My Morning Jacket - The Waterfall II (July 10, 2020) Album • Page 4

I think a lot of this will grow on me but my only real complaint so far is it feels like there's a pretty big gap between the "good" and "great" songs but hey pretty damn good for a quasi B sides collection

 

I didn't get to hear from the very beginning of the first song, I was a little late getting here, but I thought the opening song was pretty great as well. Very mellow but gorgeous.

 

Yeah I dug it a lot too

 

This is their "chillest" album for sure. Lots of weird psychedelic sounds in some of the slower songs that are super cool though. Kind of reminds me of Evil Urges in that it's a pretty down-tempo record overall but with some moments that just absolutely crush too. It's basically impossible for them to disappoint me at this point too, especially since they've got another record in the hopper once COVID fucks off and they can finish it

 

I will say after my first listen I felt super let down. Like cancel my vinyl let down. I kept listening because of who it is, and it grew on me MASSIVELY through out my listens.

edit: first listen reminded me of the first time I heard tranquility based hotel and casino. not having any pre-release tracks to set they tone and the huge shift in sound and being super mellow threw me off.

 

hell yes this has me hyped

 

I wouldn't say I was let down at all but at least half of the songs didn't hit me very hard. But I know better than to jump to conclusions after one listen

Pretty sure I hated most of Waterfall Pt I after my first listen and it turned out to be a great record haha

 

Haha I know same. Let down may have been too harsh, I think after 5 years I wanted to get knocked on my ass and it took until Wasted to do that.

 

I need to do a proper listen as soon as I get home from work tonight. Focused, no distractions. The only song I felt let down by was "Climbing The Ladder" after reading the description that talked about it being a "rocking honkytonk ripper" and a"straight barroom dancefloor burner, with an awesome multi-guitar attack." That one definitely did not live up to that description for me. I thought it was kinda goofy sounding. Maybe it'll grow on me...

 

Yeah I think that was a poor description too but I still dug the track

 

I only got to jump into the live stream for one track...it was the one that one commenter said sounded like randy newman/john denver vibes. lots of piano. either way, it was awesome to my ears, but I'm into this band so much that it'd take A LOT for them to make something I disliked.

 

Best MMJ album since Eraserland (please forgive me Yim)

 

i’m personally offended

 

imagine having "feel you" recorded and deciding not to put that on an album. my goodness.

 

Digging this even more today

 

I think this was "Run It" by the way

 

Really enjoyed this write-up

Review: My Morning Jacket's 'The Waterfall II' Is A Subdued, Beautiful Sequel Five Years Later

 

I listened to the album again this morning. A couple of absolute all-timers on here. I can't imagine *not* putting a few of these songs on The Waterfall back when it was first released. Listening to this album now, I can't understand why they didn't just go the double album route, or at least the quick follow-up sequel route and get this out soon after the first one. I'm not complaining - I honestly never thought we were going to get this album. I can't even count the number of times I have heard the type of talk around an album release that mentioned these songs by other bands only to have the songs never materialize, at least not in any official capacity.

Immediate standouts for me:
Feel You
Wasted
Spinning My Wheels

 

Instant classic and best album since Z

 

I had listened to the album all the way through one time and listened to some of the songs a bunch of times piecemeal when you first wrote this. Honestly, I thought you were crazy.

I've listened to the album all the way through now probably about a dozen times, and I fully 100% support this statement. No question. This album slays from first note to last. No weak links here at all. The songs all range from really good to fucking god-level spectacular. And this album FLOWS. This album just ebbs and flows and washes over you in a magical, glorious way, which is something I really don't think MMJ have done in a long time.

I've struggled with The Waterfall for 5 years now. I don't like the opening track; it has always felt to me like it alternates between really great songs and very weak, sub-par ones; it contains a lot of moments that actively annoy my ears - like the repeated "Again"s jammed into the title track; I feel like the rest of the band got sidelined in favor of studio trickery when they are arguably some of the greatest musicians playing right now. Even some of the great songs on the album - like "Only Memories Remain" - feel to me like they're only at like 80% on the album and didn't come to life until the band played them live. I know this is insanely critical but MMJ are one of my absolute favorite bands, and I would consider several of their albums to be flat-out masterpieces, and I hadn't fully connected with any of their release in several years. All of that being said, there are still a handful of songs on The Waterfall that I would say are essential MMJ songs.

I honestly assumed this new album would be very similar to Part I and contain somewhere from a couple to a handful of great songs sprinkled in amongst some much weaker tracks. I was DEAD WRONG. The Waterfall Part II is absolutely incredible and a serious return to form for them.

 

I liked the first part of The Waterfall a whole whole lot but it certainly is true that even that record's best songs lack something on the album that they have live. And it's definitely not just that the band slays live, I agree it's something lacking, but it doesn't affect my enjoyment of the album that much because most of the songs on there are really good. Certainly a worthy bounce-back from Circuital which has a handful of excellent songs and then a whole hell of a lot of boring songs that I probably couldn't even name if I tried.

I think in time this new one will be my favorite thing they've done in at least ten years as it's still growing on me, but right now I still like Pt. I more. And I'm a pretty big Evil Urges stan, which is an awesome record even though it has the only two Actually Bad MMJ songs--"Highly Suspicious" and "Librarian"--so I don't know that I'm gonna get to a place where I think it's the best since Z. But I love seeing the enthusiasm for this record, it makes me very happy.

ANYWAY this is an extremely good record that is so so much more than a B-sides collection and flows very well. I'm so happy with it and even happier knowing that there is yet another MMJ album almost ready to go whenever COVID finally subsides and they're able to finish it/schedule a tour. Jim talking about the new new album being recorded basically all live has me super amped too.

Love this band so much.

 

Fuck I miss live music, found this low-q vid of the last five minutes I had the honor of spending with these boys and it makes me sad

 

Magic Bullet reminds me of Highly Suspicious in that I can’t get into the vibe on record but would be able to after seeing it live

 

This album is glorious.

 

The middle section of "Wasted" rocks so fucking hard it's unbelievable