Favorite My Morning Jacket studio album

[ZMan]

I picked Z for this week, although after attending OBH 4 and hearing the Cap recording of TTF, there is no other album I'd rather hear live than TTF.

[Lonndown27]

I love how Robb explained his love for Circ. Every word is perfect. Can't argue at all, especially when two of Carl's greatest solos come from that record, the title track and Slow Slow. But the true filler of First Light, Wanna Freak Out, Day Is Coming is boring, Movin Away rear their ugly head while Wonderful aims for the transcendence of Golden but ends up more granola and Outta My System could be a thoroughly better song, but i dig it live on occasion.
It's got the worst Jacket songs outside of Two Halves, but the two that start the album are masterpieces, Slow Slow is another masterpiece but it's so uneven.

    It can't get any better than It Still Moves but the trilogy of AD, ISM and Z are otherwordly and unparalleled in the last 30 years of rock and roll

[robb]

I love how Robb explained his love for Circ. Every word is perfect. Can't argue at all, especially when two of Carl's greatest solos come from that record, the title track and Slow Slow. But the true filler of First Light, Wanna Freak Out, Day Is Coming is boring, Movin Away rear their ugly head while Wonderful aims for the transcendence of Golden but ends up more granola and Outta My System could be a thoroughly better song, but i dig it live on occasion.
It's got the worst Jacket songs outside of Two Halves, but the two that start the album are masterpieces, Slow Slow is another masterpiece but it's so uneven.

    It can't get any better than It Still Moves but the trilogy of AD, ISM and Z are otherwordly and unparalleled in the last 30 years of rock and roll

careful now, i don't love circuital at all ;). i'm an at dawn man.

[Lonndown27]

I love how Robb explained his love for Circ. Every word is perfect. Can't argue at all, especially when two of Carl's greatest solos come from that record, the title track and Slow Slow. But the true filler of First Light, Wanna Freak Out, Day Is Coming is boring, Movin Away rear their ugly head while Wonderful aims for the transcendence of Golden but ends up more granola and Outta My System could be a thoroughly better song, but i dig it live on occasion.
It's got the worst Jacket songs outside of Two Halves, but the two that start the album are masterpieces, Slow Slow is another masterpiece but it's so uneven.

    It can't get any better than It Still Moves but the trilogy of AD, ISM and Z are otherwordly and unparalleled in the last 30 years of rock and roll

careful now, i don't love circuital at all ;). i'm an at dawn man.

Oh i guess i misunderstood...so misunderstood...so misunderstood id like to thank my brain for nothing...id like to thank my brain for nothing at all id like to thank my brain for NOTHING.
 NOTHING.
 NOTHING.
NOTHING.
NOTHING.
NOTHING.
 NOTHING.
 NOTHING
NOTHING AT ALL

[sillyboob]

I love how Robb explained his love for Circ. Every word is perfect. Can't argue at all, especially when two of Carl's greatest solos come from that record, the title track and Slow Slow. But the true filler of First Light, Wanna Freak Out, Day Is Coming is boring, Movin Away rear their ugly head while Wonderful aims for the transcendence of Golden but ends up more granola and Outta My System could be a thoroughly better song, but i dig it live on occasion.
It's got the worst Jacket songs outside of Two Halves, but the two that start the album are masterpieces, Slow Slow is another masterpiece but it's so uneven.

    It can't get any better than It Still Moves but the trilogy of AD, ISM and Z are otherwordly and unparalleled in the last 30 years of rock and roll

careful now, i don't love circuital at all ;). i'm an at dawn man.

Oh i guess i misunderstood...so misunderstood...so misunderstood id like to thank my brain for nothing...id like to thank my brain for nothing at all id like to thank my brain for NOTHING.
 NOTHING.
 NOTHING.
NOTHING.
NOTHING.
NOTHING.
 NOTHING.
 NOTHING
NOTHING AT ALL

Nicely done here Lonn.

[Lonndown27]

I love how Robb explained his love for Circ. Every word is perfect. Can't argue at all, especially when two of Carl's greatest solos come from that record, the title track and Slow Slow. But the true filler of First Light, Wanna Freak Out, Day Is Coming is boring, Movin Away rear their ugly head while Wonderful aims for the transcendence of Golden but ends up more granola and Outta My System could be a thoroughly better song, but i dig it live on occasion.
It's got the worst Jacket songs outside of Two Halves, but the two that start the album are masterpieces, Slow Slow is another masterpiece but it's so uneven.

