''The Waterfall'' is the seventh
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by American rock band
My Morning Jacket
My Morning Jacket is an American rock band formed in Louisville, Kentucky in 1998. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Jim James, bassist Tom Blankenship, drummer Patrick Hallahan, guitarist Carl Broemel, and keyboardist Bo Koster. The ba ...
.
Produced by
Tucker Martine
Tucker Martine (born January 14, 1972) is an American record producer, musician and composer. In 2010, ''Paste'' Magazine included Martine in their list of the 10 Best Producers of the Decade.
Early life
Tucker Martine, the son of singer and son ...
and group frontman
Jim James
James Edward Olliges Jr. (born April 27, 1978), professionally known as Jim James or Yim Yames, is an American vocalist, guitarist, producer, and primary songwriter of the rock band My Morning Jacket. He has also released several solo albums.
...
, the album was released on May 4, 2015 by
ATO Records and
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
. After touring 2011’s ''
Circuital
''Circuital'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band My Morning Jacket. It was released on May 31, 2011.
The album received mainly positive reviews and sold 55,000 copies in the first week of release. It debuted at number 5 on the ''Bill ...
'' (2011), for two years the band took a break before regrouping in late 2013 to begin work on ''The Waterfall'', a process which took eighteen months.
Much of ''The Waterfall'' was recorded at a hilltop studio located
Stinson Beach,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, where the band rented seaside homes while recording. Many elements of the album—from its tone to the album art—are heavily indebted to the area and its nature. James mostly brought unfinished lyrics to the group to create a spontaneous development process. In addition, he suffered a back injury during the sessions that hindered its production. His lyrics, likewise, document injury, romance and heartbreak, and spirituality, but center most on renewal. The album's music encompasses several genres, including
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Fol ...
,
R&B, and
psychedelia
Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...
.
The album received favorable reviews from music critics, who considered it an improvement on their previous two albums. It debuted at number 11 on the
''Billboard'' 200 in the U.S., and represented career bests in several countries' national album charts. To promote the record,
mural
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...
s of a waterfall were painted on buildings in several U.S. cities, including
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
and
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
. The group founded a philanthropic organization named after the album to support environmental causes. My Morning Jacket supported the record with a large summer tour, spanning five months and featuring appearances at theaters and festivals.
Outtakes for this release were repurposed into 2020's ''
The Waterfall II
''The WaterfallII'' is the eighth studio album by American rock band My Morning Jacket, released on July 10, 2020. Made up of recordings made in 2013 that also produced the 2015 release '' The Waterfall'', this psychedelic pop work has received pos ...
''.
Background
My Morning Jacket—consisting of singer-songwriter
Jim James
James Edward Olliges Jr. (born April 27, 1978), professionally known as Jim James or Yim Yames, is an American vocalist, guitarist, producer, and primary songwriter of the rock band My Morning Jacket. He has also released several solo albums.
...
, guitarist Carl Broemel, bassist Tom Blankenship, drummer Patrick Hallahan, and keyboardist Bo Koster—formed in 1997 and rose to fame in the mid-2000s with their fourth album ''
Z'', which represented a critical and commercial breakthrough for the band. The band became known for mixing various genres with their country and rock sound, and were praised for their live performances, including a revered performance at music festival
Bonnaroo
The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Since its first year in 2002, it has been held at what is now Great Stage Park on a farm in M ...
in 2008.
The group subsequently released a fifth record, ''
Evil Urges
''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''. ...
'', that received a polarized response.
Their sixth release, ''
Circuital
''Circuital'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band My Morning Jacket. It was released on May 31, 2011.
The album received mainly positive reviews and sold 55,000 copies in the first week of release. It debuted at number 5 on the ''Bill ...
'' (2011), became their highest-charting album on national charts and received acclaim.
The band toured for two years in support of ''Circuital''. In 2013, they embarked on a tour alongside
Wilco
Wilco is an American alternative rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup changed frequently dur ...
and
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
that left them disappointed, as they had falsely been told Dylan desired to work with them.
While the band took a break, James stayed busy, touring behind his solo album, ''
Regions of Light and Sound of God'', and collaborating with
Elvis Costello
Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...
and
Marcus Mumford
Marcus Oliver Johnstone Mumford (born 31 January 1987) is a British singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is best known as the lead singer of the band folk band Mumford & Sons. He also plays a number of instruments with the group ...
for
the New Basement Tapes
The New Basement Tapes is a British-American musical supergroup made up of members Jim James, Elvis Costello, Marcus Mumford, Taylor Goldsmith, and Rhiannon Giddens. The group is best known for '' Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes'', thei ...
project. These individual side projects, rather than detach the musicians, worked to strengthen their skill as musicians, according to Blankenship. This led to a greater appreciation of the group upon their return to it.
