Sky Blue Sky

[danelectro]

Loud though they may be, it's still Windham Hill voluminously on top of a Reprise record. With 'Sky Blue Sky' in particular, I'd be listening to an awesome song when a superflulous (and loud) 'smooth' guitar solo would be slapped on top like butter. I'll probably grow to like them, but right now it seems like AGIB with a bunch of cholesteral on top. Unnecessary, and waaaayy too smooth.

 

I can see how people would think that but I don't think the album is as smooth as others do. It still sounds like Wilco, it's not The Association album people are trying to make it out ot be.

[Guest Speed Racer]

I could see how people would think that but I don't think the album is as smooth as others do. It still sounds like Wilco, it's not The Association album people are trying to make it out ot be.

 

But that's the thing - so many people (including myself) have never heard The Association, only SBS - and don't like it. We are making it out to be an album we have listened to (like you have), but an album that tends to disappoint (a sentiment you thankfully do not have).

[skip]

With each record, they've turned a corner, and as they did, some people got off and others got on. This time, the road they turned onto brought them a few blocks from home - closest to where they started (in my opinion). For those who got in the car... around YHF and AGIB, it's been fun, but I'm sticking around. And I can see where this record might bring back some of fans that got out a few records ago.

 

Peace.

[dark heat]

If I have one complaint about this album as a whole it's that it doesn't feature enough of Jeff's guitar. I could have done with a bit more than that break in "You Are My Face"

[danelectro]

But that's the thing - so many people (including myself) have never heard The Association, only SBS - and don't like it. We are making it out to be an album we have listened to (like you have), but an album that tends to disappoint (a sentiment you thankfully do not have).

 

I could probably swallow that if the majority of the negative reviews didn't have the words "smooth jazz" or make comparisons 70's soft rock icons.

[Dreamin']

... it's like people forgot that YHF had songs like Jesus, Etc. Kamera and Reservations on it or that AGIB had Hummingbird, Wishful Thinking, Theologians or The Late Greats. Much of SBS is quite a bit heavier than those songs, it's just this time the cacophony is more understated and sly.

I agree. I keep thinking of that Coco Chanel quote: "Elegance is refusal."

 

This is very much the Wilco that I know and love. BUT if I wanted them to make the same album every time, I probably wouldn't be a Wilco fan to begin with (or a Neil Young fan, for that matter).

[Chendizzle]

If you don't like it fine, but don't write crap about how quiet and mellow it is, as if that is some sort of negative against it. Sorry Wilco isn't making the "cool alternative" music you want them to....

 

If this album is too mellow and quiet, people still reserve the right to dislike it for that reason. It might not be a negative in your opinion, but obviously opinions aren't universal.

[danelectro]

And if I wanted them to make the same album every time, I probably wouldn't be a Wilco fan to begin with (or a Neil Young fan, for that matter).

 

That's a really good point.

[Guest Speed Racer]

I could probably swallow that if the majority of the negative reviews didn't have the words "smooth jazz" or make comparisons 70's soft rock icons.

 

I can't name names, but I'll be damned if I didn't grow up listening to WNUA in my dad's car. I know smooth jazz when I hear it, icons or no. Everyone on this board has been to a department store, everyone has been in restaurants. They know genres, and they know what they do and don't like.

[Gobias Industries]

ok i just want to voice my opinion here.

 

to be honest, im really dissapointed with it. all the things that i love wilco for, their experimentalism, progressiveness, and unique sound, all seem to be gone in Sky. I guess you have to respect an artist's desire to try new sounds, but Sky sounded incredibly boring in comparison to the soundscapes that wilco are capable of creating. say what you will about leroy and bennett, but right now i really want them back.

 

Experimentation - Doing something you haven't done before. SBS is uncharted territory for them. It's rock, familiar territory, but it has a new vibe, kinda 70s soul - something they haven't explored...until now. It's experimenting, it's just not your death-grip strict definition of experimentation. Experimentation means out of the norm, not a shitload of noises that defines your music for some 10 odd years.

 

Progressiveness - Pushing the envelope. SBS pushes the envelope...straight the other way. Wilco's spent years pushing the envelop in the "texture" direction, and now they've gone straight the other way (the structural way). They're pushing the envelope. They've changed their direction, and it's damn well progressive because they are defining a new Wilco.

 

Unique - Singular in and of itself, no replications. This is a unique sound. It mixes old rock, new soul, and everything Wilco has ever achieved, and cooked a damn good stew out of it. I can't see how this isn't unique, Wilco has never gone in this territory yet.

 

Soundscaping is the old Wilco. The new Wilco is about musicianships.

 

I loved Wilco's soundscaping, but was it supposed to cover up something? Think about that. At least here it is all laid bare, and damn you to hell if you don't like it.

[danelectro]

I can't name names, but I'll be damned if I didn't grow up listening to WNUA in my dad's car. I know smooth jazz when I hear it, icons or no. Everyone on this board has been to a department store, everyone has been in restaurants. They know genres, and they know what they do and don't like.

 

Then you should know this record is a long way from smooth jazz or muzak.

 

It's cool if people don't like it, I really don't care I'm not on a mission. I just don't think it's necessary to label it something it is not. SBS sounds like Wilco not Kenny G, rest assured SBS will never be played on WNUA.

[LeeT4321]

my opinion? it's a mix of a step forward and a step back. namely, sky blue sky is the step back as it sounds just like far far away. debateable, sure. but as with any wilco album, this new one undoubtedly is one that i will have to warm up to with plenty of listens. to get picky, i noticed that lack of that beautiful vocal harmony. blah blah blah. jeff's voice is way too timid i think on this album, still beautiful though. more thoughts to come, duh.

