Three albums arrived the following year -- the compilation Essential Jars of Clay, Live Monsters, and the holiday-themed Christmas Songs -- while 2009 saw the band release another studio album, Long Fall Back to Earth, whose sound paid homage to such 80s icons as Tears for Fears and the Cure.Please enable JavaScript in your browser to use the site fully.
The groups lyrics may have been exclusively Christian, but their acoustic-oriented music fit perfectly into the folky jangle pop wing of alternative rock radio, at the time a rarity on the contemporary Christian music scene. Such success set the stage for breakthroughs by Christian bands like dc Talk and Sixpence None the Richer, and its difficult to imagine the later popularity of heavier, Christian-themed hard rockers like Creed and P.O.D. Jars of Clay s fusion of spiritual themes and mainstream alternative rock sounds. As popular tastes shifted, Jars of Clay found it increasingly difficult to maintain a secular audience, but still commanded a sizable Christian following while remaining one of the highest-profile groups in any gospel-music subgenre. ![]() Eventually, they chose a name for the band from a verse in the second book of Corinthians, which emphasized the frailty of the physical vessels in which God had placed the human spirit. Second guitarist Matt Bronleewe joined up later, and drummer Scott Savage became part of the bands live lineup, though they continued to use electronic drum loops on some of their recordings. Encouraged by the response to their small repertoire of originals, the band entered a talent competition run by the Gospel Music Association in 1994. ![]() They returned to Greenville and began selling a self-released demo CD called Frail, leading to interest from record labels (several of whom began calling the musicians dorm in the hopes of signing them). With such intense interest, the band decided to leave school and relocate to Nashville permanently; at this point, Bronleewe departed the lineup, wanting to finish school and settle down with his fiance, and was replaced by Lowell s childhood friend Matt Odmark. As the group was recording its self-titled debut album, Frail caught the ear of prog rock guitarist (and recent Christian convert) Adrian Belew, who offered to produce a couple of tracks for the record. One of those songs was Flood, which became a runaway hit on Christian radio upon the albums release in the spring of 1995. When Flood began to catch on with secular stations as well (particularly in the Northwest), Silvertone threw its full promotional muscle behind the album, and by early 1996, the song was a major crossover hit on mainstream rock radio, modern rock radio, and the pop charts. ![]() What was more, the group was criticized in some Christian quarters for touring with secular alternative rock bands during 1996. Jars of Clay spent most of the year on the road before taking a break to work on material for a second album, having already released the Christmas EP Little Drummer Boy at the end of 1995. After enlisting the help of British producer Steve Lipson, Jars of Clay released the sophomore effort Much Afraid in 1997. The record debuted in the Top Ten on the pop charts and not only went platinum, but won a Grammy Award for Best PopContemporary Gospel Album. Despite some success with the singles Five Candles and Crazy Times, however, Much Afraid didnt gain the same level of mainstream exposure as its predecessor. Nonetheless, the bands Christian audience remained loyal, sending the 1999 effort If I Left the Zoo (produced by Dennis Herring, whod also worked with Counting Crows ) to gold status. By this time, Savage had left the bands concert lineup in order to back Jaci Velasquez, and was replaced by Joe Porter. Jars of Clay self-produced their fourth studio album, The Eleventh Hour, which was released in early 2002 and followed by a live DVD. In November 2003, the group released its fifth album proper, Who We Are Instead. Redemption Songs followed in early 2005, comprised of the bands take on significant church hymns and popular spirituals, and Jars of Clay returned in fall 2006 with Good Monsters.
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