mpolak21

I'm a little surprised to see Born Again in the USA pulling away with this poll, though I think it's clearly the better album I guess I mistakenly assumed I was in the minority. I'd have put the spread on this as Sky Blue Sky taking this by at least six. I am pleased to see from the comments that people seem to be voting because they feel that Born Again in the USA is a really good album rather than voting against Sky Blue Sky. I am going to have to do this with the debut and A Ghost is Born. --Mike

What's this I hear about Jay Bennett leaving? --Mike

He went 3-8 in his first year at WVU, and lost to Temple. Be patient, he'll get players and they'll be better, though I'm not sure where his ceiling is. This guy is a hell of a recruiter, but for all the "spread offense genius" hype that comes with him, he's actually pretty conservative as a play caller. He had the talent to go undefeated the last two seasons at WVU, but his stubborn play calling was part of the reason they blew it. Meanwhile, his old school got out gained by Villanova, though Pat White did throw for five touchdown passes. I am already worrying about East Carolina. --Mik

I've always felt that the now defunct Stylus Magazine had the best feel for reviewing Wilco, now naturally I am saying that because I happen to agree with their reviews, but they were always spot on in my opinion. Popmatters reviews are a fun read, but frankly their so laudatory I feel like I am reading an elaborate press release sometimes. "The worst review you've ever read." Hmm... care to elaborate? I throughly enjoyed reading your last post Panther. I think we've reached an understanding here. The great thing about this band's discography is that there's really something everybody. Yo

Let us know what you come with. One of my favorite Wilco discs is a AGIB/Wilco Book hybrid that Basil II put together awhile back. Sorry to sabotage the thread, but since I mentioned it, here's what he came up with... 1.Pure Bug Beauty(wilcobook) 2.Handshake Drugs(live) 3.Doubt(wilcobook) 4.Spiders(kidsmoke) 5.Hummingbird (wilcobook) 6.Panthers(bonus disc) 7.Company In My Back 8.The High Heat(wilcobook) 9.At Least That's What's You Said 10.Barnyard Pimp(wilcobook) 11.Wishful Thinking 12.Diamond Claw(wilcobook) 13.Muzzle of Bees 14. Hamamni(wilcobook) --Mike

The one downside of going to grad school in Minnesota is that I'm missing my first WVU home game in about four years . Enjoyed seeing Pitt and Virginia Tech go down in the noon games, though. --Mike

Born Again In The USA is a wonderful album and one of my favorites from 2006, it gets the slight nod, though I do enjoy this hybrid playlist "Sky Blue Sky Again in the USA" I made a few months back. 1.) Hey Chicken 2.) The Ruling Class 3.) Answers to Your Questions 4.) You Are My Face 5.) Side With The Seeds 6.) Stupid as The Sun 7.) Please Be Patient With Me 8.) Wanted 9.) Leave Me Like You Found Me 10.) Thou Shalt Wilt 11.) Wreckroom 12.) On and On and On --Mike

Yeah, me three about the Mountaineers. At least we'll start 1-0, I'm pretty confident about the Villanova game. --Mike

Note: This is an awfully long post, please feel free to ignore all of it, or skip to any section you may find relevant. No, I didn

That fight is probably the most publicized incident of the Tweedy/Bennett falling out and it happened to be what I used as an example. I didn't literally mean if Jay had shut up about Heavy Metal Drummer that day he'd still be in the band, but rather if Jay had found away to communicate his opinions and feelings more affectively. --Mike

That's how some of us feel about Sky Blue Sky. I understand you really like the album and I respect that opinion, and I've made my opinion on the record fairly clear over the last year since it's been out, as well. I don't necessarily think people want the next Wilco album to be a carbon copy of YHF or A Ghost is Born or Summerteeth or for the band to morph into Loose Fur, but rather for the new Wilco album to return to the quality of those releases. I see Sky Blue Sky as the Let it Be (the Beatles one, not the Replacements) of Wilco's discography, it's not a bad record but it's not exac

Moe knows. I find this post to be spot on. I have been listening to Jim's Insignificance a lot with both Jeff and Glenn play on and the interaction between them is wonderful. The little shifts into the unexpected like that on Ghost and BAitUSA are wonderful, and sadly I think that's part of what's missing on Sky Blue Sky. I'd be very happy if O'Rourke eventually joined the band full time. Mastershake's suggestion of bringing Bennett back into the fold in a "Brian Wilson" role is actually pretty interesting. The arrangement Jeff and Jay write the songs, the band records them, O'Rourke mixes

. Looks like we posted the exact same thing at the exact same time, great minds... --Mike

That's actually Jeff. According to the linear notes Nels isn't on that one. --Mike

This one is still my favorite from that film: ."Oh, really. I happen to have Marshall McLuhan right here." --Mike

"Tenenbaum is playing the worst tennis of his life." --Mike

That'd be a hell of a commute for Froggie. I think it goes without saying at this point (do an archive search of every time I've praised Leroy's contributions to the band... or if you want to save time I've done it as many times as jack's war on war has made an annoyingly long post about Christopher Hitchens), but I agree with him completely. --Mike

"Oh Tobias, you blowhard." --Mike

Yeah, I know what you mean. Some of his stuff on Sky Blue Sky is wonderful, like his parts on You Are My Face and On and On and On, but at other times it feels like Tweedy relied a little too much on having Nels "rip," which doesn't always serve the song. Now it's nowhere near as distracting as some of Jay Bennett's over the top solos from the band's late nineties shows, sometimes those hit and sometimes they missed, but it's still a bit of a let down after Tweedy's own work on A Ghost is Born. While I agree with some of the original comments in the first post, I fear for my own sanity if I

Norm has always been under appreciated in my humble opinion, this set was Andy Kaufman-esque, and damn funny. --Mike

Bad Catholic. --Mike

Why do think so many bands end up burning out? Jon Brion has a theory that eventually bands or artists start making albums that sound like what people expect them to sound to like instead of trying something new. Also eventually when a band has more than one songwriter, it's rare that they're able to maintain a long stretch of good records without severing ties. With the exception of Radiohead, almost every great band that's made more than a few records in the past decade has run into this problem: The Jayhawks, Wilco, The DBT's, even the Flaming Lips lost perhaps the most interesting guitaris

I dig this album, it's not as good as Dummy, but I wouldn't say it sucks. --Mike

Yeah, it's hard as hell to find (legally) because it wasn't released in the U.S. Liam Hayes went through some Wilsonian tasks trying to eventually finish the record. It's a pretty good listen overall, there are some really strong tracks on it Born Together, Greyhound Bus Station, and Blown Away. It sort of drags in the middle, but he does an excellent job capturing that early 70's rock/blue-eyed soul sound. It reminds me a lot of Month of Sundays by the Chamber Strings. Plush also has some other good records, More You Becomes You is just him and piano, but the tunes are great. Underfed is a

Great to see you back around these parts, Robert. --Mike