Stereogum ranks the band's albums

[ulysses]

Hey everyone- I used to post on here quite a bit back around 08, and now can't remember what my old account was, so just created this new one. I did one of Stereogum's Counting Down features for the band, ranking their albums from worst to best, and thought the community here might be interested, given we all have our very personal attachments to each of their albums. Anyway, here it is. Enjoy:

http://stereogum.com/1329741/my-morning-jacket-albums-from-worst-to-best-2/top-stories/lead-story/

[EverythingChanges]

Hey everyone- I used to post on here quite a bit back around 08, and now can't remember what my old account was, so just created this new one. I did one of Stereogum's Counting Down features for the band, ranking their albums from worst to best, and thought the community here might be interested, given we all have our very personal attachments to each of their albums. Anyway, here it is. Enjoy:

http://stereogum.com/1329741/my-morning-jacket-albums-from-worst-to-best-2/top-stories/lead-story/

Thanks for the article.  I definitely don't agree with Circuital being above EU and TTF.  The guy didn't even mention smokin from shootin on the EU piece.

[justbcuzido]

Hey everyone- I used to post on here quite a bit back around 08, and now can't remember what my old account was, so just created this new one. I did one of Stereogum's Counting Down features for the band, ranking their albums from worst to best, and thought the community here might be interested, given we all have our very personal attachments to each of their albums. Anyway, here it is. Enjoy:

http://stereogum.com/1329741/my-morning-jacket-albums-from-worst-to-best-2/top-stories/lead-story/

Thanks for the article.  I definitely don't agree with Circuital being above EU and TTF.  The guy didn't even mention smokin from shootin on the EU piece.

For some reason there is a strong disliking to EU I just don't agree with. I absolutely love that album. I initially couldn't get behind the album (much like Circuital), but the more I see the songs performed live, the more I just get it. For me, what ultimately sold me was seeing "Look at You" performed accoustic. Since that fateful evening, I have been trying to assemble the entire EU album with accoustic versions. Kind of a mini project for me as I have found every song on that album sounds awesome as an accoustic (especially Thank You Too)

I am also one of the rare people on this forum that like both "Sec Walkin" and "Two Halves".

[bartel]

pretty much agree with this ranking probably have it still moves as number 1 though..

[EverythingChanges]

Hey everyone- I used to post on here quite a bit back around 08, and now can't remember what my old account was, so just created this new one. I did one of Stereogum's Counting Down features for the band, ranking their albums from worst to best, and thought the community here might be interested, given we all have our very personal attachments to each of their albums. Anyway, here it is. Enjoy:

http://stereogum.com/1329741/my-morning-jacket-albums-from-worst-to-best-2/top-stories/lead-story/

Thanks for the article.  I definitely don't agree with Circuital being above EU and TTF.  The guy didn't even mention smokin from shootin on the EU piece.

For some reason there is a strong disliking to EU I just don't agree with. I absolutely love that album. I initially couldn't get behind the album (much like Circuital), but the more I see the songs performed live, the more I just get it. For me, what ultimately sold me was seeing "Look at You" performed accoustic. Since that fateful evening, I have been trying to assemble the entire EU album with accoustic versions. Kind of a mini project for me as I have found every song on that album sounds awesome as an accoustic (especially Thank You Too)

I am also one of the rare people on this forum that like both "Sec Walkin" and "Two Halves".

I don't think MMJ has a bad song in their catalogue, but Two Halves is by no means close to the top.  However, Sec Walkin is awesome!

Evil Urges, Touch Me 1, Touch Me 2, Smokin', Thank You Too, I'm Amazed, and Look at You are freaking amazing tunes.

And where have they ever played touch, evil urges, I'm Amazed etc. as acoustic?

[justbcuzido]

Hey everyone- I used to post on here quite a bit back around 08, and now can't remember what my old account was, so just created this new one. I did one of Stereogum's Counting Down features for the band, ranking their albums from worst to best, and thought the community here might be interested, given we all have our very personal attachments to each of their albums. Anyway, here it is. Enjoy:

http://stereogum.com/1329741/my-morning-jacket-albums-from-worst-to-best-2/top-stories/lead-story/

Thanks for the article.  I definitely don't agree with Circuital being above EU and TTF.  The guy didn't even mention smokin from shootin on the EU piece.

