Jonas Brothers - “Lines, Vines, and Trying Times” album review

By: Jabari Oliver

Untangle those vines! The Jonas Brothers are back! They are your eternal BFFs! This time around they present an intense combustion of raw feelings projected through their music. The super boy band pop sensations Nick, Joe, and Kevin Jonas, co-signed by Disney, definitely have America feeling all their triumphs and trying times every step of the way. They bring you the funk, they tear jerk you, they rock you, and they even get a little gangster on you. “Lines, Vines, and Trying Times” adds to every teen’s life soundtrack.

How did this Jonas craze start!? It all started when a 6 year old Nick Jonas was discovered while singing in a barbershop where he was referred to a professional entertainment business manager. From age 7 he began to perform on Broadway shows such as “A Christmas Carol”, “Annie get your gun”, “Beauty and the Beast”, and “Les Misérables.” During the “Beauty and the Beast” performances Nick wrote a song called “Joy to the World (A Christmas Prayer)” with his father (who is a former Assembly of God pastor). Nick performed the song on the “Equity Fights Aids” album, “Broadway’s Greatest Gifts: Carols for a Cure, Volume 4.” Soon after, INO Records signed Nick and released the song to Christian Radio to where it instantly climbed up Radio & Record’s Christian Adult Contemporary charts. Joe then followed Nick’s footsteps to Broadway performing in shows such as Baz Lurhmann’s production of “La bohéme.” Meanwhile the buzz from Nick’s song exploded to the point where Columbia records signed Nick in a joint venture with INO Records. Columbia released a rerecording of “Joy to the World (A Christmas Prayer)” along with a new single titled “Dear God.” Both singles were released in anticipation for his solo album project “Nicholas Jonas” where Joe and Kevin also added their writing credits citing the first time all three brothers collaborated on a series of songs. Nick’s debut album was pushed back. Columbia Records’ new president, Steve Greenberg, did not like the album but liked Nick’s voice. His favorite song was “Please Be Mine” from the album which was performed by all the brothers. That was when Daylight/Columbia signed the three as a group act and the rest was history. They began to go on several tours, opening for various artists such as Kelly Clarkson, Jesse McCartney, The Backstreet Boys, The Click Five, Aly & AJ, The Cheetah Girls, and The Veronicas. Their first album, fittingly named “It’s About Time” achieved awesome success. Songs from the album were featured on multi-million dollar movies such as “Aquamarine” and “Pirates of the Carribean”, Nickelodeon TV films such as “Zoey 101: Spring Break-up”, Cartoon Network shows, Disney Channel shows such as “American Dragon Jake Long”, the Disney album “Disneymania 4”, and had heavy rotation on “Radio Disney” nationwide. Although success was second nature for the Jonas Brothers, they were dropped from Columbia Records and signed on with Hollywood Records. They began appearing in television commercials and continued doing featured songs on soundtracks such as “Meet the Robinsons soundtrack” and “Disneymania 5.” Their self titled second album “Jonas Brothers”, which was released with CDVU+ technology (technology created by the Walt Disney company that allows the CD to have multi-media extras) peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 200 on the first week of its release. At this time, their buzz was scorching hot! Outside of their “Look Me In the Eyes Tour,” they made appearances at the White House, Miss Teen USA, the Teen Choice Awards, The American Music Awards, the 81^st Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade, and Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve celebration. The Jonas Brothers also received gargantuan exposure from guest starring in an episode of the Disney Channel show Hannah Montana titled “Me and Mr. Jonas and Mr. Jonas and Mr. Jonas.” It was premiered after the Disney movie “High School Musical 2” and was viewed by 10.7 million people! When they released their third album, “A Little Bit Longer”, they released 4 songs through iTunes with each song including its own podcast and release date which was 2 weeks apart from each other. Each song from the series of singles occupied the number 1 spot for at least 3 days on the iTunes best seller chart. During this time, the Jonas Brothers starred in a Disney Channel Original movie Camp Rock alongside their good friend Demi Lavoto of whom they co-wrote and co-produced six songs for on her debut album “Don’t Forget.” They also had songs featured on the movie’s soundtrack which debuted at number 3 on the Billboard 200 selling 188,000 copies in the first week. (The movie and soundtrack projects were so successful that they are set to release a sequel to the movie in 2010 called Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam.) In the summer of 2008 the brothers blazed through the states with their “Burning Up Tour” which was filmed and released as a Disney 3D Digital concert Film on DVD called “Jonas Brothers: The Concert Experience” that featured Taylor Swift, the country pop sensation who dated Joe Jonas. The Jonas Brothers also became the youngest band to graze the cover of The Rolling Stone magazine. During this time they were also nominated for the Best New Artist award at the 51^st Grammy Awards and appeared on NBC’s Saturday Night Live show. They made their big screen debut as the voices of the Cherubs in the 2009 movie “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.”