    It can't get any better than It Still Moves but the trilogy of AD, ISM and Z are otherwordly and unparalleled in the last 30 years of rock and roll

careful now, i don't love circuital at all ;). i'm an at dawn man.

Oh i guess i misunderstood...so misunderstood...so misunderstood id like to thank my brain for nothing...id like to thank my brain for nothing at all id like to thank my brain for NOTHING.
 NOTHING.
 NOTHING.
NOTHING.
NOTHING.
NOTHING.
 NOTHING.
 NOTHING
NOTHING AT ALL

Nicely done here Lonn.

Hahahah i find that so many of the Jacket peoples LOVE DEM SOME WILCO!!!
Still those old farts don't hold a crucifix to the sexual majesty of Jim James' syrupy heathen breath

[Lonndown27]

Does anyone else, including the band, feel the Jacket have become such a live force that it's almost a damp reach around to put on a studio album over one of their live shows? Even OKONOKOS is becoming obsolete in referencing where MMJ are at NOW (it'll NEVER be obsolete in general, OKONOKOS stands as the greatest live record of all time).

Maybe this is why there's no new record? Doubt it but what would be cooler than a show at RR where they do the entire new record and record it live?

[RobRoy286]

I love how Robb explained his love for Circ. Every word is perfect. Can't argue at all, especially when two of Carl's greatest solos come from that record, the title track and Slow Slow. But the true filler of First Light, Wanna Freak Out, Day Is Coming is boring, Movin Away rear their ugly head while Wonderful aims for the transcendence of Golden but ends up more granola and Outta My System could be a thoroughly better song, but i dig it live on occasion.
It's got the worst Jacket songs outside of Two Halves, but the two that start the album are masterpieces, Slow Slow is another masterpiece but it's so uneven.

    It can't get any better than It Still Moves but the trilogy of AD, ISM and Z are otherwordly and unparalleled in the last 30 years of rock and roll

Ah see, we disagree on those "filler" tracks. I see what you're saying, and I originally overlooked those songs too. No, they aren't Steam Engine or Dondante, but they're great songs IMO. There is an element of old soul music in a lot of the songs, particularly with Jim's vocals. Day Is Coming has that weird sexiness that Touch Me 1 has, but better. You Wanna Freak Out is super underrated! Don't you hear the banjo in the studio take? Listen to Tom (on the whole album)! To me it sounds like a mix of Where to Begin and Into the Woods.

The album gets a little silly, but to me it's fantastic.

[robb]

Does anyone else, including the band, feel the Jacket have become such a live force that it's almost a damp reach around to put on a studio album over one of their live shows? Even OKONOKOS is becoming obsolete in referencing where MMJ are at NOW (it'll NEVER be obsolete in general, OKONOKOS stands as the greatest live record of all time).

Maybe this is why there's no new record? Doubt it but what would be cooler than a show at RR where they do the entire new record and record it live?

i'd love to see them pull a "time fades away" with a new record.

[Lonndown27]

I love how Robb explained his love for Circ. Every word is perfect. Can't argue at all, especially when two of Carl's greatest solos come from that record, the title track and Slow Slow. But the true filler of First Light, Wanna Freak Out, Day Is Coming is boring, Movin Away rear their ugly head while Wonderful aims for the transcendence of Golden but ends up more granola and Outta My System could be a thoroughly better song, but i dig it live on occasion.
It's got the worst Jacket songs outside of Two Halves, but the two that start the album are masterpieces, Slow Slow is another masterpiece but it's so uneven.

    It can't get any better than It Still Moves but the trilogy of AD, ISM and Z are otherwordly and unparalleled in the last 30 years of rock and roll

Ah see, we disagree on those "filler" tracks. I see what you're saying, and I originally overlooked those songs too. No, they aren't Steam Engine or Dondante, but they're great songs IMO. There is an element of old soul music in a lot of the songs, particularly with Jim's vocals. Day Is Coming has that weird sexiness that Touch Me 1 has, but better. You Wanna Freak Out is super underrated! Don't you hear the banjo in the studio take? Listen to Tom (on the whole album)! To me it sounds like a mix of Where to Begin and Into the Woods.

The album gets a little silly, but to me it's fantastic.

I go through phases sometimes i love it for exactly the same reasons you said and feel it goes lukewarm due to the same elements but to say My Morning Jacket would be more interesting without Evil Urges and Circuital is to say they'd be better without It Still Moves.
 
