I started this review within a week of the release, and am just posting it. I needed intense listening to get this one right. I hope you enjoy.

Ah. The time has come again... new Jack Johnson album! This time, however, it's not what I was expecting. In fact, it's billed as Jack Johnson and Friends due to the influence of his posse here. If you don't know by now, this album is the soundtrack to the animated kids movie Curious George and is formally titled Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the film Curious George. Sing-a-longs and lullabies, huh? Interesting.

The first thing that hit about this album is how musically creative he is on this album. Comparing this album to On and On is astounding... Curious George ST is light-years ahead of it. This is incredibly satisfying, especially after his musical creativity dropped off after Brushfire Fairytales and came back in lackluster fashion on In Between Dreams. On this album, however, we find an array of musical exploration. First off, Zach Gill has formally joined the band, so piano is present on almost every song. Also, in songs like Broken and Upside Down we can find musical explorations in the form of unusually long guitar solos and different intros and outros. G.Love also makes his formal Jack Johnson album debut on Jungle Gym, as does Matt Costa on Lullaby, written by him, as well. All of this sets a great tone for the album. Let's see the ratings....

Track Listing:
1. Upside Down (5 stars)
2. Broken (5 stars)
3. People Watching (4.5 stars)
4. Wrong Turn (5 stars)
5. Talk of the Town (4.5 stars)
6. Jungle Gym (4 stars)
7. We're Going to Be Friends (2.5 stars)
8. The Sharing Song (4 stars)
9. The 3 R's (3.5 stars)
10. Lullaby (5 stars)
11. With My Own Two Hands (4 stars)
12. Questions (5 stars)
13. Supposed to Be (4 stars)

Total - 56/65 - 86%

The album starts out not only beautifully, but creatively as well, with the excellent lead single Upside Down. Not only does this track start with conga intro resemblant of the Stones' Sympathy for the Devil, but it also ends in a place light-years from the beginning. This sound sounds like a mash-up of several songs, and you discover later on the album that very well could have been it's inception (Just wait, I'll explain later). After the funky and uplifting intro, Jack comes in with his signature style. By the way, his style has become so unique to him that I think we should start a new name for it. Hawaiian surfer music? Give me suggestions if you're so inclined.

Anyway, I've strayed from the original intent. After the excellent intro, we get amazing lyrics over this bright and infectious music. These lyrics are very, very good. Jack seems to self-examine himself, in a very introspective and contemplative manner. While these lyrics don't seep with emotion like Traffic in the Sky, The News or Flake or are immensely substantial, they are an excellent display of Jack unmatched lyrical abilities. The track begins to decay into a very slow, melancholy, acoustic outro which, like I said, is far different from the intro. This isn't the last time we'll hear this either. This song is perfect to start out the album, and it's an excellent single, as well. Now, onto the next musical onslaught....

Okay, once again, we are given another example of Jack's creative vision on Broken. While the lyrics are poignant, with Jack proclaiming without you I was broken, but I'd rather be broke down with you by my side, it's the the musical display that really strikes gold in this song. Jack strums the backing acoustic chords and gives us the absolutely beautiful electric riff over it, which really carries the song. The drumbeat is steadfast and gives me the "not-too-hard, not-too-soft" notion (for lack of a better word, or words for that matter) and sparse piano chords lighten the mood. We also see the middle section of the song get very soft, with a pleasant surprise. While the drums are reduced to light tapping of the high-hat and all other instruments become nearly indiscernable, Jack gives us and excellent electric solo very reminiscent of..... guess who?!..... Trey Anastasio on his classic composition.... oh!..... guess what?!..... The Divided Sky!!! This solo hits the most etheral and divine levels that it's really hard be told in words. Just listen to the damn song, it's damn good.

People Watching also breaks ground as it's really the first Jack song to be driven almost entirely by the very strong piano of Zach Gill, who officially (I think!) becomes a member of the band on this album. Quite the acquisition, I must say. Jack does play some excellent acoustic guitar, but if you took out the heavily chorded piano from this song it wouldn't have much substance. Lyrically, it's some loose metaphors on the state of society these days. I'm just you, you're just me, it's only true if we believe Jack states, obviously commenting on the lack of sense of community in our current world. Thank you, Jack, for educating us. Unfortunately, the dumb people don't get these things.... Hopefully some dumb people read this review... If they've even made it to this point....

Anywho, the absolutely stunning Wrong Turn. I got a slight preview of this song when I watched an "in the studio" video on his website, but it turned out better than I envisioned. This song is dripping with emotion, as he pours his heart out to a lover. It's melancholy, beautiful and moving at the same time, and I think it may be the best song on the album. Jack takes care of the instrumentation alone, blending fingerpicked guitar and ukelele to make a pristine background. Other small guitar parts and occasional piano rounds this one out. Another classic track from this album. Three in the first four songs!! Excellent start by Mr. Johnson.

