junkiesmile

I always thought Either Way was lame in a sissified kind of way. It's a little to breezy for an album opener.

I like the album but it just didn't live up to the expectations built by the previous four albums. BT wow. ST holy shit. YHF oh my god. AGIB they did it again. SBS meh.

Most of the songs from the albums up to AGIB were as good if not better when performed by Tweedy solo than they were with the full band arrangement. This hasn't been the case anymore since SBS, and I suspect it won't be the case with most tunes on TWL. Does it mean that the songs per se are less good or is it proof that the band has improved a lot ?

Well I suspect we'll have to wait and see. In my mind these songs will sound great solo.

"My eyes have seen the fury so flattered by fate"

I love how his vocal goes low on faaaate.

" I''ve been taken by the sound of my own voice and the voices in my head."

 

 

Yea I am aware of a sentiment of some that thinks only tortured souls (IE Jeff prior to getting clean can make great art) Its like saying I remember friends of mine who were addicts and man they were alot more fun when they were effed up ... man I wish they would just decend into the abyss again .. it would be so fun and entertaining

You know what? That's fine but it's the consumer that drives this not the artist. The consumer wants drama. The artist just wants to make a living doing something he loves to do.

Okay. I need some input. Is there a line in Sunloathe that reads " the birds and the whales"? I love this new album. The sound and the feel is great but I have Tweedy singing about how my god is not real and how he would love to open up my mind. All of this is fine but if he's singing about the environment I think I just may vomit.

The bird and the whale?

 

Absolutely. So many times a song changes when you see it live or with amazing video footage and the DVD does this for Ashes in a beautiful way.

In that same vein, I didn't really get the beauty of Country Disappeared until seeing this gorgeous video.

Now, as you'll see above, it has made it into my top 10 list.

Beautiful. My favorite song on WTA. It has been since I first heard it.

Paying for Wilco is not the issue, feeling the need to defend listening to an album before it was released with proof of purchase is kind of strange to me in this modern era.

Listening to a stream is not illegal. Ripping a copy of that stream is. So possibly the guilt brought on by having an illegal copy of an album is what prompts the defensive justifications?

It's 2011. Do we really need to defend downloading a captured stream with proof of purchase?

You never know who's on the other end. That's why the question made me paranoid.

 

 

No, I think it's true of any band. But if you're willing to say that The Black Crowes, Dwight Yoakam, and Rodney Crowell are making truly great records that far into their careers, I think we have different definitions of "great."

 

But you're missing my point. I'm not saying anything about The Whole Love. There's no way I can form a valid opinion of it so soon. I just don't think any band is in their prime after 15 years, so when someone says they "have heard better versions of all these songs before," is that a fair criticism? Should we expect greatness this far in or should we be happy with these songs that may be lesser versions but are still good?

 

Maybe this is just a bad topic on a board full of obsequious Wilco fans.

And no it's not unfair to expect greatness but you are setting yourself up for disappointment. I was disappointed in the last two Wilco albums and felt many of the songs were lesser versions of songs they had already recorded. I just don't feel that way about the new one. It doesn't feel tired or redundant. Although to be straight up fair it's all a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy. The idea is to make it sound fresh.

 

 

I miss Waterloo.

It's where I want to go when I die. My favorite place in Austin.

I'll never tell....but also, I've already pre-ordered so I'm still a good person.

Also I'm curious is it junkie's mile or junkie smile?

And I've pre ordered the deluxe cd as well and will be buying the vinyl from Waterloo the day it comes out. So I've already paid for the product.

I'll never tell....but also, I've already pre-ordered so I'm still a good person.

Also I'm curious is it junkie's mile or junkie smile?

 

 

No, I think it's true of any band. But if you're willing to say that The Black Crowes, Dwight Yoakam, and Rodney Crowell are making truly great records that far into their careers, I think we have different definitions of "great."

 

But you're missing my point. I'm not saying anything about The Whole Love. There's no way I can form a valid opinion of it so soon. I just don't think any band is in their prime after 15 years, so when someone says they "have heard better versions of all these songs before," is that a fair criticism? Should we expect greatness this far in or should we be happy with these songs that may be lesser versions but are still good?

 

Maybe this is just a bad topic on a board full of obsequious Wilco fans.

