Jesusetc84

Am I the only only one that hears "werewolves of london" in "wilco the song"?

Nah. People have been saying this for six months.

Is anyone else hearing "On and On and On" in "I'll Fight"?

Yeah, I heard that when they first played it live months ago. I also hear a small bit of Jesus etc in it.

That being said, I'd lovelovelove for a boxed set of all this stuff to be released down the line.

I second this. Maybe they can do this in like 2015 for the 20th anniversary of the band?

true, but it wasn't even announced until what 2 months before it came out? if that.

Hah. Good point.

6 weeks is not early... 3-4 months is early.

 

YHF "leaked" almost a year early (i realize that was a special case)

That being said, the new Dylan didn't leak till a week before the release.

Wall-E says greetings to the new songs.

I'll Fight

 

 

 

Probably nothing. They recorded over 30 songs for Being There; Old Maid, a Being There reject, was finally completed and released in 2003 on "You Can Never Go Fast Enough," a compilation for some odd thing. Jeff said at the January 2003 Vic shows that, "you can count your chickens when you get laid," was the bolt of lightning he was waiting for to complete the song.

 

Hate it Here was at least 15 years in the making. On that note, I wonder how many other incarnations of the band laid down tape trying it out?

Impossible Germany was a Summerteeth outtake.

that's what she said....

That was quite crude...yet amusing.

I'm actually taking a break until release date I think. I've listened to the album 13 times since it surfaced. I don't want to wear it out.

Nonesuch mentioned this on the Wilco (The Album) page as being the single for the new album, so hopefully hearing it on the radio isn't an isolated incident.

who are these people on other boards saying this new album is boring... if wilco (the album) is boring then sbs must have been hella boring to them. i think the new album is much better paced than the predecessor. i'm starting to like it a lot - wish i had some quality mp3s to listen to though.

 

 

Nirvana... is the only one i can think of off the top of my head

Nirvana actually took their name from that lyric. When they wrote that song, they were touring under a different name, so I don't know if that counts.

"EMINEM IS THE MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE OF THE YEAR"

 

THIS IS 100 MILLION PERCENT UNTRUE.

 

TAKE IT BACK!

 

 

Here are a few that might contend;

 

Green Day

U2

Grizzly Bear

Animal Collective

 

And then whatever Q4 brings...

I'll bite. I'd much rather hear a new Eminem than a new Green Day (or a new U2 for that matter given U2 are so far past their prime and live on bloated hype and past glories alone.)

http://nonesuch.com/albums/wilco-the-album

under the "About the Album" section, it mentions "You Never Know" is the first single.

"You Never Know": good single choice? Cause apparently that's the first (read: The only) single.

"Dark Neon" B-side? Maybe? Hopefully? Hell yeah.

So, "You Never Know" is the single. Great choice. Hope it's B-side is Dark Neon.

i agree. the melody to this song is gorgeous. ahhhh what i would give to write a song remotely close to this!

I second this. It's such a beautiful melody.

Why does "You Never Know" feel like 70's album rock? Not a bad thing necessarily just odd and there was that same 70's rock vibe on SBS.

See 70s rock is so broad.

"You Never Know" feels like something off "All Things Must Pass". That's a good 70s rock sound.

"Walken" sounds like something from a Doobie Brothers album. That's a not so good 70s rock sound.

i'm of the mind that Wilco's peak was from '96-02, but they still have a lot of great things to offer us these days

 

if people want to say they've been coasting these last 2-3 albums, that's fine, but they're coasting in a pretty high gear compared to a lot of bands.

I can sort of see that. To me each album was better than the one before until YHF. Then AGIB was still great, but a slight dip. SBS to me honestly made me think that Tweedy had run out of gas, but this one is not only a great record onto itself, it also excites me about Wilco's future.

What does everyone think of "I'll Fight"? I can't tell if it's more of a statement or more of a sarcastic take on blind patriotism.

I see it as a statement about class structures. The poor man being bought by the affluent man to take his place in the war.

Really dissapointing how they sucked the epicness right out of One Wing, it's like they dad rocked it down. Such a shame.

Anything that makes a song sound less like SBS is the opposite of dad rocking it.

I can see on some level how this album isn't as heart on the sleeve as past albums. But to me, the songcraft is just so strong that this album is undeniable. This might be Tweedy's best set of melodies, which says a lot.

How many great songs have bad production? It's all part of the same package - a great song needs great production to make it great.

It's a really pleasant album. Not exactly as moving or as challenging as their earlier works, but I don't really need them to make Foxtrot again, I have that record, it's fucking wonderful.

