**Contest** write your own Z review

[wellfleet]

OK everyone. We've all read the plethora of reviews from small and large publications. Some have been glowing, some have been grumbling, some have been incomprehensible. I'd like to open the floor for you esteemed Forum members to write your own review of Z. The writer of the best review (as judged by me, it's my contest  ;) ) will win a fabulous token prize sent at my expense. The idea is to squeeze the creative juice from everyone here. The idea is also to encourage critique. Reviews highlighting what *didn't* work on the album are welcome and encouraged, this shouldn't necessarily be a love-in.
Here are the rules:

1. Please keep reviews to 150 words or less. Reviews longer than 150 words will be disqualified. There is a 10-word grace but let's keep it brief.

2. The contest will end on Saturday, January 28th at midnight Central Standard Time.

3. The contest is open to Forum members with a minimum of 30 posts. This is to avoid duplicate entries by the greedy and eager.   ;)

4. Reviews found to have been plagiarized in any form will be disqualified, obviously.

5. CC Baxter, you're welcome to write in. Form91225 is excluded 'cause he's my hubby and that wouldn't be fair.

I hope this works and that it's fun for everyone.

[Oz]

150 words? Christ! You can't be serious!
I write reviews for this internet magazine where officially the reviews should be 300 words or less, but I rarely accomplish that: usually I need about 500...
So I'm not even gonna try 150. :)

[wellfleet]

500 is too long for an album review. Writing concisely is a hard-earned skill. Writing a short piece is infinitely more difficult because it forces you to be real, get to the point, and avoid the pitfall of too many adjectives/adverbs/name-drops. When I started my journalism degree I found it very hard to control my writing. But, I've read your posts on the Forum and I know you'd be great at this. At least give it a shot as a challenge to yourself.

[Oz]

Well, I'm not that interested in just 'the point.' Not just when I write, but also when I read. I like to read reviews that are more like good pieces of writing where the writer tries to get some kind of feeling across, then just the plain facts. I guess I'm not a journalist, then. :)

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

should we post them in this thread right here, or send them to you?  ;D

[wellfleet]

O... as a writer myself, I enjoy a good read. That said, this is an album review, not a short story. A good writer knows how to tell a complete story without resorting to "trim".  Anyone can string a bunch of 12-point dictionary words together and *sound* smart. Animal Farm is barely 100 pages but manages to convey 500 pages' worth of meaning and intent.  For example:

My Morning Jacket, Z (ATO): Sure, the lyrics are stupid (burning kittens and babies in blenders, anyone?), and the pub-rock/Hawaii 5-0/carnival-in-hell middle stretch of the record sags a bit, but the seven majestic masterpieces that bookend Z more than make up for those shortcomings. It'll remind you of everything from the Celtic righteous-rock of bands like U2 and the Waterboys ("Wordless Chorus" and "Gideon") to the fretboards afire/full-tilt keyboards attack of the Allmans ("Lay Low") to the narcodelic wooze of mid-period Floyd and early Radiohead. All that and occasional tinges of classical piano, and soca and West African highlife guitars. Z is grandiose in the best possible way -- an album that'll turn the inside of your head into an ornate, vaulting cathedral.  

This is a good review. There's lots of information, you get a sense of what the album sounds like, feels like... and it's 120 words. The danger is over-writing, and that's what a lot of reviewers end up doing. Pitchfork requires 800 words. So 300-400 of those words end up being about the writer himself, some inane story... If you'd like, go ahead and submit a longer review and I'll consider it. I'm dying to read what you have to say about Z.  :-*


John... yes, please post them here.

[Easy Morning Rebel]

I'm not so good in writing this kind of stuff, but I sure will try. don't just tease me if it's showing being bad, kay? If now everybody else here will read it, let's say?!

[wellfleet]

i wuld never ever tease anyone about what they wrote here. and i don't think anyone else would. anything you write is valuable. it's YOUR effort.

[whitepepper]

 :)

[Dee.]

I just read this review in Magnet and thought of your contest.  I typed it out to see how many words it is because I am a nerd.  Turns out.. 81!  These 6 sentences were enough to get me smiling.  

It still moves, but Jim James has got a brand new bag.  A bag of new records, possibly.  Z finds My Morning Jacket at the end of the road, leaning forward, embracing drum clicks and glitzy keyboards like never before.  James still summons his whale of a wail, but the hirsute crew has swapped hookahs for hooks.  Less hazy and less lazy, Z is that new kid at school with the fresh looks and hot dance steps.  He's such a showoff.

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

After reading what seems like a thousand reviews of My Morning Jacket's new record, Z, it occurred to me that many of the reviewers weren't hearing what I was hearing.

Of course, reviewers are people and hear what their trained ears guide them towards (or to what bend the magazine/website they work for wants them to hear) so it's hard to seperate or classify the reviews into anything other than "glowingly positive".  As a longtime fan, I have to admit the same problem in that after the first few listens, I would classify my review as "glowingly positive".

However, those words don't nearly describe my inner fanboy-ishness about this record.  Having grown up in the 80's, I was seen at suspect concerts,  had a suspect taste in music, and generally would have been snubbed by the so-called "cool kids" of today.  What we call "classic rock" now was just "rock n roll" back then, so your Who-BTO-Boston-Styx-Rush-Yes-Motley Crue-Steve Miller collection of records wasn't weird or outdated, it was the norm.

In today's context, the revival of classic rock in bands like the Strokes, Kings of Leon, MMJ, or Drive by Truckers is a generation removed, but rock is still rock, like ice cream is still ice cream, regardless of its flavor.  My Morning Jacket rock, in many strange and countless ways.  You can't put a finger on it, it just happens.  "Lay Low" and "Anytime" nonwithstanding (the most "MMJ" songs on this record other than "Don Dante"), there's some fiddling and experimentation with the rock sound here that sound refreshing, different, and joyful.  Note the Coldplay-esque "Gideon", my favorite track of the record.  The keys and the guitars are woven together so seamlessly, it's like they are the same instrument.  The crash of the drums after the intro, the soaring vocals, the emotional lyrics-it's a meal fit for a King, lots of texture and flavor that make records by lesser bands seem pointless and boring.

Put on Z with headphones, and get back to me.   It's by far the best record of 2005 and in my book, an instant classic.  The band's previous output is classic in their own ways, but like ice cream, this flavor is fresh and you would be wise to try it.

[wordawg]

After reading what seems like a thousand reviews of My Morning Jacket's new record, Z, it occurred to me that many of the reviewers weren't hearing what I was hearing.

Read your post John, and you say it well.

However, I still don't like the album and god knows I've tried to.
Doesn't change my opinion of the band though, not one iota.
Being able to write this in the open is one of the reasons I like coming to this board.


wordawg