Don't Look Back: My Morning Jacket

My Morning Jacket is a Rock act formed in 1998 out of Louisville, Kentucky. Lead singer/guitarist Jim James named the band after a jacket he saw with the letters "MMJ" written on it. My Morning Jacket's current lineup consists of:
Jim James: Vocals, Guitar
Carl Broemel: Guitar, Steel pedal
Tom Blankenship (aka "Two Tone Tommy"): Bass
Bo Koster: Keyboard
Patrick Hallahan: Drums

My Morning Jacket are more widely known for their live shows and relentless touring in the present than they are for their studio work. That doesn't mean that their studio albums are not good, although it is now becoming more apparent that the albums they make consists of songs that they just want to play live.

I guess I should probably admit that I'm such a big MMJ fan that I wrote this with little or no research, or much listening to the albums while I was writing it.

Grooveshark is especially crappy on this one. Sorry.

My Morning jacket has 5 albums.

5. Evil Urges (2008) Grooveshark

"This album nearly broke the band up" -Patrick Hallahan. When even one of the members of the band thinks that an album is polarizing, that's usually not a good sign. This album is about as uneven as anything I have ever listened to. On top of that some of the songs are just straight up bad (I'm looking at you, Librarian). Like I said in the intro, THIS is the album where I feel like it consists of just songs they wanted to play live. The sad thing is that there are, in between all the mediocrity, some very good songs on this album.
Highlights: Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt 1, Thank You Too!, Smokin From Shootin, Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt 2.





4. The Tennessee Fire (1999)  Grooveshark

Their first album. This and their second album, At Dawn, have a more alt-country feel to them than the later albums by the band. I have to say, the alt-country sound fits them just as easily as the southern rock sound they acquired later on. Of course with any debut album, it is raw and unpolished. Jim James still has some great lyrical flashes on this album, and you can see the beginnings of something great in many of the songs.
Highlights: They Ran, The Bear, If All Else Fails, War Begun, I Will Be There When You Die



3. Z (2005) Grooveshark

This album brought them into the spotlight. Produced by John Leckie, who produced The Bends. A much more spacier work, the first of their albums that lacked a large amount of reverb. While it was a departure from their established sound, it was also one of their best albums. It shows signs of growth that many people did not think they were capable of (such as the reggae influence on "Off The Record"). They also showed that they can master the epic track, something they began to do on It Still Moves (See: Dondante)  There is still a couple duds on this album, but for the most part it's a superb record. 

Highlights: Wordless Chorus, Off The Record, Anytime, Lay Low, Dondante

-powerful

2. At Dawn (2001) Grooveshark

I would say that At Dawn, My Morning Jacket's second album, is the first fully formed album that they created. The Tennessee Fire is good, but raw, and sounds like a Jim James solo project for long stretches. This album is strongly rooted in alt-country, and has a southern charm that is hard to emulate. Like every album I've discussed, it also has its flaws. Jim James goes from brilliant lyricist to "what the hell" every so often. But this album proves something: that My Morning Jacket does not lack for beautiful songs.

Highlights: Death Is The Easy Way, Hopefully, Bermuda Highway, I Needed It Most, Strangulation


-beautiful, right?

1. It Still Moves (2003) Grooveshark

BOOM! The best southern rock album of this last decade. Some intense mix of anthemic rock, jam, and folked out love songs. It also contains about two thirds of their best live songs (including signature song "One Big Holiday"). This was the first album by them that I listened to as well. Jim James and Danny Cash (who has since left the band amicably)'s guitar work is so advanced from where it was on At Dawn it's almost shocking. Lyrically it is also a step ahead. Jim's songs on this album lack a certain level of personality that they had on previous albums, but there is a common theme running throughout each song that he has masterfully constructed. The addition of a horn section on certain songs certainly also should not go without notice. Even with the shift in intensity from songs like the slower, mostly acoustic "I Will Sing You Songs" into the raucous "Easy Morning Rebel", the album sticks together cohesively better than any other My Morning Jacket album. By far their best, most complete album.
Highlights: Mahgeetah, Masterplan, One Big Holiday, Run Thru, Steam Engine

-you should hear it live

That's all, go away now.










Bonus Track: