Z's great and all for what it is.........

[wellfleet]

wellllll....... i know how much you LOVE to argue with me, so....
i saw a show on the Cold Roses tour, with the Cardinals, and he was the epitome of charm and grace. told stories, joked around, did drink and smoke a lot but maybe that's just rock n roll.
i think the Cardinals mellowed him out a bit. anyway, i'm a big fan of his music. i know there's a pretty severe love-hate relationship on this forum for him but to each his own.

[ycartrob]

I love his music too...I wish he would have played some of it.

You go to a concert to see someone play their music.

People shouldn't be scratching their heads after a show...

Train wreck.

[BH]

It's rare to find a band that reinvents itself each time out.

To me it's what makes a truly great band.  

Only true artists come up with new stuff all the time instead of just putting a slightly different spin on the same crap.

"We are the innovators.  They are the imitators."

Also, a new revelation of mine about MMJ.  Once at a show, and twice listining to an album, they have actually made me cry.  I am a 32 year old grown man, and I didn't even know what Jim was talking about.  It didn't matter, tears came pouring out from deep down.  How is this possible?

[BH]

Oh and by the way, Off the Record might start out kind of "poppy" but no pop song ever jammed like that over the last two minutes.

[ratsprayer]

Also, a new revelation of mine about MMJ.  Once at a show, and twice listining to an album, they have actually made me cry.  I am a 32 year old grown man, and I didn't even know what Jim was talking about.  It didn't matter, tears came pouring out from deep down.  How is this possible?

im a 26 year old grown man, and ive had it happen more than once with different bands.  some musicians just seem to tap in to a universal emotional energy, or maybe a specific one thats important to you.

i cant explain it really.  theres a song on the newest okkervil river cd called black, and its about someone who was molested as a child.  that never happened to me, but man i listen to it and can start bawling like its being sung about me.  just a weird thing about certain songs, albums, bands, etc.

mmj-wise, steam engine has done it to me more than once.

[ycartrob]

I'm a 41 1/2 year old child, devolving into a puddle of grey and coffee, and I must concur with the last 2 posts.

MMJ reminds me of how I felt when I was much older, when I was 12 or so, the first time I really got Zeppelin or the Stones, etc...

What I don't like about this thread is the notion that if you defend Z, then you're some brainwashed loyalist who'd promote the Jacket if they recorded themselves singing Ashley Simpson songs after inhaling helium (that actually sounds pretty cool...).

Anyway, like I am some dip shit who has to defend my favorite band. Look, I have jumped ship on many bands that didn't appeal to me anymore (ie  ZZ Top when they did all that "Gimme All Your Loving" crap). Hey, I can admit that a couple of RUSH albums suck (I said a couple).  I also have stayed with bands that were bold enough to change direction (U2, Radiohead, the Beatles...)

And I love Z! I love to play Z      L O U D!!    Louder than ISM, mainly b/c (I'll try to quote Tom E here) "They recorded ISM as if they were trying not to wake up the Quaids".

It's like, you're telling me what I like and why I like it and why I should like something else more? Excuse me please, let me clear my throat:

                                               * fuck off *


So I can love Z and not be defending the band folks. And you can love the earlier albums better, it's cool. And if the Jacket doesn't do it for you anymore, please choose a side, port or starboard, and adios.

And for those of you who are convinced that we're all brain-washed-love-everything-the-Jacket-puts-out-mindless-retard-Z-lovin'-bitches, how about you go to a Blink 182 message board and convince those guys that their favorite band's last record (and all the one's before it) sucked.

Good luck.

It's just music folks; pure and simple. Raw emotion. We all got it and sometimes Barry Manilow just don't get me there (like he used to).

Peace....

out.

[kehnow]

i agree that you can still be a MMJ fan and NOT love Z as much as their earlier stuff.  BUT, before you write the album off entirely, i urge you to hear it live.  the MMJ discs are all fanfuckingtastic, but their live shows are some of the best i've ever seen.  

i know some of the posts on here said that the Z songs during the show didn't spark any emotional reaction from the crowd, and my theory on that is -

1: alot of the folks at the show hadn't listened to Z for long enough to really "sing along" and we all know people that just like to "sing along" because they know a song.
2: due to the nature of the album (Z), i would say that there are more mellow songs vs. all out best rock and jam songs ever (like their earlier stuff), which of course really gets the crowd riled up.

my 2cents, from a 31 year old girl :)

[Angry Ewok]

On the topic of grown men crying...

