Evil Urges is the fifth studio album by My Morning Jacket. It was released by ATO Records on June 10, 2008. The album was nominated for the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album, ultimately losing to Radiohead's In Rainbows.
Writing and recording Writing began in Colorado, while recording was done in Manhattan. According to producer Joe Chiccarelli, the demos he was sent, which were "very groove-oriented with hints of old-fashioned R&B", suggested a more urban record than previous albums, and as such he recommended the band record in an urban environment that had some "life and vitality". After looking into various options including Vancouver and San Francisco, the band eventually decided to record in New York.
Singer and lead songwriter Jim James said that the band wanted to get away from "normal rock and roll sounds" and emulate more of the band's live sound.Rolling Stone 1050, 2008-04-17, p. 30 Many of the songs were previewed at the 2008 South by Southwest music festival.
Promotion My Morning Jacket played "I'm Amazed" and "Evil Urges" on Saturday Night Live on May 10, 2008. At the Bonnaroo Music Festival in June 2008, the band played a near four hour set, playing all songs on the album except "Look at You" and "Remnants".
The season six premiere of The CW's teen drama One Tree Hill was titled "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream" and featured the songs "Highly Suspicious" and "Look at You."
On November 22, 2009, the American Dad! episode "My Morning Straitjacket" featured the band members playing themselves. The episode utilised four songs from Evil Urges: "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Part 2", "I'm Amazed", "Highly Suspicious" and "Remnants."
Critical reception
Evil Urges received mostly positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 67, based on 31 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".
Accolades Publication Country Accolade Year RankRolling Stone US 50 Best Albums of the Year 2008 No. 4Spin US 40 Best Albums of the Year 2008 No. 16Paste US 50 Best Albums of the Year 2008 No. 16Blender US 33 Best Albums of the Year 2008 No. 12WXPN Philadelphia US 50 Best Albums of the Year 2008 No. 4WERS Boston US 50 Best Albums of the Year 2008 No. 10Q UK 50 Best Albums of the Year 2008 No. 4
Track listing
Personnel My Morning Jacket Jim James – vocals, guitars, bass, drums, percussion, Omnichord Tom "Two Tone Tommy" Blankenship – bass Patrick Hallahan – drums, percussion Carl Broemel – guitars, vocals, pedal steel, lap steel Bo Koster – keyboards, programming, vocals, piano, synthesizers, organ, Rhodes, percussion
Additional personnel Jim James, Joe Chiccarelli – production Michael Brauer – mixing Bob Ludwig – mastering Artie Smith – drum tech David Campbell – string arrangements Rick Kwan – vocal on "Good Intentions"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXMrEspAJcQ/?igsh=MWpydWt5aTV6cTlqOQ== Assistance Rick Kwan, Colin Suzuki, Will Hensley, Kyle Mc Innis, Lowell Reynolds, Andy Taub
Charts + Chart performance for Evil Urges Chart (2008) Peakposition Australian Albums (ARIA) 56
References
External links