Jimmy Eat World

Jimmy Eat World

Bleed American (DreamWorks)

2001 will go down as the year tuneful, bracing guitar pop made a roaring comeback, with top-notch efforts from newcomers (Idlewild) and old hands (Weezer, Guided by Voices) alike. What makes Bleed American a standout? Well, for starters, it's the opening rush of the title track, a stormy foot-stomper -- think Foo Fighters on a good day -- that takes off from singer Jim Adkins' topical assertion "I'm not alone 'cause the TV's on." Furthermore, there should always be two or three songs ready-made for a mix tape; that's covered in "Sweetness," "If You Don't, Don't," and "Get It Faster." Dreamy dorm-room make-out ballad? Check "Hear You Me." Knowing nods to rock & roll's rough-and-tumble past? "A Praise Chorus" and "The Authority Song." Still, to fully cross the threshold, there needs to be one song that stands above the rest, that leaps out of the speakers and captures the moment like the Smashing Pumpkins' "Today" or Blink-182's "All the Small Things." Here, it's "The Middle," a glorious reminder to take life as it comes that explodes in a Technicolor chorus of unfulfilled promise and the ageless assurance that "everything, everything will be all right, all right." Not the most original thought, perhaps, but in Jimmy Eat World's hands, it's fresh, new, and exciting, and makes you believe in the radio again even as you realize a song this perfect could never, ever become a hit. Or could it?