rwilson580

Picking a least favorite song on Being There is tough. But I'm stunned that multiple people managed to single out "Was I In Your Dreams?". This must be an even stronger album than I remember.....

then i pick up this W(TA), and on the first listen i'm like "wtf? really? THIS is the successor to SBS?"

 

many of the songs are stale, and i thought that on the first listen unlike SBS. one wing, you and i, country disappeared, i'll fight....seriously what's with those songs? i don't like any of them.

Interesting. I'm on your side, a big SBS fan. When I look at WTA, though, and consider which songs might have fit into SBS decently, One Wing and Country Disappeared may be the most obvious candidates. Great songs, I think. If there's a SBS legacy, it may be those songs.

And despite the fact that I've been backing SBS throughout, I have to defend "I'll Fight" a little bit. I've seen some people knock the lyrics here, like that "I'll Fight.....I'll Die....etc" stuff is all the song is about. In fact, in subsequent verses Tweedy does entirely different things, turns some fairly complex phrases. I think it plays well off the initial simplistic refrain. End of the day, it shouldn't surprise any of us that Jeff Tweedy knows more about writing a great popular song than almost anybody. Especially us fans.

I found something kind of interesting this morning. My daughter and I were driving to work together (yes, Dad Rock) and Wilco pops up on Sirius radio. We're talking, so I don't pay much attention, other than noting the marvel of Wilco on the radio. Eventually our enthralling conversation stalls, and I realize -- the song that I subconsciously registered as "You Never Know" -- because that's the one that's getting air play -- was actually "Glad It's Over." That's right, the song that was jettisoned from SBS, and wound up on the Heroes soundtrack. Now some of you are going to disagree, but I thought it was a wise decision to exclude this one from SBS -- I like it, but it's a little light, out of keeping with SBS's general vibe. OTOH, although I doubt the song actually sounds much like You Never Know, I think it would fit perfectly on the new album. To my ear WTA is a funner album than most in their catalogue. And whether you favor SBS or WTA may depend on how much "fun" you prefer in your Wilco.

My perspective:

AGiB is a great album. And similar enough to YHF that I'm always surprised when someone loves one but not the other.

And Summerteeth is anything but effortless, sincere, or natural. But those words work perfectly for Being There.

I wonder if Being There and Summerteeth were recorded and released after YHF, if they would have had similar criticisms leveled at them. Would Summerteeth's review focus on how the keyboard parts are too busy and would ELT be called Dad Rock? Would someone say aside from Misunderstood and Sunken Treasure, everything else on Being There runs together as either a bar-band rocker or a folksy country song? (They'd be wrong, but I think you get my point). Now I think both of those records are better than either SBS or WTA, but I think Foxtrot raised a lot of our bars to a point where Wilco may never hit them again.

 

--Mike

I should have read this before I posted above, Mike. This is kind of what happened for me -- I experienced the albums in this order -- YHF, AGiB, SBS, BT, AM, ST. I loved them all through BT, and liked AM an awful lot despite the alt-country vestiges. Summerteeth, though -- whoa. Remember that old Sesame Street game -- three of these things belong together, three of these things are kind of the same? Well, ST was DEFINITELY the one that did not belong for me. Great songs, but so over-produced, so slick. Pop mechanisms that seemed way too familiar...shop-worn, in fact...and "shop-worn" was one thing that I never expected from my new favorite group. Now I'm not saying that I was right, but it does kind of reinforce the point that we've both made -- that the expectations you bring to the table are HUGE.

Hmmm...I wonder which of my expectations are undermining my (ta) experience...?

I think we're all slaves to our expectations a little bit. I came to the Wilco party late, Summerteeth was their last album I heard -- and it was the only one that disappointed me. And yet to a lot of you ST is obviously the summit of Wilco's catalogue. I think a lot of people have the same issues with SBS -- it suffers just a little bit more than it should because it wasn't exactly the album they wanted at that point in time. I thought SBS was a superb album the first time I heard it, and it has only gotten better with repeated listenings. I like every song on (ta), but it's going to need serious legs to ever seem as interesting to me as SBS. After a half dozen pre-release listens, (ta) is already feeling a little tapped out. Sky Blue Sky by a mile for me.

