My Morning Jacket

You Form an Opinion!!!
Wow, I stumbled across this site by googling lyrics to "Evil Urges" and "Look at You", and read this review and laughed. I don't agree with what the comments "stop imitating neil young" (of whom i love) and "Listen to all their older albums NOT THIS ONE". This album has many great elements that some others don't, albeit a couple of tracks like "Two Halves" and "I'm Amazed" are a bit too poppy for me on the first listen, and "Highly Suspicious" is very Prince, but as for ALL of the other tracks on this album are easily 5 stars for they're soothing themes and addictive solace lyrics and melody. "Librarian" and both versions of "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream" give me that feeling of uncertainty about my currant relationship....as if there could be a perfect fit somewhere. without boring you with personal blabber....unfortunately i am labeled a music quite often and give this one a first listen and was slightly disappointed but came back with a couple more listens and can't listen to anything else for the past 3 weeks! THIS ALBUM ROCKS AND IS ADDICTIVE!!!! Jim James is one of my Hero's! PLUSS AS A BONUS TO BUYING THE WAX YOU GET A FREE STAMPED CD!!!!

p.s. it's a 4.5 Stars for me but gave it 5 Stars to objectively make up for the Neanderthal that gave this album 1 star.

Just a note, does anybody else think 'Two Halves' sounds EXACTLY like Ocean Colour Scene (U.K. Trad Rock Band)??

I think this album is a thoughtful and passionate one delivered w/ confidence from a band who is stretching its musical palate. Much like Wilco did with their disc "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot", MMJ is declaring that their interests are, and will most likely remain, in flux. They will not simply be thought of as a sweet new twist on southern rock. True, this is not the first time they have indicated that and delivered on it, but this is a more realized package in that respect. In fact, James' falsetto vocal deliveries and the musical distinctions between the 3 opening tracks leave you wondering if the more traditional MMJ sound is gone for good. Track 4 answers that question with a no, and throughout the cd, their more hallmark qualities surface. But what I love about the album is that, while not perfect by any means, it establishes MMJ as a band on an artisitic mission....still hungry. I believe it sends a signal that interesting things are in store.
I am not comparing them to the Beatles per se, but think about how fans must have been feeling when "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver" ushered in the latter half of their career together, or when U2 released "Unforgettable Fire"...or when the Clash released "London Calling." (OK wait, it's nowhere near that good!) But simply put, it is exciting to hear a band making it clear that is not going to rest on its laurels and still has a sense of both experimentation and musicality.
Worth a listen.

Too bad musicianship and JJ's transcendent voice is all veiled over with [...] -
taking a new direction doesn't always mean leaving your given talents behind -
maybe they will see what they lost, and find it anew - HOPEFULLY !

So they made a record and ripped through as many musical genres as possible within that record. It's a great idea, but they sound below average whether they're playing 80s Prince Pop, funk, soul or rockabilly. The single, "Amazed" is the only song that sounds remotely inspiring, but after a few listens, I find that I don't want to hear it anymore. The rest of the songs feature the band trying too hard to create a hook and some falsetto that is woefully overused. There is an intangible redeeming quality in that the record does make decent background noise in a party, but don't expect to be wowed in a private listening.

My 20 year old son left this CD in my car and I just discovered how excellent this album is. In the likes of the Shins and older Shoes and early R.E.M. Great, eclectic rhythms and lyrics. Just an all around great CD. I cannot believe I have never heard of this group before????

Overall, a great rock album, showcases Jim James' and the bands diversity within the rock genre, Well mastered. Jim James' vocals are lodged in your head and the band has a certain Jam element that I love. The perfect sounds of the keyboards as well as the arrangements and the variety of Jim's vocals make it special. I would give it 4.5 out of 5.

There's something that happens to good and interesting bands, well they change. For some bands it just takes sheer boredom, boredom with their signature sound, for some it takes a spirit of creativity and experimentalism, and for some it takes tragedy. Louisville, Kentucky's Jim James, and his fellow daybreak jackets, experience a little bit of turmoil and tragedy leading up to 2005's release of Z, My Morning Jacket's (as best as I can come up with) fourth studio album.

