Help - I'm new to My Morning Jacket

[Marky]

I saw MMJ at the Hop Farm and thought that they were great.  I had earlier heard their new single on the radio a few times which I love also - I bought the new album earlier in the week and love it.  The question is, where do I go from here?  What album should I puchase next?  I saw the double live album in a local store for £6 - is that worth getting?

Grateful for any advice you can give.

[TheBigChicken]

The live album is excellent. I enjoy the album "Z". Hell,  get em all ! :) Oh and by the way....WELCOME TO THE BOARD ;)

[ycartrob]

Go here

At Dawn

[aslongasukeepa]

okonos the double live album is GREAT way to get introduced to the band, the DVD as well.  Each album has its own flavor to it, the first two albums are a bit more mellow than the past 3.

[weeniebeenie]

Okonokos. It is one of the best live albums ever!!!!!

[Angry Ewok]

My tip...

Go out, buy Okonokos... it's basically a LIVE greatest hits. After a little while, take a look at your favorite songs and find out what album they belong to... then buy that album. And so forth and so on.

Or you could buy Tennessee Fire and Z, they're polar opposites, so they'll keep you on your toes.

[megalicious]

welcome, new fan!

in order to expand your mmj love, i'd suggest getting okonokos. it's a good "sampler," which will expose you to more of their tunes.

then...

buy all the albums and ep's you can get your hands on, b/c it's all good!  :)

[Bigsky]

MMJ is also new to me, and I was introduced to the Okonokos DVD around Xmas of 2007. At that moment (the first time I heard Jim James voice on Wordless Chorus) I knew I was in trouble. For the last 7 months it has been MMJ and nothing else: I started with Okonokos, and then I got It Still Moves & Z. After I listened to these for enough time, I started to feel urges for more. I started listening to At Dawn & TF, which are different than the newer albums, but are still incredible in their own styles. This still didn't satisfy my craving for more, so then I got Acoustic Citsuoca - EP...this is a sweet little live album. I was still hungry for more and Chocolate and Ice helped for awhile. Evil Urges was next, because it had just been released and I am still exploring this beauty. And for the in-between time, I've been listening to all the bootlegs I can find. With that said (or written), I think it doesn't matter where you start, because after you get hooked it becomes something that is out of your control.

Welcome to the land of melting faces and cotton candy... :D

[Marky]

Thanks everybody - I purchased OKONOKOS at lunchtime (I'm in the UK) and look forward to hearing it over the week-end.  It was a good deal at £6.  I also really like the version of Going To Acapulco on the I'm Not There soundtrack - probably the highlight of that set.

It also looks like a good community here and thanks for making me welcome.

[BH]

Now that's how to make a first post!  Welcome Marky!

[Penny Lane]

Thanks everybody - I purchased OKONOKOS at lunchtime (I'm in the UK) and look forward to hearing it over the week-end.  It was a good deal at £6.  I also really like the version of Going To Acapulco on the I'm Not There soundtrack - probably the highlight of that set.

It also looks like a good community here and thanks for making me welcome.

just warnin ya, marky, your life will never be the same. ;-)  once you realize how special it is, you'll need more FAST. i imagine that's what crack is like.

[bold99]

Don't wait...just go out and buy everything they have.  Get it over with!

[Crispy]

Don't wait...just go out and buy everything they have.  Get it over with!

I agree - in addition to everything else mentioned in this thread, don't forget about the following EPs:
Heartbreakin' Man
My Morning Jacket Does Xmas Fiasco Style
My Morning Jacket/Songs: Ohia Split CD
Off the Record [EP]

Then there's
Chapter 1 The Sandworm Cometh: Early Recordings
Chapter 2: Learning: Early Recordings
At Dawn/Tennessee Fire Demos

If you don't get em all, you'll still feel empty inside

[tomEisenbraun]

Hmmm....

as much as I agree with Okonokos being a great sampler, I kind of feel like finally experiencing One Big Holiday on that album sort of completes that songs evolution in a live sense. I'd much rather suggest It Still Moves as your next step, so you can hear a beautiful idea of this band mid-career, and then work forward and backward from there. It's sort of the album that bridges the gap, as it's got moments of forward progression and also of the older sound, and opens the doors into the previous stuff, while still probably very familiar sounding to someone who was just rocked to hell by their live show.

Just a warning, the albums are a very different experience from their live show, and they rock in a much much different way. The earlier stuff won't have as much overdrive and sizzle to them, but they've got a whole different vibe that sort of fits the song absolutely perfectly.

[Angry Ewok]

Then there's
Chapter 1 The Sandworm Cometh: Early Recordings
Chapter 2: Learning: Early Recordings
At Dawn/Tennessee Fire Demos

I would suggest getting these last... in that exact order, in fact.

[Love Dogg]

I agree with Tom for the most part with It Still Moves.  However, Okonokos offers the current (and most progressive) line-up and you get a feel of the new and the old.  

I think it kind of depends on the listener.  Do they want to hear electronic experimentation or can they handle straight up, fist pumping, face thrusting rock n' roll.  What the listener can handle is the most important thing in picking which cd to listen to next.  MMJ can appeal to kids, old folks, huppies, yuppies, hill billies, hip-hoppers, reggae mon and folkies, and crooners, but not all songs can appeal to everyone at once.

The only thing I know for sure is you can't get more than one cd at a time and focus the way you should.  The MMJ albums and EPs are very precious and have sensitive personalities.  They need special attention and need to be understood to an optimal degree.  They need to be heard...and then listened to.  They each need to be taken in the car ride...or help you clean your house...or played softly in the background at gatherings for your friends.  They don't necessarily like the spotlight, so they don't want to be exploited.  Much like their loyal listeners, they choose their friends wisely and don't just let anyone in.  They each have secrets and only share those secrets with people they trust.  You should really get to know and trust each My Morning Jacket album as if it were going to baby-sit your child.  They are very insightful creatures, and if you pay enough attention to them, they will show you another world.  So don't go buy them all at once to complete a collection.  Don't go buy them all at once to show your loyalty.  Buy them as you need to...and each one, in it's own way will tell you when you're ready to move on...and to which one.

[ycartrob]

no long pontificating for At Dawn.

You wonder why? Well, buy it, you'll see.

[Angry Ewok]

I think it kind of depends on the listener.

Yeah. And since all of the albums and EPs are so different from one another, it makes giving an anonymous person a guide to which ones to listen to first really, really difficult. Still fun, though.

Chocolate and Ice EP is a must.

[MarkW]

Thanks everybody - I purchased OKONOKOS at lunchtime (I'm in the UK) and look forward to hearing it over the week-end.  It was a good deal at £6.  I also really like the version of Going To Acapulco on the I'm Not There soundtrack - probably the highlight of that set.

It also looks like a good community here and thanks for making me welcome.

Welcome on board, Marky.  Glad to see you were one of the Hop Farm converts.  Try and make it to London on Tuesday - your life will be forever changed...

[jt1128]

Then there's
Chapter 1 The Sandworm Cometh: Early Recordings
Chapter 2: Learning: Early Recordings
At Dawn/Tennessee Fire Demos

I would suggest getting these last... in that exact order, in fact.

No way dude!! I got a tiny sample of MMJ when I first started and then only listened to The Tennessee Fire for like 6 months.