Music CD - My Morning Jacket: Z

	Music CD: Z Artist: My Morning Jacket List Price: $12.98 Our Price: $18.83 Your Save: $ ( % ) Availability: Manufacturer: Ato Records
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Tracks: 1. Wordless Chorus 2. It Beats 4 U 3. Gideon 4. What A Wonderful Man 5. Off The Record 6. Into The Woods 7. Anytime 8. Lay Low 9. Knot Comes Loose 10. Dondante
Binding: Audio CD EAN: 0828767106724 Format: Enhanced Label: Ato Records Manufacturer: Ato Records Number Of Discs: 1 Publisher: Ato Records Release Date: 2005-10-04 Studio: Ato Records
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Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: "Z" is a Keeper Comment: For fans of MMJ, this album is a continuation of an impressive, enjoyable body of work from these Kentuckians. The reverb on the vocals really make the album for me. I'm looking forward to their new album coming out! Customer Rating: Summary: If Gram Parsons were an astronaut... Comment: ...he would have made a record that sounded like this. for me, Z holds the title belt for best record of 2005. James took a pretty big gamble w/ the spacey atmosphere on this one, and it payed off in spades, creating an utterly original sound that catapulted them from being a super-tight jam band to one of the most unique and exciting american bands out there right now. from beginning to end, there's not a single sub-par track. "what a wonderful man" sounds like "clouds taste metallic" era flaming lips, and "gideon" is the perfect vehicle for james' reverb-drenched vocals. my favorite song is "lay low;" it's one of those jams that keep making you push the repeat button. i couldn't imagine anyone w/ a modicum of good taste not enjoying Z. Customer Rating: Summary: I'm just not feeling it Comment: Directed to this band after tasting some eclectic mixes of new folk, rock and jazz influences that also include some punk and post metal. With Z I like the songwriting but the singer just doesn't cut it, often droning on and then OUT and sounding sometimes like he is out of breath. Does this guy smoke or something? A nice radiance within some songs but at times this is nothing more than a jam band that tries so hard to separate themselves from the other of their kind that they end up sounding like a cousin anyway. Customer Rating: Summary: Long Live Rock (Rock Ain't Dead!) Comment: My Morning Jacket provides proof positive that Rock and Roll is still alive and kicking. Not only are these songs catchy, but a few also add the wonderful rockin' jams that sets My Morning Jacket apart from other, lesser "hard rock" bands. My favorites are What A Wonderful Man, Off the Record, and others whose names escape me. In fact, it's such a strong effort throughout that it's not necessary to pick out a few as "the best." It's the opposite of that horribly upsetting feeling of buying an album, only to find that one hit you love, followed by 9 fillers of crap. What I do notice on this album is a sort of homage to The Who. In fact, when I first heard Off the Record, I honestly thought that this was something new by said band. It even sounds like I'd guess Roger (Daltrey) would sound by now. And then there's that sorta Hawaii Five-O sample thrown in; why, I don't know, but it somehow works. Buy this album. It's great. It's really just that simple. I used to be a Deadhead way back when, and I think this is one of the only bands that I feel can jam like The Dead (no, I don't think they sound alike, too). The only others that i feel can accomplish this feat are/were Blues Traveler, a smidgin of Phish, and maybe Built to Spill. Again, I'm just so happy to be able to say, "Hey, rock's stil alive. And it DOESN'T suck!" Buy and enjoy. Customer Rating: Summary: My Morning Jacket Sucks . . . Not Comment: The 2005, year-in-review indie lists touted one of two albums as the best of the year. 2004's hands down winner was The Arcade Fire's Funeral, and the indie folks are still talking about them, even after a less than pleasing follow-up. For 2005, My Morning Jacket's Z, and I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning by Bright Eyes were at the top of many lists for trendy music sifters and reviewers. I first listened to the latter, and was somewhat dissappointed at my first taste of the indie movement. I then listened to Funeral by Arcade Fire to see what last years winner was like. Very impressive. So I decided to give My Morning Jacket a try. Placed it on hold at the library, and listened to it once, and didn't think much about it. I kind of lost track of the indie music scene till my friend Sir Erik the Independent ackwardly approached me at a party and we had the most uncomfortable 15-minute conversation the world had seen in 3 decades. But he asked me about indie music, I made up something smart to say about Bright Eyes, and he kind of smirked (he does this a lot, especially when he's in his I'm-right-and-no-one-else-is-smart-enough-to-realize-it mood) and mentioned about half a dozen bands that I'd never heard of. The Mountian Goats are actually a band, I've now realized, thanks to Erik. And check this out, it's good songwriting, according to Erik. So Erik, being the indie music snob that he is, told me to check out It Still Moves by My Morning Jacket after I said that I was currently digging Z by My Morning Jacket. How come it's always the old and obscure for this indie music Indiana Joneses that blow an obscure and intelligent load everytime they hear something that they're quite sure no one else has truly "discovered" only to move on to near-oblivion roots music once someone figures out and ultimately corrupts the pure and sweet musical masterpiece they once held so dear? Just asking. Erik the Independent and Much Better When It's Older Mike both really think that It Still Moves is the greatest MMJ jacket album, and prefer just to ignore the indie-approval of Z just two years earlier. The songs on Z are diverse and Jim James voice is quite relaxing and shapeless. Once you've finished Z, you realize that, as much as 4 minute musical tags at the end of their songs aren't required, and that MMJ's vocal arrangements have a much more interesting payoff than their straight instrumentation with guitar jams and horns. Not to knock their previous album at all, but to say they have matured their arranging. The last track has a 2 minute tag on the end, reminiscent of It Still Moves, but Z is definitely a nice footprint on their musical journey. The opening Wordless Chorus is a song full of drowsy hooks and the classic silo-voices of previous MMJ works. Jericho is a faster paced number that builds on James' ability to hit the high notes strong. Into The Woods is a carnival- esque number, with some odd imagery, but with a very nice melody to even it out. Dodante puts a nice smooth finish on the album, and really makes you sad that there are only 10 tracks on this CD. The overall star rating on Amazon for this album, at the time of writing, is low due to the short-lived copy- right protection software, which has since gone the way of the buffalo. This CD is going for a great deal less on the used Amazon sellers tabs. Spending 5 dollars on this album is a great investment. More Reviews
Editorial Reviews: Two years and a pair of band members have passed since My Morning Jacket's last album, and the respite seems to have reinvented the Louisville, Ky., band and its leader Jim James. Shelved are the boogie-soaked country and hard-stomping metal of the first three records--assuring that all links to Lynyrd Skynyrd are hereby obsolete--and the sleek maturation of James's wailing, echoing falsetto may have even nullified the Neil Young comparisons. Using the guitar as a complement more than as a weapon, songwriter James has simplified the sound where keyboards take the lead and choruses play like a '70s AM radio. While songs like "Anytime" and "What a Wonderful Man" channel the old MMJ sound, they do so with less chaos and more spontaneity. That's the trend for the record's best: "Wordless Chorus" and its infectious "aaaah" refrain, the Hawaii Five-O-riffed ska of "Off the Record" and a Stranglers-minded carnival waltz, "Into the Woods." Serving as a pop-music paradigm that change is good, Z is ambitious, groundbreaking and downright impeccable. --Scott Holter