I really really like Circuital BUT i really really really LOVE Evil Urges. Evil Urges has some filler, Two Halves is a main offender, Sec Walkin can be fun at times but do you want that in their last ever show's set list?
Just being frank. They're albums where they pushed the envelope and i love that.
For me their early forms of experimentation, especially the songs that didn't make Z were the best

[Lonndown27]

I love how Robb explained his love for Circ. Every word is perfect. Can't argue at all, especially when two of Carl's greatest solos come from that record, the title track and Slow Slow. But the true filler of First Light, Wanna Freak Out, Day Is Coming is boring, Movin Away rear their ugly head while Wonderful aims for the transcendence of Golden but ends up more granola and Outta My System could be a thoroughly better song, but i dig it live on occasion.
It's got the worst Jacket songs outside of Two Halves, but the two that start the album are masterpieces, Slow Slow is another masterpiece but it's so uneven.

    It can't get any better than It Still Moves but the trilogy of AD, ISM and Z are otherwordly and unparalleled in the last 30 years of rock and roll

Ah see, we disagree on those "filler" tracks. I see what you're saying, and I originally overlooked those songs too. No, they aren't Steam Engine or Dondante, but they're great songs IMO. There is an element of old soul music in a lot of the songs, particularly with Jim's vocals. Day Is Coming has that weird sexiness that Touch Me 1 has, but better. You Wanna Freak Out is super underrated! Don't you hear the banjo in the studio take? Listen to Tom (on the whole album)! To me it sounds like a mix of Where to Begin and Into the Woods.

The album gets a little silly, but to me it's fantastic.

http://m2.yinyuetai.com/video.html?id=319803

Man, I love Circuital. That album changed my whole life. My son, at 2, would sing "Holwdin'on to Bwack Meadow" from his crib. Those songs are precious to me. I regret putting any of these albums less than #1. AND Robb, "You Wanna Freak Out" is one of the MOST underrated Jacket songs. That version from the Jools Holland show was so memorable. That whole show was awesome...all the freaky girls in found-object costumes singing Black Metal...

I think we should have a monthly vote.

I can Absolutely respect that. I love the goofiness of it all and Jim's humor shines through. That's why when you take the more emotional early stuff and the now nearly prog-soul-comicisms of Jimothy Jamesmund . Waterfall was such a weird fucking record when you really think about it. Cosmic but bizarre and absolutely decadent. Tropics??? Suspended animation...on the same page...it takes change...fuckin frame by frame...wow...and then In Its Infancy is as close as Jacket ever gets to Rush. What about "Get The Point"? What a scary set of lyrics when simply read. Seeing that one live in 2015 was very interesting, Jim was feeling the blues at that point it seemed (Fall 2015 tour). Could be wrong just speculy

[rkwedge]

I would take hearing "I'm Amazed" for the 7,553 time, over most shit out there, BECAUSE it's gonna get weird.

Hell yes, Red Rocks a few weeks back is "All the Proof You Need"

I think that they haven't re-imagined the last two records the way they have the older records simply because of the sheer number of times they have played them live, and I think those re-imaginings change the way you listen to the record.

Agreed all the way, the more you hear any MMJ song live over the years the more you appreciate it, these two records just haven't got the number of plays yet.

[Lonndown27]

I would take hearing "I'm Amazed" for the 7,553 time, over most shit out there, BECAUSE it's gonna get weird.

Hell yes, Red Rocks a few weeks back is "All the Proof You Need"

I think that they haven't re-imagined the last two records the way they have the older records simply because of the sheer number of times they have played them live, and I think those re-imaginings change the way you listen to the record.

Agreed all the way, the more you hear any MMJ song live over the years the more you appreciate it, these two records just haven't got the number of plays yet.

Damn Mama!!!! Waxing lyrical baby!!!

[Lonndown27]

I love how Robb explained his love for Circ. Every word is perfect. Can't argue at all, especially when two of Carl's greatest solos come from that record, the title track and Slow Slow. But the true filler of First Light, Wanna Freak Out, Day Is Coming is boring, Movin Away rear their ugly head while Wonderful aims for the transcendence of Golden but ends up more granola and Outta My System could be a thoroughly better song, but i dig it live on occasion.
It's got the worst Jacket songs outside of Two Halves, but the two that start the album are masterpieces, Slow Slow is another masterpiece but it's so uneven.

