Who doesn't like Jack Johnson!?! I listen to this one every morning, because of the relaxed (yet upbeat) music. Good buy!

Jack Johnson is great! It is a good mellow sound, not too hard rock. If you like good mellow music, go for this cd!

This stuff could potentially groove if they had a singer with more vocal presence (doesn't whisper his way through the tunes). Either way, IMO, it's good stuff that has yet to be realized by a better singer. I'm just not feeling it. Almost Damien Rice, but not as eclectic/quirky....just one person's opinion, try to be objective.

Although this is his first or one of his first cds, it is one of his best. It's typical Jack Johnson!

I like this music. Perfect for what I need it for. Teaching college students a fitness class. In great condition

I have yet to hear a JJ CD that I can't listen to. This one is no exception.

Wow! All great, but absolutely love Bubble Toes!

I'm boycotting Amazon because I just learned (after purchasing this CD) that they're the only online bookseller left that is selling dog fighting and cockfighting magazines and videos. These magazines advertise the sale of fighting animals and cockfighting weapons -- sales made illegal by federal law.

I understand freedom of speech, but although I find those products "objectionable" (Amazon's word) and disgusting (my word), the issue is that the First Amendment doesn't protect companies advertising illegal contraband, and that's exactly what the magazines sold by Amazon are doing. I urge you to contact Amazon and ask them to stop selling these products. Thank you.

For me, that's plenty nuff said, right there!
I don't get blindsided like I did when I caught his act somewhere in the music and was left to wonder "What and Who was THAT?..WoW" Same thing happened during the last membership drive for OPB...caught a snippet...then my dtr in law sent me his album. I thought, Who the heck's Jack Johnson? Now I know. It put the name to the music that haunted me and oh boy is he something else. Fabulous. I think I could probably be happy as a big ol fat mud hen, just to take this CD and maybe a Macy Gray and some Shawn Mullins...and go to that proverbial deserted island, a happy camper. Food?...Well at least my soul would be well fed. I've had a Dave Koz CD in the car's player for 2 yrs. It will finally get to come in the house for a well-deserved rest, while this one goes traveling for a while! The back-up for his vocals are totally outstanding. Nobody can say that I "don't know Jack", anymore; that's for sure! Looking for a new and totally addictive, musical high?....Here 'tis! A beautiful baker's dozen.

Jack Johnson is smooth and the tunes are catchy and stay in your head.

More laid back that his "in between dreams" album. Great soothing voice. song lyrics vary from topic to topic. Awesome driving music. The song "Bubble Toes" make me want to dance everytime I listen to it!

I started listening to Jack Johnson when his Between Dreams CD came out. Who knew this gem was just waiting to be discovered?

I heard him do an interview on the radio and I fell in love with his music. Hunting down all his CDs :).

This Cd was not his best, but don't let it discourage you from all Jack Johnson, try "In between Dreams" it is far better and gives you a better feel for his music.

I absolutely love Jack Johnson and this album reinforces the feeling. This is a great album to listen to if you just want to chill. I love just lounging in the hammick with a good coctail on a warm sunny day with Jack Johnson in the background.

How can such a seemingly simple, barely instrumented album sound so convincing, so riveting? Great lyrics, sung with perfect (nearly telepathic) intonation by Jack Johnson and great communitative playing come together to grab your attention. You can sense something transcendent, something spiritual while listening to Brushfire. Very special and highly recommended.

I'm a big fan of acoustic-based singer/songwriter stuff, so I thought I might like Jack Johnson too. And at first I did. His music is laid back, quite catchy, softly sung, undemanding. Anybody would like it, I guess. But after a while I started to find this CD a bit annoying. When you listen over and over to something really good, it reveals things you didn't see the first few times you played it. But all that's revealed here is a rather `lite' and one-dimensional approach to songwriting and arranging. Lyrics that sound cute at first soon sound empty. It's okay on whimsical songs like `Sexy Plexi', but when he tries to be more serious it doesn't hit the mark. And you may soon tire, as I did, of the crack of the drum that accompanies every song, not to mention that one guitar lick Jack can manage and always does. The band's instrumentation is admittedly fairly minimal, but somebody like Josh Ritter or Garrin Benfield gets more variety with just a guitar and fewer notes.
So ultimately, this one has landed back on the shelf where I fear it will gather dust. It simply doesn't have enough depth or breadth.

Love the music - always relaxing and upbeat. Even my 12 year old son thinks the music is great. He really appreciates the fact that most of Jack Johnson's songs have an actual message that is common sense - something we all think and/or understand. Overall Good buy!

