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Catalog: Wilco


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AM A

BT A

ST B+

YHF A+

AGIB A-

SBS A

 

agib is my favorite album despite the grade. i guess i was grading on my personal opinion of consistency.

 

How is ST the least consistent Wilco album ::scratches head::...I've always considered it the one most jam packed with quality melodies and lyrics.

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"Down w/ Wilco" is NOT better than "AM". Gimme a break.

 

This thread is a joke.

 

 

This isn't a definitive thing from on high. I'm not putting my opinions on you or on anyone else for that matter. Just like I'm not mad at you for thinking that AM is superior to Down With Wilco. Get it?

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Interesting take on it. I agree in a lot of places, so I'll just highlight a couple spots where I couldn't possibly disagree more:

 

(MA2) There isn't any track as great as "California Stars" here, but "Remember the Mountain Bed" and "Secrets Of the Sea" try their damndest.

Wow. CalStars is cute, but imo I'm not sure there's another track anywhere in the Wilco canon that holds up to Mountain Bed. One of my favorites ever. (Secret of the Sea gets on my nerves, but I was never a fan of the band's power-pop phase)

 

..and its always fun to trot out the ol' warhorse:

(AGIB) the biggest "WTF?!" moment is the majority of "Less Than You Think." Tweedy still prickles at the criticism lobbed at the track, but honestly, only a fan of Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music can dig that stretch of wankery.

I almost never listen to it, beyond maybe a minute or two, but I love the fact that it is there simply because it is bizarre, especially when stretched out to cartoonish lengths, and because it makes people use words like "wankery" in their reviews, which always makes me laugh and/or roll my eyes.

 

I guess I might as well give my rankings, tho these change all the time.

 

AM B-

BT A++

MA C+

ST B

MA2 C

YHF A

AGIB A-

SBS B+

 

Sides:

Loose Fur B+

BAITUSA B

 

Down With Wilco D+

 

Down By the Old Mainstream C

(I don't own any other Golden Smog)

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I can't believe Wilco fans don't love "Down With Wilco" ... that surprises me. To me "California Stars" is one of the most perfect songs ever made. But yes, "Mountain Bed" is very good.

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I can't believe Wilco fans don't love "Down With Wilco" ... that surprises me.

Its an occupational hazard of the whole genre-hopping thing. I tend to see that record as something of a genre-experiment and I just don't particularly care for that direction. After seeing Jeff play "Family Gardener" on the solo DVD I guess I can say that the songs themselves aren't necessarily bad, but I don't at all care for the overall sound of that record. But I'm not a very "pop" kind of guy. Pop is my drone, if that makes any sense. :lol

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I can't believe Wilco fans don't love "Down With Wilco" ... that surprises me. To me "California Stars" is one of the most perfect songs ever made. But yes, "Mountain Bed" is very good.

 

 

Down With Wilco is one of my favorite albums.

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I can't say I've given Down With Wilco a fair shake. It didn't grab me the first bunch of times I listened to it and I've never really given it another chance. I have another Minus 5/Fresh Young Fellows cd and it never really took hold either. Nor has that Tim Easton cd that the "old" Wilco played on.

 

I do however love Down By the Old Mainstream and Weird Tales. That collaboration seems to work better for me.

 

AM: A

Being There: A

Mermaid Ave.: B+

Summerteeth: A

Mermaid Ave. II: B-

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot: A

A Ghost Is Born: A-

Sky Blue Sky: A-

 

The first four albums (-MAs) all built on the last one for me. Getting the albums when they came out gave me the chance to live with the album for a while and really fall in love with it. I didn't remove the CD from the carousel until the next one came out. AGIB is the first one for me that I found myself skipping a track or two occasionally. I still love it though. SBS is still growing on me. I haven't had a chance to really get into it as I have the others.

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I'm not a huge fan of The Minus 5's other output overall, as I feel that Scott and Peter's work is a little too scattershot, a little too jokey or rather a little too carefree feeling. But "Down With Wilco" was great because it matched the pair's obvious abilities and Scott's tremendous lyrical gifts with Wilco's very strong musicality and work ethic. It's still a wonder to listen to for me.

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Down With Wilco is one of my favorite albums.

 

The way I see it is Down With Wilco has about five great songs on it. A.M. has about three good songs on it. You can't really compare the two cause they are driven by different singers. What I will compare is "Family Gardener" being better than everything on AM.

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CalStars is cute, but imo I'm not sure there's another track anywhere in the Wilco canon that holds up to Mountain Bed. One of my favorites ever.

:thumbup Of course I agree. Just one the most beautiful marriages of lyric & music anywhere in Wilcoworld.

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Great thread, lots of strong points. I tried to see If I could apply a grade to the art but I just couldn't. Art is hard, it's subjective, thats why many don't attempt it. I guess I have a paternal/maternal type relationship with each album. Parents love each of their children in different ways for different reasons at different times. Many people give AM a low grade, for me, I find myself listening to it just as much as Summer Teeth. I guess the ugly red-headed half brother has to shine sometime.

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Eh.. why not? I dig the post first of all bhickman, though our opinions differ on A Ghost is Born which is probably my second favorite album they've done (if not my favorite), it was a great read.

 

All right here's my take

AM: B-

BT: A-

ST: A

YHF: A+

AGIB: A+

SBS: B+ (I could see this growing into an A- though in time, I think Ghost would have probably started at a C+, and it really grew on me)

 

 

Mermaid Avenue Vol. 1: A

Mermaid Avenue Vol. 2: B-

The Wilco Book CD: B

 

Side Projects:

Loose Fur: A

Born Again in the USA: B+

Down With Wilco: A (yeah this is better in A.M, in my humble opinion).

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AM- Havent heard much

BEING THERE- B

SUMMERTEETH-A

YHF-A+

AGIB-A+

SBS-A-

 

 

 

Also

Wilco's catalog is very similar to The Beatles if you look at it like this...

BT = Rubber Soul

ST = Revolver

YHF= Sgt Peppers

AGIB= White Album

SBS= Abbey Road

 

just something i was thinking about the other day

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The grades are in...

 

AM: B

Being There: B+

Summerteeth: A-

YHF: A+

AGIB: A

SBS: A-

 

Also

Wilco's catalog is very similar to The Beatles if you look at it like this...

BT = Rubber Soul

ST = Revolver

YHF= Sgt Peppers

AGIB= White Album

SBS= Abbey Road

 

just something i was thinking about the other day

 

 

So what's their "Magical Mystery Tour"?

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AM- Havent heard much

BEING THERE- B

SUMMERTEETH-A

YHF-A+

AGIB-A+

SBS-A-

Also

Wilco's catalog is very similar to The Beatles if you look at it like this...

BT = Rubber Soul

ST = Revolver

YHF= Sgt Peppers

AGIB= White Album

SBS= Abbey Road

 

just something i was thinking about the other day

 

I remember the first time I heard the AGIB stream (pre-release) and thinking this is Jeff's homage to the White Album.

 

good call.

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