rwilson580

My personal favorite would have to be Album C. Side 1 is killer... all five songs are desert island contenders for me. There’s an inevitable drop off on Side 2, but with Ashes and Shot that’s a solid 7 for 10.

Album B is pretty top heavy. 3 or 4 of the band’s greatest, most iconic songs. But somehow Hate It Here finds a home? Sorry.

Impossible Germany is near the top of my personal list. Not too many other favorites on A’s album though.

Kudos to D for snagging ALTWYS. There are several other personal favorites on that album, but not quite enough to push it above C Level. (See what I did there?)

I’d probably draft IATTBYH first. Not necessarily my favorite, but a hellacious anchor.

Good article.  The writer is clearly an actual fan of the band.  The last line was brutal, but otherwise I enjoyed it.

Great show.  Jeff was funnier than I've ever seen him, and that's saying something.  He congratulated Ithaca on having the longest of the Finger Lakes ("basically the middle finger") and for that big cosmic FU it was sending out to the universe.  He claims he felt that vibe as he toured the area.  Which he insisted he now knew more about than we did.  He also mentioned the new album that he hoped we'd all had a chance to acquire.  When the audience roared he said, "No you didn't," and whispered "jerks" under his breath. Funny guy.

I'd list some of the songs, but I wasn't taking notes so I would miss plenty.  I'll give it a try if no one else shows up with a recap.  I will say though that this was my first Tweedy solo show.  And although I enjoyed the first half of the show, it will be the moments when he was on stage alone, doing acoustic versions of so many songs that I love, that I will remember forever.

Steely Dan has been my favorite band since the mid-70s.  I thought they'd finally been surpassed in the 2008-2010 time frame, when Wilco was about all I was listening to.  A few years later my Wilco fever has died down a little, and I'd have to say that Steely Dan remains at the top.  It's close though.

The rest of my all-time top 5 artists would probably have to be Neil Young, Tom Waits and King Crimson.

You guys have hit a few of my favorites.  "Box of Rain" for sure, although I've listened to it so many times I wouldn't actually ever back that one up and listen to it again.  Probably.

And all the songs where Richard does vocals on "The Band" album.  Whispering freaking Pines.  Rocking Chair.  Not my absolute favorite band, but my favorite album of all time.

Here's a song that I don't THINK has been mentioned, that always ends too soon for me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKplna3hWtc

I was cool with them opening with it.  This is not a song I ever expected to see performed live.

Best Dylan I've seen. I'm glad I gave him one more chance. He wasn't chatting up the audience, of course, but he seemed engaged throughout. He was front and center for large portions of the show. His band was terrific. I went there for Wilco and MMJ, but I have to say Dylan ALMOST stole his own show.

Doh. Wait. I think there was another early (AM or Being There) song. Red Eyed and Blue maybe? Damn, sorry. After immersing myself in the archives prior to the show, I'm not positive.

I counted 16 songs when I got back to my hotel. Looks like you have most of them. They also did Impossible Germany.

Our local newspaper recently went to three days a week. And unless I'm missing something, they've made no effort to provide the Jumbles for the missing days. I am now on Jumble withdrawal! Things for the fix!

I make sure I hit the men's room before the show starts. Just a tip for you kids out there! But if an emergency DID ever sneak up on me, Impossible Germany would be absolutely the last song I would bail out on.

This isn't meant as a criticism...just curious...but for those who have grown tired of the band's music...why do you continue to hang out at a fan site? That would seem like continuing to watch that wedding video after the divorce to me. Again, just curious.

I climbed on-board in 2007. And for three straight years they were pretty much all I listened to. And then one day I realized I didn't NEED to listen to them quite as much as I had previously. And then I remembered there was other music out there. I was kind of glad. I have hundreds of bands, and I don't want to spend all my time with one. Now I go lengthy periods without listening to their music, but I know it will be great when I do. When a new album comes along, probably, and I immerse myself in the band again for a month or two. I still come here a couple times a week to see if anything is new. And when they tour I will make DAMNED SURE I get tickets if they are within a few hours of me. It's ok. A little healthier than it was. Wilco is a band that can foster unholy obsession.

It seems like the standards of people's answers here vary widely. Some seem to be replying with their lists of "perfect" albums (a ridiculously high standard) and others with "no songs I skip" (a ridiculously low one). I always have trouble with that perfect album idea...because almost invariably you have songs you like better than others, even on your favorite albums. So when you hit your least favorite song on the album...are you still thinking "ah, perfection!". Example....

I haven't seen The Band (The Band) mentioned. Probably here, but I haven't scoured every post. Incredible, rich album that continues to reward repeat listenings for me 40 years later. Is it perfect? I don't know...Cripple Creek is pretty twangy. A half dozen of my favorite songs are here, a few others that aren't so special. Quite possibly my favorite album, but perfect...?