Leading up to Jacket's Z, founding band member, Johnny Quaid (no relation to Dennis), and guitarist departed the band along with the keyboardist Danny Cash. The question is out there, will Quaid and Cash someday become the infamous 5th Beatles? I'll answer that one now, nope, neither one have been associated with the Beatles, only My Morning Jacket so it's kind of an impossibility.

So you didn't come here to read this to listen to my random inane ramblings. You want to know the dish and dirt on Z. Is it any good? Should I bother spending time listening to it and getting to know it? Will I be considered a middle aged hipster if I start claiming allegiance to My Morning Jacket's ever growing legion of loyal fans? The answers my fellow Amazonians are yes, yes, and heck yeah!

Some people would say that My Morning Jacket became the next Wilco with the release of Z. Well, that would be shorting MMJ methinks. They are this eclectic amalgam whose music is very hard to pigeonhole. The musicality is off the charts. The first track, Wordless Chorus, has this 70's easy funk R&B groove going on. Track 2, Dondante, hits you with James' ghost-like high wail. There's something ethereal about his voice as it climbs into the high registers. Gideon, track 4, is a little musical masterpiece including symphonic arrangements with beating on a tymphonic drum I believe.

Track 7, Anytime, is the radio friendly indie superhit that comes off as My Morning Jacket doing a riff on Pela riffing on Arcade Fire who in turn is really riffing on My Morning Jacket. Complicated, I know, but follow me here. My Morning Jacket is a sound all its own, in a class all its own.

I don't doubt we'll be hearing much from them in the future as they forever evolve. I haven't dug into their 2008 release Evil Urges, which oddly enough I couldn't find on Amazon just now to stick in a link for youse guys. Evil Urges...ohh there it is...so sorry 'bout that. You won't want to miss a minute of Z, MMJ's real and they mean it. --mmw

i was very pleased by the work that My Morning Jacket put out on this album. they are awesome thought, so i wasnt surprised! off the record would have to be one of my favorites on this one ; )

For fans of MMJ, this album is a continuation of an impressive, enjoyable body of work from these Kentuckians. The reverb on the vocals really make the album for me. I'm looking forward to their new album coming out!

This is an unbelievable album. My Morning Jacket is on another level right now, and this is arguably the best album they've produced. Do yourself a favor and get hooked.

great album; in the genre of elliot smith, mazzy starr, the morphine side of Beck. I recently purchased their latest album, "Evil Urges" and have only listened to it once. I didn't care for it but will give it more tries as this album ("It Still Moves") is so terrific.

Ya know this somehow reminds me of the Screaming Trees when they were coming up. A little Red House painters/Sun Kil-Moon as well. The album is low-fi, perhaps partially reminding me of early Screaming Trees studio efforts.

Indie-darlings My Morning Jacket get a call to the majors and...well, does anyone really love this record? I suspect that affection for earlier work influenced the mostly good regard and praise heaped upon It Still Moves. In fact, the problem is ironic considering the title: it hardly moves at all. Most songs stretch five minutes and more, but feel nearly twice as long as that. And at seventy minutes of music, that is one long slog.

The reverberating echo effect is alternately mesmerizing and annoying; the tracklist full of decent but rarely exceptional songs. The highlights include the pretty "Golden," the strong opener, "Mahgeeta" (and one of the few songs that feels longer than it is, but in a good way), and the bluesy "Run Thru." Having not listened to the band's earlier music, I don't know if this is just another case of an indie losing authority on a major label, but they straightened out their problems with the flawed but often stellar follow-up effort, Z. I suppose the fan-base was strong enough to make this record seem better than it actually is.

