My Morning Jacket

[Strat]

ooof.

Liebz, i dont want to harsh your new album excitement buzz so ill keep this short.

Not good. The band tries so hard to save a few tunes but these big jam freakout stuff feels pasted onto an otherwise boring song. These saving attempts are out of place.

Not much to get excited about for me. Colors almost gets there.

[liebzz]

I don’t hear them as necessarily out of place. Granted, I am not one to put huge stock in lyrics compared to the music, but I think it mostly fits and is pretty normal for them. I mean, on Easy Morning Rebel, they somehow segue from a straight country song into what can only be described as a Stones level freakout without a real common thread. Strangulation is basically two songs mashed together. Love both of those songs, but I don’t see that particular aspect to the songs being something out of the ordinary for them.

That being said, I appreciate where they are going on each of the songs here. There’s an optimism and joyousness to the delivery on the songs here, for the most part, and they create these epic spaces through those instrumental dives, but the lyrics keep thing afloat by assuring the listener that they aren’t taking themselves too seriously. The right balance for me.

[Rob]

Honestly I’m not sure if I like “The Devils in the Details” yet. Lyrics are cool, but it’s 9 min of kind of the same thing? I’m loving the rest of this album tho. I like the jammy nature of the album. I get that’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but when MMJ is just jamming… love it. Lots of good stuff on here, will be listening a lot in the near future.

[liebzz]

Honestly I’m not sure if I like “The Devils in the Details” yet. Lyrics are cool, but it’s 9 min of kind of the same thing? I’m loving the rest of this album tho. I like the jammy nature of the album. I get that’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but when MMJ is just jamming… love it. Lots of good stuff on here, will be listening a lot in the near future.

There’s a breakdown at the end, maybe 1:45 left on the track, where they get into a jazzy kind of thing that is totally different from anything they’ve ever done. Excited to see if they stretch that out live. I think the song doesn’t lend itself to the freak out on some of the other songs and has more of an unsettling vibe that works nicely as against the song before it that has that huge payoff at the end, and the song after, which is a sort of joyous celebration of them as a touring band.

[joostone]

still on my first listen. So far so good...

Man, I love this band

[Hatfield]

I'm only through Least Expected, and what I can say now is that I LOVE Least Expected. I'm getting a Dead Man, Dead Man vibe from Dylan's Shot of Love.

[Hatfield]

https://uproxx.com/indie/jim-james-revi ... ket-album/

[liebzz]

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/my ... ng-jacket/

Hey! I like Peloton…

[tragabigzanda]

[Rob]

They’ve always been a sort-of jam band, and that’s been a great thing.

This album is different, to me. I’ve listened many times. “Never In The Real World” and “Complex” are easily 2 of my favorite MMJ songs in a long time. Most of the rest is very solid and still growing on me. “Devil’s in the Details” is one I’m still struggling with. It’s ok, but it just seems way too long to me (I’m not one to complain about longer songs) - and it’s a long, slow song right smack in the middle of the album. I dunno, it’s not working for me (yet). “Out of Range” and the closing track are the only other two I’m a little “meh” on at this point. Overall I love the more jammy, less polished style of this album a lot. The 2 Waterfall albums were good but I like this style better. And the lyrics on this are simple yet really thought provoking - easily accessible and familiar.

[liebzz]

They’ve always been a sort-of jam band, and that’s been a great thing.

This album is different, to me. I’ve listened many times. “Never In The Real World” and “Complex” are easily 2 of my favorite MMJ songs in a long time. Most of the rest is very solid and still growing on me. “Devil’s in the Details” is one I’m still struggling with. It’s ok, but it just seems way too long to me (I’m not one to complain about longer songs) - and it’s a long, slow song right smack in the middle of the album. I dunno, it’s not working for me (yet). “Out of Range” and the closing track are the only other two I’m a little “meh” on at this point. Overall I love the more jammy, less polished style of this album a lot. The 2 Waterfall albums were good but I like this style better. And the lyrics on this are simple yet really thought provoking - easily accessible and familiar.

I am still enjoying this too. I like Devils in the Details. It’s got this creeping vibe to it and the jazz close out is totally different but works really well. I also like the last two, but I think the last song more appropriately fits on The Waterfall than here.