    It can't get any better than It Still Moves but the trilogy of AD, ISM and Z are otherwordly and unparalleled in the last 30 years of rock and roll

Ah see, we disagree on those "filler" tracks. I see what you're saying, and I originally overlooked those songs too. No, they aren't Steam Engine or Dondante, but they're great songs IMO. There is an element of old soul music in a lot of the songs, particularly with Jim's vocals. Day Is Coming has that weird sexiness that Touch Me 1 has, but better. You Wanna Freak Out is super underrated! Don't you hear the banjo in the studio take? Listen to Tom (on the whole album)! To me it sounds like a mix of Where to Begin and Into the Woods.

The album gets a little silly, but to me it's fantastic.

http://m2.yinyuetai.com/video.html?id=319803

Man, I love Circuital. That album changed my whole life. My son, at 2, would sing "Holwdin'on to Bwack Meadow" from his crib. Those songs are precious to me. I regret putting any of these albums less than #1. AND Robb, "You Wanna Freak Out" is one of the MOST underrated Jacket songs. That version from the Jools Holland show was so memorable. That whole show was awesome...all the freaky girls in found-object costumes singing Black Metal...

I think we should have a monthly vote.

I can Absolutely respect that. I love the goofiness of it all and Jim's humor shines through. That's why when you take the more emotional early stuff and the now nearly prog-soul-comicisms of Jimothy Jamesmund . Waterfall was such a weird fucking record when you really think about it. Cosmic but bizarre and absolutely decadent. Tropics??? Suspended animation...on the same page...it takes change...fuckin frame by frame...wow...and then In Its Infancy is as close as Jacket ever gets to Rush. What about "Get The Point"? What a scary set of lyrics when simply read. Seeing that one live in 2015 was very interesting, Jim was feeling the blues at that point it seemed (Fall 2015 tour). Could be wrong just speculy

Man, The Waterfall is just such an outstanding record. I swear to Shiva it is the whole reason I started studying mindfulness...I learned Transcendental Meditation...got super into yoga...because ALL of those songs have references to states and stages of awareness. Get the Point fucked me up for a while. It still does. It is so masterful because we have all been on both sides of that song. Same thing with Only Memories Remain. That became a really ghostly mantra in my head. That Jim demo version is a whole 'nother level...the kind of deep regret one finds in losing transient things. In Its Infancy is like swimming inside the earth itself. It feels like it is from another time, but always has been. See? As I think about how much I adore that record, it doesn't make sense for it to be lower on the list. But then I'll relisten to the early version of "I Needed It Most" after that holy version from the D.R., and that stands out, but in a totally different way. I think that they haven't re-imagined the last two records the way they have the older records simply because of the sheer number of times they have played them live, and I think those re-imaginings change the way you listen to the record.

I don't know what was going on with Jim at the time, but those Brooklyn Bowl shows from that year are 2 of the finest I have heard. They were dark and moody and brooding and intense...a lot of vocal play. In one show...I Will Sing You Songs, Get the Point, They Ran, and Where to Begin. It was just before Halloween. I remember sitting in my apartment working on a piece of art, and just getting lost. The recordings are really clear.  The St. Louis show at the Peabody had a "How Do You Know", "O is the One" into "Strangulation" that blew my mind. I remember hearing the opening notes from HDYK, but it is so rarely played that it is unidentifiable at first. It was magic.

I think it is remarkable to know the tone of a musician so well that you can hear the psychic resonance and atmosphere of the same piece change over time. To poorly quote Miles Davis, "Anyone can play. 20% of it is the note played. 80% is the attitude of the motherfucker who's playing it." It's true. I would take hearing "I'm Amazed" for the 7,553 time, over most shit out there, BECAUSE it's gonna get weird. The places that The Waterfall, Circuital, and even his solo records went were daring...because they have a mood in the first place. Most shit is so polished. It's nice to hear someone tell the truth, even if it hurts.

I absolutely LOVE that 2015 HOW DO YOU KNOW it's unreal that piano intro oh man i love that song. And you're right those Bowl 2015 Vegas shows are off the rekkidbuffnekkid, love those recordings

[RMarcil34]

I got It Still Moves and Z as my favorites.

[mdgsolo]

This is like choosing your favorite child- which I can do too, depending on what day you ask me- but I had to run with Circuital because I love the imagery, sound of the recording, variety, and the tour was awesome!