Talk of the Town is an excellent feel-good, laid-back song. Excellent guitar intro from Jack, and pretty standard music for the Hawaiian surfer genre. It features Kawika Kahiapo on the guitar - this is the first and only I've heard of him. The lyrics and very crunchy, granola-sounding, tree-hugging and hippie-ish. They are very good, though. This song is an excellent addition to this collection, because the lyrics deal with seeing the world around us with bewilderment, much like that of a child or Curious George. This is one of the those Jack songs that is an damn good song, but also doesn't offer that extra something. Luckily, Jack's standards are much higher than everyone elses. Check out the crazy-hippie lyrics though:

I want to be where the talk of the town
Is about last night when the sun went down
And the trees all dance
And the warm wind blows in that same old sound
And the water below gives a gift to the sky
And the clouds give back every time they cry
And make the grass grow green beneath my toes
And if the sun comes out
I'll paint a picture all about
The colors I've been dreaming of
The hours just don't seem enough
To put it all together

Jungle Gym is a great super-feel-good song, about, well, exploring the world around you. They play this one in the movie (yes, I saw the movie) when George first comes to the city. The lyrics of "the city is my jungle gym" fit pretty well, don't you think? G.Love also makes an appearance on this song playing the harmonica, which, along with the bouncy, fun music, makes this song a good listen. Unfortunately, We're Going to be Friends isn't anything special. If you've heard the original by the White Stripes you know what I mean. It's the same damn song. Dissapointing track. I thought Jack might make it his own, but not really. He plays this one live and it's really much more appropriate there than here.

The Sharing Song is another fun, feel-good song. This one was written by pianist Zach Gill and drummer Adam Topol. I'm assuming it's Gill who's singing in the song (although it could be Topol, I really don't know) with Jack only popping up occasionally. The lyrics send a great message to the little ones who might hear this tune, and that is.... well, do I really have to tell you. I'll tell you what it's not about though: keeping things for yourself. The 3 R's also sends a great message to the little ones as well. The 3 R's aren't writing, reading and arithmetic (does it irk anyone else off that only one of those start with "R"?!?!) but instead reduce, reuse and recycle, which, amazingly, all ACTUALLY start with "R" (what a concept, huh?). This song is loosely based off of the classic song 3 is the Magic Number, which I'm sure most of you have heard. Along with The Sharing Song, this track features a chorus of young kids who add some unique background vocals and laughs. Ah, the laughs of children are so wonderful...

Lullaby is an amazing track. It's written by Matt Costa, who I'm not a huge fan of even though he admittedly makes some good music. It's usually so "blah" though. This track, much like Wrong Turn, is void of bass and drums, and is carried solely by acoustic guitar. It's got a beautiful, fingerpicked sound, which fits the song wonderfully. I love this song because it's one of the hard-to-find songs that references the song itself in the lyrics. Costa tells us:

When you're so lonely
Lying in bed
Night's closed its eyes
But you can't rest your head
Everyone's sleeping
All through the house
You wish you could dream
But forgot to somehow
Sing this lullaby to yourself
Sing this lullaby to yourself

With My Own Two Hands wasn't written by Jack either, but instead Ben Harper, who takes care of most of the vocals, as well. This song is good, and Harper's voice has always been something else, as he shows us here. This song is fairly old though, and I'm not sure why this re-recording was included when Harper already has a studio version on his 2003 release Diamonds on the Inside. Still, with that being said, it's a good song and in no way detracts from the album. This is also a fresh change from the Hawaiian surfer music that the majority of the album is. Jack kicks us right back into his world however, with the classic....

Questions. This song is indescribable. It's a got a wonderfully-Jack Johnson intro. Much like Do You Remember? and Inaudible Melodies from his past releases, Jack does that great little thing where his guitar and his voice are matched, both playing the melody, and he twists it around chords. At over 4 minutes long, this song is fairly long for a Jack song, especially it's solo, with layered acoustic guitar and piano. It culminates at the end with a very sweet solo section, where piano and guitar are interlocked together. Lyrically, this one is brilliant as well. When Jack sings questions, I've got some questions, I want to know you, but what if i could ask you only one thing, only this one time, what would you tell me? it's brilliant. He gets so poignant, so emotional, so beautiful at times it's really breathtaking. This, to me, is one of the moments, and this makes this easily the best track on the album. Worth a listen 1000 times over.

Remember when I said we'd hear the the outro to Upside Down again? Well, Supposed to Be is it. Basically, this song is the outro from the introductory track stretched out into a delightful 3 minute track. The lyrics are vague but ask the question Maybe this is how it's supposed to be, which is actually is quite powerful when you ask yourself it 3 or 4 times. It's got fairly slow and delicate music, which makes it an easy closer track. If you were trying to sleep to this album and Lullaby didn't work, this one should. It's also a great ender because it brings the whole album full circle, and, being a fan of continuity throughout an album, I am always pleased to see.

This album as a whole is quite good. I was worried because it's the soundtrack to a children's movie, but Jack manages to create excellent music that can appeal to kids and also make it enjoyable for anyone else. The fact that it's actually "Jack Johnson and Friends" and not just himself, is appropriate, too. He penned only eight songs on the album, while he normally takes on all the songwriting burdens. The songs not written by him are great as well. They are all similar to Jack's style, which makes them fit perfectly on a collection written mostly by him. I'd definitely reccomend picking this one up, but don't expect anything like Brushfire Fairytales or even In Between Dreams.

4 stars.

Jack's other albums:

Brushfire Fairytales

On and On

In Between Dreams


Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Sleeping