The Beautiful Letdown

This album was perfectly named, it was indeed a letdown.

Fuck yeah, former church kids REPRESENT

Rock

Great album. Thanks for suggesting

I remember this band and album growing up. I don't remember them being all that remarkable to me. I really do like some of their stuff, especially Dare You To Move and Meant To Live. That's top tier early 2000s pop rock right there. But the rest of the album left me slightly bored. Honestly, they all kind of sound the same to me. Psuedo-Christian rock hiding in pop clothing. As far as Christian rock goes, it's up there with the best of the best. However, musically, it's just lacking something that I can't put my finger on. Maybe it's the singer's voice, which to me gets grating more and more after each track? The fact it can't decide if it's Christian rock or general pop rock? Sort-of generic early 2000s easy to play rock sound? I don't know. Far from the worst album in the book or user-submitted. 3.5/5, but rounding down to 3 stars because I wish it would decide what it wants to be.

That's hilarious that they got popular due to A Walk to Remember. This was all the rage in this era though, especially with my Christian circles at the time that were given carte-blanche to like Switchfoot because they were "Christians" even though they were never "Christian Rock". That said, I find it completely generic beyond that "they are Christian gimmick". I mean I'm sure they are fine folks but... musically I'm underwhelmed.

Yeah, I mean it deserves a spot on the list for being the most popular Christian band if nothing else.

A fine line between rock, grunge and pop. I loved the diversity in this album

I remember the first song, one of those "oh right, that existed" sorta tunes. Not too bad, a bit too 00s radio rock for me overall though. 3/5.

Strong Pearl Jam vibes, particularly in the vocals which are delivered sincerely but a little lacking in emotional range. I liked it well enough but didn't feel like it brought anything particularly notable to its grunge/heavy rock genre.

Never once had I considered seeking out the album that Dare You to Move was on. It's certainly 2000s rock. 6/10

6/10. As advertised. A bit beautiful, and a bit of a letdown.

ca sonne tellement année 2000 et c'est exactement le genre de band que j'écoutais. J,ai passé un bon moment 3.5

Mjah, leuke 90 sound maar wel erg netjes

Much of this album was (and probably is) in heavy CCM rotation, and for good reason. It's a shame that Switchfoot moves to purely worship team-able for about three songs since the semi-ambiance of some of the slower cuts really works with the electronics of this album. Lyrics are a bit clipped, emphasizing the lesser U2 appeal.

If you're too young to remember, this is what 2003 sounded like. I never realized it until now. But it sounded like Switchfoot.

A return to high school alternative radio

Switchfoot, really?

Well played and well executed, but it's all a bit too much 'middle-of-the-road alt rock' for me. I miss the sharper edges and would like to hear some more emotion in the delivery. I'm sure this was all the rage back when it came out, but it doesn't really stand out from the many many other early 2000's rock bands.

Pure American hard rock from the early 2000s. To me, it's easily confused with hundreds of other similar sounding albums from that era. But I know that in certain circumstances, if you listen to an album like this in the right place and time, you'll just love it, it'll stick with you, and it'll be able to transport you back to that time and place when you hear it again in the future. Been there. Not my case with this one though

Didn't know this band at all, first track was good and made me optimistic for the rest...but unfortunately the rest was nowhere near as good

Nickelback vibes. Not much my taste

Boring but not unpleasant.

A letdown to be sure. But I wouldn't call it beautiful.

Hang on.... is Christian Rock a genre somewhere?! Crazy. Well, three stars for that education. The music is nice enough, but a bit underwhelming.

For those who weren't raised only being allowed to listen to Christian music the genre hopping can be a bit puzzling. This is pretty typical in this kind of music. When music is being marketed to a certain group, in this case, evangelical Christians in the early 2000s, variety goes a long way for airplay, especially when you have a built in audience. This music was designed to be consumed by teenagers, adults, and was even played in some churches during services so there needs to be something for everyone. So here we have post-grunge, pop rock, pop punk, and more standard contemporary Christian music (think slower, lots of acoustic strumming, repetitive singable lyrics). There are moments that work, but overall, the genres do not play well together as an album unit. The lyrics are basic CCM fare; the world is bad and is unsatisfactory. I think they say much more about the Christian worldview in which they originate than the world in which we actually live. They're selling dissatisfaction along with the remedy. There's a line in the title track that really sums up this album for me, 'We're a beautiful letdown, painfully uncool.'

I'm not so into Christian Rock, though the main complaint is it's lacking any originality and is bland and middle of the road.

