Lines, Vines, and Trying Times By The Jonas Bros

The Jonas Brothers are making waves sailing out of the pop arena and into a multitude of other genres with their new album, “Lines, Vines And Trying Times.” They experiment with funk, country and even a bit of hip-hop, marking this album as a huge musical stride ahead of their last one. But the more you listen to the record, the more it’ll taste like bubblegum – they’ve made big changes, but the trio isn’t out of the pop realm yet.

The overriding theme of the album is just that – the good, bad and trying times that the brothers have endured living their lives completely in the spotlight since they became famous. There are good and bad love stories, songs of happiness and wanting, and ones about keeping it real, making it a very honest album from such a young group of artists.

Nick Jonas opens up the record on “World War III” with raw and guttural vocals as he sings about being attacked in a one-sided argument. The song has more of a funky beat and much heavier guitars than we hear on most of the other tracks – it’s a great way to open the album and sets a good vibe for what is to follow.

The next track, “Paranoid,” is a pop tune masquerading as a dance song with its lighter, electronica-influenced guitars and soaring, repeated chorus. This is followed by “Fly With Me,” the song you might have heard over the end credits of the movie Night At The Museum 2. It’s a sweetly sung poppy love song supported by Nick’s impressive piano playing.

Other standout tracks include “Before The Storm,” a duet with Miley Cyrus. “Much Better,” is the track that supposedly, and not very subtly, talks about Joe’s relationship with Taylor Swift, while “Don’t Charge Me For The Crime” is a heavier, sultry rap-tinted song on which rapper Common makes a guest appearance.

“Lines, Vines And Trying Times” won’t alienate the brothers’ dedicated legions of teenage fans, but it does show the rest of the music world that they have a bit more to offer than we previously thought. Hopefully they’ll be bringing out more albums that are every bit as surprising as this one.