Relix poll: Best My Morning Jacket record

[Lonndown27]

studio perfection for the Jacket, for me, is when they're closest to their live sound. And "Z" and "It Still Moves" did this :) I'd still give my left nut to hear "It Still Moves" with Carl and Bo on it (Carl uses more fuzzy guitars and is just generally a better guitarist than J. Quaid) .
I dont see the point in making a different representation of those songs if they're just gonna be better live...i mean i dunno...its kinda cool to have two, sometimes three interpretations...i guess that's why I love MMJ, going from the studio version of Dondante to the Celebracion De La EP version and finally to the 21 minute Wiltern 2012 version and that's what the Jacket are ALL about 

[e_wind]

I think The Waterfall is better than Z.  And i think after 5 to 10 years most people will agree with this.

Okay. Well you can go listen to The Waterfall, and we'll be over here listening to Z.

I don't really care about challenging people's opinions, but in this thread people have claimed that The Tennessee Fire is their worst album, and that The Waterfall is better than Z.

I remember a time when people agreed that the first four albums were all perfect......

[Lucius]

It Still Moves, but it definitely has some strong competition in The Waterfall. We'll see

[Come Closer]

Pepperidge Farm remembers. No, but I agree.

[Stevie]

I think The Waterfall is better than Z.  And i think after 5 to 10 years most people will agree with this. 

It very well could...
And I love all their albums. I just prefer to listen to the live versions of their songs.
For me Z was just the first album of theirs that I fully listened too. It resonates with me and with the time I became addicted with them, and had to go back and purchase TTF, and AD, and ISM, and fall in love with their whole body of music. I think probably only one or two indivdual songs off Z would even be on my top ten of their whole collection, but again as a collection of songs staight through, it works for me, as a complete album.
I agree with you in the fact that Circuital, as awesome as it is cause it's made by them, is my least favorite as well. But to say that "any Jacket fan worth their salt knows that"... That's just ignorant. For some that is the album that grabbed them or got them attached to this wonderful band.

LOL, dude you have to realize that there was an element of humor in me saying that (about circuital and jacket fans worth their salt).  I mean come on, i also said that is was a "scientific fact" that circuital was the worst one.  Clearly i'm being a little sarcastic or whatever about it.  Of course I realize that everyone has their own opinion.  I'm merely suggesting that if your opinion doesn't jive with mine then you're not a true fan.  OK OK i'll quit. 

[Stevie]

I think The Waterfall is better than Z.  And i think after 5 to 10 years most people will agree with this.

Okay. Well you can go listen to The Waterfall, and we'll be over here listening to Z.

I don't really care about challenging people's opinions, but in this thread people have claimed that The Tennessee Fire is their worst album, and that The Waterfall is better than Z.

I remember a time when people agreed that the first four albums were all perfect......

I guess we'll see.  I have a lot of confidence in the fact that some of these Waterfall tracks are going to blossom into HUGE live songs.  Right now they are all "in their infancy."  As I said before, i do take into account how these things play out over time although i'm aware that others will rate an album based only on its studio recordings. 

[LB]

Can't I just love all my children equally??????????????

[Emb1528]

I think The Waterfall is better than Z.  And i think after 5 to 10 years most people will agree with this.

Okay. Well you can go listen to The Waterfall, and we'll be over here listening to Z.

I don't really care about challenging people's opinions, but in this thread people have claimed that The Tennessee Fire is their worst album, and that The Waterfall is better than Z.

I remember a time when people agreed that the first four albums were all perfect......

And while you guys are doing that... Anyone who wants to come over here and listen to the whole collection, you're more than welcome.

[easy way]

I think The Waterfall is better than Z.  And i think after 5 to 10 years most people will agree with this.

Okay. Well you can go listen to The Waterfall, and we'll be over here listening to Z.

I don't really care about challenging people's opinions, but in this thread people have claimed that The Tennessee Fire is their worst album, and that The Waterfall is better than Z.

I remember a time when people agreed that the first four albums were all perfect......

