Comments on Kerosene & electric sparks. | switchFEED.com: Happy birthday, NIS

What great timing - my husband and I had JUST been...

2008-09-17T05:49:00.000-07:00

What great timing - my husband and I had JUST been enjoying NIS back in the CD player again. He does not give praise lightly, and he says it's his favorite album. As for me, every 'Foot album is my favorite at one point or another -- depending on my mood. : )

I have to give some props to Lonely Nation. What a jammin' opening song! And then it just builds from there! I think tracks 1-7 are the highlight for me. The Blues is gorgeous (and I read somewhere that Jon recorded the vocals the same night he wrote the song? That's so cool), but then it culminates with The Setting Sun -- one of my all time favorite songs.

Oh, and my favorite lyrics in songs I haven't mentioned are:
Politicians:
"... [we're] watching for the sky to get torn apart..."
and Daisy:
"Who will take the blame for all redemptive motion and every rainy day? He gives himself away."

TOO STRONG, guys! Everything you put out is TOP NOTCH!!! We are huge fans over here.

I just can't believe that there was ever a time wh...

2008-09-15T16:01:00.000-07:00

I just can't believe that there was ever a time when I wasn't a die-hard Switchfoot fan. But only 2 1/2 years ago, (I flinch to admit) Switchfoot was barely a name to me. Then my friend got me Nothing is Sound for my birthday. I must say, I don't recommend it for a beginning Switchfoot experience. Aside from the artistic aspect of it (which in itself is simply spectacular), I was rather wary of the message the songs first appeared to be trying to get across. Since then, I've learned that all of Jon's songs look this way on the surface (but none more so than the ones on NIS). I happened to find and listen to my sister's old The Beautiful Letdown before I began to understand Switchfoot better. Ever since then, I've been becoming more and more interested in them. I've found answers to alot of questions I originally had about them, and just really fallen in love with them the better I got to know them. But like I said, NIS, with it's political leaning, is definitely not typical Switchfoot. But if you're a Switchfoot fan, or you don't mind really delving into it, it does eventually make sense in a whole different light than what it appears. And as far as art (music and poetry) goes, it really is one of their finer masterpieces. And I, personally, owe it and my friend an enormous debt of gratitude. If it wasn't for NIS, I'd be missing out on more than I'd've known. Jon Foreman is now my idol. Thanks, NIS. You've lit a spark that's blazed into a real flame, and won't be going out anytime soon, if ever. Happy birthday!

Wow. I can't believe it's been three years. NIS is...

2008-09-14T22:04:00.000-07:00

Wow. I can't believe it's been three years. NIS is what got me into SF in the first place. My first concert was for the NIS tour. Crazy.

Happy 3 year anniversary!

Thanks for the music, guys. You rock. Keep up the awesome work.

To be honest, I wasn't a huge fan of NIS when it f...

2008-09-14T21:10:00.000-07:00

To be honest, I wasn't a huge fan of NIS when it first came out, but I kept listening to it, and over time, I came to love it! I think it just took a bit to grow on me :)

I remember actually hearing the guys play "Happy is a Yuppie Word" back in Sept. 2004 at a state fair (my 2nd time seeing them), and thought, "well, OK, this is gonna be a different sort of album." :)

Lonely Nation, The Blues, Politicians, and WAOT are my favorites. Happy Birthday NIS!

I wrote about this one the 1st birthday of NIS: ht...

2008-09-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

I wrote about this one the 1st birthday of NIS: http://www.brokenmasterpieces.com/archives/2031#more-2031. Still holds. An amazing album.

YAY :) happy birthday NIS i was in like 5th grade ...

2008-09-14T08:10:00.000-07:00

YAY :) happy birthday NIS

i was in like 5th grade when it came out and my brother bought it and i remember looking on the back and saying "what the heck is yuppie??"

happy 3rd nothing is sound :)

My computer background is still the Nothing is Sou...

2008-09-14T07:13:00.000-07:00

My computer background is still the Nothing is Sound background from when I first downloaded it back in the day. I still love that album and it holds so many memories for my and I'm still just starting to understand everything the songs hold for me.
Happy birthday Nothing is Sound!

favorite moment - "We're still finding it out, unt...

2008-09-14T07:08:00.000-07:00

favorite moment -
"We're still finding it out, until we're one"

Some great ol' fashion rock tunes here, full of te...

