New CD on NPR

[BigHerm]

No, fortbethel, I will not pass you this fat joint.

[Jon T.]

[gideons]

Once again MMJ makes music that gets down to the bone!

Talked with a friend the other day and he is into Phish and that jam scene.
He was like:
"I heard MMJ is the new Pink Floyd?"- I was delighted to hear that... and could not agree more.

See ya'll at MTN Jam...if the bus goes

[Tracy 2112]

The band comes through. The Jacket's fanbase well that's another story. An ugly one at that.

And you are part of the fanbase, correct? Am I correct? I said,  AM  I  CORRECT??

[My Monkey Friend]

so i allowed myself one brief passthrough, just listening to about a minute of each song skipping through it.

good god. its awesome, and somehow sounds different and the same at the same time. alot of it sounds like no quarter-esque zepp to me.

i cant imagine how awesome this is going to be when i listen to the whole thing tueday.

[capt. scotty]

Ah. So a great album indeed! Initial impressions:

-Victory Dance is maybe the best opener they've ever come up with, and yes, that's accounting for At Dawn, Mahgeetah, and Wordless Chorus. This and Circuital are the Smokin from Shootin-> Touch Me Pt 2 of the record.

-These songs have so much room to grow live. Victory Dance, First Light, You Wanna Freak Out, Slow Slow Tune... they all have space to fill out and become live favorites.

-Movin' Away is really only the second true piano ballad they've ever done, after Knot Comes Loose. It may feel like an anticlimax, but it's just a gorgeous number. I wonder how much they'll play it live... it seems like the band likes it, but they never gave Knot Comes Loose much time in the setlist.

-They don't experiment very much here, but when they do, it's a lot more consistently rewarding than last time out.

-The lyrics are a mix of the mundane and epic. Out of My System and Holdin' On to Black Metal are mostly simple, upbeat numbers about having a crazy youth, while Victory Dance has some crazy, out of this world lyrics (it's hard to think of a more epic line than "Taste the warpaint on my tongue, as it's dripping with my sweat).

-On Evil Urges, the big theme seemed to be what makes us human vs a machine; here, it's what we outgrow vs what stays with us, and reconciling them both. Holdin on to Black Metal is about indulgence in a phase that ostensibly should've been given up long ago, while Slow Slow Tune is written as a musical portrait dedicated to future listeners. Meanwhile Wonderful has lyrics about both never growing older in your mind and going somewhere entirely new, and Movin' Away feels like the final reconciliation of the conflict. The sound is a mix of the past and the future as well; slide and acoustic guitars regularly share songs with omnichords and keyboards.

-It feels like less of an "epic" experience than Evil Urges and Z. Within those two, there were many peaks, valleys, and a grand finale to both; Circuital mostly goes with the flow, and ends pretty quietly, though still strongly. It's more of an album to cuddle up with on the back porch; it may never end up being your absolute favorite, but it might be the one you come back to most. It's one you can call home.

Awesome. I haven't even heard it for the second time and it's already growing on me.  ;) Hope you enjoyed my assessment!

You might single handedly make me cave today DARKness

The bolded in particular has me very intrigued/excited.

[ChronicHunger]

Caved. Its awesome. I hope they extend some of these tasty tracks live.

[Ooga]

So did anyone else notice or think it is strange that in NPR Circuital summary they say the album contains 11 songs.  I guess it could be a misprint or something, but it still has me wondering. 

Here is the quote:
"These 11 dense, room-filling rock songs were made to cut through humid summer air at maximum volume."

[passerby25]

I caved, fortunately. What ever happened to the song "Friends Again"? I was looking forward to it. Fantastic album though 

[The DARK]

Ah. So a great album indeed! Initial impressions:

-Victory Dance is maybe the best opener they've ever come up with, and yes, that's accounting for At Dawn, Mahgeetah, and Wordless Chorus. This and Circuital are the Smokin from Shootin-> Touch Me Pt 2 of the record.

-These songs have so much room to grow live. Victory Dance, First Light, You Wanna Freak Out, Slow Slow Tune... they all have space to fill out and become live favorites.

-Movin' Away is really only the second true piano ballad they've ever done, after Knot Comes Loose. It may feel like an anticlimax, but it's just a gorgeous number. I wonder how much they'll play it live... it seems like the band likes it, but they never gave Knot Comes Loose much time in the setlist.

-They don't experiment very much here, but when they do, it's a lot more consistently rewarding than last time out.

-The lyrics are a mix of the mundane and epic. Out of My System and Holdin' On to Black Metal are mostly simple, upbeat numbers about having a crazy youth, while Victory Dance has some crazy, out of this world lyrics (it's hard to think of a more epic line than "Taste the warpaint on my tongue, as it's dripping with my sweat).