I remember seeing Switchfoot perform 'Dare You to Move' at a TV chat show recording. Jamie Lee Curtis was a guest. Even that nothing of an anecdote is far more interesting than this album. Rating: 1.5 Playlist track: Dare You to Move Date listened: 07/10/24

Sorry just feels like generic 00’s alt rock to me, nothing special. Didn’t hate this, but wouldn’t be recommending it to anyone.

Corny af

Like listening to a divorce.

A decent but forgettable radio rock record that had some good hooks in the first few songs, but some of its incorporation of electronics was cheesy and ineffective, and the album ran out of steam quite quickly

There are maybe 1-2 good songs on this entire LP, which displays all the failings of modern Christian rock. I wasn’t exposed to any of this through my Methodist upbringing (it seemed to be a bigger hit with the Church of Christ crowd), but even then I could realize how generic and homogenous the genre is by design. Step one foot outside of outright praise and you’ve pushed too far for success, meaning artists regularly scramble to find new words to describe the same old act of praising Jesus (which wasn’t all that lyrical to begin with). No wonder the lyrics on this album feel so corny and cheesy throughout, and the instrumentals non-dynamic and flat. I’m hoping some incarnation of Switchfoot found their way out of the genre and into a more welcoming creative space. The decently solid tracks here have some really creative songwriting and exciting instrumentals, finding ways to connect back to the narrative agenda in a way that’s not wholly religious and palatable for wider radio play. Just a shame the rest of the album has to be coated in cheese, platitudes, and worship guitar that’s nigh unbearable for nearly an hour.

It sound very commercial

Butt rock.

Dare You To Move is a guilty pleasure of mine

Great album!

Rating: 8/10 Best songs: Meant to live, More than fine, Adding to the noise

I always had a soft spot for Switchfoot. I'm not particularly religious anymore, but they always walked that line between Christian rock without being obnoxiously preachy about it. Plus, that guitar riff from "Meant To Live"? Mm. Choice. I was really loving the first half of this album, but it eventually kind of loses steam, and I think they take a huge swing at guitar-driven pop on "Gone" and the record never really recovers from the folly. Still, I didn't have any song I disliked on side A, and I really enjoy how uplifting and genuine everything is throughout. Call it a 3.5. Favorite tracks: "Meant To Live", "This Is Your Life", "Ammunition", "Dare You To Move"

I would probably be pretty down on this dated lame pop punk stuff but it hit different listening to it stuck in the Atlanta airport at 10 pm for some reason.

Meant to Life and Dare You to Move are classics from middle school but I had no idea this was a Christian album! Very interesting. Another fun addition.

Rock, yes, but alternative? Decent enough, easy-listening, but all in all very bland.

a album that arrived a little late.

Straight forward radio-friendly rock reminding me slightly of U2 (including the Christian lyrics). Ok.

This album was fine, if maybe a bit dated for when it came out. The lyrics are more thoughtful than you might expect in this type of music, but frequently more repetitive than I generally like to hear. Fave Songs: Meant to Live, This Is Your Life, More Than Fine, Dare You to Move

Alternative rock, post-grunge. Ni fu ni fa.

Haven’t heard this before that I know of, although it is possible some of these songs were on the radio or something at the time. Although I don’t feel any need to get this into my musical rotation or anything I didn’t mind listening to this. There were even a few catchier numbers to clap along to.

An enjoyable listen!

This album definitely brings back some memories. One of the first CDs I’ve ever owned, I used to listen to this album a lot. For a kid this is a great blend of rock music with easy to understand lyrics. That was as a kid, now I found the album to be nostalgic, but nothing more than some very generic genre blending of Christian and pop rock. 2003 was a simpler time for music as the popularity of this shows but it’s not 2003 anymore and this is already a bit dated. 6.6/10

Pretty straightforward alt. rock/pop... seems a bit milquetoast to me, though I did think tracks like Dare You to Move, On Fire, and Adding to the Noise were a bit stronger than the rest. Unfortunately even those were like a watered down Goo Goo Dolls hits, so not sure if this quite qualifies to be missing from the book.

Fourth studio album. My math says that 14% of all the albums on this list are 4th studio albums. Do bands come into their own the 4th time around? Is third time not the charm?.. This is your life seems more in place next to Policy of Truth by Depeche Mode. Overall a good, safe choice for this list.

Yea, this was quite nice. I'm not sure how I missed this back in the day.

It was nice. Upbeat. The electronics were good, his voice wasn't.

Generic rock that's a little indie but really rock.

Not a one hit wonder because there are two killer classics on here, "Meant to Live" and "Dare You to Move." Do they have anything outside of those, and this album? No idea. But this is a fine album. Not much else that caught my ear, but it's decent early 2000's alt-rock stuff. Not mad at the inclusion.

