that could have just as easily been released on its own without the previous concept backing it. The spiritual content is strong and obviously noticeable, which may surprise some who only know Switchfoot for their modern mainstream popularity. We’ve already reviewed all four EPs on this site, so I will summarize in saying that all of those songs are musically wonderful indie-folk-pop and lyrically profound, passionate, and personal. As for the two new songs on the record, Jon keeps the creative and masterful songwriting coming, with two slower, thoughtful pieces.
For those who have missed the seasonal EPs, Limbs & Branches is a great introduction to a great artist. For those of us who already have all four EPs, my recommendation is to get your hands on these two new songs anyway, because they’re worth it. If that means getting the whole thing, go for it, but buying the tracks a la carte through Amazon or iTunes is probably more practical.
9/10
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