Throughout all of the Jonas Brothers’ accomplishments, they have managed to maintain their clean image while staying grounded with the morals and values that have built their ever so popular character and brand. The Italian, Irish, German, Cherokee Indian descent brothers, were homeschooled by their mom and are all committed Evangelical Christians. They all wear purity rings on their left-hand ring finger to signify their vow to abstain from premarital sex. Joe Jonas has told US Magazine that the rings symbolize “a promise to ourselves and to God that we’ll stay pure till marriage.” The Jonas Brothers are the most popular and marketable machines in the entertainment industry, blazing paths across all media outlets. America gets to see them grow and mature every step of their life, from Joe’s break up with Taylor Swift, Kevin’s engagement, and the coming of the bonus Jonas, Frank Jonas (who is the youngest out of the 4 brothers).

“Lines, Vines, and Trying Times” signifies the Jonas Brothers’ growth and inspiration throughout their lives. It serves as the soundtrack to all of their life’s experiences. It is their best album yet! Songs like “Paranoid” which was the first single released from the album, is Joe Jonas’ stress relieving therapy ditty about his ex-girlfriend Taylor Swift who put out a song of her own (pre-Paranoid) about Joe. Chris Harris of Rolling Stone says of “Paranoid”, “On the synth-heavy tune, Joe Jonas is “caught in a nightmare/can’t wake up.” But for those reading for, say, teen turmoil, this passage may set off alarms: “That’s why my ex is still my ex/I never trust a word she says/I’m running all the background checks/And she’s freaking out.” It’s not 50 Cent vs. Rick Ross, but it’s something.” Other songs such as the Steve Lu conducted and arranged “Fly Me With Me” is a love song for the ages that could easily be placed on a Disney movie soundtrack. On “Hey Baby” the brothers flex their guitar muscle while having a Stevie Wonder-like melody to add popular appeal. The Brothers give an ode to the 80’s on “Much Better” with the help of serenading saxophones that liven up the bitter. Nick Jonas’ performance on “Black Keys” is nothing less than a display of excellence. He pours his heart out as he sings lullabies of mental strength from a failed love, “She hates the sun/Cause it proves she’s not alone/And the world doesn’t revolve around her soul/She loves the sky cause it validates her pride/Never lets her know when she is wrong.” The Jonas Brothers show their musical range when they brought on Chicago rapper Common on their bad boy gangster rap song “Don’t Charge Me for the Crime.”

“Lines, Vines, and Trying Times” proves to be magical with inspirational songs that many can relate to, but what exactly does its title mean? In his interview with The Rolling Stone Magazine, Nick Jonas stated that “Lines are something that someone feeds you, whether it’s good or bad. Vines are the things that get in the way of the path that you’re on, and trying times — well, obviously we’re younger guys, but we’re aware of what’s going on in the world and we’re trying to bring some light to it.” The light shines bright on the Jonas Brothers as they continue to wow America with their natural talent untangling one vine at a time.

Check out Nick Jonas singing “Black Keys” live!