Recording and production
''The Waterfall'' was mainly recorded at Panoramic House, a hilltop mansion in the coastal town of
Stinson Beach,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
.
The band felt the surroundings were "slightly supernatural,"
which produced a largely idyllic recording process. The group rented two houses on the seaside,
and would "record during the day, then cook dinner together and walk on the beach."
These long walks to and from the studio was "no better way to defragment your mind than to let it wander off in the air, up in the treetops and gliding along the waves," according to Blankenship.
James found himself inspired and "hypnotized" by being able to view the ocean from large windows. He likened the experience to having their "own little universe" where they could simply make music and experience nature, calling the entire process a "beautiful experience."
Their time there left them with a strong affinity for the area, and it profoundly impacted the album's tone; Blankenship remarked, "When I listen to the record it
..sounds like a sunset out there."
The band first began recording in late 2013, and took eighteen months to complete.
For the album, the band reunited with producer
Tucker Martine
Tucker Martine (born January 14, 1972) is an American record producer, musician and composer. In 2010, ''Paste'' Magazine included Martine in their list of the 10 Best Producers of the Decade.
Early life
Tucker Martine, the son of singer and son ...
, who also worked on ''Circuital''.
The band approached creating the album with a sense of freedom, with the "mantra" being "anything goes, no stone unturned, it'll be done when it’s done."
James wrote most of the songs on ''The Waterfall'' in the group's hometown of Louisville, but later noted that his time in Stinson Beach affected each song in spirit.
James recorded demos of songs via voice memos on his
smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
to present to the band, but refrained from rehearsing songs to create spontaneity.
The band would unwind from recording by their longstanding recording tradition: "late night DJ party/
Nintendo ''Ice Hockey'' tournament."
![Foggy sunset over Stinson Beach](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Foggy_sunset_over_Stinson_Beach.jpg)
The sessions were marred by James' back injury, which he discovered while moving an amplifier.
He spent three days in bed "in agony," before returning to record with the band. To record songs, James often had to lay on a couch. He considered the injury the result of "being unkind to my body" while on various tours.
He eventually turned to surgery to repair his
herniated disc
Spinal disc herniation is an injury to the cushioning and connective tissue between vertebrae, usually caused by excessive strain or trauma to the spine. It may result in back pain, pain or sensation in different parts of the body, and physical ...
, and following two months' rest, rejoined the group with more songs.
While previous albums by the band were recorded to tape, ''The Waterfall'' was recorded digitally.
This allowed James to splice together recordings liberally, sometimes harkening back to pieces he had recorded years before.
In addition to the Stinson Beach recordings, the band worked on ''The Waterfall'' at Flora, Martine's Portland studio, La La Land and Removador Fun Ranch (James' home studio) in Louisville, and In Heaven Recording Studios.
The sessions were fruitful, producing over 24 completed songs, enough to fill two albums. Consequently, the band planned to release a second album of material in 2016, although material for that album was incomplete at the release of ''The Waterfall''.
This was decided when the band returned to their hometown of Louisville to re-record "Big Decisions" and record "Believe".
James felt it unnecessary to compile the two as a
double album
A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...
, instead viewing the two as very separate entities.
The band eventually completed and released the second album in 2020 as their eighth studio album, ''
The Waterfall II
''The WaterfallII'' is the eighth studio album by American rock band My Morning Jacket, released on July 10, 2020. Made up of recordings made in 2013 that also produced the 2015 release '' The Waterfall'', this psychedelic pop work has received pos ...
''.
Composition
''The Waterfall'' "exploring love, loss, philosophical statements, and naturalistic imagery,"
while its musical contents are diverse, consisting of "existentialist
R&B, nature-boy
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Fol ...
, wigged-out psychedelia, and
jam
Jam is a type of fruit preserve.
Jam or Jammed may also refer to:
Other common meanings
* A firearm malfunction
* Block signals
** Radio jamming
** Radar jamming and deception
** Mobile phone jammer
** Echolocation jamming
Arts and entertai ...
-friendly
arena rock
Arena rock (also known as AOR, melodic rock, stadium rock, anthem rock, pomp rock, corporate rock and dad rock; ; ) is a style of rock music that originated in the mid-1970s. As hard rock bands and those playing a softer yet strident kind of po ...
."
The title "is a metaphor for how life is constantly beating you down, and you really have to take time to stop it and get through."
Likewise, the album's central theme is rebirth and renewal.
James joked that his own personal confusion was the source of much of the album's lyrics.
"I feel like I still don't know how to explain anything, but I have accepted that, I guess, and I'm just trying to live," he said.
"Believe (Nobody Knows)" touches on spirituality and concludes that belief in a higher power is wholly good so long as it does not inspire evil.
It was an extension of James' belief that religion causes enormous harm to society and is gripped with "chaos and greed," but that it should not deter a person from believing, as "nobody knows." The song was the last recorded for the album, and was set as the opening track to set a positive tone.
