You Can Be The Stone

Left Center, Row Y!

June 26, 2005: The Merriweather Pavillion I was in a bummed stage, and "a Ghost is Born" had pretty much saved my life; I only had the album for a few months, so the album was at the perfect point where each track was listened to enough as to still be very fresh and vibrant, but not over-listened; basically just ripe on the listening curve. It was my new favorite album; I basically had no clue how good they'd transform them into the live environment. Then I got my first taste STRAIGHT UP with "Handshake Drugs"; I'll never forget the first time watching Nels shred the thing to death. I'l

And if a Marquee Moon reference is going to be tossed around, it should probably be used towards Jeff and Pat's guitar line in the I.G. breakout

I'm not going to quote anyone; but total props to the person who used the line "Complex, but not complicated", which, I think pretty much nails SBS. Though as far as I'm concerned, every album is in its own context. No album is better than the other; each has a few very good tracks, and just as many clunkers.

I think one needs to look no further than 'Walken' to say this line-up's got some ass; especially the outro; which is pretty much all six parts exactly in their right place, meshing perfectly. Plus, Pat has the cool solo, while Nels and Jeff are in the background, so the lead guitar egolessness makes it all the cooler!

And Jeff was still wearing a jacket that day!

Funny, Jeff himself calls this line-up pretty much the definitive Wilco.

I think lyrically, this album beats the living shit out of Summerteeth and YHF. There was a great review comparing IATTBYH verses ALTWYS, how sometimes, pretty, pastoral language might seem nice at first, but ultimately (in the case of ALTWYS), it can be far more effective to have more simple, honest, economical words. And it is the same case with SBS. I felt that a lot of the shock value lyrics on Summerteeth were trying too hard, the same for so many pretty, but ultimately esoteric, and ambiguos lyrics on YHF (and in some cases, AGiB). Like the music itself, I think substance is coming befor

Yes! Maybe the Roots will open for them again! And Tweedy will make good banter about the people up on the lawns!

Summerteeth was a very neccessary step in Wilco's evolution, and for the time being, it was great, however, it wasn't neccessarily perfect either... I see the piano and guitar parts on SBS as direct, and to the point, the opposite of the Jay Bennett credo of production, which is if it can't be expressed with two guitar tracks and keyboards, then 20 guitar tracks and 16 mellotron parts will do. The whole album sounded too overproduced, too tense, it sounded like them trying too hard.

Yeah, if your opinion wasn't *wrong*, it'd be: Pablo Honey The Bends OKC Kid A Amnesiac HTTF (The Eraser?) LP #7

I just like how a lot of the songs aren't external gimmickry like YHF or AGiB (Not there's anything wrong with it! (Kidsmoke!!!1)), and how it's very much about creating more simple, but substantial songs that will fare much better with time.

A hearty second for "Maybeeee the sun will SHIIIINE tuh-Day!"

"Duke sucks!"

SBS seemed to have a lot of Pat and John's influence; I hope the next one has a lot of Glenn and Nels' influence

"our voices lift so easily / a gift given accidentally / when we're not sure we're not alone" >>>>>>> "i dreamed about killing you again last night and it felt alright to me".

"Just remember / what was yours / is everyone's from now on..." I dunno, it seems like some of it is about the RIAA, and who owns music as well. Kind of like how the Late Greats initially seemed like "Boo! If it's on the radio, it's bad!" but was actually about the song mostly existing through the listener.

I think "Either Way" would have actually fit better after "Leave Me (Like You Found Me)". Thematically, it seems like it gels better with the last three tracks.

Can we have a board-wise consensus on "What Light" being a liberating, joyful, beautiful masterpiece that's also cornier than Iowa and cheesier than Wisconsin, at the same time?

Am I the only one who thought LNGCA was a big, lumbering mess? Not against the rockers or anything, but whoa.

"Either Way"'s solo is very much smooth-jazz texture-wise, but the notes that Nels hits are just amazing. Agree with "Leave Me (Like You Found Me)". Not a bad song, just that the arrangements tend to go nowhere.

'On and On' is a weird, mixed bag for me. On one hand, it's thematically, a very powerful way to end the album. On the other hand, it suffers from a 'Yes'-like arrangement at the end, which really detracts it. As for live shows and such, I'm fine with what they've been doing for the past two albums, which is providing more subtle, atmospheric versions of their songs on the studio, making them a launchpad for some great live shows. At first, I was skeptical about "Impossible Germany" on the record, but after a lot of listens, it has this great intimate, mellow vibe that couldn't be captured

It's been getting kinda spring-ish in Washington in the past few days, and hearing "What Light" in a field with headphones under a... well, 'sky blue sky', as corny as the song is, by God, it's beautiful.

After many listens, the album has yet to grow on me; there's some amazing songs on there, but as a whole, I'm having a hard time getting into the album. However, I agree with people that this is the right album made for the right time, and I respect it none the less; I'm not going to use my subjective opinion and proclaim the band as "lame and bland" just because they aren't fulfilling my inner yearnings to here "A Ghost Is Born, Part II"

on and on does more for me than all of summerteeth...