Wilco (The Album Discussion w/ spoilers)

[Guest Alan]

I would call it more of a nod than a rip off.

ok, a nod. but the guitar lick at 3:35 is lifted.

[Dude]

I understand this board is full of fanboys who will love everything this band does until the end of time (or wilco, whichever comes first). But man, I love wilco more than anyone I personally know and this is a sad night.

 

I actually didn't really like SBS all that much, that album bores me to tears for the most part, but really think the new one is exciting. Again, I think it may just be lost on some people, and there's nothing anyone can say on here to change those people's minds outside of "Give it some time, give it time to grow on you, blah blah blah."

[dunnright00]

ok, a nod. but the guitar lick at 3:35 is lifted.

 

and the harmonies/backing vocals..

[Guest Alan]

Hey, it might grow on you... just give it a chance. .

That's what I'm hoping. I'll definitely be giving it more listens over the next few weeks. And I'm sure I'll still purchase the vinyl.

[Reflectedinthemoon]

I've now listened to the whole thing, and I have to say that I really love it. I will wait a while to see if any of the excitement and affection washes away, but somehow i doubt it will.

 

I think everyone's made good points, and I can see where y'all are coming from, even if I don't agree with you. To me, this album seems simultaneously a culmination and incorporation of their career so far, and also kinda unlike anything they've ever achieved before.

There's a real respect for and exhibition of tonal nuance throughout the whole thing (see: One Wing, which was, in my opinion, a lesser song in its rockier Lollapalooza incarnation) that i think was generally lacking on SBS. As a fan who joined up around YHF and AGIB, this is really nice for me.

But I also think they've pulled off the whole classic rock, best-of-the-60s kinda thing better than they ever had before. Also, I like how the two halves of the album are different in their feels. Makes me really excited for the vinyl.

Overall I'm actually getting a kinda John Lennon/Plastic Ono vibe from the second half. I dunno, maybe I'm crazy and the only one who sees that. I dunno what the hell the first half is but i love it.

[Guest Alan]

Alan... if you were saying that about SBS i could agree and understand... that album felt much more lazy than this one (granted it grew on me and now i like it quite a bit), but this album def has more energy than SBS at least.

 

p.s. your avatar is Pearl Jam, a band who i've seen 30+ times live but have coasted in the studio for over a decade now

I actually think SBS is a better album. At least, it has better songs. The first 4 tracks on SBS stand up to anything else Wilco has done in the past. I'm not sure I can say that about anything on this album yet.

 

 

I agree with you about PJ. Yield was their last great album. I've seen them about 15 times though and I'm never bored. My avatar was the poster they had for my first show in 98, which I have proudly framed.

[dunnright00]

10. Sunny feeling - Happy go lucky song that is catchy but i cant put my finger on it, possible grower 7.5/10

 

I think this is going to be a great live song. Nice Vocal refrain, and then Let Nels loose!!

[solace]

I actually think SBS is a better album. At least, it has better songs. The first 4 tracks on SBS stand up to anything else Wilco has done in the past. I'm not sure I can say that about anything on this album yet.

 

 

I agree with you about PJ. Yield was their last great album. I've seen them about 15 times though and I'm never bored. My avatar was the poster they had for my first show in 98, which I have proudly framed.

 

fair enough... not saying this one is up there with my favorite Wilco records (BT, YHF, & Summerteeth), but i'm enjoying it way more than I expected to and def more than I liked the last 2 at first (AGIB was the first new Wilco album i was totally let down by upon first listen). kind of thought it'd continue my interest loss from the last 5-6 years, but this might just be what i needed to reel me back in.

 

i have that same poster only in orange, from the Missoula show

[Halsey12]

It is exciting!

[mpolak21]

A song by song running commentary.

 

1. Wilco (The Song)-- I was a little on the fence about this one when I first heard it, but so far it's working for me pretty well-- Jeff's guitar lines remind me a bit of his work on the live versions of Can't Stand It circa 2001-2002 and Werewolves of London. Solace hit the nail on the head, this is the best "dumb rocker" they've done in awhile.

 

2. You Never Know The Name of this Song is Deeper Down-- Wow. The sound sort of reminds of Summerteeth or Down With Wilco, I like Nels here a lot, good lyrics, very strong overall.

 

3. One Wing-- I like this one a lot more than I liked the live versions. The ending works well, and it feels a lot more concise than it did live.

