Lines, Vines and Trying Times [Digipak]

Performer: Jonas Brothers
Artist: Jonny Lang; Miley Cyrus; Common
Engineer: Wesley Seidman; John Fields; Michael B. Nelson; Paul David Hager; Steven Miller; Will Owsley; Ken Chastain
Producer: John Fields
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. Jonas Brothers: Nick Jonas (vocals, guitars, piano, keyboards, glockenspiel); Kevin Jonas II (vocals, guitars); Joe Jonas (vocals). Personnel: John Fields (vocals, guitars, baritone guitar, keyboards, talk box, bass guitar, percussion, programming); John Taylor (vocals, guitars); Ken Chastain (keyboards, percussion, programming); Steve Lu (keyboards); Dorian Crozier (drums, percussion, programming). Audio Mixers: John Fields ; Paul David Hager. Audio Remasterer: Dave McNair. From the opening salvo, "World War III," an intense little prog-funk number written by Nick Jonas, it is clear that the Jonas Brothers' fourth studio album is not a bid for more 'tween stardom, but rather a step towards creative daring and maturity. But those who've been watching the band since the start have noticed that the talented Brothers are anything but a pre-fab studio trick. Strong instrumental and writing chops abound here on synth-rockers like "What Did I Do to Your Heart" and melodic power-pop anthems "Paranoid," "Poison Ivy," "Much Better," and "Don't Speak." Not everything works completely; the metallic pseudo-hip-hop track "Don't Charge me for the Crime," featuring rapper Common, seems like a bit of a reach, and some treacly ballads have been allowed to leak in, but the good outweighs the bad, and makes the future for this band seem limitless. Subscribing to the time-honored practice of striking when the iron is hot, the Jonas Brothers put out Lines, Vines and Trying Times in June of 2009, making it their third album in one year. True, Lines and A Little Bit Longer were separated by a soundtrack to a concert film, but the flood of product is a true reflection of the peak of the group's popularity, just as how the over-produced, stretched-thin Lines is a reflection of their hectic schedule. Where A Little Bit Longer was built on a strong song foundation, Lines, Vines and Trying Times feels constructed from the outside in, with the concepts coming before the tunes, concepts that all take the Brothers Jonas further away from the fizzy, power pop fun. Lines is designed to showcase a mature Jonas Brothers, who wear their maturation in an increased stylistic range, and fussed-over arrangements that lend this a stiffness of a band well beyond their years. Pop classicists that they are, the Jonases are a bit more comfortable with immaculate arrangements than they are with the expansion, as they fumble through a couple of country songs and "Don't Charge Me for the Crime," a truly bizarre duet with Common where they gamely, lamely affect a hard-boiled pose. Tellingly, most of the forced moments were written in collaboration with outsiders such as Cathy Dennis and Greg Garbowsky, the latter being responsible for co-writing "Poison Ivy," a power pop tune so labored it reveals just how good A Little Bit Longer was. Overthinking and over-production are the primary flaws on Lines, where every point is hammered home by horns transported from the waning days of the Reagan administration. This oddly yuppified production is more Taylor Hicks than Taylor Swift, but the presence of Joe's former girlfriend is felt elsewhere, whether it's in the lyric's heartbroken love songs (as well as a couple of rocking accusations), or how Miley Cyrus stands in for Taylor on one of those country songs. But Swift also comes to mind because she and the Jonas Brothers are trying to do a similar thing: make teen pop that skews adult in its sound and form. The JoBros did it effortlessly on A Little Bit Longer but on Lines, Vines and Trying Times the seams are showing, which makes it a little bit harder to enjoy, even if there are certainly moments where all their craft and charm click, resulting in some fine pop that points out what's missing from the rest of the record. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Rolling Stone (p.72) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "The boys continue to expand musically, making their kickiest and catchiest CD yet...."Much Better' is a superb bit of Motown-inspired moppet-funk..." Billboard - "[I]t's on songs like 'Before the Storm' -- featuring Miley Cyrus -- where the brothers prove they're still among the best at putting the fizz in pop culture."

New Jersey's Nick Jonas began appearing in Broadway musicals at the tender age of six, and by the time he formed the mop-topped 'tween-pop band the Jonas Brothers at the age of 13 with his two older siblings Kevin and Joe, he was a seasoned stage performer. A charming explosion of crunchy power chords and sweet vocal harmonies, the Brothers' first album, released on Columbia in 2006, charted high and netted the boys slots on several lucrative tours. They made guest appearances on kid-aimed TV shows like HANNAH MONTANA and released a chart-topping second album in 2007 on Hollywood Records, inciting the ardor of their mostly prepubescent female audience.

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