Okonokos

I thought this was too too long and rolled my eyes… but man My Morning Jacket is good! They won me over and I completely enjoyed the listen!

Okonokos is a live album and concert film by the American band My Morning Jacket. So that's two reasons it should not be on the list. Also it's mostly material of the albums Z (on this list) and It Still Moves (should have been on it). Still I must admit it's a great album with great performances and the voice of Jim James is live even better than on record. Also some fantastic guitar play.

I said the same thing when I got another My Morning Jacket album a few days ago - every time I listen to this band I realize I need to listen to them more. Seeing them live must be amazing. This album gave a good indication of that. 4 stars.

Rating: 6/10 Best songs: Wordless chorus

I mean I love MMJ so hell yeah

This was some enjoyable Southern indie rock. Great vocals. Mostly enjoyed the longer songs

I liked this a lot, it really conveyed that sense of a live show and the band's unique sound and strong talent held up though some (I assume, I'm not that familiar) very extended renditions of songs.

Torn here, as an MMJ fan I wasn’t opposed to a two-hour live LP, but so many of these songs are already included with the addition of ‘Z’ on the list. This band is an exceptional live act, but do we really need the same set of songs on here with crowd noise added? I’m all for live albums when they cover a wide range of an artist’s discography and serve as a charged ‘Best Of’ LP, but this one is just the Z Tour. Giving this a 3, album/performance is a 5 but it doesn’t feel like a necessary addition to the list.

Live albums are cheating

I don't get the My Morning Jacket love. After 2 hours I was really looking forward to it being over. I didn't hate it, far from it, but I just didn't connect with it at all. I would normally rate an album like this as 3, but since it's so dang long, I felt punished. So 2.5/5, but rounding down.

Oooo another 2 hour live album of a band I’ve only heard once before, I’m sure I’ll love it

Ok 3 2

Rock, psychedelic rock, country. Le iba a poner un 3, pero por ser tan largo, un 2.

You have to really like this band to suffer through this many songs. I don’t like this band.

Looks like the consensus in here is that a live album by a band that already has a studio LP on the list doesn't count (especially since the concert that is documented here uses all the highlights of this studio LP's tracklist). And I 100% subscribe to this take. I listened to *Z* again to ascertain what I about to say, and to put it in a nutshell, the studio versions of those songs sound way better than their live renditions on *Okonokos*, because they're here devoid of key production values... Also, the crowd noises. You need to have the band do their thing in a somewhat "pure" encapsulation -- not pestered by reactions to the music impeding on your own. Not that those audience reactions are terribly annoying in this particular example, at least generally speaking. But bar some very rare exceptions I won't even bother to mention, I consider that an entry point into a band's discography can't possibly include applause, or a fangirl in the crowd suddenly going bonkers in the middle of yet another slow-paced, derivative song -- and this for no "audible" reason. A little game, try to find on which track that specific moment happens. This might keep you on your toes while you listen to this lengthy record -- hopefully more than the music itself at times... Speaking of the devil, the length of this particular live album is another clear shortcoming for me and quite a few others. If you were there that night, this length makes sense, I imagine. But if you weren't, you really need to be a hardcore fan of this act to appreciate this Finally, the user who suggested this is incredibly difficult to please. I wouldn't say they're a "critic", as this generator says, because they never leave a review, and therefore don't explain their tastes. And I wouldn't say they're "picky" either, since they love Happy Monday's utter shite passing off as music, or whiny early Kings Of Leon albums (but this user is admittedly criticizing their -- even worse -- subsequent dross, fortunately, so he might get a pass here). Honestly, there are quite a few LPs this person gave a 5/5 mark to that I love myself... But being so difficult elsewhere gives you the extra incentive to have someone taste their own medicine a little. For all the reasons stated above, I need to subtract points to the grade I would initially give to the music alone -- noughts rock music that's pretty much a mix between The Flaming Lips, early Radiohead and Kings Of Leon before those choir boys sold their soul to the music industry devils, while also exploring the sort of elegant folk craft that would later make Fleet Foxes famous. Basically, what Jim James et al. are doing is southern rock channeled through somewhat "indie" tones, with a few choice stylistic curveballs here and there, such as the obvious reggae influences on "Off The Record". Most of those styles were popular at the time of the band's heyday and still sound decent today, I guess. But they also come off as banal overall in that live context, and even lacking in crucial dynamics once in a while. To be clear, that's gonna be only a half-point subtracted for each reason pointed out through my first four paragraphs, because I'm not as cold as the user who suggested this record. Of course, the final result of that substraction will sound pretty cold to this person anyway. I'm merely being honest, though. And I don't think this particular user is in a position to blame me for this. 1/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums. To explain the final grading: I would give a 3/5 mark to this live album if our list was exclusively dedicated to documented gigs (which is not its goal). Yet I subtracted 2 points to it for the reasons stated at the start of my rant (4 times 0.5 point). And that's gonna be 8/10 for more general purposes (4.5/5 for the musicianship and production values + 3.5/5 for the artistry). ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 77 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 98 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 192 (including this one) ---- Émile, tu trouveras ma dernière réponse sous le *Inside* de Bo Burnham