"In Its Infancy (The Waterfall)" evolved from James' fascination with creating a song built from unrelated elements. The song was created in various pieces over time.
Much of ''The Waterfall'' is concerned with "lovelorn melancholy," the result of a breakup James experienced.
Despite this, only two songs explicitly reflect the heartbreak, "Get the Point" and "Only Memories Remain".
"Spring (Among the Living)" contains various sections of collage created by James on his personal laptop. These additions initially received a mixed response from the rest of the group, as it did not come "organically" from the band as a whole.
"Thin Line" is the oldest song on the album, dating to "five or six" years prior to its inclusion. James had ceased working on the song when he could not complete it, but it was revived when Blankenship found an additional riff on his computer for the song.
"Big Decisions" is about people refraining to change things in their lives that make them unhappy.
Artwork
The album artwork for ''The Waterfall'' depicts
Vernal Fall
Vernal Fall is a waterfall on the Merced River just downstream of Nevada Fall in Yosemite National Park, California. Like its upstream neighbor, Vernal Fall is clearly visible at a distance, from Glacier Point, as well as close up, along the Mis ...
in
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ar ...
.
James had been collecting photographs of waterfalls, but they were all in black and white. He partnered with Neil Krug, who also directed artwork for his solo album, ''
Regions of Light and Sound of God'', to color the image.
Its bright, peaceful tone was inspired by Stinson Beach and its surroundings. Blankenship expanded upon this in an interview:
Release
The group announced ''The Waterfall'' in March 2015, sharing its cover art, track listing, and its lead single, "Big Decisions".
ATO, the band's longtime label, entered into a partnership with
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
, who co-distributed the album.
To promote the album, the band enlisted artists to paint
mural
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...
s of a waterfall on the side of buildings in five U.S. cities:
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
,
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
,
Williamsburg,
Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
, and
Portland, Louisville
Portland is a neighborhood and former independent town northwest of downtown Louisville, Kentucky. It is situated along a bend of the Ohio River just below the Falls of the Ohio, where the river curves to the north and then to the south, thus pla ...
.
The group partnered with Portland Investment Initiative and
Beautify Earth for the stunt, as a part of their own environmental campaign, The Waterfall Project.
Commercial performance
''The Waterfall'' debuted at number 11 on the
''Billboard'' 200 in the U.S., with 33,000 copies sold in its first week. They also reached a career best of number two on the
Top Rock Albums
The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...
chart.
In
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, the album was twentieth best-selling album of its release week.
On the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
, the group reached a career best of position 42.
Its chart performance elsewhere was low, with the highest being in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
, where the release charted at number 38.
Critical reception
''The Waterfall'' received largely positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which assigns a
normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an
average
In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...
score of 78, based on 30 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".
Will Hermes of ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' imagined it "the band's sunniest, and trippiest, album," giving acclaim to their ability to "tap the past without sounding like throwbacks."
''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' Jon Dennis deemed it "big-canvas country-rock with spellbinding moments" with a "warm glow" missing from previous albums by the group.
[ ]Pitchfork Media
''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog.
Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...
's Ian Cohen said that it "gets close to greatness," praising James' "remarkably level-headed and pragmatic" lyricism.[ Nate Chinen of '']The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' called it a "consolidation of he band's
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
strengths," opining that a "hum of an everyday mysticism ..resonates louder than usual" on ''The Waterfall''.[Chinen, Nate]
Review: My Morning Jacket Stays True to Its Strengths on ‘The Waterfall’
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
. 03 May 2015. Retrieved 05 May 2015. ''The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' Lior Phillips claimed that the album "might not be a classic, but it still suggests that after nearly two decades fans don’t know every side of My Morning Jacket. Luckily, they keep opening new doors for us to explore."[
]Stephen Deusner Stephen M. Deusner is an American music critic and part-time record store clerk who lives in Bloomington, Indiana. A native of Tennessee, he has contributed to Pitchfork Media (including ''the Pitchfork 500''), ''Salon'', '' CMT'', ''American Songwr ...
of Salon
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments
* French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home
* Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment
Arts and entertainment
* Salon (P ...
said it "may be the Louisville band’s best, most ambitious, and most nuanced effort in more than a decade, a musically inventive and lyrically nuanced collection that isn’t quite a concept album, but plays like one." Hal Horowitz of ''American Songwriter
''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee.
History
The ''American Songwri ...
'' felt it "one of the band’s finest and most alluring offerings to date," noting the album's tranquil but passionate atmosphere. NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
's Meredith Ochs wrote that "in a gentler sense, the music itself is kind of like a waterfall—cascading notes, opaque layers of sound, and rippling arrangements that can bend or break the verse-chorus structure of traditional rock songs." ''The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' Steve Morse called it the group's "most serious, progressive LP," praising its "musical brilliance" while deeming James' lyricism "odd."