I tend to define great music as music I enjoy repeatedly listening to and music that sticks to my ribs like oatmeal. I think the last two Crowes albums are just as good as anything they ever did. And Dwights Blame the Vain was great IMO. Also I haven't seen a decline in Spoon's output or Tom Waits.

 

 

So how have you been doing this? The stream is over. Did you capture it somehow? I don't want a copy or anything, it's close enough now to the Indy show and the release that I can wait; the stream was a good taste for me for now, so I'm just curious....

I recorded each song with my iPhone as it was streaming, no wait, I set up my video recorder and filmed the stream and I've been watching that record spin all week. Why ask me this? There are people all over this board talking about repeated listenings of this album.

I guess I'm a little surprised that the praise for The Whole Love is as rapturous as it is after a mere internet stream. I think it sounds good and shows promise as a welcomed addition to Wilco's catalog, but I think it's way too early to judge this thing either way.

 

Since Wilco is my favorite band, any new material is going to sound great. Over time, I develop favorites from each of their albums, but some of them (mainly the last two) fall out of favor.

 

I also think that we are all prone to over-celebrate the entire discography of our favorite artists without really seeing the drop in quality. And that's fine, I guess. That's why they're our favorites.

 

But I'll use the Rolling Stones again. There's no doubt in my mind that Some Girls and Tattoo You are great albums (probably their last two great ones). But there is no way they come close to the run they had earlier in their career. So are they great albums independent of anything that came before or after? Or are they great in relation to the fact that my expectations were properly lowered due to their longevity in the business?

 

As this relates to Wilco...should I be disappointed that I hear a lot of these new songs as lesser forms of greater songs that came before? Or should I be happy to just have new songs I'll want to listen to occasionally?

 

Obviously, if you think The Whole Love is the greatest album of the century, this line of questioning makes little sense. But I don't think there is any band in the history of music that was making their best albums 15+ years into its career.

You're generalizing based on the Stones. There are plenty of artists making great records twenty years into their career. Dwight Yoakum, The Black Crowes, Tom Waits, Rodney Crowel, and Wilco to name a few. You may not be as into this new record as the older ones but I've been listening to The Whole Love all week and it hasn't gotten annoying. The last Wilco album I can say that about is AGIB. So in my opinion it ranks right up there with the other four great Wilco albums. I see it as a stagnant period over the last two albums with a return to form for the latest.

Has anyone deciphered the lyrics to sun loathe yet? I think I hear the line " The birds and the whales" somewhere in it. I'm wondering in what context that line could possibly be cool.

I think once people absorb this masterpiece it may be ood to go back and listen to everything from YHF on. The Whole Love is pure genius, and this will be borne out by multiple listens, but everything that came before led to this. IF Wilco The Album was a sonic shoulder to cry on, Whole Love is a sonic smile to rely upon. Whole Love will go down as one of best albums of last century, but I can see why what preceeded it was important asto how they got here. This album istruly inspiring.

Whole Love is not even out yet. How can it be one of the best albums of last century? Also I think they had a few great albums before YHF. I love the new one and think it's Wilco's best since AGIB but make some sense when you're talking about it.

I hear a lot of Bennett in this album and I think it's their strongest set of songs since YHF. I already like this album better than AGIB. I'm not sure I agree that their best songwriting is behind them.

I wasn't expecting it to be as great as it is. I'm just pleased I have another album to add to my favorite Wilco albums list.

As the fires glow in the distance and the ashes fall all around I'm listening to Sunday Morning. It's beautiful.

If only it were that deliberate and easy.

yea it is encoded into the music I believe.

 

 

You can only hear up to 20k, but I believe cds are capable of carrying info up to something way higher, so they can put digital codes that be read at like 50khz.

 

I think that is how they do it, although there are ways to get around this too.

 

 

 

2nd point (reason I came here to post)

 

I can't believe some people are unhappy with some of these tunes. This record is a monster! Open mind, standing O, Dawned on me, and the other couple of songs that are getting mentioned are killer tunes!

 

The melody in open mind? beautiful! It is such a great, direct song. There is a place for nice folk tunes, and that one is just great.

I totally agree. I keep looking for faults in all of these songs people are saying are of lesser quality. I can't find any. I'm totally surprised and satisfied by this album. I've fallen in love all over again. I just posted to say it dawned on me.