 

4. Bull Black Nova-- Feels like a Remain in Light era Talking Heads outtake with a little less groove, probably my favorite song on the album. Re: Solace and Bobbob, I think people and perhaps myself included my overrate this one a little early just because it's so exciting to hear them really pushing things sonically in the studio again. Glenn and Nels really tear it up here and for people who felt they were under or misused on SBS it's going to be quite exciting.

 

5. You And I-- I don't know if I'd love an album full of these, Feist's vocals are pretty cool, but it's a nice gentle reprieve from One Wing and BBN, and a nice transition into...

 

6. You Never Know-- Another absolute killer, the lyrics are amazing, and I dig the Harrision/ELO influence. I guess they don't need Jay Bennett to write kick ass melodies.

 

7. My Country Has Disappeared-- This one seems to scream grower, in two weeks it'll be my favorite thing on the record.

 

8. Solitaire-- Like the Nick Drake esque guitar line and those double tracked vocals, sort of reminds me of Elliott Smith, that electric? piano is really sweet.

 

9. I'll Fight-- The "like Jesus on the cross" line is pretty fetching. Still haven't gotten into this one as much as some of the others, but it's a lot better than the live version I heard.

 

10. Sonny Feeling-- Thank God they did the Residency and started playing those deep Summerteeth cuts again.

 

11. Everlasting-- I have always wanted them to work more orchestral elements in, like horns and strings, and they add a real nice touch to this. I really could listen to this coda for a lot longer than it goes on, Tweedy was willing to give us twelve minutes of white noise but only thirty seconds of this.

 

I'm too tired to start dissecting this as a whole. I like it quite a bit, I went from "No Bennett, No O'Rourke, Not That Interested" to "No Bennett, No O'Rourke, Not Really a Problem." It feels like Jeff re-listened to Summerteeth and thought "hmm, let's try to do a lot of melodic stuff like that again, but happier and with a few less keyboard overdubs." While this album's highs might not reach the best of Summerteeth there weren't any moments that had me reaching for the skip button either. The sequencing here is pretty good, yes the album is a bit frontloaded, those first four songs sit along side some of their finest work, but the back eight have their moments as well.

 

One night, four listens, 22 different e-mails sent, zero words written/edited for my final novel class tomorrow, and zero regrets because of it.

 

--Mike.

[random painted highway]

I have the foresight to realize that this album will definately be a grower...

 

But I still think the production is terrible. This ain't exactly a headphones album like YHF. Which is fine, but there was all this hype about using the studio as an instrument and so forth, but it pretty much resembles SBS in terms of production.

[Guest Hollinger.]

I think you need to give it another listen, with some quality headphones. This is far more layered than anything on SBS was.

[DAngerer09]

yeah, whoever mentioned that is was really sonically dense/complex was a bit off I think.

 

Solitaire is really growing on me and there's a lot of nice subtleties going on in that song.

 

I guess the only song I really don't like is Country Disappeared and I'm still not diggin the Feist duet at all- its nice and her voice is beautiful, but I don't think it really fits coming in right after Bull Black Nova.

 

This is far more layered than anything on SBS was.

 

well yeah, the bulk of that was recorded live, with a few exceptions. there aren't many layers to that album at all.

[Jesusetc84]

A song by song running commentary.

 

1. Wilco (The Song)-- I was a little on the fence about this one when I first heard it, but so far it's working for me pretty well-- Jeff's guitar lines remind me a bit of his work on the live versions of Can't Stand It circa 2001-2002 and Werewolves of London. Solace hit the nail on the head, this is the best "dumb rocker" they've done in awhile.

 

2. You Never Know-- Wow. The sound sort of reminds of Summerteeth or Down With Wilco, I like Nels here a lot, good lyrics, very strong overall.

 

3. One Wing-- I like this one a lot more than I liked the live versions. The ending works well, and it feels a lot more concise than it did live.

 

4. Bull Black Nova-- Feels like a Remain in Light era Talking Heads outtake with a little less groove, probably my favorite song on the album. Re: Solace and Bobbob, I think people and perhaps myself included my overrate this one a little early just because it's so exciting to hear them really pushing things sonically in the studio again. Glenn and Nels really tear it up here and for people who felt they were under or misused on SBS it's going to be quite exciting.

