History Music / JarsOfClay

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: A whole lot of Christian radio stations played "Heaven" without the slightest clue what it was really about. (To be fair, Dan wasn't trying to be sneaky with the lyrics, he just felt that it was a beautiful metaphor to describe something that most Christians are embarrassed to discuss directly.)

For most people the band is remembered for exactly one song "flood" which was such a huge hit that it gave the group the opportunity to tour with the likes of Music/{{Sting}} during the late 90's and caused their debut album to go double platinum in the US.

Life me up.

Life me up.\\

* {{Concept|Album}}[=/=]CoverAlbum: ''Redemption Songs''. [[CaptainObvious The concept under discussion being "redemption"]]; all the songs are hymns, some of them quite obscure.

* SadClown: "Sad Clown". [[CaptainObvious Duh.]]

* ShoutOut: The song "Scarlet" off their ''The Eleventh Hour'' album references ''The Scarlet Letter'' from NathanielHawthorne. It's also a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming.

** Their series of StageIt concerts in 2014 does took this UpToEleven, as they went through their entire discography and performed nearly every track from every album in a live acoustic setting.

* ThePeteBest: Matt Bronleewe was on their debut EP, but stayed behind to finish school while the others (adding Matt Odmark) took the record deal and released ''[[SelfTitledAlbum Jars of]] [[MagnumOpus Clay]].'' His career hasn't exactly tanked, though--he's still well-known as a producer and even has a couple of books out. He even started a synth pop band, The Hawk In Paris, with Dan Haseltine in 2011.

* FanVid: Someone made a video for "Mirrors and Smoke" using scenes from ''{{Superfriends}}'' and sent it to the band. Jars liked the video so much that [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sJ7ukvAUD4 they uploaded it to YouTube themselves]].

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: The aforementioned "Light Gives Heat", which excoriates Christians who attempting to Westernize the rest of the world in the name of Christian missions.

* ThePeteBest: Matt Bronleewe was on their debut EP, but stayed behind to finish school while the others (adding Matt Odmark) took the record deal and released ''[[SelfTitledAlbum Jars of]] [[MagnumOpus Clay]].'' His career hasn't exactly tanked, though--he's still well-known as a producer and even has a couple of books out. He even started a synth pop band, The Hawk In Paris, with Dan Haseltine in 2013.

** ''Jars 20'', self-released by the band in 2014, will feature remakes of tracks spanning their entire discography. [[AudienceParticipationSong Fans voted to select their two favorite tracks from each album.]]

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Averted in "Good Monsters". "Not all monsters are bad, but the ones that are good don't do what they could."

* ThePeteBest: Matt Bronleewe was on their debut EP, but stayed behind to finish school while the others (adding Matt Odmark) took the record deal and released ''[[SelfTitledAlbum Jars of]] [[MagnumOpus Clay]].'' His career hasn't exactly tanked, though - he's still well-known as a producer and even has a couple of books out.

* RearrangeTheSong: They put [[http://stems.nettwerk.com/jocremix/remix.action the original multitracks from "Dead Man"]] on the web so ''anyone'' could make their own remixes.

* StuntCasting: The numerous featured vocalists on ''The Shelter'' can appear to be this at first glance. Many are big names in Christian music; others are labelmates.

* AllThereInTheManual: Go listen to "Goodbye, Goodnight" (or just look up the lyrics) and try to guess what the song's about.[[hottip:*:WordOfGod is that it's from the perspective of the musicians who played aboard the ''Titanic'' as it went down. Really.]]

* CutSong: Aside from the numerous B-sides, there's "Five Candles (You Were There)" which appeared on ''Much Afraid'': it was written for the film ''LiarLiar'' and would have played over the credits, but was removed in favor of some HilariousOuttakes.

* LyricalDissonance: "He" from their debut album has a major-key melody, which is normally thought to invoke a more cheerful, LighterAndSofter mood...until you listen to the lyrics and realize the song's about a boy that's being physically and emotionally abused by his parents.

* BrokenBase: It's a given that any band who changes up their sound with every album will inspire some LoveItOrHateIt reactions from the fanbase. However, you'll find a lot of people who couldn't get into anything else after the self-titled album. Fan reactions to ''The Shelter'' (the group's first "worship album") have also been highly polarized.

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome:
** Early tours featured an unexpected electric guitar breakdown at the end of the otherwise quiet, contemplative "Blind".
** The seamless transition from "Fade to Grey" into "Flood" during their tours for ''Much Afraid''.
* CrowningMomentOfFunny: Several live cover versions, most notably "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" played with mock seriousness in 6/8 time, and a snippet of "Tom's Diner" inserted into "The Coffee Song".
* CutHimselfShaving - Mentioned in "He", a song about child abuse: "And they think I fell down again".
* CutSong - Aside from the numerous B-sides, there's "Five Candles (You Were There)" which appeared on ''Much Afraid'': it was written for the film ''LiarLiar'' and would have played over the credits, but was removed in favor of some HilariousOuttakes.

