Evil Urges > Z

[ManNamedTruth]

Z is my favorite one, isn't there ANYONE else who likes it that much? At Dawn is a very close second, followed by ISM and (last but def not least) TTF. Not sure where Evil Urges will fit, but at this point it might be my least favorite. I was very optimistic at first from the excitement, but i like it less the more i listen to it.

[redmosquito114]

every album is so amazing they're so hard to stack up against each other.

but jesus let's try:

EVIL URGES- I'm still letting it grow on me, first impressions are amazing really
Z- One of my favorites, I love it for tripping balls to or thinking deeply about things to
IT STILL MOVES- A great all around pot album, contains everything great about MMJ
AT DAWN- Just amazing music that reminds me of the Beach Boys...and great pot disc
THE TENNESSEE FIRE- Great chill out think deeply music that calms and uplifts

overall, they're amazing in their own little ways.

EVIL URGES is really weird haha, and as some people have compared it to HOUSES OF THE HOLY, I will have to agree. Really out there and crazy and schizophrenic.....completely matches up with Zeppelin's HOUSES OF THE HOLY or Radiohead's KID A.

Man I love the House of Holy and definitely Kid A references.  I think the problem is that everyone wants MMJ to be something the next Radiohead, the next Wilco and are disappointed when they are not. To reference Manny Ramirez, The Jacket is just being The Jacket.

To add my two cents I think Evil Urges is what  No Code was to Pearl Jam. They are experimenting and trying new things and saying if you don't like it oh well. Personally I love it, I don't know where it ranks and I don't think I have ever ranked MMJ b/c all of it is so brilliant and different. I will say Okonokos was the album/dvd that made me a nut.

[solace]

every album is so amazing they're so hard to stack up against each other.

but jesus let's try:

EVIL URGES- I'm still letting it grow on me, first impressions are amazing really
Z- One of my favorites, I love it for tripping balls to or thinking deeply about things to
IT STILL MOVES- A great all around pot album, contains everything great about MMJ
AT DAWN- Just amazing music that reminds me of the Beach Boys...and great pot disc
THE TENNESSEE FIRE- Great chill out think deeply music that calms and uplifts

overall, they're amazing in their own little ways.

EVIL URGES is really weird haha, and as some people have compared it to HOUSES OF THE HOLY, I will have to agree. Really out there and crazy and schizophrenic.....completely matches up with Zeppelin's HOUSES OF THE HOLY or Radiohead's KID A.

Man I love the House of Holy and definitely Kid A references.  I think the problem is that everyone wants MMJ to be something the next Radiohead, the next Wilco and are disappointed when they are not. To reference Manny Ramirez, The Jacket is just being The Jacket.

To add my two cents I think Evil Urges is what  No Code was to Pearl Jam. They are experimenting and trying new things and saying if you don't like it oh well. Personally I love it, I don't know where it ranks and I don't think I have ever ranked MMJ b/c all of it is so brilliant and different. I will say Okonokos was the album/dvd that made me a nut.

i don't know that i really buy this... besides the first 3 songs and maybe Touch Me Pt 2, this album is LESS experimental than it's predecessor, and certainly when comparing Z to It Still Moves.

i really don't think it's all that OUT there at all other than Highly Suspicious honestly. tracks 4-12 are all pretty much classic MMJ. in fact, a good portion of those songs in that run are more traditional song structures than anything they've done since At Dawn even.

i've been telling people who aren't that big on the record yet to just skip ahead to I'm Amazed and start from there, it's helped a few folks.

[solace]

one last thing before i hit the sack...

while many of us put At Dawn up on a pedestal (was my first intro into them (well actually seeing them open for Beth Orton in 2002 was), and while i don't know that they'll ever touch that record for me...

it needs to be stated/stressed that this is NOT the same band that recorded TN Fire, At Dawn, or even It Still Moves.

There are only 2 members still left in the band from those first 2 records and 3 from ISM now, it's really not that fair to judge pre-2004 MMJ against Bo & Carl era. they're both great in their own rights.

[TFowl]

3 members actually, besides tenn. fire..

[Angry Ewok]

it needs to be stated/stressed that this is NOT the same band that recorded TN Fire, At Dawn, or even It Still Moves.

I'll take that a step further and say that it's been ten plus years - Jim and Patrick have probably changed a lot in their own right.