For some reason there is a strong disliking to EU I just don't agree with. I absolutely love that album. I initially couldn't get behind the album (much like Circuital), but the more I see the songs performed live, the more I just get it. For me, what ultimately sold me was seeing "Look at You" performed accoustic. Since that fateful evening, I have been trying to assemble the entire EU album with accoustic versions. Kind of a mini project for me as I have found every song on that album sounds awesome as an accoustic (especially Thank You Too)

I am also one of the rare people on this forum that like both "Sec Walkin" and "Two Halves".

I don't think MMJ has a bad song in their catalogue, but Two Halves is by no means close to the top.  However, Sec Walkin is awesome!

Evil Urges, Touch Me 1, Touch Me 2, Smokin', Thank You Too, I'm Amazed, and Look at You are freaking amazing tunes.

And where have they ever played touch, evil urges, I'm Amazed etc. as acoustic?

Hey everyone- I used to post on here quite a bit back around 08, and now can't remember what my old account was, so just created this new one. I did one of Stereogum's Counting Down features for the band, ranking their albums from worst to best, and thought the community here might be interested, given we all have our very personal attachments to each of their albums. Anyway, here it is. Enjoy:

http://stereogum.com/1329741/my-morning-jacket-albums-from-worst-to-best-2/top-stories/lead-story/

Thanks for the article.  I definitely don't agree with Circuital being above EU and TTF.  The guy didn't even mention smokin from shootin on the EU piece.

For some reason there is a strong disliking to EU I just don't agree with. I absolutely love that album. I initially couldn't get behind the album (much like Circuital), but the more I see the songs performed live, the more I just get it. For me, what ultimately sold me was seeing "Look at You" performed accoustic. Since that fateful evening, I have been trying to assemble the entire EU album with accoustic versions. Kind of a mini project for me as I have found every song on that album sounds awesome as an accoustic (especially Thank You Too)

I am also one of the rare people on this forum that like both "Sec Walkin" and "Two Halves".

I don't think MMJ has a bad song in their catalogue, but Two Halves is by no means close to the top.  However, Sec Walkin is awesome!

Evil Urges, Touch Me 1, Touch Me 2, Smokin', Thank You Too, I'm Amazed, and Look at You are freaking amazing tunes.

And where have they ever played touch, evil urges, I'm Amazed etc. as acoustic?

So far I got Look at You, Smokin From Shootin, Thank You Too and TMP2. As I said, it's a work in progress. TMP2 I got from the Black Cab Sessions. If you got any others, let me know.

The Black Cab Sessions. Chapter Forty-three: My Morning Jack

[EverythingChanges]

Oh yeah, I forgot about the cab session video.  And I will keep an eye out, but speaking of acoustic rarities...

Jim James of My Morning Jacket - Live at Space 101 - September 1, 2001

[MMPJ6306]

Circuital over TTF is bananas to me.

This list got me thinking about the "narrative" MMJ leaves behind as their sound changes and grows. I think it will be really interesting to hear where they go on the next album because EU was clearly their weirdest, farthest reaching record and Circuital went for a much more direct, hooky thing in my opinion.

[Penny Lane]

Circuital over TTF is bananas to me.

I couldn't take the rest of the article seriously after that.

[BigHerm]

Dumbest fucking list of all time?

[johnnYYac]

I don't agree with the author's order, but he seems to have given it a lot of thought and I respect that.  It's hardly the work of a hack. I discovered MMJ one month before EU, but agree with some of the holier-than-thou lifers that its not their best work. To most who discovered MMJ with Z, TTF will seem a bit lo-fi and amateurish, because it is!  I love it, but I understand why someone might put Circuital above it.

