A Fanboy's 2 Cents

[nodep5]

Ok, I have a thousand thoughts and I will not concisely say them as I wish I could, but the Has Wilco lost their edge? post has prompted me to share.

I'm a long timer, since UT days and it is funny to look back on the uproar when Wilco stopped being the little alt country band and now see the uproar when Wilco stopped being the experimental avant gard band (which I didn't ever believe they were). Either way, I have loved all the different styles and incarnations because the one constant has remained the same. Jeff Tweedy and his songwriting. It connects with me. Maybe not as much as when I was 19, but it still feels right at home. I would assume we all have those handful of musicians that no matter what they are doing it feels comfortable and ok. Now that is me, Jeff could do electronica and I would likley love it just as if he did straight up country. So you know where I stand. And I a few years ago came to ViaChicago to discuss Wilco with other individuals who I believed were part of that community. (why else would you be here right?)

 

Well come to find out there are some here who don't naturally love the majority of what Jeff Tweedy creates. Now I think that is cool. I don't understand in terms of I can't hear what you are hearing but I get it. I use to be a huge Son Volt fan, but I just haven't responded to anything after Wide Swing Tremelo (which makes me believe I am a Son Volt fan not a Jay Farrar songwriter fan). And because of this, I don't seek out Son Volt message boards and rarely comment on Son Volt threads here because I understand some people love the new stuff.

 

My point being, this is a Wilco message board, so if you dislike what Wilco is or has become, why are you here? This isn't a I don't want to hear another opinion, it is more just a why continue frequenting a place where you know what you are getting. If I was a liberal would I watch Fox to hear my point of view. If I was a Cubs fan would I go to Cardinals blogs to enjoy myself. The answer is only if I wanted to stir it up and be a contrarian. hey I get the contrarian impulse (like when I say that YHF is my least favorite Wilco record, which it is) but why keep coming back to do it?

 

There is a whole other part of this message board for non Wilco stuff. If this band isn't kicking it for you, cool talk about which band is. I guess it is the negativity for negativity sake. "SBS is dad rock" "Wilco (the album) is lazy" "they have lost their edge" Ok we get it, you don't dig em right now. what is the point of reminding everyone. Jeff Tweedy is going to do his thing and reminding all of his fans that you don't get it, does little.

 

Alright, let the hate begin.

[cryptique]

Alright, let the hate begin.

I might, except I didn't feel like reading all those words up there.

[gogo]

Well, lots of liberals watch Fox so that they can see what the other side is saying, what arguments they're making, etc. Not everyone wants to just hear what they already think parroted back at them.

 

And a lot of people who used to be Wilco fans, but aren't so crazy about the newer stuff, still come here to talk about live shows, the older albums, or just plain non-Wilco-related nonsense.

 

Those things, I understand. What I don't understand are the current fans telling the no-longer-fans that they should keep their opinions to themselves, and the NLFs telling the currently-enthusiastic that they're all mindless fanboys.

 

Differences of opinion make the world go round, and keep message boards in business (although in our case, I'm still hoping for some more t-shirt designs to keep us in business!). VC has always tried hard to keep a lid on out-and-out negativity, though, and I'm hoping that the two sides on this issue, as on all the others we've gone through in the past, can eventually find common ground, or agree to disagree, or at least agree to mutually ignore each other.

[explodo]

If I was a liberal would I watch Fox to hear my point of view. If I was a Cubs fan would I go to Cardinals blogs to enjoy myself. The answer is only if I wanted to stir it up and be a contrarian.

What? How are these things at all similar? To draw fair comparisons, the Fox news viewer would have to be a long-time Fox News fan, angry at neo-cons and instead preferring, say, Reagen. And the Cardinals comparison is way off. Wilco is not my rival because I didn't like Sky Blue Sky. But maybe I prefer the 1982 World Series team to the 2006 World Series team. Where is a more proper place to discuss that?

[nodep5]

Ok, my long winded and poor analogied point was simple: why keep coming on here to say "new album is lame". If you are here to talk concerts and old albums cool, but if you see a thread called "I love new album" why jump on to just say "I don't". Hey i've been guilty of this before so I know the behavior. My point is that I think it is poor taste for me a Cubs fan to go to Cardinals blog to say " I think Puljols is on roids" It is merely shit stirring to get a rise.

[NewMadridMO]

NoDep,

 

Sure, I haven't really enjoyed the last two albums as much as some of the others, but I'm sure

I'm not the only one that feels that way.

 

To say "I don't get Jeff" because I prefer their earlier work is unfair. They are one of my favorite bands

and I've been listening to the record all week and wanted to discuss it.

