Uncle Skujelo

This is very early days for me and UT. I shall keep re-listening with an open mind, and reconsider!! Thank you for your responses.

 

 

On a slight side note, I just received all four Uncle Tupelo albums (2003 editions, Legacy edition for No Depression). I can't wait to hear how they "fit" into this epic story.   

Forgive me, for I know this is somewhat off-topic, but I am having a hard time finding the Uncle Tupelo thread.

Wow, UT was good! The first album burst right out of the gate on a very high note. I really admire the Peter Buck produced 3rd album. I'm surprised to find that Anodyne, of all their albums, ie the Major Label Debut, The One That Was Supposed To Hit It, is the hands down weakling of the 4, to my ears. No Sense In Lovin' must be the worst song that Tweedy has ever put his lips to. There is something seriously lacking in Anodyne that was present in the other 3.

IMHO A.M. continues on this unfortunate path. It sounds rushed and half baked to me. But Being There is the great leap forward. Wilco really begins with BT.

On another note, I still cannot grasp how great YHF is. The older I get, the more this monumental album grips my brain. Wilco have done wonderful things over the last 15 years, but there was a special magic with YHF which may never be recaptured. All the stars aligned. It's otherworldly. I think Tweedy knows this, and he purposely tries not to emulate it in any way, shape or form. What Wilco does now is wonderful (I love SW and Schmilco), but it is a different thing than YHF.

Man, this is so hard to do, and it changes every month. FUCK I love Wilco!! This month:

1. YHF

2. Summerteeth

3. SBS

4. TWL

5. Schmilco

6. Star wars

7. AGIB

8. WTA

9. BT

10. AM

Yeah, I've been on a massive WILCO kick lately, and SBS just keeps getting better and better to my ears. Strangely, AGIB is starting to slide to mid pack. AGIB has many wonderful songs, but it also has excess, which is something WILCO is rarely guilty of.

On a slight side note, I just received all four Uncle Tupelo albums (2003 editions, Legacy edition for No Depression). I can't wait to hear how they "fit" into this epic story.   

Doc and Junior, that's too bad you two aren't feeling the newer albums as much. In my opinion they're the best two albums in a row the band has done since Yankee Hotel Foxtrot/A Ghost Is Born. I think every Wilco album has been good but to my ears the Sky Blue Sky, Wilco The Album, The Whole Love, maybe sounded a bit... complacent? Not sure if that's the best word to describe them, but I definitely never got into them as much as I have the new two (though, full disclosure, I find the older I get, the more I appreciate Sky Blue Sky). To me Star Wars and Schmilco sound very fresh and solid, they feature some of the best songs Jeff has written in years and the performances are just top notch, IMHO. But not everyone is going to like the same music! 

I agree with this 120%. This week SBS has hit me HARD.....it's as if I just discovered it's beauty 9 years after the fact. And I love the 2 new ones. (SW is still "new". I'm still OTT thrilled with it.) And today, after 3 spins, I'm floored with Schmilco.

Wow, I couldn't disagree more. Of course taste is a very personal thing but these songs on Schmilco are stuck in my head and won't let go. The lyrics, the melodies, and the overall feel of the album have gotten under my skin in a major way.

As a lifelong Wilco fan (dating back to 1994), I think this is the record, along with Star Wars, that finally moves me into "disappointed" territory. I dig the first two songs on the new one and then it goes downhill fast. I mean, "Cry, cry, cry all day. Cry all night." Yikes. I'm still early in listening but songs 3-end just aren't grabbing me, with songs like "Common Sense" actually turning me off (this song is just brutal). I caught 3 of 5 Fillmore shows and although they're still great live, I do think it's clear that they've peaked, which given that the majority of the band is 20-25+ years into their careers, isn't surprising. But it is a bit of a bummer to see your favorite band on cruise control. 