My order (for today, at least):

1. It Still Moves
2. At Dawn
3. Z
4. The Tennessee Fire
5. Evil Urges
6. Circuital

[Fully]

I discovered MMJ one month before EU, but agree with some of the holier-than-thou lifers

Who might you be referring to, John? :D

[johnnYYac]

I discovered MMJ one month before EU, but agree with some of the holier-than-thou lifers

Who might you be referring to, John? :D

[manonthemoon]

This is always hard for me as it really depend on how you look at albums in general.  I think most can agree Circuital is at the bottom being very mediocre followed by EU which has admittedly grown on me, but still contains the worst two songs of the entire catalogue IMO then TTF which has two of the greatest songs with The Bear and War Begun but then a few I could do without.  But then the next few are hard to distinguish, at least for me.  I personnally love At Dawn for its high points (ie top 5 tracks) it is my fav, but then ISM to me has probably the best overall lineup with only a couple of tracks that don't do it for me.  Then Z is the one album I love every single song on, no skips on it for me, just 10 great tracks.  So depending on how you look at it I could see any of those three being at the top.

[Penny Lane]

I love it, but I understand why someone might put Circuital above it.

I will never be able to comprehend this.

I demand Ulysses give us one song off of Circuital that beats a song off of TTF then I can MAYBE take it seriously.      TTF is a low-fi work of wonder, it's a transcendent piece of recorded in a barn roadmap to life. It epitomizes great songwriting to me. What say you...?

[Penny Lane]

This is always hard for me as it really depend on how you look at albums in general.  I think most can agree Circuital is at the bottom being very mediocre followed by EU which has admittedly grown on me, but still contains the worst two songs of the entire catalogue IMO then TTF which has two of the greatest songs with The Bear and War Begun but then a few I could do without.  But then the next few are hard to distinguish, at least for me.  I personnally love At Dawn for its high points (ie top 5 tracks) it is my fav, but then ISM to me has probably the best overall lineup with only a couple of tracks that don't do it for me.  Then Z is the one album I love every single song on, no skips on it for me, just 10 great tracks.  So depending on how you look at it I could see any of those three being at the top.

jeez---are you inside my head?! Yep...agree.

[Tracy 2112]

1- At Dawn
2- Tennessee Fire
3- It Still Moves
4- Z
5- Evil Urges

[johnnYYac]

I love it, but I understand why someone might put Circuital above it.

I will never be able to comprehend this.

I demand Ulysses give us one song off of Circuital that beats a song off of TTF then I can MAYBE take it seriously.      TTF is a low-fi work of wonder, it's a transcendent piece of recorded in a barn roadmap to life. It epitomizes great songwriting to me. What say you...?

When I say I understand why someone might put Circuital above TTF, I'm recognizing the whole of humanity.  Not me, just "someone".  Just as I can say I understand why "someone" might think the Grateful Dead were subpar, or that Neil Young can't sing.  These are opinions I do not hold, but I understand why some might hold them.   

It goes along with the fact that my oldest, dearest high school and college chums, who accompanied me to many a Grateful Dead, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, ABB show can't stand MMJ.  Some people don't feel what we feel, lack the part of their soul that recognizes true beauty.  Sad, but more for us!

[ulysses]

I love it, but I understand why someone might put Circuital above it.

I will never be able to comprehend this.

I demand Ulysses give us one song off of Circuital that beats a song off of TTF then I can MAYBE take it seriously.      TTF is a low-fi work of wonder, it's a transcendent piece of recorded in a barn roadmap to life. It epitomizes great songwriting to me. What say you...?

I'm actually surprised how much hate Circuital seems to earn from the die-hards here—I thought it was a marked improvement on Evil Urges, and most of the songs seem to get as fervent a reaction at a show as anything else. Like I said, I think it falters in the 2nd half, but those first six songs are a hell of a run in my opinion, particularly "Victory Dance" and "Outta My System," the former of which I'd argue ranks as one of their best.

I think the reason I ranked it above Tennessee Fire was an effort to balance my own biases against a more objective critical metric. TTF is an amazing album, and I like it more than Circuital personally. But I didn't want this list to be a die-hard fan giving preference to earlier material that perhaps has less of a bearing on the band today. I've seen a lot of TTF live recently, but that seems to have occurred primarily in the wake of the Terminal 5 shows bringing some of the older material back into rotation. This was somewhat outside the point of the article, but TTF material is, I would argue, much much stronger live. Again, I love that album and love those scrappy lo-fi recordings—but "It's About Twilight Now" is an absolute monster live, "The Bear" even more epic, "I Think I'm Going to Hell" more emotive, "War Begun" and "The Dark" just straight up more fleshed out. I like it as a sketchy snapshot of their early days, and I love it the world it evokes. But some of its songs have grown up after being played live over the years, and that makes it seem, as an album, less finished.

