My Morning Jacket's fourth full-length outing, Z, marked significant changes for the Louisville, Kentucky-based band. Prior to the album's recording, MMJ lost and replaced two of its original members. In addition, the group left the comfort zone of its hometown for Z's sessions, opting for studio work in upstate New York with veteran British producer John Leckie. Fortunately, these shifting elements seem to have reinvigorated the ensemble, resulting in what may be its most confident and consistent record.
On Z, singer/guitarist Jim James widens what was already an expansive sound by moving MMJ's aesthetic away from its alt-country roots and forward into further genre-melding explorations. As always, the songs here hinge on James's plaintive, echo-laden vocals, as revealed on the atmospheric, dub-like opener, "Wordless Chorus." The group also ventures into reggae/power-pop territory with the wonderfully catchy "Off the Record," and works into one of its signature guitar-heavy frenzies with the surging "Anytime." While IT STILL MOVES was My Morning Jacket's breakthrough record, Z solidifies its status as one of America's most inventive and formidable rock bands.
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (No. 985, p.80) - 4 stars out of 5 - "America is a lot closer to getting its own Radiohead, and it isn't Wilco...."
Spin (p.63) - Ranked #13 in Spin's "40 Best Albums Of 2005" - "[B]eautiful melodies, fizzy dual-guitar jams, soaring soul-man falsettos, convincing reggae grooves - and an unexpected shout out to Madonna."
Spin (p.133) - "Z imagines a dance floor covered in sawdust and a musty smell wafting from under the board....For every moment of ambient weirdness, there's a blast of rock guitar..." - Grade: A-
Entertainment Weekly (No. 843, p.73) - "...They evoke the musical essence of various titans while achieving a wholly distinctive sound of their own...." - Grade: A-
Magnet (p.53) - Ranked #18 in Magnet's "The 20 Best Albums Of 2005" - "Z finds My Morning Jacket at the end of the road, leaning forward, embracing drum clicks and glitzy keyboards like never before."
Magnet (p.104) - "The moody atmospherics are ultimately shattered by a catharsis of crescendoing guitars and gut-wrenching vocals, yielding what's arguably the most powerful My Morning Jacket performance to date."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.58) - Ranked #5 in Mojo's "The 50 Best Albums Of 2005" - "New conviction imbued the band's heady, metaphysical rock'n'soul..."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.96) - 5 stars out of 5 - "Z is ruthlessly honed....The pedal steel tickling the edges of the lovely testimonial 'The Knot Comes Loose' has been assimilated into a worldlier musical context that magnifies the epic romance at the group's heart."