 

Just for fun, here's how I'd rate their catalog:

AM B

BT A

ST A

YHF A

AGIB B

SBS B-

WTA C

TWL B+

SW D+

S C-/TBD

Oh Man, to each their own, but I seriously think you should give SW and ...er....S more time. I'm a long time fan, aged 54, and I fucking love these recent records. I will admit that the initial spin of Schmilco (and Star Wars for that matter) had me baffled and disappointed. Tweedy is a genius, and I think the later Wilco albums are much less immediate but just as great as anything that Wilco has done. Sheesh...I'm even reconsidering SBS on a grand scale this week. Years ago I thought it was lesser Wilco. Now I think it is top tier Wilco. All I can say in summary is....keep listening to those Wilco albums that you think are shyte......keep an open mind.

Finally got the CD today. (I'm old school.) 3 spins.

1st spin very underwhelmed but track 4 (I don't have a grip on all the song names yet) came across as something that is just as weird as the weirdest things they did on YHF and AGIB, and track 11 came across as bouncy and playful, with fantastic organ. 

2nd spin was very "hmmm". Things began to seep into my brain.

3rd spin I knew this thing was fucking magnificent. Tweedy is genius. The band is fantastic, and this does sound like a band record to me, not Tweedy solo with some accompaniment.

I love how it starts very quietly and ends midtempo....the opposite of Star Wars.

My impressions are very foggy after 3 spins, but in very broad brush strokes, this starts quietly, then a couple of midtempo beauties follow, then the middle stretch contains the weirdest songs, then it ends very strongly in the fourth quarter.

Track 4 sounds like a song that fell onto the floor and broke into pieces, then it got stitched back together all wrong.....which is so right. It's from another planet, but it fits into the album nicely.

Sorry this is slightly incoherent. I'm giddy with excitement, and I will do many more spins over the next few days.

I mean it's different for everybody, for me it's about ranking the emotional impact or connection I have to the records. I don't rank them for quality. I'm sure there are people who rank them similarly or even to show their distaste but everybody is entitled to their opinions and reasons, I guess. I'd also say that's why you see a lot of people posting about tiers of their preferences instead of hard lists. If I let you know that I listened to A.M. five or six times in the month of September so far alone, what does that say about how little the list really means, you know?

 

Here is my incomplete list (Schmilco is too new for me):

 

AGIB

YHF

SBS

SW  \

ST    |

           - Sch. (Somewhere in this grouping) 

BT    |  

tWL  /

AM

WtA

 

One day, I believe this record will get the due it deserves. It's a beautiful record with an awful lot of lyrical depth and emotional nuance. I'd say it's the most unique record in the catalog at this point.

I'm sure it has been said many times, but after YHF and AGIB I think many were disappointed that Tweedy scaled back the sonic canvas in favour of something more simple and direct, and this was seen as something "lesser". I will admit to being in this camp, but years later I'm discovering that "simpler" can be "better" when the songs are this good.

Maybe slightly off topic, but I just listened to Sky Blue Sky for the first time in a very long time, and I'm floored. It's beautiful. I must rank it much higher than I previously did.

I think we will see Star Wars - The Sequel. (Badumtsh.)

Just want to say that I've been a huge fan since YHF came out, I really love Star Wars (never tire of it), and now this! What a wonderful time to be a Wilco fan. Clearly the guys are having some fun with the album title and artwork. Tweedy talked about "why not just have some fucking fun" in some recent interviews. Why not? Too many bands take themselves way too seriously. "Fun" does not mean the music is shit. The opposite might be the case. 

Anyway....fun times!!

Is it possible that this lyric sheet is totally wrong in places? I mean, in More... how can Jeff not be singing "....I'd sooner watch the show.....only ten episodes...." Those two lines are so related, that's what I assumed he was singing, but the lyric sheet indicates something about a sewer, haha. WTF?

More... is absolutely fucking epic. It might be my favourite Wilco song. Somehow they made an anthemic song with a 2:43 duration. Fucking genius. And that wash of white noise over the last chorus is fucking beautiful.

Sorry if this has been answered, but on vinyl does You Satellite close side one? Or Taste The Ceiling? Pickled Ginger works well as side 2 opener.

Being 53 years old, I still visualize all albums as vinyl, with "sides". This closing/opening discussion is very important to me.

I think we will see Star Wars - The Sequel. (Badumtsh.)

I wonder why we listen to poets when nobody gives a fuck.