Circuital, while not my personal favorite, is a generally strong collection of songs, and very well made as an album. It's diverse, but more so in the way Z is, not in the unfocused way of EU. It works well as a LP, had more relevance with them as a mainstream band than the early works did, and I think that's worth considering in a list like this. It doesn't create a world the same way TTF or At Dawn or ISM or Z do, but three of those albums did get ranked above it. I wouldn't want them to make another album exactly like it, but I like it as a direction away from whatever was happening with EU (which, I should say, since I've sort of been trashing it, also has excellent material obviously. I just think it's scattershot and I never listen to it the whole way through anymore). I may have given it a bit of a bump as like, a +1 for setting things up to keep going well.

All that being said, I had different versions of this list that looked a lot different, that definitely gave absolute precedence to the earlier material. I had At Dawn at #1 at one point, but stand by my logic in moving it to #3 based on what I wrote about ISM and Z, even though some days AD is my personal favorite. I read Stereogum for years before I wound up contributing this article, and now that I know the difference between reading and writing one of these lists I guess I'd say that it's not always just what the writer likes most or an order based on the fanbase's preferences or an order dependent on when a band was more popular or successful or whatever. I guess, in theory, it should incorporate all of those things, and that's what I was trying to do here. I think and hope I did a fair job of that. There are critics out there who are less familiar with MMJ than me who might've written off all those first three as incubation time until MMJ's pop-indie phase, because that's when they entered more people's radars. There are fans and readers that think that, too—some people in the comments really took me to task for ranking EU below At Dawn and TTF.

Lastly, I'll just say that if a band warrants a list like this, they're usually damn good and have an impressive body of work worth ranking and spending the time on. These articles may involve criticism against certain albums, but I conceive of them as really a celebration of legacies still in motion. MMJ's one of my favorite bands, and I've spent a lot of time at their shows and listening to their records since I got into them in '05. Just because TTF is ranked at #5 on this list doesn't mean I think it's a bad album; in fact, I said straight up that it's a testament to how great MMJ is that such a strong album appears so soon in the list. Any of these LPs are better than a lot of what's out there by a bunch of artists who will never warrant lists like this. I just felt that while TTF is important to me, it had to be ranked below albums I felt represented more in the overall narrative of their career.

[Tracy 2112]

I love it, but I understand why someone might put Circuital above it.

I will never be able to comprehend this.

I demand Ulysses give us one song off of Circuital that beats a song off of TTF then I can MAYBE take it seriously.      TTF is a low-fi work of wonder, it's a transcendent piece of recorded in a barn roadmap to life. It epitomizes great songwriting to me. What say you...?

I'm actually surprised how much hate Circuital seems to earn from the die-hards here—I thought it was a marked improvement on Evil Urges

I was lukewarm on EU, but still initially liked it. Circuital never did anything for me, ever; if anything it made me like EU more better. EU is light years past Circuital. I am an old school ZZ Top fan. You take their early albums (1st, Rio Grande Mud, Tres Hombres) and they are raw and amazing, but 3 times a shoelace will argue into the dirt that Eliminator is their best album and there ain't nothing anyone going to say to changer their mind. ZZ Top died after Deguello; that's when they got soft and gimmicky. I just hope Circuital isn't the death nail for MMJ. For the love of Show Luo Mayday I hope the days of covering Taiwanese pop songs is over. I understand it was in the vain of the Stones and Zep covering country music, but dance with who brung ya. Highly Suspicious, cute, gimmicky, rocking! got it!

Holdin' on to Black Metal?




Sherbet brain freeze, as bad as Radiohead's King of Limbs was/is/am/are/were, at least it was there's and wasn't contrived or gimmicky.

God, i hope it's not too late