GLHawk

It's funny the things fans will find to complain about:

I bow to no one in my unabashed R.E.M. fandom, but I can say confidently that W(TA) is a better album than Reveal. Again we see Wilco being criticized for merely recording an album full of "good" songs. I submit that this an achievement, not a demerit.

Not one of my faves on the album -- that one and You Never Know are my least favorite, because of the aforementioned repetitiveness. But I'll Fight still has a lot going for it -- I love the soaring guitar and vocal parts in the bridge, which lend the song a lot more color than On and On (which I also like). Also, this song is a real sleeper lyrically -- I'm still trying to sort out what it's really about, but it's definitely a lot more complex than I thought on first listen. (Same is true of Sunny Feeling, which I also initially dismissed.) Also, it's not really an artistic crime to have

OK, let's do a side-by-side comparison: Wilco: "You and I, we might be strangers However close we get sometimes, it's like we never met." Seinfeld: "Oh, shmoopie, schmoopie, schmoopie." Yeah, man, I can totally see that. Seriously, if this song is "cheesy," then so is half the Beatles songbook.

Wilco don't make no junk. Is there really no one else who likes "You And I"? I am truly baffled by this.

I'm much more enthused about W(TA) than most, apparently. It can't match up to the Being There/YHF/AGIB trio in my mind, but I rank it just below those, and above A.M., Summerteeth, and SBS. This is actually their only one besides YHF with no songs that I dislike. It's interesting that some here are dismissing it as a "good" album with nice songs. We in the Wilco fan community are spoiled rotten. I like the fact that they pursued the pop angle this time; "You and I" gets no love whatsoever here, but I think it may someday be regarded as a classic. It's not easy to write a good love song.