The Jonas Brothers have had a crazy ride since their tenure as a group began. Nick began as a solo artist. Then, Columbia Records signed the brothers as a group. Then, Columbia Records dropped them after their debut album. Then, Disney gets a hold of their music and they became a hit on Radio Disney, so Hollywood Records (owned by Disney) signed them. Then, their next album took off. Then, the fanbase was up and running like crazy. Then, they hit #1 last year with “A Little Bit Longer”. Then, the brothers were followed by the media when it came to their relationships. Then, they were nominated for a Grammy. Then, Disney released a film of one of their concerts into the theaters in 3D format. The movie grossed nearly $20 million, which is not a bad performance given how concert films typically perform, but it was labeled as a disaster considering the performance of the “Hannah Montana” 3D film and the strength of their fanbase. Then, they have their own sitcom on Disney. The show started off mediocre, but that was probably because Disney shoved it into a bad timeslot.
Many teen pop stars of past memory (excluding Christina Aguilera, who took 3 years to put out a second record) had practiced the strategy of releasing follow-up albums in consecutive years, so it’s understandable that the teen siblings release “Lines, Vines, and Trying Times” 10 months after “A Little Bit Longer”. The latter album actually got released exactly one year after their self-titled second album, which was released exactly one year after their debut. This album actually comes quicker than all the others. The Jonas Brothers are being carefully examined, because everyone else is quickly assuming that their popularity is already waning. It wouldn’t obviously start declining this soon, and it would take a lot more than a concert film and a sitcom to drag them down.
The Jonases are known to take a pop rock approach to their albums with a mix of the bubblegum feeling. While Disney had to make them stay on this path with some of these songs, they were actually supportive of them attempting a more mature alternative theme. The results aren't seen completely in songs like "Fly With Me", but you begin to feel it with songs like the opening track "World War III" and "Hey Baby" with credit to Jonny Lang's guitar solo. Songs stuck in the middle of both brands include their first single "Paranoid".
The strongest song is "Poison Ivy", the closest thing to Weezer that you can get to. The song is about a toxic girl that you can't help yourself but feel attracted to regardless of the cons to her. They even go far to show Exhibit A on "Before the Storm". The duet features Miley Cyrus, who gave the band a boost on "Hannah Montana" and dated Nick Jonas for a brief while. While Miley still expressed feelings for him, Nick moved on to another brief fling with Selena Gomez. However, Nick was nice enough to let her collaborate on this superb song that shows how Miley's vocals improve in the presence of these brothers. The fact that they once dated for a while makes it one of the most interesting breakup songs ever.
The band's toughest task will be to win over critics. While most stubborn critics will be hesitant to accept the album and maybe lose respect for Common for collaborating on "Don't Charge Me For The Crime", most pop artists win them over with later albums when they are older like Hanson and Mandy Moore have done. The Jonas Brothers are incredibly street-smart in the music industry, and with this album, they aren't afraid of the day that their popularity will nearly fade. They may already have a back-up plan for that.
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