 

5. You And I-- I don't know if I'd love an album full of these, Feist's vocals are pretty cool, but it's a nice gentle reprieve from One Wing and BBN, and a nice transition into...

 

6. You Never Know-- Another absolute killer, the lyrics are amazing, and I dig the Harrision/ELO influence. I guess they don't need Jay Bennett to write kick ass melodies.

 

7. My Country Has Disappeared-- This one seems to scream grower, in two weeks it'll be my favorite thing on the record.

 

8. Solitaire-- Like the Nick Drake esque guitar line and those double tracked vocals, sort of reminds me of Elliott Smith, that electric? piano is really sweet.

 

9. I'll Fight-- The "like Jesus on the cross" line is pretty fetching. Still haven't gotten into this one as much as some of the others, but it's a lot better than the live version I heard.

 

10. Sonny Feeling-- Thank God they did the Residency and started playing those deep Summerteeth cuts again.

 

11. Everlasting-- I have always wanted them to work more orchestral elements in, like horns and strings, and they add a real nice touch to this. I really could listen to this coda for a lot longer than it goes on, Tweedy was willing to give us twelve minutes of white noise but only thirty seconds of this.

 

I'm too tired to start dissecting this as a whole. I like it quite a bit, I went from "No Bennett, No O'Rourke, Not That Interested" to "No Bennett, No O'Rourke, Not Really a Problem." It feels like Jeff re-listened to Summerteeth and thought "hmm, let's try to do a lot of melodic stuff like that again, but happier and with a few less keyboard overdubs." While this album's highs might not reach the best of Summerteeth there weren't any moments that had me reaching for the skip button either. The sequencing here is pretty good, yes the album is a bit frontloaded, those first four songs sit along side some of their finest work, but the back eight have their moments as well.

 

One night, four listens, 22 different e-mails sent, zero words written/edited for my final novel class tomorrow, and zero regrets because of it.

 

--Mike.

 

 

Great review. I'm not sure about the front loaded complaint.

 

"My Country Has Disappeared" has been a favorite of mine since they played it live.

[orchestra]

That's the problem. They really haven't had the edge that separates adult easy listening from edgier rock/pop since AGIB.

[jarenas]

How does stand the album version of One Wing compared to the Lollapalooza version? I thing it was a powerful song full of interesting dynamics..

[dunnright00]

A song by song running commentary.

 

1. Wilco (The Song)-- I was a little on the fence about this one when I first heard it, but so far it's working for me pretty well-- Jeff's guitar lines remind me a bit of his work on the live versions of Can't Stand It circa 2001-2002 and Werewolves of London. Solace hit the nail on the head, this is the best "dumb rocker" they've done in awhile.

 

2. You Never Know-- Wow. The sound sort of reminds of Summerteeth or Down With Wilco, I like Nels here a lot, good lyrics, very strong overall.

 

3. One Wing-- I like this one a lot more than I liked the live versions. The ending works well, and it feels a lot more concise than it did live.

 

4. Bull Black Nova-- Feels like a Remain in Light era Talking Heads outtake with a little less groove, probably my favorite song on the album. Re: Solace and Bobbob, I think people and perhaps myself included my overrate this one a little early just because it's so exciting to hear them really pushing things sonically in the studio again. Glenn and Nels really tear it up here and for people who felt they were under or misused on SBS it's going to be quite exciting.

 

5. You And I-- I don't know if I'd love an album full of these, Feist's vocals are pretty cool, but it's a nice gentle reprieve from One Wing and BBN, and a nice transition into...

 

6. You Never Know-- Another absolute killer, the lyrics are amazing, and I dig the Harrision/ELO influence. I guess they don't need Jay Bennett to write kick ass melodies.

 

7. My Country Has Disappeared-- This one seems to scream grower, in two weeks it'll be my favorite thing on the record.

 

8. Solitaire-- Like the Nick Drake esque guitar line and those double tracked vocals, sort of reminds me of Elliott Smith, that electric? piano is really sweet.

 

9. I'll Fight-- The "like Jesus on the cross" line is pretty fetching. Still haven't gotten into this one as much as some of the others, but it's a lot better than the live version I heard.

 

10. Sonny Feeling-- Thank God they did the Residency and started playing those deep Summerteeth cuts again.

 

11. Everlasting-- I have always wanted them to work more orchestral elements in, like horns and strings, and they add a real nice touch to this. I really could listen to this coda for a lot longer than it goes on, Tweedy was willing to give us twelve minutes of white noise but only thirty seconds of this.