* ConceptAlbum / CoverAlbum - ''Redemption Songs''. [[CaptainObvious The concept under discussion being "redemption"]]; all the songs are hymns, some of them quite obscure.
* DistinctDoubleAlbum - ''Furthermore: From the Studio, From the Stage''.
* EpicInstrumentalOpener (and closer) - "Frail".
* ExecutiveMeddling: The band's long-running relationship with Essential Records was fraught with this until they completed their contract in 2007 and went indie. Some examples:
** The band wanted to record a Christmas album in 2002. The label wanted a worship album instead. The compromise was ''The Eleventh Hour'', neither a seasonal album nor a worship album, but the song ''I Need You'' was added at the last minute when the label demanded a "worship" song to use as a single.
** The band's first approaching to entering the "worship album" fray was to re-record a number of old hymns, some of them very obscure, with a bit of a folk/country bent on 2005's ''Redemption Songs''. The label was not terribly interested in the idea, and implied that marketing support for the album would be withheld unless the band recorded a more recognizable hymn in an upbeat style, to release as a single. The result: A strangely happy-sounding take on "It Is Well with my Soul", complete with [[TheBeatles Beatlesque]] harmonies.
** While they've been releasing music independently since 2007, Essential got back into the game with a distribution deal for 2009's ''The Long Fall Back to Earth''. This may or may not have had an effect on the guest star roster for ''The Shelter''.
* FanVid - Someone made a video for "Mirrors and Smoke" using scenes from ''{{Superfriends}}'' and sent it to the band. Jars liked the video so much that [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sJ7ukvAUD4 they uploaded it to Youtube themselves]].
* FirstInstallmentWins: While later albums have been critically recognized for demonstrating artistic growth, the band's self-titled album still remains their most popular, contains the most material requested at concerts, and is still cited by many fans as their favorite.
* HeadphonesEqualIsolation - "Headphones".
* HeyItsThatVoice: Leigh Nash, lead singer of SixpenceNoneTheRicher, keeps cropping up to sing duets with Dan Haseltine, which so far include "With Every Breath", "Mirrors & Smoke" and "Out of My Hands".
* InTheStyleOf: While an original song written by the band, "Mirrors & Smoke" featured a duet between Dan Haseltine and Leigh Nash meant to mimic the style of [[JohnnyCash Johnny and June Carter Cash]].
* LeaveTheCameraRunning - The HiddenTrack on ''Jars of Clay''. Jars wanted to take advantage of the longer playing time of the CD format, but only had about 40 minutes of music. So the album ends with an unlisted eleventh song "Four Seven", and then a random assortment of rehearsal snippet from the string section heard in "Blind" and studio chatter -- 30 minutes' worth.

* MagnumOpus: Many Jars fans - as well as sales numbers - would argue that the SelfTitledAlbum was this.
* MustHaveCaffeine - The live-show-exclusive "Coffee Song (Hot Coffee, Strong Coffee)".
* NewSoundAlbum - ''Every other album'', more or less.
* OneHitWonder - Lots of hits on Christian radio, but according to the mainstream, they did next to nothing after "Flood".

* StuntCasting - The numerous featured vocalists on ''The Shelter'' can appear to be this at first glance. Many are big names in Christian music; others are labelmates.
** Arguably, getting [[KingCrimson Adrian Belew]] to produce two songs on their first album.
* TearJerker - Quite a few over the years.
** "Worlds Apart". Perhaps the band's most emotional and enduring classic.
** "Fly Farther". The band [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] this by describing it as "our sappy country song".
** "Silence" and "Oh My God". Both are stark, desperate prayers with little in the way of resolution.
** "Light Gives Heat". Just listen to that African children's choir and try to remain unaffected.
* TheOner - The video for "Work": an uninterrupted shot of the band performing... in a room filling with water.
* ThePeteBest - Matt Bronleewe, who left the band after they got signed in order to finish his college degree. Matt Odmark replaced him.
* ThePigPen - In the ''Good Monsters'' album art: the whole band is wearing grimy monster costumes, with their faces and hair completely covered in dirt.
* RearrangeTheSong - They put [[http://stems.nettwerk.com/jocremix/remix.action the original multitracks from "Dead Man"]] on the web so ''anyone'' could make their own remixes.
** They also released an EP (entitled 'Closer') that served as a preview to ''The Long Fall Back To Earth'' and brought back a couple of the well-known singles from their debut album and updated them InTheStyleOf their more recent work.
* SillyLoveSongs - "Mirrors and Smoke" is somewhere between this and ObsessionSong.
* TheSomethingSong - The album ''Redemption Songs''. Also ''Christmas Songs''.

* WhileRomeBurns - The aforementioned "Goodbye, Goodnight".
* YouAreNotAlone - "He", from [[SelfTitledAlbum Jars of Clay.]] (the 'He', of course, referring to {{God}}.)

* TheTropeSong - The album ''Redemption Songs''. Also ''Christmas Songs''.