rwilson580

I can see not being crazy about "IATTBYH." This is not a song that should appeal to everyone. It's at the top of my personal Wico hit parade though...I got that "hey, they wrote this for me!" vibe the first time I heard it. And it gets a lot of extra credit for plunging me full bore into the whole Wilco universe. I like it a lot.

I don't want to play the "greatest" game again. But the "desert island" one might be fun. Subtle difference....

I Am Trying to Break Your Heart

She's a Jar

Far Far Away

Impossible Germany

Handshake Drugs

Spiders

At Least That's What You Said

Jesus Etc.

Poor Places

Ashes of American Flags

Yes, it is an interesting, different perspective. The idea that SBS fans are the ones who cannot appreciate nuance seems bizarre to me. And wrong...but then I am wrong about lots of stuff, so who knows? I've never seen anyone group AGiB and SBS as any kind of tag team either. The fact that each of them has at least one extended guitar jam isn't enough to make them close siblings to me. AGiB seems much more similar to YHF than SBS, I think...but one of the things that first drew me to the band was how disparate each of their albums seemed, including the last two mentioned. Anyway, interesting perspective...

There is a webrip floating around if you really want to hear it, but it's not the best quality. If you listen to the Official release of I might and the webrip you'll notice a huge fidelity downgrade...still having it in my IPod/Car has definitely been nice. Can't wait for the real thing and the bonus tracks.

Thanks for the thought. I'd been planning on trying to avoid the album until the official release, knowing that I was doomed to failure. But it looks like fate has stepped in and lent a hand. If the stream returns at some point, I'm sure I'll cave. Otherwise, I'll see if I can hold out. It appears I am going to spend the evening listening to "One Sunday Morning" though.

Nice. Wedding in my wife's family on Saturday. Lots of family stuff throughout the long weekend. Missed all the excitement. Missed the stream. I always knew having a life would seriously interfere with my music time. This really stings.

I guess it will be worth it on the 29th when I'm hearing most of this music for the first time. Stings today though.

I agree that the first half of the album is vastly stronger. In fact, I'd be fully on board with the non-fans if the album started at track 7. Along with being one freaking short album, it's my least favorite stretch of songs on any Wilco album. Walken and Hate It Here each have an awesome riff that has made them concert staples, but are otherwise pretty forgettable (to me). Please Be Patient and Leave Me are pleasant little songs but, again, nothing special (to me). What Light is one of my least favorite Wilco songs. Although, ha ha, it never seems as bad as I think it is when I'm actually listening to it. Tweedy's vocals almost redeem it for me...the parts where he is more speaking than singing.

As others have said....On and On and On is terrific. One of the greatest bridges I've heard by any artist, ever.

And, yeah, I pointed at track 7 as the beginning of the end. I think "Shake it Off" is an excellent song. Sure, it's kind of grating, but that dissonance is one of the things we like about the band, right? This is Exhibit A for those who say SBS is just too bland, just not adventurous enough. True, one song does not make an album. And that's ok, because I'm not sure I'd love an album full of "Shake It Offs". But one of them is ok on one of my favorite albums.

My first exposure to the band came during the 2007 Austin City Limits telecast featuring the SBS tunes. One of those very rare, special moments when you encounter an artist that you know is going to change your life. I snagged YHF, AGIB and SBS in rapid succession from the local library...found them all remarkably distinctive...and all remarkably addicting. It was a surprise when I stumbled on this site, eager to submerge in all things Wilco...and found a persistent disdain about their latest album. It's been nice to see that turn around a bit over the last few years. I'm not sure if that's because the album is a serious grower, because more late arrivals to the Wilco family have shown up, or because (TA) came along to suction off a lot of the backlash. Or all / none of the above. But it is a great album, and I've built several Wilco fans who consider this their favorite. It's not quite mine, and I won't argue with those who say in the YHF ===> AGIB ===> SBS ===> (TA) progression we've seen a discernible downward slide. But I would argue that in the case of the first three albums it's sliding at an EXTREMELY high level. SBS is a fabulous album, and in my experience a great gateway to the band.

It is always fun. But it reminds me how long it's been since I've listened to most of these straight through.

• Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
  
• A Ghost is Born
  

• Being There
  
• Sky Blue Sky
  

• Summerteeth
  
• (The Album)
  
• AM
  

My only real debate is which order to put 3) and 4) in. IMO the first half of SBS is one of their very strongest sequences of songs.

AM is probably literally a better "album" than (TA), since one of my primary complaints with (TA) is that it isn't so much a unified album as a collection of random songs that do not belong together. But those random songs have lots of individual moments I like a lot.

At the worst...the absolute worst...it's a new collection of songs written by Jeff Tweedy. Holy crap, how exciting is that? Even if it's lesser Wilco, you know it's gonna have a lot of cool ideas, and hooks that virtually no one else can write. (The Album) is not a favorite, but there are moments that I find inspired in every song. Yeah, gotta be there Day 1 for the new one.

What I may NOT do this time is sample the advanced streamings. Kind of anti-climactic last time knowing the songs before I had the CD in my hand. I'd like to avoid that...but can I resist when the Via Chicago gang starts talking them up?

I'm weak. No chance.

Damn. My whole life I get April and May confused. I thought the big end-of-the-month Wilco Jumble extravaganza was yesterday. It sure complicated solving this Elvis-themed puzzle when I kept trying to decide what Elvis and our band had in common. I think life may exceed my capacity.

Hey. Yesterday wasn't even the end of the month. Yeah, I'm confused.

Did I miss an earlier posting of this?

 

Paste's 30 Best Wilco Songs

My real time reaction...

She's a Jar...30?...already I'm concerned. Definitely top 10 for me.

Hate it Here...one of the few I can clearly say is NOT a favorite.

Gack. Wilco (the Song). Another rare non-favorite.

Casino Queen. Ok, I get it. AM was the real Wilco for some people. Not my favorite Wilco, not my favorite song on that album.

Handshake Drugs. Great song. A lot higher than 26 for me.

Theologians. Also great. Not too many lesser songs on AGIB. Again, higher than 25 I suspect for me.

Ok with the next couple.

Impossible Germany...22...that's a top 5 for me.

I Must Be High at 21...still not my favorite Wilco.

20...Ashes...top 10 for me.

Ok with the next couple.

Yikes. Poor Places at 17. Top 5.

I Got You. One of my least favorite Being There songs.

ALTWYS. Probably around 15 for me too.

No problem with the next few, although they'd have to drop a little on my list.

I like Spiders at 10, many will not.

Can't do Passenger Side at 8.

The rest of the top 10 are all great...except for Heavy Metal Drummer. I'm probably liking it more as the years go by, but the standards for a Wilco top 10 are SO high.

So my list would look a lot different. If they'd replace HMD with Poor Places at least their top 10 (er...6 or 7) would look pretty good. I miss Pot Kettle Black, Muzzle of Bees, Far Far Away, Sunken Treasure, You Are My Face, Side With the Seeds......

I'm confused about my feelings for this album.

I like every song on it, really like several of them. But whereas I think of every other Wilco album as a cohesive whole...an ALBUM...this feels like a collection of songs. It really does have a "greatest hits" vibe, a group of songs that don't belong together. For the artists I like, I don't listen to (or own) their Best Of collections. I listen to the source albums, and I listen to them all the way through. We don't have that option here. With W(TA), there are no source albums. All we have is this collection, that comes with that nice bonus track of Jeff dueting with some pop singer. So sometimes I listen to it, and I like each song, and I wonder why it doesn't feel like an album, and why I won't want to listen to it again for a long time.

This is unique for me, by the way. I can't think of any album, by any other artist, where I would make comments like this. Other disappointments always come down to the songs themselves.

I'm confused about my feelings for this album.

I checked out the collaboration. Russell remains one of the coolest vocalists out there. Every time his voice takes center it's a treat. John...not so much. Not at all. Egads, this guy is tedious to listen to now.

A couple Nyro covers in the last two pages. Here's the original:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmAErvCR5UM

Did not know he'd passed away...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HGDJNgQcoY

Not the studio version, sadly...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gxxWWyNrXQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J3gX47rHGg

Great call here. I debated adding this one myself, wasn't sure the word "pop" was applicable for one of the great rock songs of all time. But you chose wisely. A song that touches this many buttons surely is a great pop song, even if it's so much more.