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I realized what they were aiming for. Radiohead did so with OK Computer, further destroying the ties to their britpop brothers. Same with Pink Floyd, same with Led Zeppelin, same with The Beatles, same with every great artist. This is the music that an accomplished band like My Morning Jacket should be making after 10 years of the tried-and-true formula.Right off the bat, Evil Urges is a song that will divide fans. What starts out as a funny Prince homage turns into a energetic rocker with an incredible lead guitar lick.
There is no other choice. Give it time, it really sucks you in. I hated this album. It's the sound of a band determined to make some daring and strange work in the near future.
1 is another "WTF." moment on an album chock full of those. I went to go see them, and I became a huge fan. That was my first response while listening to this album. One can see that evolutionary step in My Morning Jacket's live shows, in which case the songs range from psychedelic to country to funk to rock and roll. It could pass for a Flaming Lips song were it not for the breathy vocals of Jim James.Highly Suspicious is the biggest "HUH." moment on the whole album.
Minus a few tracks, I was ready to sell this cd.Then something happened.A friend of mine told me that him and his buddies were going to see My Morning Jacket live in Louisville at the Waterfront Park, and he invited me to go. Touch Me Pt. Finally, Touch Me Pt. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, and it wasn't in a good way.
These songs are furious live and it gives the album a good edge.Smokin' From Shootin' is another strange number, an electronic ballad with some soaring vocals about God, life and death. It's catchy and irrestiable, probably one of the best rock songs of 2008.Thank You Too. It works though, strangly enough, it works.Evil Urges is the sound of an accomplished band. Trust me, if you're patient, it's very rewarding. and Sec Walkin' are the more experimental songs on the album, the former being as soulful as MMJ can get, while Sec Walkin' is definetly a country-tinged folky tune reminscient of the early days.Two Halves brings in mind Buddy Holly, and Librarian is a weird country ode to sexy librarians, though it's a little more deep than that.Aluminum Park and Remnants bring some much needed loudness to the set.
Pure and simple. Leave it to Jim James to add a grand dose of weirdness to everything he does. Go Kentucky. 2 is a funky disco about finding pleasure.
I hated the fact that the soaring vocals were replaced by something Prince-like, I hated the fact that nearly ALL the reverb on the previous records were gone, and I really hated the fact that there was barely any rock songs on this record. See this song live, you'll change your mind about it.I'm Amazed is a flat out rock and roll song. The falsetto vocals, syncopated drums, sparkly guitars, and strange production is all there, but it's a given an alien sheen which might make old fans scratch their heads. They wanted to show their fans that "Hey, we are influnced by a lot of classic rock, but we're also influenced by the music of today." To put it simply, live, the new songs rocked just as hard as the classics from It Still Moves, At Dawn, and Z, and fit the band like an old glove.As bands get older, they have to evolve.
What Evil Urges is attempting to do is to bring that live eclectisism into an album, and it succeeds on every level.
It was brilliant. I easily rank this as one of the best releases of 2008, and after 30-something listens, I'm still not sick of it.PS: just saw a replay of MMJ on Austin City Limits, playing songs from this album. MMJ has been hit or miss for me.meaning I think half their songs are amazing, and the other half just don't do it for me.I took a chance on this one, and was blown away from the first listen. The songs are well written, and very diverse, even if they aren't as spacey as some previous releases.
This album rarely leaves my playlist for long. I bought It Still Moves way back when and thought it was good, not amazing. These guys are geniuses. Smoking Gun and Touch Me are my favorites. I thought "Z" was great, not amazing. Well, Evil Urges is a masterpiece.
While Z succeeded to my ears by greatly expanding their sound, this one seemed to go in far too many directions at once, sometimes for no reason. Wow, this is one of those releases that is difficult to write about. At first I had a difficult time getting past the sprawl to enjoy the bands great songs and performances.
The overall sound tends to be a bit desperate to resonte as a great album, but with great songs like SEC WALKIN', ALUMINUM PARK, THANK YOU TOO and the two TOUCH ME I'M GOING TO SCREAM tracks, plus the ones mentioned earlier, I find myself revisiting this one quite a bit. You may hate this on first listen, but give this a chance and you'll be rewarded, just don't expect this group to tread in the same place for too long. In retrospect, EVIL URGES is not the masterpiece that I had anticipated, not is it turkey that I first had feared, it's a solid album filled with some great songs and quite a few good ones as well. This is actually one catchy album.
I went back at that point and found new favorites with their first releases AT DAWN and TENNESSEE FIRE, both that I would highly recommend. I did keep listening and several songs grew in stature and also the songs that originally stuck out as disasters began to resonate as well. After having EVIL URGES for several months, I finally feel like I've digested the album enough to make a comment, and for the most part, that comment would be positive.I first got on board with this band on their IT STILL MOVES album in 2003. From the title track's goony chorus juxtaposed against Princely falsetto and metal riffing to the geeky LIBRARIAN, to the single I'M AMAZED which sounded like a bald-faced stab at a hit single, depression reigned.
Upon first listen however, several red warning flags shot up. In fact it was only when their following album, Z, blew me away that I really began to recognize their genius. That said, I was eagerly anticipating the release of EU, convinced that the band was about to drop an album for the ages.
This would be your parents record if you were a rock n roll music geek of the last 50 years. If MMJ is just going to coast.then why release anything. I've allowed time to let this release age, but like bad cheese it doesn't get any better. Really, you would expect Bing Cosby to put on a sweater and join Jim James on a relaxed duet. Where is your pride. It's so uninvolved. It seems these guys tired, and needed a payday with easy filler substitute, instead of the vision quest of yonder lore.
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