Based on the reviews I thought this was going to be worse than it actually was. It was acceptable. I don't think it's really doing anything all that unique and it's perfectly generic alt-rock music. That's not bad, it's listenable. I didn't really get the Christian vibes but maybe I didn't listen to the lyrics too closely. It's just bland. And forgettable, but not bad. My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the list: 3/5 Should this have been included on the original list? No. There probably should be something to represent Christian rock but this isn't it.

If I had to pick an album that sounds like 2003, this would be high up on the list! Good songs on here nonetheless

A couple of hard rock standards of the 2000s

"The Mediocre Letdown" would have been a more apt title. 2 stars.

Hm

Eh. It was just kind of there. No need to revisit or really listen to.

Sounds like garage "hard rock" really didn't get on with but don't like the genre. 1.5

Meeeehusic

I had to listen on Spotify so couldn’t listen to it in order and wasn’t sure when it ended. Would I have known this was a Christian band if I hadn’t read it? I think so. Did I mind? Not really, Will I listen again? Heck no.

So so

No thanks you. This was like all rock bands smushed together to make some incredibly bland.

Another very bland album. Cringe lyrics like they were written by teenagers. I did not enjoy this at all. Just really lame and beige and made me quite irritable

Bland Bon Jovi-esque stadium anthem rock. Feels a tad Chrustian. Too much reverb on the singer. The orchestral bits were interesting but unremarkable.

Total crap. kys

Please make a thought experiment. Replace the "rock" instrumentation generally applied in this album with synthetic or mainstream pop tones, and you would quickly realize... that it's just a consensual pop album. And not a very good one at that. Not that I need this change of instrumentation to realize how much I despise that sort of music. This LP is such a bland borefest on a harmonic and compositional level, it's just mind-blowing for me that some people outside of Christian rock circles could possibly fall for it. There's a couple of very short redeeming moments sometimes. Very rarely, in a couple of cuts, those nice inoffensive surfers with a knack for corporate church services try their hands at something a little more original in some chord progressions in the verses (as in "More Than Fine" or "Redemption"). But they always return to cheesy, hackneyed, sugary major-chord dross for the choruses. So it's a hard pass for me. I tried very hard to forget this was Christian Rock, mind you. Hard to pull off when the wiki page for this record is so hypocritical. There was "universal praise" for this LP, the page goes. Yet the publications mentioned are *all* obscure Christian-minded websites or magazine. There's a reason other usual websites and the rest of the music press just ignored this thing. Because the music, as "professional" as it is, isn't worth much, and there's no reason to attract accusations based on faith (or lack thereof) from the target audience where you can just let the thing fly by and join the footnotes of music history at large -- without giving the opportunity to anyone to make a fuss about it all. Yeah, in other words, maybe ignoring Switchfoot was just the best move here. Yet my main reproach goes deeper than that. Oddly enough, my main reproach has something to do with the way spirituality in this record sounds so... underwhelming. Switchfoot wanted to avoid being "preachy", which is a good idea on paper. The problem is that they can only resort to vague generalizations once that idea is executed. And the vague generalization is not only expressed lyrically, it is also expressed musically. It starts with the very opener, some kind of post-grunge thing that has all the ingredients from ten years before the album's release, and is logically devoid of heart and stakes. But then, it gets even worse, and the whole glossy quickly thing goes down the drain of oblivion. This record does not sound like a trip to visit a community of faithful believers. It sounds like a trip to the mall. I might be an agnostic, I still want music with religious tones (whether undertones or overtones) to lift and inspire me, and even make me consider the possibility of a higher power. This religious impulse is actually the most probable origin of music itself. I can feel that "spirit" in soul and gospel. I can feel it in the sacred tintinnabulations of Arvo Pärt. I can feel it in the melancholy and existential questioning of Sufjan Stevens. I can feel it in the divine harmonies and infinite patience of Low. Those artists all have a very real and sincere Christian faith at the heart of their artistry. And they honor that faith in such a graceful fashion, that you can't help being in awe at them. When I listen to Switchfoot, I just feel numb. Not the best way to win new adepts, I'd say. 1/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums. 6/10 for more general purposes (5 for musical competency and production values + 1 for the artistry). Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 4 Albums from the users list I *might* include in mine later on: 8 Albums from the users list I won't include in mine: 11 (including this one)

My heart verily sinks when I see "2003" as the release date, and when you combine that with never having heard of Switchfoot in all my puff, it does not add up to a hopeful picture. Starting to actually play it completed the trifecta - this album met my expectations exactly. There are very few albums that will get a DNF, and this one joins them in ignomy.