[a.miller]

I think, all in all it's quite a good album. However, Shake it Off and On and On and On don't do it for me. Also, as someone else stated, I think some of Nels' soloing is not...."necessary" at times. But really, if all I got on this record was Sky Blue Sky, You Are My Face and I Hate it Here, I would be content. My $.02 until I hear it another zillion times.

[socbret]

jeff's voice is way too timid i think on this album

Jeff goes way above what he has in the past on a lot of these vocals, how are they timid? Unless your counting the nothings on Misunderstood. I understand that it's your opinion, it just seems like a strange one considering their other material.

[Gobias Industries]

Jeff goes way above what he has in the past on a lot of these vocals, how are they timid? Unless your counting the nothings on Misunderstood. I understand that it's your opinion, it just seems like a strange one considering their other material.

 

He goes so high he has to use falsetto on Walken. He has only done that one other time (Hummingbird). That obviously must mean something.

[dark heat]

Jeff goes way above what he has in the past on a lot of these vocals, how are they timid? Unless your counting the nothings on Misunderstood. I understand that it's your opinion, it just seems like a strange one considering their other material.

 

Yeah, the only side of the "Jeff's vocals are timid" argument I can see are that it's more timid than they are live. I mean, compare his vocals on "Side With The Seeds" to anything from YHF or AGIb.

[danelectro]

Jeff goes way above what he has in the past on a lot of these vocals, how are they timid?

 

That's what I was thinking.

 

It's really interesting reading some of these reviews. I'm starting to get the impression some people have been mistaking Wilco for an industrial band that didn't play guitar solos. Maybe Jeff will get Ministry to open for the summer tour.

[Guest Speed Racer]

That's what I was thinking.

 

It's really interesting reading some of these reviews. I'm starting to get the impression some people have been mistaking Wilco for an industrial band that didn't play guitar solos. Maybe Jeff will get Ministry to open for the summer tour.

 

If you squeeze a dude's balls, he's gonna squeal. Some of Jeff's falsetto is *definitely* reaching, and others I really do like ('Sky Blue Sky,' for instance). Again, Ramsey Lewis has a crap-ton of guitar solos in his tunes on WNUA, but I would consider none of them to be earth shattering.

 

Every song on SBS has a 'Song/Breakdown/Nels Wank/Song' structure. Totally gets old. At least Brian Hennemen sounded raw and loose (NEVER thought I would say that, by the way! If anyone sounds like an ass on the Jay Farrar boards, it's Mr. Neverwonagrammy). I am TOTALLY not a fan of Hennemen, but prefer his work to Nels on this record. The man is a shit-kicking guitarist, don't get me wrong, but he brings himself and the band down on this record at times.

[thisyearsgirl]

for what it's worth, last night, jeff said something to the effect that he was proud of the album/it is his favorite. (exact quote is a bit blurry...still in cloud nine from the whole night. living room show plus album premiere? too much!)

[candyflosser]

Is there anywhere I can still downlaod it from?

[Guest Speed Racer]

I'll buy it, I'll love it, it'll be on my iPod and I'll sing along until kingdom come. Just like the other Wilco album(s) I don't like, it will be in my iPod/playlist garden to grow. Will it take in that soil? Regardless, I'll give it an equal chance.

 

Nobody puts out shit they think is sub par. Even fanshionistas have totally biffed it throughout their careers. But we all still wear clothes.

[danelectro]

for what it's worth, last night, jeff said something to the effect that he was proud of the album/it is his favorite. (exact quote is a bit blurry...still in cloud nine from the whole night. living room show plus album premiere? too much!)

 

He said that about AGIB too

[danelectro]

At least Brian Hennemen sounded raw and loose (NEVER thought I would say that, by the way! If anyone sounds like an ass on the Jay Farrar boards, it's Mr. Neverwonagrammy). I am TOTALLY not a fan of Hennemen

 

Really? I never go there anymore. I really don't come here either, I bet I haven't posted 20 times since I participated in the AGIB version of this thread 3 years ago.

[babble]

It seems that most everyone on this board is in love with this new album. I don't think it is bad and in some places I think it is amazing. However, I just can't shake the feeling that there are many parts of this album that sound more like a side project. They sound like the more serious clean side of the last loose fur album. The album lacks teeth and the kind of sonic ruminations that have invaded all spaces of at least the last two albums. I do think that You Are My Face is one of the best songs they have ever recorded. The version of impposible germany just lacks the same dynamic umph that the live versions have. Either way is another impossibly beautiful song. Hell there are not really any bad songs on here per say but if they were intermingled with other tracks it would have worked a little better. Shake It Off is one of those songs only a mother could love or more specifically a song that us die hard wilco fans could enjoy. Have It Here has some great parts to it but overall its just too straightforward and sometimes silly. The only song the totally misses the mark is Leave Me. Is that the thanks I get should have taken its place as this song just goes nowhere. On and On and On is so much better here than I have heard live.

 

Whats up with Wilco rocking the steely dan 70's thing as well. There is too much of the straightforward guitar driven rock. yes Nels is an amazing guitarist but the solo is not how i have always heard Wilco. There are some real gems here but ultimately this just isnt nearly as good as the last three albums. I will always love a band that can go out and reinvent its sound (to a certain degree) each time out. I am glad they keep growing and changing and I will go back and listen to this sucker at least 20 more times in the next few days just to be sure. That is my rambling two cents....

[froggie]

just took a few more listens:

 

it's starting to sound like a more mature sound to the AM/Being there era band. i can definately hear the roots of the original 'alt country' band and their more modern stuff. the vocals sound new altogether, the music seems to swell on their earlier career and the arrangements are a mix of both - good stuff!

 

my only complaint is that jeff seems to struggle with some of the high notes in the vocals - maybe its it's intentional - maybe not?.

 

still, i like it more than AGIB.