You Can Be The Stone

I also have to add Nels' solo in "Either Way" as a great moment. Its funny that Pitchfork made fun of that solo, and it is the first moment on the record that made me smile from ear to ear.

Hell, the entire middle is beautiful. The way the strings come in, the beautiful chord progression of the bridge and how it leads into the solo, the magnificent solo, especially around 3'02 where Nels hits a handful of notes simultaneously; Nels' solo is a great outro to the bridge, and a great prologue to "Maybe the sun will shiiiiiine today!". It's probably the most beautiful 90 seconds Wilco has had, and Pitchfork makes a cheap weather channel joke.

I'm living rent free

in the back of your head!

But yeah, YAMF owns everything, I think

Also, I can see why some people don't dig Shake it Off. I think maybe you have to see this one live to fully appreciate it. From a musical standpoint, it's a really hard song to play! The timing is very odd, you've got to feel it more than count it. But when it rocks live, it really rocks.

A lot of Shake it Off, I'm iffy about, but I *love* the pre-chorus, the part after "sometimes there's a war, sometimes there's art". Great chords, great melody.

"The A.V. Club: The first song on Sky Blue Sky, "Either Way," almost seems like it should be the last song. It has sort of a soft, summing-up feel. Why did you start the album that way? "

Damn, they're good! A sequencing question, and a *valid one* at that!

I've never heard Tweedy be so dull and straight forward with his lyrics.

I can imagine if it were 1973, when one of the greatest rock albums of all time came out, and calling these lyrics dull and banal; "Breathe / Breathe in the air / Don't be afraid to care" and demanding Syd Barrett's prompt return

And other than that, Walken, What Light, Either Way, and Hate it Here are the only hit-you-over-the-head songs lyrically. You can dislike the album if you want, that's fine, but don't try and pretend that the other 8 songs are anywheres close to being simplistic. And if there are 4 out of 12 direct songs, so what? The earnesty and joy in Walken is far more moving and human than some of his esoteric, elusive wordplays on previous albums.

I think it's misguided to call SBS "easy listening" just because it has a very laid back exterior; Just like how if there's a shitload of Conet Project samples drowning out a weak folk song, it's suddenly daring and experimental. A lot of the rhythms on this album are very simple, as are the arrangements, but when it comes to actually playing the melodies, and the chord progressions from the "lyrics and tabs" section, it's probably the most musically rich piece of work they've done.

I don't understand how folks can simultaneously claim that Pitchfork is irrelevant while having a cow over this 5.2 rating.

You called me out; it feels like purposefully staying in an abusive relationship!

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I don't love the new album but even I've gotta say that a lot of the negative criticism is stemming from the reviewer's preconceptions. At least Jim DeRogatis could admit that he had to listen to it 12 times before he could get rid of his expectations. And the guy at Pitchfork obviously was expecting another avant-gardish, indie rock album from Wilco. His review is expressing his personal disappointment at the band's direction more than an actual assessment of the music.

Definately. Read Rob Mitchum's review of "A Ghost Is Born", which should've been titled "Why isn't it YHF?!"

I thought it would be discrediting to Pitchfork to assume they'd trash this album, because the songs had substance beyond the dad-rock exterior, and pitchfork would be smart enough to look beyond such externalities; but nope, I was wrong. This review pretty much borders on self-parody.

Well, the pitchfork review seems representative of the whole of Sky Blue Sky's effect; being artistically, a very viable album, as well as (thankfully) alienating the hipsters that came in around YHF (ok, except for me)

Why does Rob Mitchum hate Wilco?

Seriously; his review of "Ghost is Born" was terrible, and now this.

>

Glad Tweedy brought this up. If there's one thing that's definately been throwing people off, it's Nels and Glenn leaving any sense of ego behind, and playing simpler parts to be able to serve the song more effectively. (Even though that's not the case in many of the tracks)

Where are the references to rehab and Krautrock?

 

They replaced with finally acknowledging that Pat and Mike exist in the band, which is great!

