Jack Johnson's "To The Sea"

Having heard the pre-album released single "You and Your Heart" on the radio, I was relieved to see that it was the opening track on the album. I think the song is rather terrible. The feeling of relief is comparable to the feeling I have about John Mayer's Continuum album beginning and ending (that is, if you have the newer edition which includes "Say" at the end) with its worst tracks. On Mayer's Contiuum album, unarguably his best to date, it's nice to be able to skip the first track (the Christmas-time department store commercial jingle "Waiting on the World to Change"), and enjoy the rest of the tracks in the order they were supposed to be without having to listen to the last track. Unfortunately, the rest of "To the Sea" leaves much more to be desired than "Continuum" did.

A friend of mine said something that goes along precisely with my thoughts of the artist, which is that Jack Johnson's first two albums "Brushfire Fairytales" and "On and On" were full of songs that could have been played on a beach-front porch and written by a surfer who felt like recording his best songs, that "In Between Dreams" was similar but included a little bit more of a "studio" sound, but that "Sleep Through the Static" was written by a guy who was now recording music just because that's what he does.

"To the Sea" makes for an easy listen, but it certainly is not great. There are two great tracks on the album: "My Little Girl" and "Red Wine, Mistakes, Mythology." With each of these tracks I found something different which makes the tracks great. "My Little Girl" was great because it sounds like Jack Johnson. The track is short (2:21) but sweet. It has a haunting and moving acoustic guitar track, accompanied solely by Jack's relaxed but genuine vocals. It ends with a simple, yet very Jack Johnson-y acoustic lead, and it makes for a meaningful couple of minutes.

"Red Wine, Mistakes, Mythology" is a fun and funky track. It guest-stars G. Love for a tasteful harmonica track which makes a musician put on that face a sweaty black blues guitarist makes during a killer lick that looks like something just doesn't smell right. The rest of the track grooves. Tasteful acoustic leads, funky lyrics & vocal harmonies, and moving bluesy piano vessels make this track a fun listen. It is without question the best track on the album, and it's hidden in track 10 of 13.

The rest of the album sounds like it was a homework assignment, or better yet, it's as if a teacher took Jack's "Sleep Through the Static" album and told him he gets a C-, but that he could raise his grade with some extra credit. Then Jack made "To the Sea" and got a B- instead. The same silly bouncy piano track is played throughout the entire album, the drums are far from impressive, and the guitar doesn't make you want something more - it makes you want something else! This is not the Jack Johnson we all fell in love with 10 years ago. This is the Jack Johnson that made an album because it was time to make another album. While most of the album is tolerable, the title track of the album "To the Sea" is a complete cuss word of a song. It belongs in the toilet. Jack picked an awful melodic hook and sang it over and over again. The best thing I can say of this album as a whole is that it was better than his last, and unfortunately, that doesn't say much. If we were in the old school, I'd say buy the cd just for the two aforementioned great tracks, but in this age, I'd say to spend two bucks and to buy just the two tracks online and leave the rest.

Like I said, the album as a whole is an easy listen, so if you're looking for background music, it's fine, but if you're looking to really listen to a good album, leave this one on the shelf. Over all, I give it 2 and 1/2 out of 5 stars.