Start with Wilco (the album) 

 

Actually, I think each album shows a different era of the band with The Whole Love and Sky Blue Sky being the most similar.  AM is pure alt. country.  Being There is classic country/rock/alt. album in the vein of any of Neil Young or Dylan's masterpieces.  Summerteeth is intellectual power pop.  YHF is deconstructed alternative rock.  A Ghost is Born is one of the greatest albums of all time in production and songwriting.  That's a start.

I'm extremely familiar with all the Wilco albums since YHF. I have noticed on this forum that Wilco (The Album) gets the most knocks against it, which is something that I don't understand. It's not their best album, but damn, there are some absolutely great songs on it. (One Wing, Everlasting Everything, Sonny Feeling, Deeper Down). Maybe the flow is wrong though....I always thought the second half was sequenced wrong.

I'm about to do an 80min bath with red wine and Being There!! (Too much info, possibly.)

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED:

 

1) Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

2) Anodyne

3) A Ghost Is Born

4) Being There

5) Summerteeth

6) Loose Fur

7) Still Feel Gone

8) Mermaid Avenue 

9) Born Again in the USA

10) Star Wars

11) March 16/20 1992

12) AM

13) Sukierae

14) Sky Blue Sky

15) The Whole Love

16) Mermaid Avenue II

17) Wilco the Album

18) No Depression

19) Mermaid Avenue III

I included all the Wilco albums, Mermaid Avenue albums, Loose Fur, Uncle Tupelo, and Tweedy. But not Golden Smog, 7 Worlds Collide, or Down With Wilco.

No Depression has a ton of energy and attitude but frankly, the songs aren't nearly as great as they are on later releases. It was an important album when it came out, but it got overshadowed by subsequent releases. People who were there are the time of release will probably hold it in higher regard to people who first listened to it after UT had dissolved, due to nostalgia. I can't blame them, what a breath of fresh air it must have been in the pre-grunge early 90s. Still, Anodyne is their best as Jay was peaking as a songwriter (sorry Son Volt fans) and Jeff was just starting to write great tunes. Plus it's the perfect blend of country and rock. Still Feel Gone feels in a lot of ways like No Depression 2.0, the songs are all better than No Depression. March is a great acoustic album, there's not much more to say about it beyond that.

Mermaid Avenue III is what happens when you scrape the bottom of the barrels, there's a few Wilco gems on there (When the Roses Bloom Again) and a whole lot of Billy Bragg garbage. Mermaid Avenue II is kind of the same deal, only with a few more gems on it due to Wilco recording new songs.

 

Really appreciate your insights and opinions here, thanks.

No Depression is a country punk masterpiece, from opening chord to finish.  It was really a game changer for me the first time I heard it - on a cassette on a long road trip from Chicago to Texas.  

 

March 16-20th is brilliant in a completely different manner, and probably more of a "Jay" album than "Jeff".  But it's some of the best UT songwriting in my opinion.

 

if you do a mashup of AM and Trace, you'll produce Anodyne.

 

To this day I can pull any UT album out of my player and enjoy it start to finish.  Amazing talent between those two leads. 

 

Trying to slot them in between Wilco albums in a ranking?  Impossible.  Different beasts.  Might as well throw Jay's efforts in there as well and make a comprehensive UT-spawn l

OK, thanks. I just watched the show UT did on Conan - very Unwilco, if you will. (But very many years ago also. This is one thing that blows me away about Wilco: Tweedy seems to take giant leaps at an age when most other acts start to suck. He was 34 when YHF came out, and in his 40s he shows absolutely no signs of retreating.)

Listening to Being There from start to finish is the next thing you should do in your life.

 

 

Yes.

This might be blasphemy, but remember that they considered continuing as Uncle Tupelo after the split.

I confess to having very selfish reasons for this exercise: I have never listened to Uncle Tupelo, and I want to see how the 4 albums rate amongst you diehards.

Actually I have never heard AM or Being There yet. Or Mermaid Ave/Loose Fur. (I know, right?) Despite these gaping holes in my cognitive development, I have been an absolute Wilco Worshipper since YHF. Star Wars continues the greatness, and I finally decided that I should embrace the complete works. Joining this forum is a big step in that direction.

Thanks so much for your thoughts/inputs, and for my education.