 

I think there's something here for everyone the Tupelo fans will dig on I'll Fight, the Summer Teeth fans have Sonny Feeling and You Never Know, and while nothing on here really sounds like Foxtrot Bull Black Nova will appease a lot of the fans of the more experimental side. For a lot of us at this stage the Wilcos have already made their perfect record for our tastes whether it's YHF or Ghost, Summerteeth or Being There or Sky Blue Sky or AM, this time out we get a little bit of everything, and they never push too far in one direction which was perhaps the Achilles heel of even some of their great records. It sort of reminds me of Radiohead's In Rainbows (an album which I love more than most), not that it sounds anything like it, but front-to-back you put it on and it's going to be 40+ minutes of enjoyable music if you dig their sound. And if it doesn't work, it doesn't work.

 

 

Hank Kingsley (yes he has a Jeffrey Tambor avatar) posted this on atease, sums up everything I want to say about the record on night one.

Mike, I agree with your assessment of it being their In Rainbows. Both bands on their 7th albums realized that they didn't have to be self-conciously innovative. Both are each bands most comfortable sounding album imo.

W(TA) probably won't ever replace Summerteeth and YHF for me, but to me, Wilco's made something great enough for me to reestablish them as a major musical presence in my life.

A song by song running commentary.

 

1. Wilco (The Song)-- I was a little on the fence about this one when I first heard it, but so far it's working for me pretty well-- Jeff's guitar lines remind me a bit of his work on the live versions of Can't Stand It circa 2001-2002 and Werewolves of London. Solace hit the nail on the head, this is the best "dumb rocker" they've done in awhile.

 

2. You Never Know-- Wow. The sound sort of reminds of Summerteeth or Down With Wilco, I like Nels here a lot, good lyrics, very strong overall.

 

3. One Wing-- I like this one a lot more than I liked the live versions. The ending works well, and it feels a lot more concise than it did live.

 

4. Bull Black Nova-- Feels like a Remain in Light era Talking Heads outtake with a little less groove, probably my favorite song on the album. Re: Solace and Bobbob, I think people and perhaps myself included my overrate this one a little early just because it's so exciting to hear them really pushing things sonically in the studio again. Glenn and Nels really tear it up here and for people who felt they were under or misused on SBS it's going to be quite exciting.

 

5. You And I-- I don't know if I'd love an album full of these, Feist's vocals are pretty cool, but it's a nice gentle reprieve from One Wing and BBN, and a nice transition into...

 

6. You Never Know-- Another absolute killer, the lyrics are amazing, and I dig the Harrision/ELO influence. I guess they don't need Jay Bennett to write kick ass melodies.

 

7. My Country Has Disappeared-- This one seems to scream grower, in two weeks it'll be my favorite thing on the record.

 

8. Solitaire-- Like the Nick Drake esque guitar line and those double tracked vocals, sort of reminds me of Elliott Smith, that electric? piano is really sweet.

 

9. I'll Fight-- The "like Jesus on the cross" line is pretty fetching. Still haven't gotten into this one as much as some of the others, but it's a lot better than the live version I heard.

 

10. Sonny Feeling-- Thank God they did the Residency and started playing those deep Summerteeth cuts again.

 

11. Everlasting-- I have always wanted them to work more orchestral elements in, like horns and strings, and they add a real nice touch to this. I really could listen to this coda for a lot longer than it goes on, Tweedy was willing to give us twelve minutes of white noise but only thirty seconds of this.

 

I'm too tired to start dissecting this as a whole. I like it quite a bit, I went from "No Bennett, No O'Rourke, Not That Interested" to "No Bennett, No O'Rourke, Not Really a Problem." It feels like Jeff re-listened to Summerteeth and thought "hmm, let's try to do a lot of melodic stuff like that again, but happier and with a few less keyboard overdubs." While this album's highs might not reach the best of Summerteeth there weren't any moments that had me reaching for the skip button either. The sequencing here is pretty good, yes the album is a bit frontloaded, those first four songs sit along side some of their finest work, but the back eight have their moments as well.

 

One night, four listens, 22 different e-mails sent, zero words written/edited for my final novel class tomorrow, and zero regrets because of it.

 

--Mike.

Great review. I'm not sure about the front loaded complaint.

"My Country Has Disappeared" has been a favorite of mine since they played it live.

Wilco doing Wilco. yeah, i don't disagree. It's not necessarily a good thing though. This band has gone in a new direction with every album and I feel as though they have failed to do that here. Maybe it's because they've had this lineup for a while now, or because they're all getting old and complacent, I don't know, but it's rough.

 

I understand this board is full of fanboys who will love everything this band does until the end of time (or wilco, whichever comes first). But man, I love wilco more than anyone I personally know and this is a sad night.

See, I often piss off people on this board by making snide comments about certain Wilco songs. I'm FAR from someone who would like anything Wilco's put out.

This is a great album regardless of who made it.