Vacant Horizon

glad to hear the AGIB comparisons. my favorite wilco album sonically and musically. i just had a feeling about this one. have held off listening at all. looking forward to picking it up tomorrow!

Unfortunately, that's the majority.

I think KC's last album Power To Believe is excellent.

The change in Garcia's demeanor and look from 81 to 83 is crazy. Watch Dead Ahead and then this and it's like a different person. The head hanging down during solos, etc. Playing was still excellent, but voice going quick.

same here. it is crazy to think i saw some of these dudes in the early 90s and thought they were old.

Yeah, I like most of those songs. Really don't care for Love and War, Rescue You or Rumbling. And, I'd much rather have an acoustic Hitchhiker as I think it was originally intended.

Dylan's last few albums come to mind. Especially Love & Theft, Modern Times and Tempest. Ironically, I think Neil's Silver & Gold is solid. Maybe not a masterpiece. This is a great topic. It reminds me of the research on creativity that shows a definite decline in quantity and quality after the 20s and then a spike in the last half of one's life. The research was done on academics, but I think it fits with popular music too. So many artists have a peak period and then a resurgence later…unless they continue putting out drivel over the years.

Yeah, I tried to re-listen to PW recently and couldn't get past song 2. LWW is laughable at times. His 70s stuff and early 90s stuff is excellent imo. Not so much in the 80s or the last decade. I bet he's got one more good acoustic album in him though.

Le Noise was an interesting project, but the songs were not there. Good points though.

i love neil, but over the last decade he has just made a fool of himself. not to mention the lemmings that LOVE everything he does. see: Thrasher's Wheat. I really can't listen to much of him any more. I'm much more inclined to listen to people I really respect like Patterson Hood and Tweedy.

I loved Jerry Band Shows! It was just pure, unadulterated Jerry solos for 3 hours. The crowds were big, but totally mellow compared to the Dead. Always ended up meeting and trading with some real nice folks at Jerry shows. That Long Island set is pretty good, although rough in some spots. Really cool to get the Bob/Rob sets as well.

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2014/09/02/music-industry-99-problems Kind of a tedious read. Lots of stuff we already know. What's the future look like? Not sure. I think bands like Wilco, with a solid following will be fine and there will be a few that follow their footsteps if they are good. There's just so much music now. Hard to find the good stuff or at least pay attention long enough.

He's also rumored to be recording an orchestra for an upcoming album called Storytone. I'll probably pass on the new book. Last one was not that great. I wish McDonough would revise Shakey to cover the last 10 years. http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/sep/01/neil-young-prepping-orchestral-album-storytone

I'm definitely interested in a rarities collection. Hope they do it right and not leave stuff off.

Tiny Arrows might be the one keeper. If the songs had been a bit more concise, it would've been a better album. Ready For the Flood was excellent.

it is sad. their acoustic tour was excellent, but the reunited jayhawks was not the greatest. olson was totally phoning it in when i saw them and there wasn't one keeper on that last album. i'm def interested in a new olson album.

Saw DSO last night. They really are excellent. They've somehow managed to transcend the tribute/cover band stigma and just play the music as an orchestra would play a classical piece. Eaton just nails Weir's guitar style and Jeff Matson can really jam. Not to mention the new 'Phil'. They all just nailed it. They played a late '73 show. The Dark Star is up there with anything the Dead did. Just a real good time, little hassle and a great crowd. These guys really get the spirit. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~./gdead/dead-sets/73/12-18-73.txt

Jambands reports that Bob is to be off the road 'immediately and indefinitely'. That's pretty ominous. Get well buddy. Now, I wouldn't mind all the Furthur guys touring with Phil or with another bass player. They can definitely play the songs and would be fun to see in a smaller venue.

I agree, it is tough to see these guys get old. Unfortunately, I think they bite off more than they can chew when it comes to touring. If they keep booking dates like this, then I'm sure we'll see cancellations continue. I am bummed Ratdog. I was thinking about going to the Atlanta show…specifically to see CRB though. I'm going to go see DSO instead. I'm curious what this means for 2015 Furthur or Dead. There's been some speculation that there might be a 50th anniversary thing going to happen. If it does, I really hope it's something good, well thought out, rehearsed etc. and not some

That's a great point. I would add Wilco's YHF in that list of comparisons.

That's about the only good song on Hoist. Another poster assumed phans don't like the studio albums. I think Lawnboy, Rift, Billy Breathes and Ghost are some of the greatest albums of all time. Farmhouse was still good, but everything really went downhill with Round Room. Trey's first solo album is also excellent, but he's put out a lot of junk since then.

Rock books are the only books I can knock out in a sitting. I just suck all rock info in like a sponge. I wish I could've majored in it in college and gotten a PhD, because I know it all! I've found that most biographies have their faults, but it's always interesting to get the general history of a band/artist. I love that stuff. Especially band family trees etc. I know most of the folks on this board are walking encyclopedias of rock too :-)

I really found that book to be like Neil's last few albums…half-baked. I guess he's got a new one come out about cars. My favorites are Shakey and Chronicles I. I'm not a huge dylan fan, but that book is a masterpiece. It's like one long Dylan song. And so pulpy. I refer to Shakey quite often and re-read it once a year just to revisit the unreleased stuff.

I was fortunate enough to see many of the classic shows in the 90s. I pretty much fell off the bus in the 00s. On a whim I saw them last summer having not seen them in 10 years. They are definitely playing solid shows, but fairly laid back. I see them kind of in a groove the Dead hit in the late 80s early 90s. They definitely peaked in 93-94. I'm glad they're still out there, healthy and having fun. Last two albums have really left me cold. Maybe someday Trey will get the itch to write a fugue again :-)

Yeah, way to hijack a thread :-) Just joking of course. It is interesting to revisit this. I'm always game to learns some rock history and to revisit this via the article above has been interesting. Sad, no doubt.