Anyway, a few other contenders for me:

Katie Lied (Steely Dan)

Rain Dogs (Tom Waits)

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Wilco)

Rust Never Sleeps (Neil Young)

Hot Tuna (Hot Tuna)

On the Beach (Neil Young)

Larks Tongues (King Crimson)

Red (King Crimson)

Trick of the Tail (Genesis)

Love Over Gold (Dire Straits)

I've got a Wilco friend who plays lead guitar in a covers band. He keeps talking about adding "I'm a Wheel" to their repertoire. I've never heard them play The Band or Phish though. More like Z.Z. Top....

Odd. But I heard Sunloathe playing while I watched it, so it was worth it.

Subtle Jumble today...unless my ancient eyes deceive me.

It's no favorite for me, but I've never understood the special disdain reserved for the song on this site. Wilco has some great songs, some very good ones, and some OK ones. This one falls into the latter category, I agree. Of several lacklustre songs on the second half of SBS, though, this song is certainly no worse than Patient. Or Hate it Here. Jeesh, at least LMLYFM has the advantage of being moderately forgettable. When I accidentally play Hate it Here in front of a non-fan, inevitably I have to apologize for the band, explain that this is not a typical effort. I'm sure many will feel that the worse sin an artist can commit is to create something that leaves little impression...in this specific case I have to disagree.

TWL was a big album, I think, because it was hard not to feel that there was a clear downward trend over the last four albums. Of course, when the first two links in that chain are YHF and AGiB, it's hard not to go backward. Anyway, I believe TWL is a huge return to form, and on my personal hit parade probably sits behind only those two masterpieces.

I think you could make a case that SBS is one of their absolute best "albums," though. In the sense that it has a very consistent vibe throughout. Granted, a vibe that some of us don't care much for. I continue to believe that the first half of this album is almost as strong as anything in the band's catalogue.

Holy sh$t...these are great versions of both of these songs. I think I'm looking forward to Saturday night in Cooperstown. Yes...yes...I definitely am.

No Cooperstown tickets for me yet either. I'm not worried......yet.

Ah, that makes me feel much better. Thanks RJ. I think we're gonna be ok.

 

But of course, that opinion would be just plain wrong.

Sorry, that was an example of an opinion. In this case, yeah, a stupid, stupid opinion.

We're doing the Cooperstown show. No sign of tickets yet. It's still early...but damn, my tickets to other Wilco shows arrived SO early. When do you think I ought to panic a little...?

Cool. I go away for a few days and our favorite whipping boy returns.

I love SBS, but I agree that the first half of (TA) trumps the second half of SBS. First few songs of SBS -- in my Oh So Humble Opinion -- is one of the strongest streaks in their entire catalogue. Second half...probably their absolute weakest. I think they're mostly pleasant enough songs, but just not very strong. By this band's standards.

Three years later, I'm still stumped by why (TA) just didn't do it for me, and so many other Wilco fans. I don't dislike any of the songs individually. They've each got some cool musical business going on in them that I can respect, and enjoy. But the album as a whole...I don't know...I never have any desire to put it on.

The Whole Love, OTOH...it's been in one of the slots in my car's stereo since it was released, and I can enjoy it every time it pops up. If anything, with repetition it is only seeming stronger. I would never say now what I thought last September -- that it is two great songs wrapped around a bunch of very good pop songs. Rising Red Lung, Black Moon, Sunloathe -- they can't be dismissed that easily. And the others are, at worst, GREAT pop songs. I think YHF and AGIB are stronger over all...but TWL can stand with anything else the band has released.

Count me as valuing the IMHO's. If you're on a web site that is so inbred it is like hanging out with your pals in the bar then, by all means, hurl abuse on your neighbors, and dispense with the polite qualifiers. People do cite facts on a forum like this (Cars Can't Escape didn't make the final cut on YHF) along with opinions (CCE didn't make the cut on YHF because it sucks ass). It's polite to distinguish between the two types of things.

Yes, FIVE people she knows consider him a genius. Whereas I assume the other 1300 people of her facebook friends do not. When I read that line, my immediate thought was: damned with faint praise. I would have laughed too if I were a Grammy award winning musician whose record has been considered one of the 100 best in music history by various publications, who has a huge cult following. I would laugh not out of modesty, but as a meta-chortle that implies "how interesting that this little lady's five friends appoint themselves as arbiters of genius."

I think that would be an appropriate reaction if she'd said "some of my friends think you're cool." Now delightfully naive. "Bona fide genius," though...that's something else. If that doesn't inspire modest laughter then you're a loser. Jeff knows he can string together a pretty good tune, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't consider "genius" his due.

Hey, if five people in the WORLD have gone on record that you're a genius, that's kind of cool.

I don't think it's so bad. Other than the apparently non-ironic usage of the "ashes" cliche. I like seeing Jeff confronted with the genius thing. Humble geniuses are cool.