Johnson is amazing. He is sort of a cross between Donovan of the 1960's, Michael Franks of the 1970's and John Mayer of today. Mellow, but meaningful lyrics. He has quite a neat feel for melody too. His creativity is on the level of Sufjan Stevens I believe. There is a lot more to Jack Johnson than just being a commercial success.

Inaudible melodies and Flake are my favorite songs on this track! I LOVE this cd! If you're a fan of Jack Johnson...you'll enjoy this!

I've never listened to Jack Johnson before, I had never heard a single song by the guy. This album was lent to me by a friend and I have to say...It's awesome. If you haven't heard it already, you need to find a way to aquire it. Every song is good and perfectly displays how talented this guy is. Every single solitary song on here is worth of an A.
His lyrics are smart, he's got a soothing voice and he's a great guitar player. He's like a reborn James Taylor. The tracks are:

1. Inaudible Melodies
2. Middle Man
3. Posters
4. Sexy Plexi
5. Flake
6. Bubble Toes
7. Fortunate Fool
8. The News
9. Drink the Water
10. Mudfootball
11. F-Stop Blues
12. Losing Hope
13. It's All Understood

I've pretty much summed up every thing I need to say about each track, but I'll add a couple comments. First, the best song on the album is "Flake". "Fortunate Fool" has great music to it. And "The News" has some really good/deep lyrics.
GRADE: A

This CD is awesome! I would definitly recommend this CD to any JJ fans outthere. Inaudible melodies and Flake are my favorite songs on this track, it's lyrics have much meaning and I can realate with real life experiences with these songs. you really have to be in the mood to listen to this CD.

I love this cd, I never get tired of listening to it.

This album can only be described as the feeble roaster. Which means that it is the whole platter! I got into this when I was down with the whole construction thing. I mean like, cabinets are cool and everything, but I was in it to win it! Back when I was in a speed-rap group called the OFC (which was me (CIRCLE), JMak (POWER), and Chucwick (CIG), we had a hit called "Fool, I just broke you off so fierce you didn't have time to race the rooster." That was totally siccmade. Anyway Jack Johnson was a real big inspiration to the OFC. We had a cd that sold real big in the hood called "Fool, buy this cd or you wil be broken off in the worst way while I make a new boat for myself." This album made sure that we were famous for days and we were just swimming in chicks. In fact, one time we were in a room and we ended up on the ceiling because there were so many girls there singin our song "Fool, I broke you off that means you're a turnip." To sum this all up, you might not be as bad as OFC, but you can still try and buy this album of Jack's.

Wasn't a great CD. Not bad either. Have to be in the mood to listen to it. It's not one you would put in the player to just kick back and listen to.

This is a good Jack Johnson album for one of his first releases. I have to say my favourite is still "In Between Dreams."
This one is a little slower, not as perky, but still has that amazing island feel to it.

Jack Johnson is putting out some of the best music of our day. It's mellow and smooth and generally puts one in a good mood. This is the second copy of this album I have purchased (gave my first to my uncle and now he's a fan as well).

I would also highly recommend "On and On" and "In Between Dreams". Both are slightly different in feel than Brushfire but equally as excellent.

First off, I've been a rock fan all my life, but I've always had love for bands like Counting Crows, Radiohead and such. And I've always enjoyed solo artists like James Taylor and Paul Simon, one of my friends told me about Jack Johnson in early 2001, and I have to admit that this music is so damn relaxing. If you enjoy something light with message that you can goof on from time to time, Jack's music is just that. I own Brushfire and On and On, while both are incredible, I think Brushfire is a bit better, "Inaudible Melodies" is a perfect start, just a song telling everyone to take the time to enjoy life. "Fortunate Fool" also is a great track that easily gets stuck in your head. I'd have to say that "Flake" is the best track on this disc though, evryone in a relationship that seems to be at a stand still will understand it. I hope to hear more from Jack Johnson.

I have heard this CD get criticized because it is simple, fun or steady. While this might be true, it is exactly what made this CD great. This work does not try to be a 'classic' CD, but it just might end up being one.
While the sound might be simple, the songwriting isn't. Johnson wrote all the songs on this CD. He turns a phrase nicely at many points on this CD.
The CD starts with 'Inaudible Melodies', a slow paced song with a lot of insight. This is one of the best songs found here. Later, in 'Posters', Johnson's use of words and timing is inspired. Of course, most everyone knows 'Bubble Toes', from the airplay it received and justly so. My favorite song is 'Fortunate Fool', a sort of ballad which took me back years, because of its' style. Anyone who hears 'The News' and calls it a simple song, is just not listening.
The rest of the CD is equally powerful in its' innocence or simplicity. Johnson proves that you don't have to recreate the music industry to put out a great CD. You just have to fill the CD with good, pleasing music and Johnson does that well.
He has plenty of time to grow and develop different sounds if he chooses. I am looking forward to his next effort.

