Z - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com
Two years and a pair of band members have passed since My Morning Jacket's last album, and the respite seems to have reinvented the Louisville, Ky., band and its leader Jim James. Shelved are the boogie-soaked country and hard-stomping metal of the first three records--assuring that all links to Lynyrd Skynyrd are hereby obsolete--and the sleek maturation of James's wailing, echoing falsetto may have even nullified the Neil Young comparisons. Using the guitar as a complement more than as a weapon, songwriter James has simplified the sound where keyboards take the lead and choruses play like a '70s AM radio. While songs like "Anytime" and "What a Wonderful Man" channel the old MMJ sound, they do so with less chaos and more spontaneity. That's the trend for the record's best: "Wordless Chorus" and its infectious "aaaah" refrain, the Hawaii Five-O-riffed ska of "Off the Record" and a Stranglers-minded carnival waltz, "Into the Woods." Serving as a pop-music paradigm that change is good, Z is ambitious, groundbreaking and downright impeccable. --Scott Holter

Album Description
Japanese pressing of their 2005 album features one bonus track, 'Chills' which was previously available on the US Vinyl version of 'Z' and as a European B-side to the first single 'Off the Record'. While much of Z comes as a shock, even the surprises should seem perfectly natural in hindsight. The combination of the hushed, indie balladry of their early records with the spacious guitar rock of their last was to be expected, but My Morning Jacket's recent history all but demands the newer, more exotic rhythms and textures on Z, which makes it clear that this is a great band, doing great things who've been playing it safe until now. Z is an ambitious leap of faith into a new frontier where the old rules don't apply, and My Morning Jacket seem perfectly happy to write their own. 11 tracks in total. BMG. 2005.

Customer Reviews: Read 144 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Shock and Awe October 4, 2005
60 out of 84 found this review helpful

Have you ever had an album from an artist or band (that has been around a while) that once you heard said album it just incites you to go back through the bands history and give them another chance? This is exactly what happened to me once I heard this album. It immediately caught my attention as a great album, one of the years best. Afterwards, I forced myself to go back and give My Morning Jackets previous 3 albums another chance, and found an error in my judgement: MMJ have always been good, I must have not been paying attention and I thank this album for edifying that.

"Z" starts off with one of My Morning Jackets new best songs, "Wordless Chorus", which is a fitting title since the chorus features nothing more than an impressive change up and a few English expressions wailed like they have been bottled up ready to explode in Jim James for years--beautiful. There are a couple haunting, yet beautiful tracks on this album, "Into The Forest" and "Dedonte" are two amazing tracks, especially the latter. "Dedonte" features some of the best song writing this band, period. It also features more melodic wailing and crooning from Jim James. The rest of the album remains cohesive in an electronic sound. "It Beats For You" has a dark upbeat melody. "Gideon" has a stark slower pace to it, it's another of the better songs on this album, and sounds destined to be featured on the next Nissan or Pontiac commercial. "Knot Comes Loose" and "Lay Low" are the only songs that sport a primary alt-country sound, albeit very minor ones. Both are great by the way, "Lay Low" in particular features a nice ending with a great guitar solo from Johnny Quaid. It's another one of the albums better songs. "Off The Record" has a memorable chorus. "Anytime" to me sounds just like an upbeat alternative version of "Gideon", which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Overall, this album is incredible. "Z" is my favorite My Morning Jacket album to date and is nearly perfect. The only song I do not care for is "What A Wonderful Man", which really should have been left off and have been only 9 tracks. But regardless, this is still one of the best releases this year.

1 out of 5 stars

*Sony Music Sued Over Anti-Piracy Software* November 13, 2005
43 out of 52 found this review helpful

This is a great cd, but sony's rootkit INFECTS YOUR COMPUTER WHEN YOU SCAN IT! Here's the scoop from pitchforkmedia.com

"Here's the crux of the suit, straight from the legal papers: "As a result of Sony's failure to disclose the true nature of the digital rights management (`DRM') system it uses on its CDs, thousands of computer users have unknowingly infected their computers, and the computers of others, with this surreptitious rootkit. This rootkit has been responsible for conflicts within computer systems, crashes of systems, and other damage."

The suit, which accuses Sony of "fraud, false advertising, trespass, and violation of state and federal statues prohibiting malware, and unauthorized computer tampering," claims that the suspect software has been included on certain Sony BMG Music CDs since this spring. Albums to watch out for include Amerie's Touch, My Morning Jacket's Z Kasabian's Kasabian, Neil Diamond's 12 Songs, Cassidy's I'm a Hustla, Kings of Leon's Aha Shake Heartbreak, and, appropriately, the Bad Plus' Suspicious Activity and the Coral's Invisible Invasion, among others.

In short: if you're about to load that new My Morning Jacket disc onto your hard drive, STOP. Sell the album back to the record store and buy something on Dischord."

1 out of 5 stars

Contains Sony DRM Rootkit - Do Not Buy November 4, 2005
40 out of 51 found this review helpful

This CD contains a compromising DRM rootkit which can greatly affect the Windows operating system. Do not buy.

1 out of 5 stars

Some things you should know about Sony's DRM. November 11, 2005
40 out of 49 found this review helpful

The application is also accused of shortening the life span of the user's hard drive by performing a scan of system processes every 1.5 seconds.

Another widely publicised feature of the technology is a rootkit that hides the digital rights management technology from the system and the user.

The rootkit will actually hide any file, process or registry key that begins with the characters '$sys$', making it extremely easy for virus authors and hackers to hide malicious applications from virus and spyware scanners.

1 out of 5 stars

Buy it on iTunes October 25, 2005
39 out of 46 found this review helpful

Whatever the merits of the music, I tossed this disk in the garbage. Why?

1. Upon insertion in the computer, requires you to agree to a contract that restricts usage to approved devices etc and inserts software on your hard drive to monitor usage.
2. After agreeing it launches a goofy proprietary application to play the music instead of a media player.
3. You cannot play the files in iTunes
4. You cannot rip the files to you computer
5. You cannot play the songs on you iPod.

This attemnpt to restrict legal usage of the music is outrageous and should be tolerated. Is the band aware of this? Do they support it? It is bad business, bad publicity and done in bad faith.

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