Theremin

Depending on your geographic area, the band does a decent enough job of enabling any real fan to see an average of 2-3 shows a year (within a 4-6-hour driving distance). The band also has a roadcase on its Web site, provides several live webcasts per year, plus Owl & Bear, bt.etree.org, dimeadozen make recordings of practically every concert available to anyone. It depends on how avid you are, but knocking someone's tastes as "dad rock" just because they pursue the band more than you is a little disingenuous. Actually arguing someone follows the band too much is more of a grumpy, "dad rock" argument.

I live in Europa, saw them 2 times this week end in Brussels but this was also the first time they actually played here post-TWL. The average is more like 1-1.5 shows/year.

I'm just saying wishing for certain crowd favorites to dissapear just because you're stalking them might not make you a dad but it sure is an incredibly selfish attitude. Not everyone has the time and or money to attend multiple shows even when they are in the same general area as you, that shouldn't be to hard to realize.

Are you a rocking dad? Then it does prove my point.

But seriously, they've made their fair share of great straightforward rockers during the years but I just don't consider Late Greats or Walken to be part of that. I guess it's a fine line between straightforward and plain dumb with those 2 songs falling into the latter category.

I agree with everything else you said though, maybe you're sick of Jesus etc or ITMWLY when you go see them at almost every god damn show but most people aren't in a position to do that.

Jesus etc. isn't a rocker, nor is it "easy" (straightforward) in the sense that songs like Late Greats, I'm a Wheel, Wilco (the Song) or a lot of songs on the second half of the album that is my avatar are. Maybe I should've used "mediocre dumb rockers" instead but I didn't want to insult anybody so I used the d-word instead.

Seriously don't get why people are complaining about Jesus etc., IATMWLY, Bull Black Nova etc. when you still have Walken, Late Greats, You & I etc. as regular fixtures in their live shows. I guess this board really is full of dads who want as many easy rockers as possible.

The best thing about the show were the aftershow drinks with a.m. people.

Aren't they all dead?

Definitely a more exciting setlist!

Not really though, pretty weak encore with Walken (does anyone outside Wilco seriously think this is a classic deserving an encore spot?), Late Greats and I'm a Wheel. Also wasn't exactly waiting for You & I and Capitol City (which didn't really come together at all either). I also agree with Jeffs vocals sounding muddy. Still, the variety between the setlists made it worthwile to attend both evenings, though I definitely prefered the friday show.

I thought his new years resolution was about taking guitar lessons btw.

It's the only song from W(TA) that actually has its place on a Wilco setlist.

I'm bored

1. At Least That's What You Said (IATTBYH, Art of Almost)

2. Far, Far Away (She's a Jar)

3. Impossible Germany (Radio Cure)

4. Muzzle of Bees (Bull Black Nova)

5. Jesus, Etc. (Black Moon)

6. Ashes of American Flags (Handshake Drugs)

7. I Got You (Country Disappeared)

8. How to Fight Loneliness (What's the World got in Store)

9. Pot Kettle Black (Via Chicago)

10. Poor Places (ELT)

11. Sunken Treasure (Reservations)

12. One Sunday Morning (On & On & On)

7 seems to be the throwaway spot on most albums.

7 people actually voted for The Late Greats?

Sounds like he's a capable producer but judging from his work with The Autumn Defense he's not a great songwriter. Lets face it, that's a pretty dull band.

1. Art of Almost - 9/10

2. I Might - 7/10

3. Sunloathe - 8/10

4. Dawned on Me - 9/10

5. Black Moon - 8/10

6. Born Alone - 8/10

7. Open Mind - 4/10

8. Cap City - 6/10

9. Standing O - 7/10

10. Red Rising Lung - 7/10

11. Whole Love - 7/10

12. One Sunday Morning - 10/10

I think Wilco the album will get better with age. It's like after people's disappointment with SBS everyone wanted wilco to hit a grand slam with the next one, and it just didn't happen. It's a very good album in my opinion. Falls short of wilco standards maybe, but still it's a chapter in a book that isn't finished yet, so when all is said and done who knows how important of a chapter it will be

Eh no, people wanted it to be great at its release but over the last 2 years W(TA) has clearly fallen from grace. And the fact that its successor is clearly the better album won't help W(TA)s case either.

I think, bearing in mind what preceeded and has now followed them, they do belong together. I agree that, in my opinion, SBS is alot better than WTA.

 

In terms of what they 'sound' like. SBS sounds like Jeff Tweedy coming to terms with personal/health/depressive problems and WTA just sounds like a group of guys having fun without any excess baggage or regard for what went before. Both fine, although the latter was less successful as a record.

