![]() Though a reverb-drenched and ghostly interpretation of Americana and rock had been what defined MMJ for their first three albums, even those early days had a lot of harbingers of experimentation to come. ![]() This is, of course, the one with the big stylistic detours. Evil Urges could’ve been a star-making turn of sorts for MMJ, but it instead established factors that would define their trajectory going forward, both artistically and in the steadier, off-to-the-side way in which they’ve continued growing. Though excitably received at the time, it remains their most divisive work. It’s also an album where the band more or less missed the mark. This could’ve been a turning point as major as Z, capitalizing on the momentum and helping them level up to true festival headliner status. So when its successor Evil Urges appeared, 10 years ago yesterday, it was their highest-profile release yet.Ĭoming off the buzz of Z, Evil Urges arrived to a good amount of anticipation and curiosity it was their first album to make it into the top 10 of Billboard’s chart. ![]() As a result, Z garnered them more widespread praise than any album that had preceded it, enticing new listeners and winning over critics who might’ve previously dismissed them as rock revivalists adjacent to the jam-band scene. And that version of MMJ had both honed their focus into tighter, hook-driven material and taken the spectral Southern rock of their early days to more cosmic territory. Having added guitarist Carl Broemel and keyboardist Bo Koster to the fold, the group had settled on a new lineup that has stayed intact ever since, a lineup that seemed like the true, essential iteration that MMJ was always moving towards. In 2005, they released Z, a turning-point album that served as a demarcation between the first phase of the band and what came next.
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