And while you guys are doing that... Anyone who wants to come over here and listen to the whole collection, you're more than welcome.

Good form 

[MMJCOBRA]

Well, what i really love about this band is the variety both between and within their albums. 

The new one may be their best complete album yet, if judged as as one complete work.  Maybe not the best collection of songs but album themes, recording, tracking arrangement and, yes, songs, this may be their best.  But hell, who knows, after listing TTF as my least favorite of their recorded output, I had a breakthrough this weekend.   :)

Great time to be a fan!  THanks guys!!!!!

[parkervb]

Well, what i really love about this band is the variety both between and within their albums. 

The new one may be their best complete album yet, if judgedas as one complete work.  Maybe not the best collection of songs but album themes, recording, tracking arrangement and, yes, songs, this may be their best.  But hell, who knows, after listing TTF as my least favorite of their recorded output, I had a breakthrough this weekend.   :)

Great time to be a fan!  THanks guys!!!!!

I think someone already said this on the forum somewhere but this could very well be their best effort in the studio. Finally listened to a portion of it with some headphones and there is a lot going on in these tracks.

Based on how much I already love this album, it's amazing to know that they have a whole 'nother batch of songs ready for '16.

[MMJCOBRA]

Based on how much I already love this album, it's amazing to know that they have a whole 'nother batch of songs ready for '16.
[/quote]

That's what has me really curious.  I think Jim has said he doens't want the 2016 record to be "the Waterfall, pt. 2".  However, it's my understanding that the songs that will be released in '16 were recorded at the same time as the waterfall. 

I think that the Waterfall, IMHO, is a classic, COMPLETE album listening experience.  Where on earth do these other songs fit?  What do they sound like?  Why won't 2016 hurry up and get here?  WHY AM I SO IMPATIENT (g)!?!?!?!?!?!

[Cameron]

easy vote for me...ISM is perfect.

[Stevie]

Yeah..im right there with you.   Before listening to the album, i wondered if they took more of the better tracks for this first one so that they could come out strong after the long album hiatus.  But after hearing how great everything fits together, clearly they went on feel.   So that makes me excited that they still have some great songs in their back pocket much like in their early years. 

IIRC they had 24 tracks to work with originally and none of those are being used as extras for the waterfall deluxe edition. So with 14 left to work with...  How well do they mesh together?  Are they fully recorded and ready to go or are they simply ideas, notes and lyrics jotted down?  Will they go back into a studio and record additional songs between their last tour and the next album or just hit the ground running again?  Im assuming that obh3 will serve as another first listen opportunity for the new album.

[justbcuzido]

Yeah..im right there with you.   Before listening to the album, i wondered if they took more of the better tracks for this first one so that they could come out strong after the long album hiatus.  But after hearing how great everything fits together, clearly they went on feel.   So that makes me excited that they still have some great songs in their back pocket much like in their early years. 

IIRC they had 24 tracks to work with originally and none of those are being used as extras for the waterfall deluxe edition. So with 14 left to work with...  How well do they mesh together?  Are they fully recorded and ready to go or are they simply ideas, notes and lyrics jotted down?  Will they go back into a studio and record additional songs between their last tour and the next album or just hit the ground running again?  Im assuming that obh3 will serve as another first listen opportunity for the new album.

So I think out of the 4 delux edition bonus songs, "Hilltop song" is probably from The Waterfall sessions (assuming this as there's never been anything with this name hinted at before).

From what I read, the other 14 tracks for the next album are already completed. Jim said "Believe" was the last song recorded, so I imagine the rest are done or close to done. I think if they do any more recording it will be for a third album. Unless they go back to Stinson Beach. The band seems to really like cohesion on albums with regards to the spaces they record in. However, I could be completely wrong..

Either way, what an exciting time to be a Jacket fan. I can't wait for these live shows and then the 2016 album followed by another Jim solo record.

[e_wind]

Well, what i really love about this band is the variety both between and within their albums. 