I agree completely when you put it that way but it's also the reason why imo it's wrong to put them together - both thematically and stylistically.

Ugh, if only people would stop putting SBS and W(TA) on the same heap. First one is an excellent if somwhat uneven (yeah, several songs on its second half aren't that great but the same counts for AGiB) rootsy wind down album and an essential part of the Wilco discog. W(TA) on the other hand sounds like a band with nothing to say phoning it in.

Wilco (the Album) is a great batch of songs with great playing and nuance

If there's one thing missing on W(TA), it's nuance. IIRC they recorded the majority of the songs on their New-Zealand trip whitout Cline & Jorgesson and it shows, couple of songs (Wilco (The Song), You never Know Sonny Feeling, ...) sound blunt and vapid and it has this straightforward production approach that had its merits on the homespun SBS but it makes the poppier W(TA) sound even more flat. I'm afraid there's just not a lot to come back to the majority of the W(TA)-material.

1. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot 10/10

2. Being There 9.5/10

3. Sky Blue sky 8.7/10

4. The Whole Love 8.6/10

5. Summerteeth 8.6/10

6. A Ghost is Born (always surprised at the high rankings for this frontloaded album) 8/10

7. A.M. 6.9/10

8. Wilco (The Album) 5.8/10

Doesn't matter how it sounds, P4K scores just reflect how cool a band is nowadays. Wilco have been in the dad-zone for quite some time now, thus a final score around 7.0 is the best they can hope for. For anyone who pays 5 seconds of attention it's all as predictable as Rolling Stone giving 5 stars to latter day U2 and Springsteen albums.

Review itself ain't that bad btw, not sure why exactly this is their "least consistent album" in a while though. Reviewer seems to deduct this out of thin air, or he seems to be confusing conherence with consistency anyway.

It's cool. Not in sound, but feel it reminds me of a lot of Sonic Youth stuff; it sounds really cool, it's pretty exciting, on a thematic level it doesn't engage the heart. It's just cool, no more, no less.

I think the angst in this song makes it a lot more heart-engaging than e.g. Spiders (Kidsmoke) or even Art of Almost (and ftr, I like those songs as well but they're more cool artistic statements). It's the only W(TA) song I'm still listening to on a regular basis.

First 6 songs and the closing track are as good as anything as they've done and unlike W(TA) it actually feels like Tweedy has something to say.

That being said, What Light is not just the worst Wilco song, it's probably the worst song of all time.

Good album; first 6 tracks are great, after that it's a bit more hit and miss but every post-YHF Wilco-album was a bit front-loaded and at least this one ends on a high note with One Sunday Morning (and the only real filler-track here is Open Mind). Definitly better than W(TA) and probably on par with AGIB & SBS (a bit underrated around here), that's a lot better than I expected after the vapid auto-pilot rockers of W(TA).

Pretty sure this guy is just Tweedy trolling us leak-enthusiasts.

Because you aren't going to name your album after a song that's not indicative of the sound of that album as a whole right?

Also, 'the whole love'... I dunno, sounds too much like a collection of mature love songs a la You & I. Could be ironic though. Still, I think we should all start bringing on the hate just to be safe.

From that Spin article a couple of months ago: ""Whole Love" is an easy-going country-rocker that finds Tweedy testing out his falsetto skills."

Title + fact that it's gonna be named after that particular song suggests dad-rockness.

i don't know exactly, but isn't about something in one of the wars where people could send slaves to fight instead of them and they receive money (possibly freedom?) in exchange. I always thought that's what the song was about, but i could be wrong

Yeah, I get the same vibe from this song but it think it could be about a modern war just as well. The majority of soldiers actually fighting on modern battlefields stem from underprivileged backgrounds as well after all. Or maybe I'm trying to read too much in it, I dunno.

It's certainly not the uber-patriotic war-endorsement song some people seem to think it is.

I get the Wilco Examiner email and last week the topic was "I'll Fight." The blurb mentioned that most people think "I'll Fight" is told from the perspective of a soldier going off to war. And then you have "War on War," which seems to be at its heart an anti-war song. Does anyone else see these songs as contradictory? I guess if you look at "I'll Fight" as a narrative told by a soldier, and not the values/feelings of Jeff/Wilco, it works. Seeing as the US was fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq when both YHF and WTA came out, does it seem weird to anyone else, these two different perspectives on war? When listening to "I'll Fight," I imagined it as JT's oath of loyalty to his sons and family. What do y'all think?

I always thought parts of the lyrics are actually pretty ambiguous: the soldier in the song is dying for his country and family etc but at the same time there's a suggestion that he's fighting for the values of wealthier, pious citizens who aren't fysically on the battlefield.

Musically, it's one of the least interesting songs on their worst album.