“[Jimmy Eat World] conjure that shock of near-bubblegum catchiness, airtight ensemble attack and bittersweet mingling of anguish and uplifting melody that many bands fake but few can pull off… Jimmy Eat World have managed to be radical by just being sincere.” — Rolling Stone lead review of Bleed American, Aug. 16, 2001

“Tuneful, retro alt-rock—Brilliant!” — Blender, Best of 2001

“An eclectic sonic feast (Album of the week).” — People, August 6, 2001

For every artist paralyzed with fear and frustration as to how to “make it” in today’s terrifying marketplace, the story behind JIMMY EAT WORLD’s Bleed American provides both inspiration and a lesson in Perseverance 101. Circa August 1999, things couldn’t have looked much worse for the Mesa, Arizona foursome. Jim Adkins, Rick Burch, Zach Lind and Tom Linton had seen their two major label full lengths, Static Prevails and Clarity, ignored by mainstream media, radio and their former label Capitol Records, who had just unceremoniously dropped them. However, this same turn of events that has broken the will – and the bank – of many a lesser artist found Jimmy Eat World celebrating its newfound independence with a self-promoted five week tour of Europe. That their label had never released the band’s material overseas was hardly an obstacle. The band began buying its own records from the label’s distributor and shipping them to Europe independently. Within a year, Jimmy Eat World was playing Europe’s biggest festivals as Clarity hit the German charts. During this time, they kept busy self-releasing and independently releasing compilations and EPs, doing Japanese licensing deals, and touring… ultimately channeling everything back into the recording of Bleed American.

Having recorded it on their own dime as a dedication to the fans that had kept them alive during the lean times, the members of Jimmy Eat World couldn’t possibly have predicted that Bleed American would become a million-plus selling, MTV VMA-nominated bona fide career breakthrough smash. Released in July 2001, in a world with no iTunes store, no MySpace, no Facebook and charts still utterly dominated by the Britneys, N Syncs and Limp Bizkits, four down to earth guys from Arizona who’d just been dropped by a major label improbably rode this self-funded album to platinum status, their biggest tours to date and an appearance on Saturday Night Live. For anyone looking to do the same, the path is simple: Just create songs as heartfelt, tuneful and instantly indelible as Bleed American’s title track, “The Middle,” “Sweetness,” “A Praise Chorus” or “The Authority Song,” all of which remain staples of the band’s live set to this day. And for those who crave something other than the perfect upbeat and optimistic pop anthem, the minor key whisper-to-a-scream “Get It Faster,” the five and a half minute “Cautioners” and the somber “My Sundown” all stand as proof of Jimmy Eat World’s daring and depth.

On April 29, Geffen / Ume will release BLEED AMERICAN 2CD DELUXE EDITION, a comprehensive, 2-Disc collection featuring 32 tracks, among them rare import tracks, b-sides, live and demo versions, as well as three previously unreleased songs, “Get It Faster” (Sessions @AOL Version), “Sweetness” (Live) and the newly recorded, “Your House 2007.” This release not only restores the record’s original title (the band re-titled the record Jimmy Eat World following the events of 9/11 and the subsequent deployment of US troops to the Middle East), but also provides further documentation of Jimmy Eat World’s powerful and prolific output circa 2001-2002 with the inclusion of obscure fan favorites “No Sensitivity,” “Softer” and “(Splash) Turn Twist,” the collectors item holiday single “Last Christmas” / “Firestarter,” the band’s cover of Guided By Voices’ “Game of Pricks,” and the piece de resistance, the aforementioned, never before heard “Your House 2007.” Also included is the stunning reimagining of the “Bleed American” track that the band debuted on its 2007 stripped down semi-acoustic tour – the track that elicited an unexpectedly intense response from fans at the shows and later on message boards, moving the band to commit the arrangement to tape to honor its fans if nothing else. Bleed American 2CD Deluxe Edition collects all this and more for the first time in one place, creating an essential and comprehensive document for any fan of Jimmy Eat World — or any fan of what USA Today called “euphoric, uplifting, reassuring rock.”