Z

AlbumOct 04 / 200510 songs, 47m 3s
Indie Rock
Popular Highly Rated

My Morning Jacket’s fourth studio album focused the reverb-saturated grandeur of their early records into a contemporary slant on classic Americana—from Neil Young to *American Beauty*-era Grateful Dead to the wistful side of Elton John. On *Z*, the band grow into their loopy sense of humor, too, as they balance the expansive earnestness of songs like “Lay Low” and “Wordless Chorus” with the group shout-along “What a Wonderful Man” and some weird Appalachian reggae on “Off the Record.”

7.6 / 10

Check out our album review of Artist's Z on Rolling Stone.com.

In 2004, a dreamy cover of "Rocket Man" concluded My Morning Jacket's first volume of rarities.

8.0 / 10

<p>Big riffs, subtlety and soul make for a great leap forward, writes <strong>Paul Mardles</strong>.</p>

Some wags would argue that deep-fried shoegazers My Morning Jacket have never really known restraint.

7 / 10

How can the faint scent of disappointment lurk in the air when a good band releases its best album to date?Sometimes a band releases an album that...

<p>(RCA)</p>

8 / 10