this cd is pretty good, it has like 6 or 7 good songs on it, the rest are boring, im a huge Jack Johnson fan, i really like "On and On," buy that one before you buy this one

This CD rocks! It is a must-have for any JJ fan, or anybody who wants to just chill out and relax, for that matter. I first heard Jack on "In Between Dreams," and I really liked that album, and it made me want to check out some of his earlier stuff. I just recently got "Brushfire Fairytales" for Christmas, and I think that this is his best album. My track-by-track listing:

1. Inaudible Melodies- good opening song, 4/5
2. Middle Man- pretty good song, 4/5
3. Posters- great song about people who hate themselves because they don't look like the people on the poster on their wall, surprisingly upbeat, 5/5
4. Sexy Plexi- really fun song, classic JJ, 5/5
5. Flake- best song on the album, one of the most catchy songs too, great guitar towards the end, 5/5
6. Bubble Toes- good song, catchy beat, 4/5
7. Fortunate Fool- i usually skip this one, so i don't really have a rating for it
8. The News- slow song about how "newscasters don't cry when they talk about people who die", 5/5
9. Drink the Water- very catchy beat, was in my head for days after i listened to it, 5/5
10. Mudfootball- great song about just going out and playing football in the mud with friends, 5/5
11. F-Stop Blues- good song, 4/5
12. Losing Hope- nice, slow song at the end, 4/5
13. It's All Understood- nice ending, 5/5
Overall, a great album by the master of chill-out music, 5 stars

Brushfire Fairytales is a great album. It has quickly become one of my all-time favorites. Each one of the thirteen songs is as good as the next. From the more popular "Bubble Toes" and "Flake" to the upbeat, fun "Mudfootball" to the chilling "It's All Understood", the whole set is great.

The music is simple. Jack's accoustic guitar takes the lead, while the solid bass parts and always-interesting percussion complement it perfectly. There's also a touch of piano and one song features slide-guitar. The vocals are smooth and sweet throughout. In addition, it's tough to come across an album full of better lyrics. "Posters" and "The News" really stand out in that reguard.

This debut from Jack Johnson may be his best album to date. It may take a few listens to fully appreciate all of the songs, but I would rate this about equal to it's follow-up On and On, and above his recent effort, In Between Dreams. There is no filler at all and it sounds good again and again. If you're new to Jack Johnson, you may want to start with the more pop-oriented In Between Dreams. If you enjoy it, check out this one and On and On for even better songs from Jack Johnson.

I had the pleasure of hearing about Jack Johnson from radio station WEQX in Vermont back home. This was about the time Jack Johnson was becoming a household name. When Flake was broadcasted over the airwaves i wanted to hear more, I loved it! Jack is a solid musician and an amazing song writer. His music is full of optimistic and struggle. I love it way too much. This album is amazing.
I suggest you to buy this disc for the purpose of folk meets beach music. F- stop blues is the best track on this disc in my opinion, even though this album has so many others. Time for another Saranac...............Love to all!

An unexpected treasure, it changed my life. I bought three copies and dont ever tire of listening to it.

This is a great album. Anyone who thinks all the songs sound the same are those that rush to listen to music. This is a classic album that sounds better and better the more you listen to it, even years later. You need to give it your full attention when you listen. This is not a "pop" album with quick gratification and no substance. If you want that, buy the latest Kelly Clarkson album (I own it). But if you want to sit back and enjoy intricate rhythms and be amazed by masterfully articulated acoustic arrangements... make yourself your favorite drink, dim the lights, slide this in your CD player and let Jack Johnson's incredible talent take you away. Turn it up too!

I like every song. There is no "fluff" on this album so I can't pick any favorites. Maybe start with "Flake" and "Fortunate Fool" if you're new to J.J.

His next two albums are equally good. The album "Inbetween Dreams" may be the best way for listeners to introduce themselves to Jack Johnson. It has more of a pop feel with more pleasing melodies. Don't forget to come back to this one once you're a believer, it's amazing.

While I feel that JJ has overstayed his welcome a bit now (his latest two albums were pretty much rehashes of this), Brushfire Fairytales is a great debut album from the master of chilling out.

JJ is not trying to release a masterpiece here, just a collection of tunes with a relaxed vibe, designed for laying back and enjoying life. And on that level, this album is a remarkable achievement.

Flake, Bubble toes and haunting closer It's all understood are my personal favourites on this album.