-On Evil Urges, the big theme seemed to be what makes us human vs a machine; here, it's what we outgrow vs what stays with us, and reconciling them both. Holdin on to Black Metal is about indulgence in a phase that ostensibly should've been given up long ago, while Slow Slow Tune is written as a musical portrait dedicated to future listeners. Meanwhile Wonderful has lyrics about both never growing older in your mind and going somewhere entirely new, and Movin' Away feels like the final reconciliation of the conflict. The sound is a mix of the past and the future as well; slide and acoustic guitars regularly share songs with omnichords and keyboards.

-It feels like less of an "epic" experience than Evil Urges and Z. Within those two, there were many peaks, valleys, and a grand finale to both; Circuital mostly goes with the flow, and ends pretty quietly, though still strongly. It's more of an album to cuddle up with on the back porch; it may never end up being your absolute favorite, but it might be the one you come back to most. It's one you can call home.

Awesome. I haven't even heard it for the second time and it's already growing on me.  ;) Hope you enjoyed my assessment!

You might single handedly make me cave today DARKness

The bolded in particular has me very intrigued/excited.

I admit... it's sometimes very tempting to give into Lucifer's listening techniques ;). You won't regret whatever you choose!

[pawpaw]

I just finished one full play through, hadn't heard anything but the title track before today. I'm at work, but put my headphones, closed the door and gave it a listen.

I'll put some real effort into writing out my thoughts at some point, but for now I'll just say that it's so nice to get an album like this from them after EU. Jim's voice has never sounded so good on record, and the musicianship has never been better.

It's a great album!  :)

[capt. scotty]

I just finished one full play through, hadn't heard anything but the title track before today. I'm at work, but put my headphones, closed the door and gave it a listen.

I'll put some real effort into writing out my thoughts at some point, but for now I'll just say that it's so nice to get an album like this from them after EU. Jim's voice has never sounded so good on record, and the musicianship has never been better.

It's a great album!  :)

Here, Here!

I could tell after just 1 listen that there wasnt a song I would want to skip. Even on my laptop, I can tell the difference in sound between this and EU. Jim pretty much blew out my speakers on Movin Away

[iLikeBeer]

I just finished one full play through, hadn't heard anything but the title track before today. I'm at work, but put my headphones, closed the door and gave it a listen.

I'll put some real effort into writing out my thoughts at some point, but for now I'll just say that it's so nice to get an album like this from them after EU. Jim's voice has never sounded so good on record, and the musicianship has never been better.

It's a great album!  :)

Here, Here!

I could tell after just 1 listen that there wasnt a song I would want to skip. Even on my laptop, I can tell the difference in sound between this and EU. Jim pretty much blew out my speakers on Movin Away

Glad to see you joined us weaklings!    See what you've been missing?   :D   

[Blue7]

Hey guys I'm new.   I've been listing to this album for over a week now, I didn't even realize it wasn't coming out until 31st.  My husband started playing it, he said he stumbled
across it on the internet.  It is really a great album and I've gotten quite fond of it.  My favorite songs right now are "Victory Dance", it is a wonderful vision of hope.  My favorite work out song is "Black Metal" and "Circuital" is my life, right now.  I saw them live in concert last year and this album will be awesome live.  However, on a sad note, they don't have any Florida dates booked for the summer concerts.

[halesdd]

That fuzzy guitar work and ending to "You Wanna Freak Out" that us weaklings have been missing for the past two weeks just confirms that this album has a huge amount of staying power.   :D  Trolls, haters, purists say what you will but the whole thing gets in your insides and then works it's way though until you're marinated from top to bottom and front to back.

:dankk2: My Morning Jacket!!

Wow....so true!!  "You wanna freak out" just gave me chill bumps.  This has completely made my day!!!   

[halesdd]

So did anyone else notice or think it is strange that in NPR Circuital summary they say the album contains 11 songs.  I guess it could be a misprint or something, but it still has me wondering. 

Here is the quote:
"These 11 dense, room-filling rock songs were made to cut through humid summer air at maximum volume."

I noticed that too...  What is up with that?  I didnt hear 11 songs on the NPR version.  Hmmm, that is interesting.  Maybe someone just can't count.  Hope they can count and they have Friends Again on the album.  More then likely not but one can hope.  Either way, it is one heck of an album.

[bethofftherecord]

 :D

SO happy to have seen this thread!  YES!!!  and now comes the part where I stay up and listen to this on NPR over and over!   THANK YOU!

[rincon2]

If any thread ever needed follow up 3 years later by the original posters, this is it.