The new one may be their best complete album yet, if judged as as one complete work.  Maybe not the best collection of songs but album themes, recording, tracking arrangement and, yes, songs, this may be their best.  But hell, who knows, after listing TTF as my least favorite of their recorded output, I had a breakthrough this weekend.   :)

Great time to be a fan!  THanks guys!!!!!

I completely agree that variety is the spice of life. For that reason, my favorite bands in the world are MMJ and Wilco. Both are great at constantly reinventing themselves without turning sour.

What makes the first four better (to me) than the Waterfall is that the first four are very much cohesive albums full of songs that can stand on their own. I think that the Waterfall has several (more than half) songs that are great within the album, but I'm not gonna be stoked to hear 'Spring' come on shuffle. (Compound Fracture and Big D, however.... damn.)

I think that Waterfall is better than Circuital and ROLSOG, and I also think that if this album replaced Circuital they would still have as good as a track record as Wilco (I'm not a huge fan of album #6 if you can't tell....). Despite all of this, I think saying that this album is BETTER than Z (or AD or ISM) is outrageous. And I think that saying TTF is worse than Circuital is just insane. What song on TTF isn't amazing?

I think that The Waterfall is better than EU as an album, but EU's high points are higher than TW's high points.

Bottom line: this is my favorite band, I've seen 'em ~50 times, and hope to double (or quadruple) that as soon as possible, but TTF, AD, ISM, and Z are all PERFECT the way they are. Songwriting, production, etc...


ALSO, I think saying things like "We're over here listening to the whole catalogue" is a fan-boyish cop-out. I'm glad that you like everything, but don't be afraid to have favorites and debate the quality of albums against each other. Everyone has favorites and opinions, thats part of the variety that makes being a fan in a fan community fun. How boring would it be if we couldn't have these conversations?

Last disclaimer: At one point I was definitely someone who thought that MMJ could do no wrong, but the honeymoon period ended. With that said, I can definitely claim them as the best band in the world (they are) and still easily tell you what I don't personally like. I think thats okay. For instance: I don't want to hear to First Light or HOT BM ever again, but I'm glad that You Wanna Freak Out and Slow Slow Tune exist, so I'm glad that they made that record. AND THATS OKAY.

ITS OKAY TO NOT LIKE SOME STUFF PEOPLE

[Stevie]

Yeah..im right there with you.   Before listening to the album, i wondered if they took more of the better tracks for this first one so that they could come out strong after the long album hiatus.  But after hearing how great everything fits together, clearly they went on feel.   So that makes me excited that they still have some great songs in their back pocket much like in their early years. 

IIRC they had 24 tracks to work with originally and none of those are being used as extras for the waterfall deluxe edition. So with 14 left to work with...  How well do they mesh together?  Are they fully recorded and ready to go or are they simply ideas, notes and lyrics jotted down?  Will they go back into a studio and record additional songs between their last tour and the next album or just hit the ground running again?  Im assuming that obh3 will serve as another first listen opportunity for the new album.

So I think out of the 4 delux edition bonus songs, "Hilltop song" is probably from The Waterfall sessions (assuming this as there's never been anything with this name hinted at before).

From what I read, the other 14 tracks for the next album are already completed. Jim said "Believe" was the last song recorded, so I imagine the rest are done or close to done. I think if they do any more recording it will be for a third album. Unless they go back to Stinson Beach. The band seems to really like cohesion on albums with regards to the spaces they record in. However, I could be completely wrong..

Either way, what an exciting time to be a Jacket fan. I can't wait for these live shows and then the 2016 album followed by another Jim solo record.

Actually, i read something somewhere where someone asked a member of the band about Hillside Song (or Hilltop? not sure anymore) and they didn't know much about it other than that it was a "Jim song" so i don't think it was one of the original Stinson 24. 

[Emb1528]

Just givin ya a hard time, e. All in good fun my friend 

[debbie]

How is it that so many of you have already heard The Waterfall?

[e_wind]

They sent press copies to the most active members.