This is the third album released by My Morning Jacket. It will come out September 9, 2003 and is being put out by ATO/RCA. The album clocks in at about 72 minutes which continues MMJ's tradition of producing long albums. Like their previous albums, it was recorded entirely on a farm in Kentucky because of the lead singer's love of the reverb sound that can be produced in barns. The end result is mixture of songs that would sound like they were either built for being played at the local run-down bar or for listening to while gazing at the stars late at night.
Anyway, it is time to break down the album. Here we go:
- Mahgeetah: Mahgeetah is a great beginning for the album. It has a bit of a whimsical sound to it that is hard to describe but easy to love. I can best imagine this song being played in the car at the beginning of a long Saturday Night. Compared to other first album tracks by MMJ, I rate it ahead of At Dawn from same titled album but put it behind Heartbreakin Man from Tennessee Fire.
- Dancefloors: Dancefloors is definately a country-style bar room jam. This is the kind of song that would make line dancing seem interesting. Towards the end it goes into a complete jam session with an interesting use of horns that seems to work pretty well
- Golden: This is a bit of a slower paced track that seems to be very much influenced by MMJ's numerous road trips. It fits well being played on a empty country highway, staring out the window watching power lines go by.
- Masterplan: Masterplan begins with a slow beat, picks it up a bit, drops down and repeats a few times. Currently this song does not seem to hook me, although that might change eventually.
- One Big Holiday: One Big Holiday starts out with a repeating guitar line that slowly builds up to a great opening jam. The rest of the song is fantastic, one of the top three songs of the album, with great vocals by Jimmy James. About three mintues in they break into a great instrumental jam that finishes the song off. On a side note, this song is also absolutely fantastic live.
- I Will Sing You Songs: Wow! Quite the contrast from the previous song but I love it. A very beautiful song with minimal instruments, just mostly Jim serenading the listener. This song seems to have a Pet Sounds era Beach Boys influence to it, one of the best kind of influences in my humble opinion. The song ends up clocking in at about nine minutes but I would not have removed a second of it. This is really one of the best examples of how MMJ can lift its music to another level.
- Easy Morning Rebel: Another bar room type song that is a bit more straight forward than most of the other tracks. I am rather indifferant to this song so in the future I will probably just skip back to hear I Will Sing You Songs again instead.
- Run Thru: A little bit of a step up from the previous song, this track has a bit more a lamenting feel to it. Towards the end it builds up to a thumping beat, jams out for awhile and then winds down. Pretty good track.
- Rollin Back: Slower paced song that works well as background music but otherwise does not seem to especially stand out. Love the ahhhh's though.
- Just One Thing: Starts out with similar vocals to Rollin Back but after that it produces a sound of what Rollin Back could have been. Very good song that also gets extra points since it is the song leading up to...
- Steam Engine: Love this song! This track has the most psychadelic sound to it and slowly soothes you as you listen to it. It also has the one of the most beautiful guitar sounds that I have heard before which I can best imagine as being the sound humpback whales make when they cry. Ummm...that is...uh..right. Anywho, there is some great wailing by Jimmy James and at around the four and a half minute mark it goes into a change of sound that just flows over the listener. Possibly my favorite song by MMJ although it is a very tough call, probably my favorite on the album although I Will Sing You Songs puts up a good fight. Absolutely beautiful.
- One In The Same: The song that ends the album is a bit low key but quite good. It is mainly the vocals that sell the song. Probably my favorite MMJ ending song.
And that is the album. Compared to the other MMJ albums I would probably rank At Dawn higher but that may change in time. This is the best flowing MMJ album and probably the most consistent also. I would highly recommend the album.