My Morning Jacket - The Tennessee Fire
“Their early stuff was better”:
A common sentiment that fans from bands and artist all across the world seem to voice. I often wonder where you balance sentimental attachment, musical progress and pure subjectivity.
My Morning Jacket are a band that often find themselves a victim of this particular conundrum. Their later albums show an extreme diverse, polished and mature sound. For whatever reason though, I cannot get past The Tennessee Fire, the bands first proper full-length, released in 1999.
It could be the reverb-heavy, but perfect lo-fi folk sounding production. They apparently made a makeshift studio in a grain silo to get the most natural reverb sound possible.
It could be the pure simplicity of the songs - they make you want to grab a glass of Jack on the rocks and reminisce about “the good times”.
On the other end, it could be the subtle depth of the songs - You don’t have to go very far into the album to feel the sorrow in Jim James’ voice - it’s pretty easy to get caught up in the emotion of the album.
Decide for yourself - Check out “The Bear” here and tell.