Best cuts: "Golden," "Mahgeeta," "Run Thru," "Easy Morning Rebel," "Masterplan," "Dancefloors," "One in the Same"

I really wanted this cd because I love the song "Golden," and I thought at the rest of the album must be at least passable. So it was surprising to hear how bad the rest of the songs are, mostly due to the gimmicky "echo chamber" sound to all of them. "Golden" is so different from the rest that it seems like it was done by another band altogether. A big disappointment! Sorry, but that's my opinion. . .

It took a while for me to "get" My Morning Jacket. But now that I finally figured out that Jim James is the new archangel of American rock, I've been working my way backwards through their studio work to discover what gems have yet to shine through my ears and tickle the musical capacitors in my brain.

With some bands, looking into the past can be a hazardous course. But the MMJ catalog proves to be an intriguing, if inconsistent, study in songwriting development with very few bumps in the road.

At Dawn is perhaps one of the band's most underrated albums (although the reviewers here seem to share my enthusiasm), but the fact is it may be one of the best examples of their shape shifting between dramatic, acoustic Americana gems and scorching, southern-tinged, country-fried rock. This is perhaps best exemplified by the tracks that make up the core of this disc -- Bermuda Highway, Honest Man, and Xmas Curtain -- starting out with a gentle fireside sing-a-long then rising to a mountainous electric anthem and then setting back into a misty melodic valley. Other personal favorites include the bluesy gait of Death is My Sleazy Pay and the reggae-infused lilt of Phone Went West.

While Z remains my far and away favorites, and Evil Urges is quickly becoming a staple in my summertime driving rotation, At Dawn is quickly becoming the disc I reach for when I need a bit of bona fide musical spirituality. This is a highly recommended listen for anyone looking to wrap their wings further around this impressive band of musicians.

Just so ya know, track 13 (Untitled) is a full 8 minutes and seven seconds. Amazon has it incorrectly listed as 3:08.

The song "Lowdown" is the high point here. Recorded music at its finest. Play the sample above and tell me I'm lying.

I listened to "At Dawn" after having listened to "Z," which is their latest release. Like "Z," their songs ramble a bit and they go into long, drawn-out solos - a "jam band" if you will. However this album is much more crude and there is way too much reverb. Call me "urbanized," but the production values are poor and there is a lack of hooks throughout the entire length of album. The album is so long that the CD stops playing near the end on my computer's CD player - "Strangulation!" gets strangulated, and I don't even hear the bonus track. "Honest Man" is the only standout on the album, a blues-driven rocker that is unlike any other song MMJ has done. The rest, well - I'm glad it's in the past.

I am now listening to this cd for the first time, and i have to say I love it!!! The music is mesmerizing, almost putting me into musical nirvana. I recommend it highly, as highly as I have ever recommended any cd!!!

If you read my title, it sounds like I may be strange or just looking to be goofy, but after I saw My Morning jacket this year at Bonnaroo, I'm not totally convinced that Jim James and the rest of the crew is entirely human. The sound of Jim James and the dynamic sound of the band in full is beyond anything that should ever be possible from a mear mortal human being. The album, AT DAWN, has been one of my favorite five albums of all time for well over a year now, but it's an album that may possibly grow on a person for years, or maybe lifetimes, or maybe even reincarnated lives, etc. It hits the soul in ways I didn't think possible. I really don't think (aside from MMJ themselves) that any album will ever be made again that reaches this deeply into the human spiritual core. This album leaves me trembling and feeling reborn after every listen. I was late getting into My Morning Jacket, and now I can't stop thinking about them and it's almost odd how integrated their music is with my life. Appropriately enough, they have possibly the most fitting song in the history of life to describe how I feel about Jim James and the way the music makes me feel. To take an exact quote from the song "The Way That He Sings":

"Why does my mind blow to bits every time they play that song?
It's just the way that he sings,
not the words that he says, or the band.
Im in love with this soul, it's a meaning that I understand."

