pitchfork gives SBS a 5.2

[uncle wilco]

You know what? I don't care about "growers." If an album doesn't grab me in the first few listens, why should I bother? Why should I listen to an uninteresting album twenty times in the hopes that it MIGHT "grow on me" when I could be listening to something that actually moves me? This finally occurred after listening to SBS yet again in the spirit of "giving it another chance" and realizing I'd rather just listen to YHF instead.

 

SBS is a pleasant, inconsequential album by a band which is capable of so much more. I don't hear much that's challenging, moving, memorable, attention-grabbing, thought-provoking, innovative, or even catchy and fun - which all of Wilco's previous albums (even the much-maligned AM) have delivered in spades. It's not a terrible album by any means, but "not terrible" is hardly the same as "brilliant." And no matter how many times I listen to it, I still feel the same way - and so do a lot of other people, by the sound of it. Will we all magically be converted on the 57th listen? Maybe - or maybe in a few years - but I somehow doubt it. I really don't want to waste any more of my time when there's so much better stuff out there.

 

i thought exactly as you did about 5-6 listens into the album. but then i figured that for as long as i'd been a fan, they earned a few more spins at least for my sake. i didn't really want to cut the cord and put them in the "hasbeen" stack just yet. i was rewarded after i went another week or so before passing judgement. it took about 12-15 listens for me mostly just to let go of the expectations i had built up. i'm glad i gave it a chance. probably won't hit you the same way, but you never know. of course, if i wasn't as old as i am, maybe i'd have picked up linkin park today instead...no...i wouldn't have done that, no f*cking way...

[Basil II]

LOOSE FUR!!!!

 

 

 

 

WoOt!

 

 

-Robert.

[radiokills]

SAINT GENEVIEVE YOU'RE MY BOY LETS BE FRIENDS

[Jesusetc84]

well...I'm giving it more spins.

 

I'll be honest. I hated AGIB at first; now it's gone up about a star and half for me.

 

I've been spinning it all day to try to get into it.

 

The first 4 songs are growing on me, and the last two as well.

 

The middle, isn't doing it for me; I still think Walken and Shake it Off are lame... and that the lyrics as a whole are a step down, but there's some beauty in this record in particular the title track and "What Light".

 

I'm really hoping this will grow on me, as I imagine it'll be the last Wilco album of the decade.

 

Sorry if I was a pretentious prick; I talk before I think sometimes.

[jethro]

You know what? I don't care about "growers." If an album doesn't grab me in the first few listens, why should I bother? Why should I listen to an uninteresting album twenty times in the hopes that it MIGHT "grow on me" when I could be listening to something that actually moves me? This finally occurred after listening to SBS yet again in the spirit of "giving it another chance" and realizing I'd rather just listen to YHF instead.

 

SBS is a pleasant, inconsequential album by a band which is capable of so much more. I don't hear much that's challenging, moving, memorable, attention-grabbing, thought-provoking, innovative, or even catchy and fun - which all of Wilco's previous albums (even the much-maligned AM) have delivered in spades. It's not a terrible album by any means, but "not terrible" is hardly the same as "brilliant." And no matter how many times I listen to it, I still feel the same way - and so do a lot of other people, by the sound of it. Will we all magically be converted on the 57th listen? Maybe - or maybe in a few years - but I somehow doubt it. I really don't want to waste any more of my time when there's so much better stuff out there.

Yep.

 

I suspect there's some sort of Wilcoboard divide centered around what bands you listened to prior to Wilco, like if you used to be a Replacements fan you're a lot less willing to put up with weaksauce Wilco than you are if you used to go listen to Phish or their ilk.

 

Anyway I've read some stuff that Mitchum has written post-review (in a thread about the review on another board) and he's not a hater of the band, just disappointed like the rest of us.

[Saint Genevieve]

SAINT GENEVIEVE YOU'RE MY BOY LETS BE FRIENDS

 

But I'm a girl.

[lost highway]

I suspect there's some sort of Wilcoboard divide centered around what bands you listened to prior to Wilco, like if you used to be a Replacements fan you're a lot less willing to put up with weaksauce Wilco than you are if you used to go listen to Phish or their ilk.

 

Man I really hate Phish. I loves me some SBS. I also love the Replacements. I would think the old band threads that lead up to SBS would be: Byrds, Zombies, Neil Young, Bob Dylan and the Band (basement tapes), Bill Fay. You down with any of those dudes?

 

Oh, and Phish suck.

[Beltmann]

You know what? I don't care about "growers." If an album doesn't grab me in the first few listens, why should I bother?

I understand your logic, St. G, and my only defense is that I do care about growers, if only because nearly every single album that means the most to me started as one. My life as a music fan is immeasurably richer because I bothered.

