The new MMJ: classic or dud?

[Vas Deferens]

Discuss. I'm still listening to all of it.

[sweetcell]

dammit, another one to add to the "must listen to" queue (which, incidentally, is rapidly approaching "out of control" status).  normally i'd skip MMJ, but i heard their "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream (Part 2)"  track off the album a while back and it's fantastic.  LOVED IT.  need to give this album a serious listen.

[Sage 703]

I like it - but don't love it.  Has some tremendous moments (as sweetcell mentioned), but some duds as well.

[Firebutt McGee]

I'm leaning towards classic already. I loved it almost instantly. The Constitution Hall show should be great!

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

Well I own Z, Okonokos, and It Still Moves, and compared to them it a big fucking dud. That said, it still better than most of the stuff that gets lauded on this board and by pitchfork.
 
 As much as i hate pitchfork, I thought they hit the nail on the head with this (below)...I'm usually laughing AT pitchfork, but with this paragraph, I was laughing WITH them...
 
 Any discussion of this record has to start with the eye-poppingly annoying "Highly Suspicious", a loud thud ending any chance Urges had to match the group's previous records. An attempt to merge the band's penchant for live quirkiness with James' long-simmering Prince fixation, the track sounds like My Morning Jacket's version of a Phish novelty. The song reduces James' voice to a grating squeak, which cowers in the presence of the obnoxious, caricatured chorus. Its libertarian undertones ("Wasting all your time on drama/ Could be solving real crime") sound like they could stretch to resonate with the hydroponic crowd or those who fret about warrantless wiretapping, but I cringe thinking of an entire amphitheatre singing along to "peanut-butter pudding surprise" unless they're at a Ween show.

[Relaxer]

I think it's a big crashing dud. But I also thought that most of Z was a dud as well. I loved It Still Moves but I've not appreciated this move into white-boy-funk that they've been making.
 
 Meanwhile, Fleet Foxes' new one does MMJ better than MMJ does, so I'll just listen to that.

[hartbr8k1d]

At Dawn is still by far my favorite with Z being my least listened to album. Now, Evil Urges I feel is above Z, but no where near At Dawn or The Tennessee Fire.
 
 Evil Urges has some songs I just can't get into yet. Look at You, Touch Me part 1, I'm Amazed...while I really like Smookin' from Shootin, Highly Suspicious, Librarian, Remnants and Touch Me Part 2.
 
 That said, I am going to the Philly show and DC show. I've seen them as a band and James acoustic. They are one of the best live bands - hands down.

[sweetcell]

WaPo hearts MMJ:
 
 My Morning Jacket's Quirky Yet Angelic 'Evil Urges'
 
 By Michael Deeds
 Special to The Washington Post
 Tuesday, June 10, 2008; Page C01
 
 The tipping point of My Morning Jacket's outstanding fifth studio album, "Evil Urges," is song 3, a jaw-dropper that underscores the band's confident eccentricity: "Highly Suspicious" sounds like the squealing vocalist from the Darkness giggling over a funk groove while Malcolm Young of AC/DC barks out backing vocals. It's ingeniously ridiculous. And if it's one of the freakiest rock tracks of 2008 (and nothing like the rest of these songs), it won't stop the Kentucky quintet's most gorgeously produced CD from making many Top 10 lists at the end of the year.
 
 Frontman Jim James takes songwriting chances that pay beautiful dividends. Whether singing naturally or, increasingly, in a falsetto, he has one of rock's most organic, alluring voices. Dropping much of the reverb that saturated its previous albums, My Morning Jacket infuses these eclectic, catchy songs with creative flourishes ranging from propulsive synths ("Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Pt. 1") and rich strings ("Thank You Too!") to blue-sky anthems ("I'm Amazed") and angelic pedal steel ("Sec Walkin' "). Critics slobbered over 2005's "Z" album. This beats it.
 
 Several tracks exude an indie-space-rock vibe not entirely unlike the Flaming Lips, but simpler moments are often more moving. The imagery in "Librarian," a ballad about love among the stacks, is strikingly delicate. "Take off those glasses and let down your hair for me," James sings wistfully, summing up what My Morning Jacket has done as a band.
 
 (btw, the whole album can be streamed from theirspace)

[manimtired]

its a huge dud.  only songs i like are "aluminum park" and "im amazed"...

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

i don't agree with much you say, but I'd select those exact two songs as well. If we agree on that, we must be right.
 
 

Originally posted by manimtired:
  its a huge dud.  only songs i like are "aluminum park" and "im amazed"...

[Vas Deferens]

Highly Suspicious has got to be one of the worst songs of the year.

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

Agreed. But I still love singing it to my little girl. She loves it when I nail the low notes.
 
 

Originally posted by wanderlust j. marshmallow:
  Highly Suspicious has got to be one of the worst songs of the year.

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

I first heard the songs on this album when NPR webcast the MMJ show from SXSW. As I listened, each song went by, and I kept saying, "Well that one sucks, maybe the next one." And each song sucked, at least when in the same set as their older material.

[allmy$to930]

I am undecided right now...
 
 I must say it is better than I thought it would be after reading several reviews.
 
 I keep hearing Dylan circa "Nashville Skyline" when I hear Jim James' voice on many of the songs.

[Taster]

Huge dud.