Can't wait to hear these new songs live on the 19th, though....

People never stop complaining about Sky Blue Sky, and the first five or six songs are ridiculously good:

Either Way

You Are My Face

Impossible Germany

Sky Blue Sky

Side With the Seeds

I would add "Shake if Off" as well to that run, especially since SBS's rep is that it's oh-so-safe, and there's some nice little dissonance on that song.

YNK certainly isn't the most challenging song on the album, but to me it's hardly the least, either. That would definitely have to be the duet. YNK is pleasant enough, but it just seems way too repetitive to me. It's got a short bridge, jumps right back to the chorus, and repeats that several times. I guess that makes it a decent candidate for radio play for non-fans. Definitely not a recipe for a Wilco classic, though.

I think there are interesting parallels to be made here (willingness to experiment, beautiful vocal hooks, that ragged lead guitar), but the album thing doesn't work so well. Pretty much none of your matches work for me from a stylistic or career-impact perspective. The only one I like at all is Tonight's the Night and AGiB -- but even there, AGiB really wasn't much of a departure from YHF. Nothing like TtN's place in Young's career.

The stream's still alive and well Sunday morning. Perhaps it's gonna stick around for a while? Still, looking forward to having that CD in my hand...

{You may be too sensitive for the internet.]

Nice. Why'd you have to go and say that? That really hurts. And it's not true either. Man...

[You find Summerteeth to be their least interesting arrangements?]

How is that possible?

And you never mentioned Being There or A.M. Have you not heard them?]

Re ST's arrangements -- Yes, it's true. I'll admit there's a lot happening there...but that doesn't mean they're particularly interesting. My first impression of the album was that every song was overproduced, with most of the pop devices extremely familiar. With repetition I've gotten more comfortable with them...does that mean I "get" the album in a way I did not initially? Or that the elements of the band I loved eventually overcame the other stuff? I don't know. But I'm pretty sure "trite" wasn't the effect they were going after, and that was my initially reaction to the album.

This is why I mentioned violating official dogma. Feel free to ignore the infidel!

Yep, I know and love both AM and BT. Especially the latter. And, again, I love Summerteeth as well. All relative...

I'm real new to this forum, so I should tread lightly. Hopefully nothing I say here will terribly violate site gospel. But I think Sky Blue Sky is a tremendous album. I believe SBS is pretty much as experimental as the preceding two studio albums, but in a more organic, less conspicuous kind of way. Like others, I DO find moments in songs like Hate it Here and Walken that aren't my favorites -- but I also find other moments that totally redeem each of the songs. They're all keepers for me. I find the album really rewards repeated listenings -- it's had a growth curve like no other Wilco album for me.

In answer to the original question -- no, not remotely SBS II. If I had to pick a companion Wilco album, it would definitely be Summerteeth. To its detriment, I think. I didn't really discover Wilco until a few years ago, and did not experience their albums sequentially. Summerteeth was my last stop, and it was the the only one that disappointed me a little. Great songs, but the arrangements were w-a-y too poppy for me. For those of you who grew along with Wilco, and found the SBS step somehow lacking -- I have to tell you that passing thru YHF, AGiB and SBS -- and THEN hitting Summerteeth...well, that's a trip, too.

End of the day, I do love Summerteeth as well -- it's all relative, after all. And certainly one of the reason I've been obsessed with the band for the last few years is because of their variety, their willingness to experiment with different styles. But having flashbacks to what I consider their least interesting arrangements with (The Album) was a bit of a letdown for me.

I absolutely cannot wait for my three hour drive to see the band July 19th. That's enough time to make a serious dent in their catalogue on the way there. This is Wilco day for me, a quick trip there and back would really not be good enough. And the ticket price? Come on, this has to be one of my biggest concert bargains in years. Crazy topic.

IATTBYH

Impossible Germany

Spiders (Kidsmoke)