"MSJ" CD Review
To save you the trouble of reading the rest of this review, I'll get to the point immediately – buy this album! Minnesota Sex Junkies set out to record an album with multiple genres and as many songs as they could fit on a disc, and they pull it off with aplomb. For one-third of the average price of a new release, Minnesota Sex Junkies' MSJ gives you nearly twice as many songs, all strong enough to be considered an album of 17 singles. The album as a whole appears to follow a 3 act structure, with each act depicting a different stage of heartbreak, acceptance, and ultimately, finding one's internal strength. The opening third of MSJ sets the tone immediately with tracks like "Miserable Bastard," "Burning Rome," and "Down" telling of a man beat down to his lowest point, and no light at the end of the tunnel, spouting lyrics such as "I'm just a miserable man, I'm a sight to behold" and "Nothing really matters now, everything about me is gone." During the middle act, tracks such as "Birmingham," "Now or Never," and "Baby's Arms" follows a character gaining acceptance, lifting his head, and discovering that perhaps light does exist after all. By the end of "Baby's Arms," we relive that familiar feeling of "I always know that she'll never care." MSJ's final act sings of a newly discovered strength. Our character is no longer the "miserable man" we met in track 1, but a much stronger character proudly screaming "I don't believe in you," "I don't need your Love because you're not the girl I'm thinking of," and "I want it back," whipping the listener into a frenzy before taking a deep breath, letting all aggression die peacefully, and basking in the proverbial calm after the storm that is "Charmed," the album's final, jazz influenced track, bringing the curtains to a close with a peaceful easy feeling, in perfect time to go through it all again with another listen. --Thomas Prichard

"MSJ" CD Review
Despite having complete freedom to experiment with pushing the creative envelope, Minnesota Sex Junkies chose to focus on a more subdued, proper-fit style of songwriting for their 2nd studio album MSJ. Some critics may decry this method as lethargic and trite, but as the final note slowly fades, you'll quickly realize that you've just experienced an incredible rock album with a massive 17 tracks, and not a single weak, filler song in the lot. In a failing industry intent on releasing mediocre albums with 2 good songs and 8 pedestrian placeholders, albums crafted as well as MSJ bestow hope unto us all.
--Michael Barnard