2008-09-14T05:10:00.000-07:00

Some great ol' fashion rock tunes here, full of testosterone, i.e.: Polictians, Lonely Nation, Stars, We Are One Tonight.
I got the infamous Dual Disc and will never forget the footage of Jon climbing under the Piano in Africa to record TSPTS through the piano strings. So inovative yet simple.
I was not a fan at first but, I really started to listen to the album and got it - really got it.
Still hung up a little on Fatal Wound sounding like a suicide note, but from what I get from that is it dying to self, maybe.
Am I alone on, The Blues sounding like a U2 song played by Switchfoot?

Stars brings back memories of wen they played in A...

2008-09-14T04:58:00.000-07:00

Stars brings back memories of wen they played in Australia last year, Jon made us all look up into the sky, it was a great memory.... thanks for everything and Happy Birthday NIS!!

Definitely The Shadow Proves the Sunshine was one ...

2008-09-13T21:32:00.000-07:00

Definitely The Shadow Proves the Sunshine was one of my faves. The way Jon got the real, raw sound by singing into a piano was incredible. :)

Happy Birthday NIS!

I'm now curious what the projections were.While Th...

2008-09-13T20:38:00.000-07:00

I'm now curious what the projections were.

While The Beautiful Letdown is my favorite album, I have to say this has some of my favorite songs. The Setting Sun, the first 4 tracks.

You can't beat The Shadow Proves the Sunshine for poet and for soul searching. You can't beat "We Are One Tonight" for happy feelings and you definitely can't beat the allusion "son of sorrows"

Wow...three years. I remember being all excited ab...

2008-09-13T16:28:00.000-07:00

Wow...three years. I remember being all excited about it, and only wanting that for my birthday two days later!!! This album is my favorite. Easier than love was quite surprising but it's so true. Favorite moments...
"I'm tired of feeling low, of feeling hollow"

"It'll be a day like this one when the sky falls down/And the hungry and poor and deserted are found"

"Let the right say I was wrong and it won't be long"

And my abosolute fav songs from NIS are Politicians and The Fatal Wound! Happy B-day:D

NIS FANBOY HERE!! woot!haha. in all seriousness, t...

2008-09-13T16:22:00.000-07:00

NIS FANBOY HERE!! woot!

haha. in all seriousness, this record has gotten me through so much. "Dare You to Move" is my favorite song of all time, but this record as a whole is my favorite. It was a darker time for the band, struggling with "overnight" success... yet they portrayed these times with grace, asking questions rather than throwing out half-hazard answers.

They created a collection of art that transcends the stage and hits at your inner being. Go NIS... the best Switchfoot album of all!

I have a new respect for the idea of "new mysterie...

2008-09-13T14:55:00.000-07:00

I have a new respect for the idea of "new mysteries" emerging to be solved. This album hit me where I was, though it's a place I am at no longer. I think grace is bigger than I can imagine, and I feel that this album was somewhere the band kind of had to go, but I think the full realization of their works is yet to be revealed.

Here are three, no, four of my favorite memories:
- "Nothing is sound! Nothing is sound! Nothing is sound! ..."
- "We're still fighting it out, now. We're still finding out. ... One. One! ONE! ..."
- "(Sex!) Is easier than love! It's easier than life! It's easier to fake and smile and bribe..."
- "'I'm a: crooked soul trying to stand up straight..."

Thanks for walking through the valley, guys.
Thanks for the guidance.
Thanks for the honesty.

This remains my favorite album of all time. The S...

2008-09-13T13:37:00.000-07:00

This remains my favorite album of all time. The Shadow Proves the Sunshine struck a chord in me like a song has never done before - it is just so emotional and haunting and hopeful all at the same time.

Seeing how the song developed while Switchfoot was on mission a bit later (through the DVD that came with the CD) just made the song even more meaningful...in a different way.

(Also - Jon playing with the sound of the resonations of a grand piano was a great music-making moment!)

Great, Yet sad.. Happy is a yuppie word. Nothing i...

2008-09-13T12:32:00.000-07:00

Great, Yet sad.. Happy is a yuppie word. Nothing is sound. Thanks for all you do NOTHING IS SOUND..

I cannot believe it's been three years...I remembe...

2008-09-13T11:51:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe it's been three years...I remember the first time I listened to this album. I was walking around Michael's waiting to go home. From LN to Daisy it was sooo different and it took time to grow on me, but in three years it's gotten me through a lot.

"you wake alone now, and you wish you were asleep.

you taste the darkness but you wish it were a dream..."

happy birthday, nis.

p.s. FIRST COMMENT.