Reviews

Switchfoot's Oh! Gravity. is an album I didn't like at all the first time I popped it in—dismissed quickly as background noise—but with every listen it grows on me just a little—the sign of a well-written album, but not one that blows you away. It’s a diverse piece of work but some songs just don't do as much for me as others.
 
The effort opens with the title track, which is a catchy but not enough of a hook to be a strong opener. It's followed by “American Dream,” which tries to weave a series of rhymes through its opening lines: “When success is equated with excess / The ambition for excess wrecks us … If time ain't been nothing for money / I start to feel really bad for you, honey / Maybe honey, put your money where your mouth's been running…” It doesn't work because it seems like a novelty—a cool idea—instead of the right thing for the song and many lines are very repetitive. The chorus, however, comes through loud and clear.
 
“Dirty Second Hands,” is a song I can't dislike, simply because it combines so many great influences, from a very southern country style, to mainstream rock, to something similar to the jive-style vocal delivery that Steven Tyler has been known to break into. It's a great song but feels misplaced.
 
“Awakening,” is a very powerful rock ballad that could stand toe-to-toe with some of U2’s best, and while the vocals over the march tempo near the end seem to be a bit of a cliché lately, it works for the song. Unfortunately, this is followed by “Circles,” which tries to accomplish a lot of the same power that the track before it does so much better.
 
The album really hits its stride, though, with “Faust, Midas, And Myself.” Accordingly, the lyrics have a very literary/poetic/storytelling aspect to them. The track builds incredibly well, and about two minutes into it, a light, quick beat picks up the pace and it seems to be the point of the record that says, “All right, we've shown off a little bit. Now, let's rock.”
 
The band doesn’t keep up the pace though, as “Heads Over Heels” goes back to a fairly standard rock song, followed by “Yesterdays,” featuring the odd appearance of what sounds like the flutter of a dragonfly, trying to add to the tone of the song. It doesn't sound mixed correctly though and just sticks out as a distraction. Jon Foreman's vocals also change a bit when he goes to the higher notes in this song, which just doesn't sit right.
 
For all the ups and downs the rest of the album goes through, Oh! Gravity. goes out kicking ass with three great tracks. “Burn Out Bright,” starts off with the U2 sound and just kicks into a driving rock beat with great melodies. “4:12,” has a lighter feel and…well, it's just awesome. (I'm running out of things to say at this point; give me a break).
 
I'm usually not a fan of albums that opt for the slow track at the end, but “Let Your Love Be Strong,” gives Oh! Gravity. the conclusion that it needs; it's a good song (with another vocals-over-march-tempo section) and a great way to end the album.
 
Overall, Oh! Gravity. is really a hit and miss effort, but the points at which it hits, it hits hard. Even the misses aren't bad songs, just misplaced or mediocre in comparison to some of the better tunes. Not a bad album, but a few better songs to select from could have made it much better.