But yeah, I love allmusic. They're one of the few music review sites that provide genuinely substantial reviews most of the time.

I'm glad this review tries to acknowledge that there is some experimentation; 'cuz the chords for Walken, Either Way, Shake it off, and Side with the Seeds aren't exactly the usual I-4-5-4 progressions one can just breeze through.

" This sounds like Television's Marquee Moon would if it was wearing a cardigan and eating custard creams on a Sunday afternoon. "

Uh, yeah, I pretty much hated the review all around, but I'll gave to give her two points for this one. Even though I love IG.

Now it's at number 9!

Once in germany someone said nein....

unlikely japan.

yeah, i like it, but i can see why they dropped it. on a semi-related note, i think LNGCA, Let's Fight and ITTTIG all could have been on the record.

 

-justin

LNGCA would be like nails on a chalkboard in the context of this album... "Let's Fight" was probably too much of a bummer... and I think "Hate it Here" probably filled "The Thanks I Get"'s niche.

" If you listen to the chord changes on something like "You Are My Face", there's a lot of things going on in a lot of the songs that I don't think that are standard rock move. It just doesn't call attention to itself as much. "

I think this sums up things well about experimentation on the record, in that a lot of it is in the chord progressions and harmonies. After visiting the "Lyrics and Tabs" section, I can tell you that many parts of "Either Way", "YAMF", "Shake it Off", "Side with the Seeds", "Walken", and "Patient With Me" aren't exactly the usual I, IV, V stuff one can just breeze through. There are so many weird chord progressions on this album that end up coming off as very natural.

I can't wait to see this song live... I heard some bootlegs from Australia, and it's just haunting how amazing it is.

There was a great quote from "Die Another Day"

James Bond: "You're more clever than you look." (SBS)

R: "Better than looking more clever than you are." (YHF)

I don't want to make that such a blanket statement, but there are certain instances of relatively empty songs trying to be salvaged with a complicated production, and many songs on SBS that seem like they're such a breeze to play, yet have a lot of complexity to them.

I think "On and On and On" is the defining example of how relatively simple lyrics can have a very powerful effect, moreso than if poetic bells and whistles were attached

What would you call it? A broken up, pining after the one who left song?

 

I happen to like Glenn a lot and think he's very good but you couldn't prove it by this record. Listen to the Nina Nastasia & Jim White record to see what a great drummer on a quiet record can sound like, though maybe you have more license to be creative when you're playing on a great record. Oh no you d'int, etc.

 

Both reviews have merits, there are a few good songs and you could make an argument for a few of them on a Wilco greatest hits record but it's just not a great Wilco record (nor is it awful, it's just oh so very ordinary). Maybe it's just that I'd really rather see a Jeff, Nels and Glenn side project than another Wilco record that sets out to make pleasant, inoffensive music.

But they didn't; so deal with it. Frankly, I wish sometimes Tweedy would do lead guitar a lot more; I wish Glenn would demonstrate the subtleties that made "Laminated Cat" and "Handshake Drugs" amazing; Pat's got a pretty cool guitar style, and I wish that would come out more, rather than the organ fills. But if their heart was set on making a more direct record, it would be a complete disaster if they did an experimental record if it wasn't the right time.

What's all this crap about SBS being lyrically "banal"? Lyrically, YHF was full of clunkers; not in terms of banality, but the flipside of that, which is pretention; a bunch of ambiguos plays on words that are full of style, but empty on substance. But of course, everyone will justify it as being 'moving', 'personal', or last but least, 'impressionistic'. "Walken" is very lyrically simple, but the sheer earnestness of the lyrics have such a genuine, warm vibe to them, something that wasn't there when Tweedy pieced together random words he found out of TV Guide.

"Glenn Kotche doesn't get a good groove 'till the second to last song" ???

Ok, clearly the reviewer wasn't listening to the wonderful 6/8 interplays in "Side with the Seeds"

Wow, what's with the 'Adore' bashing?