 

Either way, I apologize if I offended or annoyed you and others by what you perceive as contrarian comments.

 

I hope you enjoy the new album.

[nodep5]

NoDep,

 

Sure, I haven't really enjoyed the last two albums as much as some of the others, but I'm sure

I'm not the only one that feels that way.

 

To say "I don't get Jeff" because I prefer their earlier work is unfair. They are one of my favorite bands

and I've been listening to the record all week and wanted to discuss it.

 

Either way, I apologize if I offended or annoyed you and others by what you perceive as contrarian comments.

 

I hope you enjoy the new album.

 

no apology needed/I wasn't offended. and I tried to make the whole "getting Jeff" thing my personal take on his music. I tried to preface that was MY viewpoint. Hey, I spent most of my 20's being critical and judgemental about people and their musical tastes and in the end of the day we are all different, but I think I rained on a lot of parades by saying "Matchbox 20 is lame". When I first heard Either Way I got that feeling on the inside that I don't get with a lot of music and then to come on here and people saying it's Dad Rock was kind of like "Ok, not for me".

 

I think with Wilco we were part of this little club of insiders for a long time and now that world is bigger and not so much an insider thing and I think we are all sensitive to the boat being bigger and fuller. Anyway, sure I get tired of the hipster YHF viewpoint that thinks AM is some miss step, but in the end of the day I feel what I feel when I hear the music. I'm just blathering on.

[Tribute2Johnny]

i'm somewhat disconnected by the album so far.

after the first 4 tunes, i'm passive.

[Bhickman]

I appreciate not being able to tie Jeff down to one thing musically. Though, no matter what direction he/the band goes in, it's still Wilco somehow.

[countryfeedback]

I have yet to see hardly any negative reaction to this album on this board...As a longtime Wilco fan and lover of everything Tweedy and Farrar related I can personally say that I have loved or at least liked everything that Tweedy has put out...The same cant be said for Farrar...However as I mentioned in the Son Volt thread and earlier in another thread, this is the very first time that upon initial listen of a Wilco album, I was immediately turned off.

 

Does that mean that Iam going to quit listening to Wilco, quit attending their shows (many of which I spent a great deal of money flying to around the country),quit buying merchandise...Absolutely not!

 

I have given my "personal" albeit negative feelings towards many a Jay Farrar record on his board, yet I still love the mans work (as much as Jeff's)... In fact I am getting ready to drive 3 hours to Austin tonight to see Farrar play with a Doug Sahm tribute band tomorrow...Should I have kept my negative opinions to myself regarding some of his solo work and the last two albums he produced?

 

If your trying to say, "If you dont have anything good to say, keep it to yourself", I just dont buy that.

 

Discourse, whether positive or negative is not a bad thing...

[Sir Stewart]

I think Pujols is on roids.

[explodo]

I think Pujols is on roids.

You son of a bitch.

[Theremin]

i'm somewhat disconnected by the album so far.

after the first 4 tunes, i'm passive.

Raus!!

[MadMonkey]

I love this board for the alerts on downloads, band news, inside info and turning me on to other related music.

 

The stuff about the albums which I've now watched for the 3rd time with each new release, just seems to me to be narcissistic behavior.

 

I really could give a rats tail what anyone says. I'm either going to like it or I won't. No one, even my close friends who I discuss these things with face to face is going to change that.

 

We're here to enjoy all things Wilco and get out of this whatever we need. If that means venting your frustrations with a band we all love well than fans should support that as well.

 

All I know is that it doesn't seem to be affecting sales of music or tickets so they must be doing something right.

 

I'm happy to be listening to they're continued creativity.

 

Reading through everyone's opinions is fun but it seems a little much when the discourse becomes personal. Man they're is so much more important things in this world. Do what you like, but let's not be hating over why someone does or doesn't like a record. Really, what's they point?

 

It just seems so frustrating to see everything become a lightning rod in this country. I mean enough. Opinions are like assholes, we've all got one.

[J_Lefty]

I dislike some of the new album and criticize it on various threads to get peoples' thoughts... the funny thing is, people take the criticisms personally and start arguments and drama. If you like the album's sketchier, more centered aspects, I'd be glad to hear why. I want to like Wilco (The Album) as much as any other recording. It's logical to expect a lot from Wilco and when you get something that doesn't seem as nurtured as it could have been, there is room for discussion.

[Beltmann]

But maybe I prefer the 1982 World Series team

Thanks for bringing up the most traumatic event of my childhood. The high fastball from Bruce Sutter that fanned Gorman Thomas to end Game 7 was child abuse.