Those lines are the most appropriate lines I have ever heard. Because it's the way I feel every time I hear every part of that song, and of the album. Of course, I do love the lyrics and the band, etc, but there is something in the way that he sings that blows my mind to bits. Every song on this album is so beautiful and hypnotic that it could arguably stand out on any other album in music history. Please give this album many chances, and realize that it may take several listens before you even can get to the next level of the greatness of this album. I heard it almost four or five times, casually, before it started to hit me, and then one day, I immediately named it one of my favorite five albums; now it's my number one without any doubts. Only this band could top the effort of At Dawn. I really can't say any more about this album other than that it is just simply the most beautiful thing I have ever encountered in my life. This album is special, and the band is as much. I've only seen them twice, but please see them after you get familiar with at least a couple of their albums, and I promise you will come back home and play their albums more religiously than a priest reads a verse before mass.

It took me awhile to get into this album. I'm not sure just how many times I listened to it before its brilliance fully emerged, but I do know that these songs feel like a part of myself that someone else is singing. Whether or not the average listener experiences a similar resonance, the authenticity of these humbly beautiful songs is bound to strike a cord. Hands down- My Morning Jacket's best album!

Heck of a debut from these sincere alt-country emos. Before they began tweaking their now successful multi-pop prowess, MMJ came out of nowhere with this raw, at times hard hitting introduction into rough acoustics, jangly reverb, and of course excellent vocals. Although the mixing leaves much to be desired, a humble and sincere power behind even the simplest of ballads makes some of the lackluster material shine brighter, although few if any songs predict their up and coming songwriting evolution ala "The Bear" as a strong opening gives way to lees distinctive fare.

Classic MMJ, with the oringinal line-up including Danny Cash and Johnny Quaid. Also J Glenn on drums.'TTN' and 'At Dawn' are both amazing but between the two this one's my favorite of their original early recordings (w/ the old guys). Every song on this album is Beautiful in it's own way. I'm in love with the world this album takes me to.

This is a great album that rivals "At Dawn" as one of their best pieces of work. Early MMJ albums are a true treasure to own and listen to again and again. The haunting reverb and the amazing song writing ability of Jim James gives this album 5 stars without a doubt. The "lo fi" approach to this album was part of the magic that make this one of the best albums Jim and the gang have done. This is an album you can play all the way through and enjoy every track, I hold this album in high regard and would recommend this to anyone with good taste in music.

I was somewhat late into the world of My Morning Jacket unfortunately, and Tennessee Fire was the last album that I listened to from them. I started to fall in love with their other albums first and thought of Tennessee Fire as a decent first album, or a "good start," and when "Z" came out I loved that album as well. I finally started listening to Tennessee Fire a bit more while the other albums were gaining even more of my affection. It kept building, and building, and building, eventually "At Dawn" became the greatest thing I had ever heard, and "It Still Moves" and "Z" started to reveal their layers to me as well, and all this time, poor little "Tennessee Fire" sat there, lonely and cold, waiting for me to sit down with it and get to know it as deeply as their other albums, begging to me to give it the same shake I had given all of their other albums, trying to convince me it was more than just an okay first effort, but instead a beginning to the chain of the greatest and most soulfull music ever to be laid upon the once def ears of this world.

Finally, I felt sympathy, and after brief listens here and there, withouth my full attention, I lay there on my couch, with nothing but silence, and put on this album, with no distractions. Wait, wait, it's clicking, yes, yes, third track in and I'm starting to realize the power of "They Ran" finally, and "The Bear" strikes me even more than before. Every song now, clicking, sinking in; I'm getting it, "Nashville to Kentucky" means more to me now, I can feel the meaning, yes, "Evelyn Is Not Real" is one of the greatest songs I've ever heard, on and on, I start to understand that the production ISN'T WEAK, it's calculated and intense and relevant to the style Jim James had invisioned for this haunting album. HIS VOCALS ARE EVERYWHERE, I'm not even high or tripping, and I feel like I'm freaking out by the intensity of the album; this album is arguably as powerful as anything they have done. By the latter parts of the album, there is no let-down at all. Possibly, the two or three most affecting songs are at the end; "By My Car, "Butch Cassidy," and "I Think I'm Going to Hell," and also the end track, which is instrumental, all are part of a cumulation that leaves you feeling emotional in so many levels, asking yourself how that was possible to capture on any type of recording device.

