Evil Urges was thought through extremely well

[The DARK]

That is becoming more apparent the more that I listen to it. It truly is a work of art. The indie kids find it too accessible on first listen and lots of casual fans hate the change in sound, but for a fan who's listened to it as much as me, it's starting to reveal its secrets. Thematically, it's every My Morning Jacket album past and present wrapped into one. It's an album of love, heartbreak, spiritual yearning, insecurity, nostalgia, paranoia, wonder, and of course, world peace ;).

Another theme: two as one. Two different halves of an album (modern pop, epic traditional) become Evil Urges. Two completely different people become a couple. Evil Urges and Good Intentions form the conciousness of a person. Age and youth, modern and traditional, all work together to form our state of mind.

And all this is disguised as an album of fun pop songs (yes, they even manage to make paranoia sound fun). Even more ironically, Two Halves, the most "pop" sounding, also manages to be the centerpiece of all the themes. Two Halves is also a metaphor for the fans' reaction to Evil Urges: People wanting them to grow up into a great band, but also keeping their roots. "You want this now, you want that now, can't have it all, you should enjoy what you have" is the typical reaction to the haters, but Jim knows that they are all missing the point, that both halves are meant to work together.

There's so much hidden here that you could spend hundreds of times listening to this album and finding something different. Brilliant.

[TGMC421]

Thank you for that  :)

[Prom King]

The indie kids find it too accessible on first listen and lots of casual fans hate the change in sound, but for a fan who's listened to it as much as me, it's starting to reveal its secrets.

This is how I feel.  This albums blows me away.

[freeport]

The whole human/non-human, robot interaction is pretty fascinating. Obviously these themes are
(beautifully) vague and mysterious, but prsented in MMJ's trademark haunting style. This subject matter could easily come off as cheesy but the band presents it well. I like it.

[DaFunkyPrecedent]

MMJ Fans should write reviews for magazines or blog pages (pitchfork) who don't see the beauty, the heart and the effort this band puts into their music.  Even the good reviews miss what the album is trying to accomplish...


Thanks Dark, the album will forever be heard by ears in this new light.  LOVE.

PS - I love the idea that this is every MMJ album put into one...plus some new shit (Highly Sus.)  Makes perfect sense!