[solace]

3 members actually, besides tenn. fire..

Patrick didn't play on At Dawn, he joined in 2002...

but you're right, he was on It Still Moves, i was thinking more in terms of touring years, my bad

[folieadeux322]

In no way is EU > then Z.   ;D

EU is very good for what it is. But trying to compare it to previous work is crazy.

If I were pitting it up against ANY of the other albums it would lose big time.

It's kind of like In Rainbows. You have to accept it for what it is and not for what it is not.

It's unfair to compare it to when MMJ was at their peak.

[alexzbik]

In no way is EU > then Z.   ;D

EU is very good for what it is. But trying to compare it to previous work is crazy.

If I were pitting it up against ANY of the other albums it would lose big time.

It's kind of like In Rainbows. You have to accept it for what it is and not for what it is not.

It's unfair to compare it to when MMJ was at their peak.

first off awesome avatar, gotta love Sweet Lou!  and i guess i will just have to agree to disagree, with each listen i like EU more and more and i think it is much better then Z.

[Jon T.]

In no way is EU > then Z.   ;D

EU is very good for what it is. But trying to compare it to previous work is crazy.

If I were pitting it up against ANY of the other albums it would lose big time.

It's kind of like In Rainbows. You have to accept it for what it is and not for what it is not.

It's unfair to compare it to when MMJ was at their peak.

first off awesome avatar, gotta love Sweet Lou!  and i guess i will just have to agree to disagree, with each listen i like EU more and more and i think it is much better then Z.

AGREED!

[aMD]

3 members actually, besides tenn. fire..

TF= Jim, Tommy
AD= Jim, Tommy
ISM= Jim, Tommy, Pat

J. Glenn drummed on TN and AD

[folieadeux322]

In no way is EU > then Z.   ;D

EU is very good for what it is. But trying to compare it to previous work is crazy.

If I were pitting it up against ANY of the other albums it would lose big time.

It's kind of like In Rainbows. You have to accept it for what it is and not for what it is not.

It's unfair to compare it to when MMJ was at their peak.

first off awesome avatar, gotta love Sweet Lou!  and i guess i will just have to agree to disagree, with each listen i like EU more and more and i think it is much better then Z.

Thanks man, I get a laugh every time I see Lou dance!

Again, I'm not trying to take away anything from EU, it is great compared to 99% of music made today. But for me, EU seems like a step backwards from Z.

Again, only my opinion.

It doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things anyway. I'm gonna rock this album until my face melts.

[RandallFlagg]

I thought Z sucked.
I like EU

[BH]

I thought Z sucked.
I like EU

Of course the dark man from the Gunslinger would love "Evil" urges!  But how could he not like the spooky carnival sound of Into The Woods, or the haunting Dondante? :-/

[solace]

Into The Woods was not only the worst song on Z, but it's also one of the worst songs in MMJ's catalog.

the lyrics are just horrendous.  :-/

[BH]

Into The Woods was not only the worst song on Z, but it's also one of the worst songs in MMJ's catalog.

the lyrics are just horrendous.  :-/

You obviously are not paying close enough attention to the lyrics.  I think they contain one of my all time favorite MMJ messages.   And the song is fantastic once you get past the initial shock of the carnival background.  IMO of course. :-/

[TFowl]

Into the woods is amazing, sucks so many people are turned off by it.  I would really love to see it played live again at some point, but it probably won't ever happen, at least not at a show i'm at.  So much going on in that song, so much dreamy sound to it, weird in a good way lyrics...  ahhh

[TFowl]

3 members actually, besides tenn. fire..

TF= Jim, Tommy
AD= Jim, Tommy
ISM= Jim, Tommy, Pat

J. Glenn drummed on TN and AD

All subjective really, we all know patrick does the job well, and would have probably done just as good, if not better of a job on At dawn.

[ManNamedTruth]

Into the woods is amazing, sucks so many people are turned off by it.  I would really love to see it played live again at some point, but it probably won't ever happen, at least not at a show i'm at.  So much going on in that song, so much dreamy sound to it, weird in a good way lyrics...  ahhh

I'm with you, i like it very much. Probably their most psychedelic song, along with Honest Man (which I also like). Until EU there really wasn't a single song they recorded that I didn't like.

[alexzbik]

i am kind of surprised by all this love for Into the Woods, it is the only song that i skip when listening to any mmj album.