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Wilco (The Album Discussion w/ spoilers)


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seems the theme is relationships of different kinds... either from one another within one, or looking in from the outside. almost every song he's talking to someone (lots of you, i, we, etc).

 

is it just me, or does 'you and i' continue the 'wilco (the song)' theme of the band and fans? seems to fit for me.

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Does Nels play on this album or is he out of the band now?

 

I kid... sort of.

 

I like the album a lot, but it seems nels jams even less then he did on SBS. The hype over BBN being his coming out party in the studio is way over stated which lead to a major let down for me.

 

I would have loved to hear him go off on a few songs.

 

That said i love the album for what it is another great collection of songs.

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I entirely agree. I didn't even know this was coming out on vinyl. Now I have two new vinyls to check out.

 

Sorry, I missed your question. That was odd timing. Yes, it's coming out on vinyl. And you can pre-order it now. There's a couple of threads discussing it.

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yeah there are no Nels\' Side with the Seeds or Impossible Germany freak out solos.

 

But if you notice, Nels has a lot more room to work with on this record. There\'s less \"solos\" but there are certainly a lot more lines that he has in this one, and especially with the effects and the noise-skronk, which was not on SBS at all.

 

You Never Know really reminds me a lot of like Full Moon Fever era Tom Petty, I think You\'re Jamming Me was from the album before that one. The Harrison guitar lines are certainly there, but it doesn\'t sound to me like a straight rip off of My Sweet Lord. It is certainly an homage, but if you\'re going to steal, Harrison is certainly of the best.

 

--Mike.

 

Well, the fact that part of the chord progression is straight lifted up from My Sweet Lord doesn\'t really help. The vibe is probably brighter on \"You Never Know\" than on \"My Sweet Lord,\" but the chord progression is there, and all I can say is that someone better be trying to mash the two together.

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But if you notice, Nels has a lot more room to work with on this record. There's less "solos" but there are certainly a lot more lines that he has in this one, and especially with the effects and the noise-skronk, which was not on SBS at all.

I agree that he has more room to work, and his input is insidious, and offers delicious colors in unexpected places.

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Just listened to the album.Its a grower. Fave tracks so far One Wing (Nels does get to stertch out a bit at the end), Black Bull Nova, You Never Know and Sunny Feeling. If i was to give this a grade on the listens so far then its a B+. As i say its a grower and i am looking forward to hearing these tracks live :thumbup

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Guest Speed Racer
I have been doing the same and I find this disconcerting. Knowing how much Tweedy puts into trackiing on the albums, after mulitple listenings the cohesiveness is lacking. I'm listening to songs here and there, something I've never done with a Wilco album -- at least not until low after I'd worn the grooves a good bit.

 

See, that's exactly why I've started shuffling it; after the second listen I start thinking, "Wow, this is a great song, but I'm so-so on the follow-up," and I create expectations for the tracks. Once it's on shuffle, I learn to like all the songs individually (ideally; we know my thoughts on Leave Me Like You Found Me), THEN, listening to the album in the proper order once more I tend to enjoy it - and the flow of the tracks - much more than I would have otherwise.

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Good comments Neon and Racer. Sometimes the sum is greater than the parts, sometimes the parts greater than the whole, and experience is key. With other Wilco albums, I've just let them play and play (and play and play etc.) and having different tracks jump out, different nuances in the same song striking me a different way (even AGIB, only skipping over the drone when I would break my trance). I probably enjoy(ed) SBS more than most because of the setting in which I listened to it (five days in late spring in Chicago in a rented Spyder Eclipse convertible).

 

It could be chicken/egg thing in that if you listen to a track order long enough you find the associations between the songs through repetition, but other times (except AM -- and even with SBS) there is a natural order and flow to the songs, especially given Tweedy's anal retentive nature to piece them together. But with W(TA), there seems an expediency and a functionality to the song order (or maybe it's just the incongruent nature of the songs) that is more formulaic than esoteric.

 

I apologize after the fact for the BS level of the above. But I *know* what I'm *trying* to say.

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Of course, this album is a bit more eclectic than their previous 4 efforts which all seemed to propagate more or less a single idea, so naturally that leads to the fact that it's easier to rearrange the individual songs without losing vital parts of the CD as a whole. Actually, the same counts for Being There.

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Third listen, Solitaire sounds Loose Furry.

 

Listening in the car on the way to work this morning, I was thinking that Wilco the song and Sonny Feeling sound like lost tracks off BAITUSA. This is a good thing.

 

Maybe it's just me. The more I listen to this (and love it) the more I realize how much it owes to the Beatles. Anyway I fucken love this record.

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Of course, this album is a bit more eclectic than their previous 4 efforts which all seemed to propagate more or less a single idea, so naturally that leads to the fact that it's easier to rearrange the individual songs without losing vital parts of the CD as a whole. Actually, the same counts for Being There.

Nah, I thought about that before posting, and I think there's a flow to BT and the way some songs interrelate. Can't offer an example, but it goes back to a "feel" on first listen. Even when tracks attempt to begin or end disjointed (Why Would You Want to Live) there's always at least a natural flow of tempo.

 

I think there's "logic" to the tracking of W(TA), but it's more of necessity. For instance, Glenn Kotche could have farted the drum part for You and I and people would have smiled and welcomed the song, simply because of the release from the tension of BBN. Listening to that song on it's own, it's -- to repeat an acronym -- MOR.

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.Well, the fact that part of the chord progression is straight lifted up from My Sweet Lord doesn\'t really help. The vibe is probably brighter on \"You Never Know\" than on \"My Sweet Lord,\" but the chord progression is there, and all I can say is that someone better be trying to mash the two together.

 

Oh really? I sadly never progressed passed Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star on piano, so I don't really know a c chord from a ham sandwich as Bill Withers used to say. I'll have to listen to those two back to back and see if I can pick up on it a little more, the electric slide guitar lick is certainly close to My Sweet Lord though. And yes it is kind of humorous that they are lifting the song Harrison, himself, lifted.

 

Still it doesn't bother me quite as much as how similar to Far Far Away, SBS the song sounded last time around.

 

--Mike

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Yeah, but does Hitler prefer SBS or Wilco (The Album)? Which sounds better in a vw?

 

Neon, we don't keep you around hear for your 'feelings' on music. Compare this album to a dictator.

 

:lol

 

Well, if forced to draw a parallel between Wilco (the Album) and a dictator, keeping in mind that, as you

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