I don't cry at funerals, I didn't cry when I had to put my cat to sleep, I didn't cry when my girlfriend of 2 years cheated on me... But At Dawn got me.

"All your life is obscene!"

Damn.

Back on topic - I suppose my previously stated theory on why people aren't "feeling" Z doesn't apply to the folks here... Dang, I thought I had something there.

[Jon T.]

Cry babies, cry babies suck your thumb... ;D

I didn't even know this was possible.  But ever since I've been hooked, I've shed a tear or ten.

[wellfleet]

"you're a criminal who never breaks the law"
that line just kills me because i feel it's calling me out and i don't even know why.
i cry when my team wins the Stanley Cup, sometimes at the Olympics, sometimes while watching Animal Precinct on Animal Planet, but always when i hear "be right here forever, go through this thing together"...
it's something about twangy steel guitar, reverb, jim's sweet-ass voice... like neil young's voice on buffalo springfield's "expecting to fly"... if you don't feel moved by that, you're just not alive.

[Sleazy Rider]

I love MMJ and I do think everything they do kicks ass and will continue to. I love Z, I love ISM more. I don't need anyone's fucking permission to feel that way. I don't need some asshole giving a review of my ( or anyone's) reaction to their live show. Worry about yourself and enjoy the music that is given to us by the band that can do no wrong.
Really.

[thebigbang]

I wasn't there when Dylan went electric, but it must have been like when the Jacket went all Z and stuff!

[MMJ_fanatic]

another hot n' sticky topic courtesy of the creative minds of MMJ!

[ben grimm]

i agree that you can still be a MMJ fan and NOT love Z as much as their earlier stuff.  BUT, before you write the album off entirely, i urge you to hear it live.   

Oh We'd love to hear it live but that's a whole other thread......................................... ;)

[BH]

mmj-wise, steam engine has done it to me more than once.

Yep, that's the one that did it to me at the only show I've been lucky enough to attend.  I started feeling it coming on and I was helpless to stop it.   It was kind of weird but felt really good at the same time.  I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one.

(Imagine if Dick Vermeil went to an MMJ show.  Wow.)

[ycartrob]

(Imagine if Dick Vermeil went to an MMJ show.  Wow.)

nice  :)

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

I don't think anyone's spun Z enough to "feel it" like the previous records.  Maybe I'm wrong.

It's a great album and it turns my crank, that's for sure.  I've got it on permanent repeat both in the car and at work.  Nothing rocks me now like "Gideon" does coming over the hill in the morning....

[EC]

I don't think anyone's spun Z enough to "feel it" like the previous records.  Maybe I'm wrong.

It's a great album and it turns my crank, that's for sure.  I've got it on permanent repeat both in the car and at work.  Nothing rocks me now like "Gideon" does coming over the hill in the morning....

Man alive.  I put it on for a long walk today, and it made me want to run.  Fuck it's good.  Jaysus.

[ali]

gotta love a bit of contentious discussion!! i always find it interesting hearing people's reactions to different albums by an artist, re: artistic development, whether or not (& how) the music touched them etc etc. that is one of the things that i really enjoy about music. and one of the things that i really enjoy about music like mmj - non-manufactured crap (not intending to tread on anyone's toes here, but boyband/girlband/britney kind of stuff is really not my cup of tea) - you will always get variations and differences in the music as the band are never in the same situation in their lives when recording a new album as they were in past albums. actually, that said, i guess even britney has probably changed a bit! (you can all decide for yourselves if this is good or bad ) everyone grows and changes. what you like / don't like changes. i used to love U2 (earlish U2 - joshua tree, unforgettable fire which i still do love) but i find i just don't relate to their latest couple of albums. they still have  a place in my heart (along with all the other bands i was obsessing over when i was 13), they just don't do it for me like the others did.

anyway.... i've kind of come into the mmj story from the other end - z was the first album i'd heard, so it will always be special to me for that reason (first-heard albums always are), but the more i listen to at dawn, tennessee fire & it still moves, i'm getting to love them more too. each albums gets to me in different way. i love the fact that there is change & growth and experimentation.

as the man said - love a song for the way it makes you feel. that's all. if it makes your cry, great. music is EMOTION.

sorry for the majorly long post... ;D

[MMJ_fanatic]

I don't think anyone's spun Z enough to "feel it"

I'm definitely feelin' it way down in the roots of my scrotum when the opening bass line of "Wordless Chorus" booms forth from my woofers or when "Lay Low", "Anytime", and "Wonderful Man" rattle the windows in my house ;)