Okonokos

My Morning Jacket | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 26, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ato Records
• ASIN: B000GRUSRM
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #119,631 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Immaculately prolific and blatantly ambitious, My Morning Jacket celebrate eight years as a recording band with what many refer to as a death knell: the double live album. Yet it takes but a single listen to declare that the brass neck and bravado pays off for this Kentucky band of longhairs, which released the 21-song epic as a companion piece to their concert DVD. Songwriter and singer Jim James's howling falsetto ricochets through MMJ's backlog of songs, which have been reenergized for the stage by the band's airtight live-show mettle. Dusting off remnants of the first two records like "I Think I'm Going to Hell" and the stunning "The Way That He Sings," then lining them up with the more contemporary "Gideon" and "What a Wonderful Man," MMJ never take their foot off the gas. In fact, rather than getting bogged down in concert-album fashion, Okonokos plays spanking new, almost re-studio recorded. And that means it works both ways: as the next volume in a series for those familiar with My Morning Jacket, or as a compendium primer for a band that never lets up and is always willing to circumvent the rules. --Scott Holter

Product Description

Following the release of their fourth critically acclaimed full-length album, Z, My Morning Jacket readies to deliver what is surely to become their quintessential body of work - two discs and a concert film. They contain their most dynamic, otherworldly compositions to date, presented in their finest form. Live. Okonokos is a creative concept conceived by Jim James, and it is as much a question as it is an answer. It is an enigma wrapped around a riddle. Okonokos is whatever you want it to be.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A G.A.B. whose time has come..., December 16, 2006

By 

Howlinw - See all my reviews

This review is from: Okonokos (Audio CD)

With this release, My Morning Jacket (or MMJ for you abbreviators out there) has confirmed what I had already suspected: they are a Great American Band on a par with any of the Rock Heroes or Important Bands from the days of old. Yes Page and Plant, I mean you! For the uninitiated, this band combines the rootsy Americana of Neil Young (the most obvious influence), the Allman Brothers (the second most obvious influence) and the Band with the hard-yet-edgy progessive rock of Rush and later Zeppelin, throwing in a heavy dose of indie atmospherics which can also be heard from such bands as the Flaming Lips and Wilco. Jim James's homespun lyrics mesh beautifully with the atmospheric yet rocking nature of the music, painting abstract pictures rather than telling actual stories. It is a testament to the band's unique sound that both indie and jam-rock scenesters lay claim to them, reviews gracing the websites of [...] alike. This is one of the few bands out there today which really brings together everything good about rock n roll, and reaffirms the music's vitality and importance in the new century.

Now, many people do not like live releases. I have never understood that bias, as I love hearing a band stretch out and interpret its studio work in unique ways. I understand though that many bands do not have the ability to actually pull it off. The knock I have heard on live albums is that they are either (a) too jam-centric and thus boring (perhaps even detracting from the enjoyment of the studio work), or (b) too close to the album's sound, so the buyer is basically purchasing the album material with one or two covers and some cheering in the backgound. Okonokos nicely avoids both pitfalls simultaneously. The newer material is imbued with a level of passion and intensity not heard on "Z," a great yet somewhat more mellow album. From the get-go there is a spark and charge that is not evident on all parts of the Z, quite frankly besting the versions that were committed to disc at that time. Even more interestingly, the older songs are re-interpreted and re-invigorated to mesh seamlessly with the new material. Yet the jams are kept to a relative minimum, lasting exactly as long as they need to and no more. Never throughout this album did I feel that the band needed to cut loose more so than they were doing, or that a particular song needed to end before it did. That is a testament to the band's tastefulness, restraint, and deep knowledge of its own material. Add to that Jim James's resonant, flawless voice and you have a performance for the ages.

For years I have been listening to the equally sublime "Acoustic Citsuoca" disc, which presents MMJ in alter-ego form as a stripped-down acoustic act. Listened to next to that live album, Okonokos becomes even more impressive for the range and versatility that this band is apparently capable of. From this disc and their concerts it is clear that MMJ knows how to rock. But they are also a band capable of providing moments of quiet introspection that are virtually unparalleled in the world of music today. This diversity of sound in one band, and their ability to pull it all off with meaning and conviction, rockets MMJ to the top of the top, the greatest of the great. I may be given to over-hyperbolizing and that is a fair criticism of me as a critic, but really I mean it and I hope you take the time to get to know this music. It is beyond rewarding and frankly beyond words.

MMJ's music has been with me through ups and downs, hard times and good times, for years and years. It is versatile, fun, meaningful, Important, and trustworthy all at once. Jim, you're a brother. Rock fans everywhere: TAKE HEED.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest live albums of all-time ****1/2, October 19, 2006

By 

JWKrappy New Year "jwk" (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Okonokos (Audio CD)

My Morning Jacket is an incredible band. I knew I could always count on them to release a solid psychedelic, southern rock record. But when "Z" came out in 2005, I was absolutely speechless; there was finally a band in the United States to compete with Radiohead, and incidentally, "Z" is probably the best album released since "Ok Computer." It took the band to a whole new level. They went from being solid to superstars; from doing obscure music magazine interviews to releasing a concert in indie theaters across the country.

The next logical step was to do what their southern rock forebarrers of the 70's did. Do a double live album. "Okonokos" is the album and not only does it compare with Little Feat's "Waiting for Columbus," Allman Brother's "Live at Fillmore East," and Cream's 2nd disc on "Wheels of Fire," it actually manages to best them all.

The sound may not be revolutionarily different from the mood of "Z," but that actually plays to My Morning Jacket's advantage; why change perfection? The album is a little more gritty and has a few warts, but songs like "At Dawn," "Golden," and "It Beats For You" find their definitive version in live format. Elsewhere, the off-key singing on "Off the Record" is a bit tough to take (especially since it's one of "Z's" strongest songs) but you can't be a revoutionary all the time. Another tiff is with the choice of set list. With 21 songs of space, the pallate was wide open with possibility, and we get almost half the album dedicated to a record MMJ fans haven't put down for a year. More music from "At Dawn," the many EP's and independant releases, and particularly the near-perfect "It Still Moves" would have been nice. To be honest, though, these are minor, picky problems in comparison to the joyous, reverb-soaked 2 hours of music fans are rewarded with. I can't wait for the next studio album.

Overall: 9 out of 10.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As Expected-Okonokos Blew Me Away, September 28, 2006

By 

Derek D Dobson (Schenectady, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Okonokos (Audio CD)

There are rare times in life when I have sat at the edge of my seat and waited for a record release as impatiently as I had for Okonokos. I love the Jacket. Everything they do is brilliant. So to get a live double disk that showcases everything they do is just the icing on this double chocolate cake.

Studio songs that have been ingrained in my head truly have a new life in the live format. Lowdown for instance, begins with a jam--unexpected, you just don't know what's coming up next, and then bam, "bye, bye, bye".

At Dawn was made to be sung in the Fillmore. This is the VERB song of all VERB songs.

Dondante the newest classic fades into the sweetest sax solo I've ever heard. What are these guys doing to me?

Run Thru is CockRock at it's finest.

But the highlight is Steam Engine. This is the quintessential MMJ song. When played live, it showcases everything behind this engine of a band.

Please tell you friends to go out and buy this album. It's gold.