 

I'm too tired to start dissecting this as a whole. I like it quite a bit, I went from "No Bennett, No O'Rourke, Not That Interested" to "No Bennett, No O'Rourke, Not Really a Problem." It feels like Jeff re-listened to Summerteeth and thought "hmm, let's try to do a lot of melodic stuff like that again, but happier and with a few less keyboard overdubs." While this album's highs might not reach the best of Summerteeth there weren't any moments that had me reaching for the skip button either. The sequencing here is pretty good, yes the album is a bit frontloaded, those first four songs sit along side some of their finest work, but the back eight have their moments as well.

 

One night, four listens, 22 different e-mails sent, zero words written/edited for my final novel class tomorrow, and zero regrets because of it.

 

--Mike.

 

You mentioned You Never Know twice (I think you like this one) but you forgot (so far) My favorite Deeper Down.

 

Thanks again!

[random painted highway]

1st listen... Sunny Feeling is definitely the winner for me. It's like, the greatest pop song they've ever written, ever.

[dunnright00]

I have the foresight to realize that this album will definately be a grower...

 

But I still think the production is terrible. This ain't exactly a headphones album like YHF. Which is fine, but there was all this hype about using the studio as an instrument and so forth, but it pretty much resembles SBS in terms of production.

 

I'm wondering if this leak isn't the full mixdown. I'm hearing a lot of clicks, but that might just be the compression.

[random painted highway]

How does stand the album version of One Wing compared to the Lollapalooza version? I thing it was a powerful song full of interesting dynamics..

 

The live version was pretty much Impossible Germany.

The studio version is sort of "Roscoe" by Midlake.

 

And they greatly trimmed down the Nels noodling. Which can be both a great thing, and a bad thing.

[mpolak21]

You mentioned You Never Know twice (I think you like this one) but you forgot (so far) My favorite Deeper Down.

 

Thanks again!

 

D'Oh! Actually I got my song titles confused, my comments on that song pertained to Deeper Down. I'll go back and fix it.

 

--Mike.

[dunnright00]

1st listen... Sunny Feeling is definitely the winner for me. It's like, the greatest pop song they've ever written, ever.

 

listen to the end again and imagine it live, NELS!

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's it, going to bed....

[SGL]

Just had my first full listen in the car. I loved every second of it, and if I didnt have work in the morning I would go for another cruise. I would include a list of highlight songs, but I loved every one. I can't wait to go out and get a cd and vinyl copy (kinda have to to make up for the horrible sin i committed by downloading the leak lol).

And as far as the length issue is concerned, I think it's great. the songs are short and sweet, but there is a lot of opportunity for them to be opened up and fleshed out during concerts (fuck yes)...

That's all for now. Thanks to everyone who made it available tonight!

[yermom]

On first listen, I feel just sorta okay about it but I know I'll love it more once I've got all the lyrics down for sing-a-long. I agree with some previous posts that live will be where it's at for some of the tunes.

[mpolak21]

It's a really pleasant album. Not exactly as moving or as challenging as their earlier works, but I don't really need them to make Foxtrot again, I have that record, it's fucking wonderful.

 

I think there's something here for everyone the Tupelo fans will dig on I'll Fight, the Summer Teeth fans have Sonny Feeling and You Never Know, and while nothing on here really sounds like Foxtrot Bull Black Nova will appease a lot of the fans of the more experimental side. For a lot of us at this stage the Wilcos have already made their perfect record for our tastes whether it's YHF or Ghost, Summerteeth or Being There or Sky Blue Sky or AM, this time out we get a little bit of everything, and they never push too far in one direction which was perhaps the Achilles heel of even some of their great records. It sort of reminds me of Radiohead's In Rainbows (an album which I love more than most), not that it sounds anything like it, but front-to-back you put it on and it's going to be 40+ minutes of enjoyable music if you dig their sound. And if it doesn't work, it doesn't work.

 

 

Hank Kingsley (yes he has a Jeffrey Tambor avatar) posted this on atease, sums up everything I want to say about the record on night one.

 

They sound so confident on here. This is the work of a dude who has already had more than one "masterpiece" record, been told he's a genius, etc. and who has also gotten over getting over the expectations following a "masterpiece" and now is just comfortable, knowing that he's a great songwriter working in a great band and there's really not much more to it than that.