Evil Urges: Your Thoughts 1 Year Later...

[SaraBananaBear]

I'm surprised so many express a dislike for Librarian.  I like its simplicity, the lyrics, the slow build up to drum, bass, pedal steel and keys. [highlight] I think its very accessible for the uninitiated MMJ listeners[/highlight].  I definitely prefer it to Sec Walkin'.  

Librarian and Remnants are the only two songs from EU I've yet to see live, and I'm looking forward to that changing at Terminal 5.  Remnants on the Rockpalast DVD is a highlight for that reason.

I would place the album, as a whole, at the bottom of the list of 5, but still love it and listen to it, front to back, regularly.  

Absolutely agree, it's one of the first MMJ songs I fell in love with :) I love it! It's such a beautiful song.

[Sticky Icky Green Stuff]

I'm going to be overly critical for a minute.

Evil Urges is good but the way it's tracked makes it a snooze after a while.  

I'm Amazed->Thank You Too->Sec Walkin->Two Halves->Librarian->Look At You = snooze fest after multiple listens.  In my opinion they could have saved some of the mellow songs for EPs or something.  Making Good Intentions a separate track was a bad idea.  

The good part about the album was it definitely departed from Z and they truly did explore some new territory.  the bad part is it's kinda of a boring after awhile.  I'd rather listen to shows from the Evil Urges tour than the album itself.    

[TheBigChicken]

 4-5 songs I like....thumbs down... :-[ :-XIMO

[blucas]

2 1/2 yrs ater now...

I heard EU songs for 1st time at coachella- the show (though too short...they should've given MMJ the 3 hour slolt that roger waters had) was a face melter.

That was the beginning of a wonderful love affair...touch me 1 and 2, smokin', EU, amazed...the classics just keep piling up.  Can't wait to see what's next after hearing circuital!

[e_wind]

I'm surprised so many express a dislike for Librarian.  I like its simplicity, the lyrics, the slow build up to drum, bass, pedal steel and keys. [highlight] I think its very accessible for the uninitiated MMJ listeners[/highlight].  I definitely prefer it to Sec Walkin'.  

Librarian and Remnants are the only two songs from EU I've yet to see live, and I'm looking forward to that changing at Terminal 5.  Remnants on the Rockpalast DVD is a highlight for that reason.

I would place the album, as a whole, at the bottom of the list of 5, but still love it and listen to it, front to back, regularly.  

Absolutely agree, it's one of the first MMJ songs I fell in love with :) I love it! It's such a beautiful song.

i wrote a paragraph in response to this, but i guess i forgot to post so in short.... i think the whole album can be a really good gateway into jacketdom for nonbelievers

[vwxg14a]

With the exception of Highly Suspicious, which is the one song that I can live without hearing every again, the album is comparably to their earlier works.  

The album is 3 albums in one.  14 (actually 13 songs)

Evil Urges, Touch 1 & 2, I'm Amazed... The Keepers
Remnants, Two Halves, Aluminum Park... The Rockers
Librarian, Smoking from Shooting, Thank You Too, Look at You, Sec Walkin... The acoustics

Highly Suspicious and Good Intentions... Noble Experiments.

Now if they did a Z 10 Song Album,  The top 10 would exclude Highly, Good, Look at You and Sec Walkin.   Now you have a tight album, not Z nor ISM, but on par with AD and TTF.

And I agree with earlier posts, Remnants is a very underrated song, and the American Dad, episode used it perfectly.

[Crispy]

With the exception of Highly Suspicious, which is the one song that I can live without hearing every again, the album is comparably to their earlier works.  

It's funny, Highly Suspicious is the tune from EU that I most look forward to hearing live.

[Tracy 3000]

With the exception of Highly Suspicious, which is the one song that I can live without hearing every again, the album is comparably to their earlier works.  

It's funny, Highly Suspicious is the tune from EU that I most look forward to hearing live.

yep, it gets the crowd goin (if you know what I mean  ;))

[Brother Beck]

I know all of this has already been said, but my personal thoughts on Evil Urges really echo a few other peoples' around here.

It is a great album, but it is also MMJ's weakest.  The songs that are great on it are right up there with their best material, but the middle of the album really sags.  

I love Highly Suspicious, and Remnants might be my favorite song on the album.  It rocks out in the perfect way, and I really like the lyrics and the message Jim is getting across.  I don't enjoy Librarian that much but I can see where others would appreciate it, and Two Halves is the only MMJ song that I actually dislike.

My personal opinions of the songs aside, I have to say that the musicianship on display across the entire album is stunning.  These guys are just amazing.      