 

That said, it's impossible to give every album the listening it deserves. I'm sure I own plenty of albums that would mean more to me if I had given them more of a chance. I put them aside to keep working on other records, so I don't see why you shouldn't make the same choice regarding SBS. There's no formula for choosing which albums to invest in and which to give up on... it's largely a matter of instinct, and if your instinct is telling you there's nothing left in SBS to unpack, then you are probably right, at least for you.

[noyes]

i have realized that i am torn between two thoughts and feelings of this album

on one hand i feel exactly like Sgt. G does (that's how i felt when i first heard it, and still do)

but then again, in the last few days and now that i've got the cd, i feel exactly like tongue-tied does.

it's a middle thing.

[Analogman]

Man I really hate Phish. I loves me some SBS. I also love the Replacements. I would think the old band threads that lead up to SBS would be: Byrds, Zombies, Neil Young, Bob Dylan and the Band (basement tapes), Bill Fay. You down with any of those dudes?

 

Oh, and Phish suck.

 

Actually they do not.

[lost highway]

Actually they do not.

 

Oh Analogman, I assume your wisdom encouraged you to leave it at that. Knowing our argument would be almost as predictable as a Grateful Dead argument. Hats off to you.

 

How ya feelin about SBS though?

[Saint Genevieve]

I understand your logic, St. G, and my only defense is that I do care about growers, if only because nearly every single album that means the most to me started as one. My life as a music fan is immeasurably richer because I bothered.

 

That said, it's impossible to give every album the listening it deserves. I'm sure I own plenty of albums that would mean more to me if I had given them more of a chance. I put them aside to keep working on other records, so I don't see why you shouldn't make the same choice regarding SBS. There's no formula for choosing which albums to invest in and which to give up on... it's largely a matter of instinct, and if your instinct is telling you there's nothing left in SBS to unpack, then you are probably right, at least for you.

 

I have to say that all of my favorite albums grabbed me within the first few listens - YHF and Summerteeth, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, Skylarking, and Daydream Nation, to name but a few. My appreciation for them grew over time - they didn't become my favorites right away - but each of them had something about them that caught my attention right away and held it. With YHF, for instance, it was the weirdness of IATTBYH and the poppiness of "Kamera"; with Aeroplane, it was Jeff Mangum's voice and lyrics. I might just have a different listening style that fosters impatience with slow growers, or maybe I'm just getting old and cranky.

[Analogman]

Oh Analogman, I assume your wisdom encouraged you to leave it at that. Knowing our argument would be almost as predictable as a Grateful Dead argument. Hats off to you.

 

How ya feelin about SBS though?

 

I don't even own a Phish cd - but they are great musicians. Everyone digs what they dig.

 

At first I did not like it - but I will say it is highly emotive.

[passenger]

Mitchum probably listened to the album once. His is a common reaction of thoe who have done so, and not unlike mine. It's the same reaction I've had the first time I have listened to any Wilco album. Listen to it several times. It grows on you. This guy thinks "Shake It Off" is the worst cut on the record? It's the best!! And it will stand the test of time. The mellower stuff is Jeff in an new paradigm. There were people who thought that "Sgt. Pepper" was the demise of the Beatles (not that I'm comparing this album to that). Artists change, and their environment and lifestyle change and it all has an effect on their music. No one can possibly dispute that this is the strongest Wilco lineup ever.

[caliber66]

Listen to it several times. It grows on you. This guy thinks "Shake It Off" is the worst cut on the record? It's the best!! No one can possibly dispute that this is the strongest Wilco lineup ever.

I dispute that this is the strongest Wilco lineup ever. I also happen to agree with the reviewer that "Shake It Off" is the weakest track on the album. And if you think everyone who doesn't like the album just needs to listen to it more, you're insane.

[EL the Famous]

I said it another thread...somebody brought up Phish and this album reminds me of a Phish record w/out the goofiness. I actually like Phish, but i'm not sure if I like Wilco doing Phish-like material or not. They started down that path on AGIB though, so i'm not surprised.

 

Before anybody refutes...you have to throw on Phish's 'Billy Breathes' and listen to it a couple of times until you can see the comparison because my comparison is a grower in concept.

[mountain bed]

I said it another thread...somebody brought up Phish and this album reminds me of a Phish record w/out the goofiness. I actually like Phish, but i'm not sure if I like Wilco doing Phish-like material or not. They started down that path on AGIB though, so i'm not surprised.

 

Before anybody refutes...you have to throw on Phish's 'Billy Breathes' and listen to it a couple of times until you can see the comparison because my comparison is a grower in concept.

Truth. There are a number of tunes here that remind me (somewhat) of later-period Phish.

 

Oh, and Phish does NOT suck. My .02

[Beltmann]

Before anybody refutes...you have to throw on Phish's 'Billy Breathes' and listen to it a couple of times until you can see the comparison because my comparison is a grower in concept.

[owl]

I used to listen to Phish a lot.

 

I don't listen to them at all anymore.

 

I do think that SBS is reminiscent of Phish, though.

 

I do listen to SBS.