[Chris_H_2]

this is the first album in a while where the old, hackneyed joke "my boring racket" actually fits the bill. i've listened to this like 5 times now, and it just doesn't do anything for me. this is terribly forgettable. it's a shame, because i really thought they still had a lot of creative juices left in them.

[liebzz]

I got the physical version in the mail today. Much more efficient than Live 2015. Can’t wait to get a chance to spin it proper.

[Strat]

Least expected. Devils in the details, and I never could get enough are awful.

The rest are growing.

Never in the real world and in color are bangers and everything I ever wanted in mmj.

[Strat]

And never in the real world would fit perfectly in uniform distortion.

[liebzz]

And never in the real world would fit perfectly in uniform distortion.

This is very true.

My early favorites are In Color, Never in the Real World, and Complex, but I still really enjoy everything on this album.

[Oh, Jimmy]

And never in the real world would fit perfectly in uniform distortion.

It’s that climb in the solo. Same tone and very similar feel and approach to the solo in Yes To Everything.

[Oh, Jimmy]

They’ve always been a sort-of jam band, and that’s been a great thing.

This album is different, to me. I’ve listened many times. “Never In The Real World” and “Complex” are easily 2 of my favorite MMJ songs in a long time. Most of the rest is very solid and still growing on me. “Devil’s in the Details” is one I’m still struggling with. It’s ok, but it just seems way too long to me (I’m not one to complain about longer songs) - and it’s a long, slow song right smack in the middle of the album. I dunno, it’s not working for me (yet). “Out of Range” and the closing track are the only other two I’m a little “meh” on at this point. Overall I love the more jammy, less polished style of this album a lot. The 2 Waterfall albums were good but I like this style better. And the lyrics on this are simple yet really thought provoking - easily accessible and familiar.

I am still enjoying this too. I like Devils in the Details. It’s got this creeping vibe to it and the jazz close out is totally different but works really well. I also like the last two, but I think the last song more appropriately fits on The Waterfall than here.

Devils reminds me of a spaced out version of Librarian. The outro feels both rushed/tacked on and overthought. Thing it would be better served without it despite being a neat little excursion. Needs something to connect it.

[liebzz]

They’ve always been a sort-of jam band, and that’s been a great thing.

This album is different, to me. I’ve listened many times. “Never In The Real World” and “Complex” are easily 2 of my favorite MMJ songs in a long time. Most of the rest is very solid and still growing on me. “Devil’s in the Details” is one I’m still struggling with. It’s ok, but it just seems way too long to me (I’m not one to complain about longer songs) - and it’s a long, slow song right smack in the middle of the album. I dunno, it’s not working for me (yet). “Out of Range” and the closing track are the only other two I’m a little “meh” on at this point. Overall I love the more jammy, less polished style of this album a lot. The 2 Waterfall albums were good but I like this style better. And the lyrics on this are simple yet really thought provoking - easily accessible and familiar.

I am still enjoying this too. I like Devils in the Details. It’s got this creeping vibe to it and the jazz close out is totally different but works really well. I also like the last two, but I think the last song more appropriately fits on The Waterfall than here.

Devils reminds me of a spaced out version of Librarian. The outro feels both rushed/tacked on and overthought. Thing it would be better served without it despite being a neat little excursion. Needs something to connect it.

I mean, it has its silly moments, especially since he name checks Stranger Things and talks about mall shopping like it’s still a thing people actually do, but the larger arc about participating in a society that forces you to do support bad things even with the most mundane of behaviors seems authentic to me. I guess that source of inspiration bore more fruit than staring out your front window waiting for the Amazon delivery van.

Overall, it makes more sense than a weird teen drama as told through the lense of a person stalking a librarian.

I love the outtro on the song though, and it feels to me like a growth off the main path of the song. It breaks the song out of its monotony, and gives it a new place to go that isn’t as foreshadowy feeling as the main composition - but I think that was the point. How that fits in the framework of the lyrics? I have no clue, but I think it fits musically.

[Got Some]

In Color
Never in the Real World
Penny for your thoughts
Lucky To Be Alive
Complex
Regular Scheduled ProgramminG
Least Expected
Devils in the details
Love Love Love
I could never get enough
Out of Range