Sheldon Pearce of Consequence of Sound
''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...
gave the record a B, commenting, "My Morning Jacket harken back to their alt country roots on ''The Waterfall'' and create a remarkable vision of the American countryside in the process, one as filled with solitude as it is with wonder." "Always prey to their psychedelic tendencies, here MMJ swallow the full tab and dive headfirst into a whirlpool of supposition, analogy and swirling guitar," wrote Andy Gill of ''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
''. Mark Deming of AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
wrote that the album "quickly loses focus and runs short of energy, the latter being this set's crippling flaw." Jeremy Winograd of Slant Magazine
''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...
felt the band's style diversions "alternately inventive and bafflingly blockheaded," concluding that the group may be "at their best when operating safely within less experimental paradigms."
Touring
The band began touring in support of ''The Waterfall'' in May 2015, starting out at the historic Georgia Theatre
Georgia Theatre is a live music venue and event space in Athens, Georgia. Many prominent national and local acts across all genres have performed at the Theatre, including rock, folk, country, indie, alternative, hip hop and electronic. The venue i ...
in Athens, Georgia
Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...
. The tour spans much of the summer and early fall 2015, and includes appearances at large festivals ( Governors Ball and Bonnaroo
The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Since its first year in 2002, it has been held at what is now Great Stage Park on a farm in M ...
) as well as headlining shows. It concluded in September 2015 in Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
.
Track listing
Personnel
Credits adapted from ''The Waterfall'' liner notes
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes.
Origin
Liner notes are desce ...
.
My Morning Jacket
*Tom Blankenship
Tom Blankenship (born February 7, 1978) is an American indie rock musician. He is the bass guitar-player for the Louisville, Kentucky band My Morning Jacket.
Equipment
*Fender Precision Bass
The Fender Precision Bass (often shortened to "P- ...
– bass guitar
*Carl Broemel
Carl Broemel (born January 30, 1974) is an American rock musician. He currently plays guitar, pedal steel guitar, saxophone and sings back-up vocals for the Louisville, Kentucky band My Morning Jacket. He played guitar in the pop/rock band Old Pik ...
– guitar, backing vocals
*Patrick Hallahan
My Morning Jacket is an American rock band formed in Louisville, Kentucky in 1998. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Jim James, bassist Tom Blankenship, drummer Patrick Hallahan, guitarist Carl Broemel, and keyboardist Bo Koster. The ...
– drums
*Jim James
James Edward Olliges Jr. (born April 27, 1978), professionally known as Jim James or Yim Yames, is an American vocalist, guitarist, producer, and primary songwriter of the rock band My Morning Jacket. He has also released several solo albums.
...
– guitar, lead vocals, artwork, production
* Bo Koster – keyboards, backing vocals
Additional musicians
*Anna Fritz – backing vocals, strings
String or strings may refer to:
*String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...
*Merrill Garbus
Tune-Yards (stylized as tUnE-yArDs) is the American, Oakland, California–based music project of Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner. Garbus's music draws from an eclectic variety of sources and utilizes elements such as loop pedals, ukulele, voca ...
– backing vocals
*Brittany Howard
Brittany Amber Howard (born October 2, 1988) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter known for being the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and main songwriter of rock bands Alabama Shakes, Thunderbitch, and Bermuda Triangle. Her work wi ...
– backing vocals
*Kyleen King – backing vocals, strings
*Patti King – backing vocals, strings
Artwork
*Danny Cash – layout
*Neil Krug – artwork
Production
*Michael Finn – recording engineer, additional keyboards on "Believe (Nobody Knows)"
*Tucker Martine – production
Production may refer to:
Economics and business
* Production (economics)
* Production, the act of manufacturing goods
* Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services)
* Production as a stati ...
, mixing engineer
A mixing engineer (or simply mix engineer) is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition (also known as "final mix" or "mixdown"), whether in music, film, or any other content of a ...
, recorded by, additional percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
on "Believe (Nobody Knows)"
*Bob Ludwig
Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Qu ...
– mastering engineer
A mastering engineer is a person skilled in the practice of taking audio (typically musical content) that has been previously mixed in either the analog or digital domain as mono, stereo, or multichannel formats and preparing it for use in distr ...
*Kevin Ratterman – recording engineer
An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...
, additional sequencing
In genetics and biochemistry, sequencing means to determine the primary structure (sometimes incorrectly called the primary sequence) of an unbranched biopolymer. Sequencing results in a symbolic linear depiction known as a sequence which succ ...
on "Compound Fracture"
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waterfall
2015 albums
My Morning Jacket albums
ATO Records albums
Albums produced by Tucker Martine
Albums produced by Jim James