[e_wind]

i think look at you is the best song yim does solo. maybe the weakest on album imo but breath taking solo live

[DougMac]

I thought it was weak at the time and I still do.  

A transitional record really.

[Tracy 3000]

I thought it was weak at the time and I still do.  

A transitional record really.

sort of like your post here?

[Brother Beck]

Oh, and I forgot to mention that when Evil Urges first came out and I listened to it all the way through, I was hugely disappointed that Good Intentions wasn't a real song.  I thought I was getting 14 Brand Spankin' New Jacket songs, and I was only really getting 13.  I noticed that iTunes sells it for $0.99 just like a real song - but, to be fair, they do show you right there that its is only 5 seconds long.  

[DougMac]

I thought it was weak at the time and I still do.  

A transitional record really.

sort of like your post here?

::)

[rincon]

Opinion of a newcomer. Bought Okonokos 3 months ago. Floored me. Bought Z 2 months ago. Bought EU 2 days ago. I have heard all of their stuff at some point on Rhapsody, but I am taking it fairly slow, so I can savor it. An old album I am not familiar with is a new album to me.
As for EU I find it very impressive. It sounds different than the older stuff, but to me, I think that is the clear intention. What is notable, is even though the styles vary, for what they are attempting, whether you like that style or not, it is quality. Highly Suspicious is so over the top, and it sounds like the chorus singer has a mouth full of sandwiches, I never know whether to groove on it, or just laugh. My guess is that was the intention. I don't get the general underappreciation of Librarian. For a country like ballad, out of their normal realm, it is beautiful. I am not totally familiar with the whole album by song name yet, but for an open minded newcomer, if this is the bottom of their catalog, then I am in for some serious treats as I slowly discover the complete discography.

[e_wind]

Opinion of a newcomer. Bought Okonokos 3 months ago. Floored me. Bought Z 2 months ago. Bought EU 2 days ago. I have heard all of their stuff at some point on Rhapsody, but I am taking it fairly slow, so I can savor it. An old album I am not familiar with is a new album to me.
As for EU I find it very impressive. It sounds different than the older stuff, but to me, I think that is the clear intention. What is notable, is even though the styles vary, for what they are attempting, whether you like that style or not, it is quality. Highly Suspicious is so over the top, and it sounds like the chorus singer has a mouth full of sandwiches, I never know whether to groove on it, or just laugh. My guess is that was the intention. I don't get the general underappreciation of Librarian. For a country like ballad, out of their normal realm, it is beautiful. I am not totally familiar with the whole album by song name yet, but for an open minded newcomer, if this is the bottom of their catalog, then I am in for some serious treats as I slowly discover the complete discography.

you are. if you haven't picked up It Still Moves or At Dawn yet, buy an extra couple pairs of panties. EU is the generally least accepted record, but that doesn;t make it bad. The tracks that rock rock. The slow jams are sweet and dreamy, and Touch Me2 is 'out there' in all the right ways. Like I said, Look at You is in my opinion the weakest on the record, but Yim live solo singing Look at You tops everything. I understand the general dislike for The Librarian, but I believe it is a crucial song for the record. I've said in earlier posts that I think EU is the most accessible record of MMJ and the best gateway into Jacketdom. Whenever I burn MMJ albums for friends that aren't into them yet, I burn them EU and then soon after I burn Okonokos. In my opinion, EU really explores every aspect of MMJ that makes them so great. Its an amazing record and probably in my top 25 records of all time, but TTF, AD, ISM, and Z are all higher on my count. If you include live records, Okonokos is probably my number 1 album of all time.

[Penny Lane]

 I don't get the general underappreciation of Librarian. For a country like ballad, out of their normal realm, it is beautiful

YES. Great post.
Enjoy the ride.

[sweatboard]

I used to think Z and EU were more similar but now I think Z is more similar to It Still Moves and EU was kind of a new direction as far as the way it was recorded and produced.  I think EU captured more of a studio vibe, where as Z and It Still Moves capture the live energy much better.  In my opinion the drums on EU don't explode and the guitar on Highly Suspicious is just wussy sounding compared to when they play it live.  There, that's my complaint about EU but like I said earlier there are a whole bunch of other things I do like about the production.  From what's been floating around it sounds like they are going back to more of the live energy on the next one.  I think that's where they take it to another level, you know, when they are all playing together and they hit the zone it's pretty powerful shit.

[Tracy 3000]

it's OK to like Evil Urges even though Pitchfork tells you not to.

[sweatboard]

That's a good point.  Animal Collective could shit on a biscuit and it would be a masterpiece in Pitchforks eyes.