I listen to this album, among others from MMJ, and wonder to myself at times if it's even real; is anyone else hearing what I'm hearing? I want to SCREAM ALOUD to people, repeatedly, "CAN YOU HEAR THE SOUL THAT I HEAR?" If so, we should all be out on the streets screaming, howling, crying, hugging each other, revealing our newly found souls to the world, freeing our souls from the cage they have dwelled in, rejoicing in a celebratory victory dance while their music plays from the skies from a sound system echoing and drifting from galaxies far, far away.

While this live performance has only a limited number of cuts, they are of high quality. The guitar selections are outstanding and provide a lot of great harmony and quality acoustics.

My Morning Jacket is a sleeper group that can whip a crowd into a frenzy with great intensity on their guitar solo's and a lot of energy.

They remind one of the storied past of true rock and roll.

This EP was what made me an MMJ fan for life. While the songs with the band "The Bear" and "Sooner" are good and terrific live performance, its when the band leaves the stage to Jim James that the EP really defines itself. Alone with his acoustic guitar and his indescribable, plaintively melancholy voice Jim James causes the hair on the back of your neck to stand straight up. "Bermuda Highway", "Golden", and the final track "Hopefully" are all truely awesome. Both his rythym guitar style and his vocals are reminiscent of Neil Young and Jim James is just as capable of holding a listeners rapt attention with merely a guitar and his voice. Though only 5 tracks, this EP is truely a bargain.

I have always had a very personal experience with this band, from the day I purchased "At Dawn" and realized that for once the hype was real. I hate hype, I hate hyped bands, I have had trouble getting into, say, Radiohead, because of all these critics and knee-jerk fans who insist on prattling on forever about how [insert band here] will alter how we perceive our universe. I would gladly stop reading the press on bands, except for the fact that I am somewhat of a hypocrite and have to rely on somebody to inform me about new music as it comes out because there's no other way to find new music beyond word of mouth. So there.

Anyways, so I avoid hyped bands unless and until I find out that the hype was warranted. Here, we have the real deal at its, well, realest. Jim James has an amazing voice that echoes and resonates even without the reverb effects he so commonly uses. That voice is the center of the music and gives it a plainspoken honesty that makes it touching and comforting even when I don't know what he's actually singing about. I found this disc at an indie record shop and spent a lot of time driving around listening to it, travelling to work and to meet friends in somewhat far-flung locations around San Diego county. I've had it on while driving through barren hills, crowded freeways, urban areas, you name it. Consequently it makes me think of roads when I hear it, and travel. And empty stretches of highway. It is completely timeless, could have been recorded in 1965 as easily as now. I'd almost dare say that this live disc is a classic.

The fact that I have already written two paragraphs of review material about a 25-minute performance should tell you something. Something beyond the fact that I am bored tonight. This is a really great album, worthy of many listens, preferably while driving. I wonder what's on TV?

Jim James and company come out and blow me away with slowly-building, rockers that become intense jams from the Kentucky hillsides. His voice on the little I heard before this EP was enhanced and made the music even more special. This unaltered singing brought tears to my eyes at times and a stupid grin on my face. Get this if you can!

what an awesome, intimate look at the wonderous band, my morning jacket.

The CD is an absolutely necessary buy for any my morning jacket fan. It gives you an insight into just how amazing this band is in concert. I personally have seen them once in person and they are even better in concert than they are on recordings.

I didn't consider myself much of a my morning jacket fan but this 2-disc live album is great. The vocals are a bit nasal at times but when he really sings out sounds much better. I didn't expect the number of well-crafted guitar solos either but it was a welcome surprise.

