It Still Moves

Some are already calling it a landmark. This year's 'Deserter's Songs' or 'Soft Bulletin'. In truth it's probably better than both of those records.

At times, the results can be distancing. [22/29 Aug 2003, p.132]

An album by turns beautiful and possessed, by others raucous and fiery.

The spaciousness of James' yearning borders on the mystical, imbuing It Still Moves with its contemplative nature.

It Still Moves is the kind of album that can inspire both wonder and respect in equal measures.

The faster, moonshined rock epics border on the kind of indulgent radio classics that leave you banging your head in the car, singing out of your range, and drinking with more swagger than your body can actually handle.

It's a record of passion and richness, with a hoard of memorable songs, that demands to be treated the equal of its inspirations. [Sep 2003, p.102]

The songs are still structured with minimal vocals and long repetitive jams, but they seem more crafted this time, not just meandering soundscapes.

Finds their meld of expansive rock, country melodies and myriad other elements scraping truly inspirational heights. [Oct 2003, p.111]

For a band only three albums into their career, they're showing inordinate amounts of brilliance.

When they're on, though, they're on, and although this album doesn't quite reach the heights that their earlier At Dawn does, it's still a great disc from a young group who will be making even more noise in the future.

In all, My Morning Jacket may be a journey through the past, but it's also a solid step into something rock & roll has been missing for an awfully long time in the mainstream arena: melody, extremely catchy and well-written songs that aren't afraid of the mainstream, and a love of the great pop continuum that translates into something new.

He claims his Dave Matthews-sponsored major- label debut was his chance to make a true band record, and I guess his boys are trickier than Crazy Horse, just not in any way you haven't heard before.

Answers an interesting question: What if, after The Bends, Radiohead had discovered pedal steel instead of Pro Tools? [Oct 2003, p.138]

There is something so honest about My Morning Jacket--something fresh and something Skynard. But in a good way. [#7, p.91]

This time, the band lug the still-smoking amps from their lightning-strike live show into the studio and let the noise chase the midnite vultures away.

It Still Moves courts the easygoing, the wistful, and the devastating all at once, and the group's strange, wonderful gift is that it understands how those three moods are all shades of the same blue.

At 72 minutes, the gorgeous gloom of It Still Moves lasts a bit longer than it has to--but it offers a host of tarnished gems along the way. [Sep 2003, p.126]

Instantly engaging, and totally engrossing over time.

My Morning Jacket are going nowhere fast - but in all the right ways.

Epic, lyrical, and as ultimately old-fashioned as those words suggest. [Oct 2003, p.106]