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Dec 14, 2011My Morning Jacket no longer sound like a band of curious adventurers perpetually at odds with their former selves, and consequently deliver an album that plays like a sort of kid-in-a-candy-shop, take-a-little-of-everything thrill ride. Predictably, results vary.
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Jun 27, 2011Allowing their music to be filled with the goodness they inevitably churn out, My Morning Jacket has embraced the electrical currents that connect their music.
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MojoJun 21, 2011Circuital sees them negotiating their place in the world with heartening vigour. [July 2011, p. 103]
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Jun 13, 2011My Morning Jacket are clearly having fun, and they're learning how to be "out there" without being outlandish.
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Jun 9, 2011Ultimately, Circuital charts My Morning Jacket's return home with success now firmly under their belts, proving they've lost none of their Southern-jammed charm while perched atop the second act of an already sky-high career.
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Q MagazineJun 8, 2011Ultimately, My Morning Jacket's diversity proves their partial undoing and Circuital remains a frustratingly hit-and-miss affair. [July 2011, p. 112]
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Jun 6, 2011It's a solid, un-embarrassing, simple-minded record that will do nothing to My Morning Jacket's reputation as one of the greatest American rock bands every American can, and will, get behind. Here's to riskier futures.
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Jun 6, 2011My Morning Jacket should be celebrated as a band that tirelessly deliver value for money--there's enough in here to keep you listening for months on end, and loving every minute of it.
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Jun 6, 2011After the peaks and valleys reached with the past two records, however, Circuital serves as a reminder that My Morning Jacket is back at the top of its game with an album residing just a tiny notch below its definitive records.
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Jun 6, 2011Circuital opens with a gong and orchestral fanfare, appropriately so for what may be My Morning Jacket's best album.
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Jun 6, 2011The sixth album by these Kentucky alt-country types sees them risk destroying forever the aura of existential gravitas they've accrued with the previous five.
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UncutJun 3, 2011Despite several terrific individual tracks, this record ultimately derives its considerable strength from a renewed appreciation of the power of collective identity. [Jul 2011, p.90]
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Jun 3, 2011A similar slide into the mainstream for Jim James and co certainly wouldn't be out of the question – not least because Circuital, despite stiff competition, is possibly their most impressive work to date.
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Jun 2, 2011Their sixth album finds them back on track. Circuital combines their experience with a rediscovered youthful zest, a theme Jim James visits in the lyrics.
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Jun 2, 2011Circuital makes it clear that we are dealing with My Morning Jacket post-metamorphosis. From a provocative indie/country/blues band with exceptional vocals, witty lyrics, and a stellar band, MMJ has found prime real estate on the premise of becoming a commercial parody of themselves.
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Jun 2, 2011Much closer to Z than Evil Urges, My Morning Jacket proves that a leap back can sometimes be a step in the right direction, even if we end up "right back in the same place that we started out."
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Jun 1, 2011After the divisively funky Evil Urges and Z before it (which quizzically drew comparisons to Radiohead, of all bands), Circuital feels somehow both grounded in the soil that spawned it and operatic in scope.
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Jun 1, 2011My Morning Jacket's new album, Circuital, does dial back the weirdness of 2008's Evil Urges.
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Jun 1, 2011There are moments when the bear-voiced Jim James and company sound as if they're scraping an old dinner plate for a last lick, retreading what they've done better elsewhere, but then they strike on something inspired enough to renew their license to rock-trot all over the globe.
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Jun 1, 2011James' lyrics, forever a sticky mixture of high-minded spirituality and cultural slang, keep up the theme; nearly each of Circuital's 10 songs is concerned with the relationship between the past and the present, the development of the individual character, and the quest for something beyond human.
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Jun 1, 2011Circuital can't be marked down as a failure; it's just not as good as it could be, or as its best tracks suggest it might have been. A little run of the mill for a band that often hit such massive heights.
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May 31, 2011Musically, the album really is right in line with how they've been evolving over the years.
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May 31, 2011Circuital contains some of the best material this band has produced in the last six years.
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May 31, 2011Like nearly all of their studio albums, Circuital may not reach the heights of the band's live show -- a good MMJ concert can recalibrate your gut, it can change you -- but it's a remarkably solid step for a band that's never stopped evolving.
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May 31, 2011It's an album containing 10 diverse songs--all performed with near immaculate precision--that reward with repeat visits.
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May 31, 2011Perhaps it's because the Kentucky rockers went home to record, or because they recorded live as a band; but whatever the reason, the result is eminently listenable.
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May 27, 2011Circuital sounds like a reaction to the extravagances of its predecessor. My Morning Jacket tamper their more evil urges and settle back into being a solid rock band.
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May 27, 2011Carry on, ye bearded gods.
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May 27, 2011A sixth album of exuberant, glammy pop and driving Southern-fried rock.
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May 27, 2011Though this outing focuses more on the smooth, laid-back side of their sound, Circuital is still the work of a band that refuses to stand still.
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May 27, 2011Focus on Circuital's sounds, not its content.
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May 27, 2011Though My Morning Jacket has been one of the most consistently brilliant live bands of the last decade, its studio albums remain hit-and-miss. Circuital is no exception.
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May 26, 2011A distinct spirit? Always. Forging new ground? Only in the minds of marketing execs.
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May 26, 2011Recorded in a Louisville church gymnasium, Circuital is just as adventurous, yet more organic and focused.
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May 24, 2011Circuital is probably a necessary step after that strange thrust into foreign territory, a regrouping effort that serves as a reminder of My Morning Jacket's ever-present strengths.
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May 16, 2011Long stretches of Circuital could even pass for an alternate version of Quadrophenia, albeit one heard as a distant echo with the volume turned down to deathly quiet. James sounds remarkably like Roger Daltrey at times, singing with an appealing, yearning catch in his voice.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 35 out of 44
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Mixed: 9 out of 44
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Negative: 0 out of 44
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Jun 6, 2011
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Jun 1, 2011
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May 31, 2011