I recently became a MMJ fan. I actually purchased this album on accident as I didn't realize that it was live until after I bought it. I like the rest of their albums so much that I was just hungry for another one. While I was disappointed at first, the more I listen to this album the more I like it. Because of it I am definitely making plans to see them live.

Matt Zarnstorff

Purchased on the strength of their Austin City Limits performance. While it has some of the same exuberance, the quality is poor and the sound becomes muddeld.

I rented this on Netflix, hearing that it was good. I gotta tell ya, this is great stuff. Grant it, I've had eight beers and God knows what else but thats what this music is about. Let yourself go and love it. Parts of this remind me of Sigur Ros almost, which is incredible in my book. Ethereal. Heavenly. Inspired. 5 stars.

I love MMJ. They are one of the best and most underrated bands out there. This is a collection of their early stuff (95-97). Some of the recording quality is a little ruff but that is so easily overlooked when the songs are as amazing as they are. If you are a fan than you must buy this album, along with Vol. 2 of this collection.

The CD is an absolutely necessary buy for any my morning jacket fan. It gives you an insight into just how amazing this band is in concert. I personally have seen them once in person and they are even better in concert than they are on recordings.

I didn't consider myself much of a my morning jacket fan but this 2-disc live album is great. The vocals are a bit nasal at times but when he really sings out sounds much better. I didn't expect the number of well-crafted guitar solos either but it was a welcome surprise.

I recently became a MMJ fan. I actually purchased this album on accident as I didn't realize that it was live until after I bought it. I like the rest of their albums so much that I was just hungry for another one. While I was disappointed at first, the more I listen to this album the more I like it. Because of it I am definitely making plans to see them live.

Matt Zarnstorff

Purchased on the strength of their Austin City Limits performance. While it has some of the same exuberance, the quality is poor and the sound becomes muddeld.

I rented this on Netflix, hearing that it was good. I gotta tell ya, this is great stuff. Grant it, I've had eight beers and God knows what else but thats what this music is about. Let yourself go and love it. Parts of this remind me of Sigur Ros almost, which is incredible in my book. Ethereal. Heavenly. Inspired. 5 stars.

This is an unbelievable album. My Morning Jacket is on another level right now, and this is arguably the best album they've produced. Do yourself a favor and get hooked.

great album; in the genre of elliot smith, mazzy starr, the morphine side of Beck. I recently purchased their latest album, "Evil Urges" and have only listened to it once. I didn't care for it but will give it more tries as this album ("It Still Moves") is so terrific.

Ya know this somehow reminds me of the Screaming Trees when they were coming up. A little Red House painters/Sun Kil-Moon as well. The album is low-fi, perhaps partially reminding me of early Screaming Trees studio efforts.

Indie-darlings My Morning Jacket get a call to the majors and...well, does anyone really love this record? I suspect that affection for earlier work influenced the mostly good regard and praise heaped upon It Still Moves. In fact, the problem is ironic considering the title: it hardly moves at all. Most songs stretch five minutes and more, but feel nearly twice as long as that. And at seventy minutes of music, that is one long slog.

The reverberating echo effect is alternately mesmerizing and annoying; the tracklist full of decent but rarely exceptional songs. The highlights include the pretty "Golden," the strong opener, "Mahgeeta" (and one of the few songs that feels longer than it is, but in a good way), and the bluesy "Run Thru." Having not listened to the band's earlier music, I don't know if this is just another case of an indie losing authority on a major label, but they straightened out their problems with the flawed but often stellar follow-up effort, Z. I suppose the fan-base was strong enough to make this record seem better than it actually is.

Best cuts: "Golden," "Mahgeeta," "Run Thru," "Easy Morning Rebel," "Masterplan," "Dancefloors," "One in the Same"

I really wanted this cd because I love the song "Golden," and I thought at the rest of the album must be at least passable. So it was surprising to hear how bad the rest of the songs are, mostly due to the gimmicky "echo chamber" sound to all of them. "Golden" is so different from the rest that it seems like it was done by another band altogether. A big disappointment! Sorry, but that's my opinion. . .