What's the consensus on Wilco (The Album)?

[Beltmann]

I think One Wing end a little too short. I think they should have rocked it out more at the end.

That was my initial reaction, too. But then it occurred to me that stopping short makes thematic sense--after all, if the song is about having only one wing, how can it really take flight?

[lost highway]

Wow! A lot of people dumping on it- can't say I feel the same.

 

I thoroughly enjoy the way it sounds the way it sits in the speakers. What's interesting is I would say that about every album starting from YHF on, and none of them sound quite alike, production/sonically. I think the meticulously interwoven arrangements are a good combination of instantly appealing and lastingly interesting. I like the sense of celebration it has.

 

To be more critical: the rhyming of 'sad', and 'glad' on Everlasting was nothing short of unfortunate. I don't hate that song, but it's definitely a lesser part of the album. The back half is good, but the front half is much better. (the Song) is a silly, but necessary and well executed curtain opener and then the run from Deeper Down to You and I is nothing short of breathtaking. It makes a 'good' second half feel weak, if only by comparison.

 

I am totally willing to except that, and honestly if Wilco keeps up this level of quality for years to come I will be amazed and grateful. The only albums they ever put out where I couldn't imagine cutting a track out were YHF, and AGIB. You don't get long career artists to sustain that. And that is absolutely ok. I love music enough to listen to albums a reviewer would call 'Excellent' as opposed to 'Classic'. It can't always be Marquee Moon and Highway 61. Sometimes it's fun to listen to Adventure and Desire.

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

Wow! A lot of people dumping on it- can't say I feel the same.

 

I thoroughly enjoy the way it sounds the way it sits in the speakers. What's interesting is I would say that about every album starting from YHF on, and none of them sound quite alike, production/sonically. I think the meticulously interwoven arrangements are a good combination of instantly appealing and lastingly interesting. I like the sense of celebration it has.

 

To be more critical: the rhyming of 'sad', and 'glad' on Everlasting was nothing short of unfortunate. I don't hate that song, but it's definitely a lesser part of the album. The back half is good, but the front half is much better. (the Song) is a silly, but necessary and well executed curtain opener and then the run from Deeper Down to You and I is nothing short of breathtaking. It makes a 'good' second half feel weak, if only by comparison.

 

I am totally willing to except that, and honestly if Wilco keeps up this level of quality for years to come I will be amazed and grateful. The only albums they ever put out where I couldn't imagine cutting a track out were YHF, and AGIB. You don't get long career artists to sustain that. And that is absolutely ok. I love music enough to listen to albums a reviewer would call 'Excellent' as opposed to 'Classic'. It can't always be Marquee Moon and Highway 61. Sometimes it's fun to listen to Adventure and Desire.

Don't you dare slight Desire.

 

That's a classic LP.

 

If you must compare WTA to a Dylan album, go with New Morning, or Planet Waves. Terrific albums, but not anywhere near canonical.

[lost highway]

Don't you dare slight Desire.

 

That's a classic LP.

 

If you must compare WTA to a Dylan album, go with New Morning, or Planet Waves. Terrific albums, but not anywhere near canonical.

 

Ok, you're right, Desire is classic. Ah how analogies break down. I think the Marquee Moon-> Adventure one was better. I might like WTA better than Planet Waves, which is a weird thing to think about, and probably irrelevant.

 

More what I was getting at is this: great artists create uneven catalogs that have nooks and crannies different people love for different reasons. There are people out there who would rather listen to Neil Young's Reactor, or Arc, or Shocking Pink over something like Ragged Glory. I don't agree with them, but none of those are Harvest. And the fact that we're personally invested in these non-canonical semi-gems is fun. WTA is that to me. A cool album, its own little imperfect world that I like to pop my head into. I like to because there's an awful lot there to look at and if I only listened to 'Classics' I would get bored, and would be like one of those people who can't drink a glass of decent wine without trashing it. I've been to the Louvre, the Met, and El Prado but I still love going to the Denver Art Museum. I still have YHF on my shelf but I still like listening to WTA.

 

----there, ten more analogies, that will probably break down with little effort!

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

I don't put much stock into what the 'intelligentsia' thinks about records until at least three years after the release.

 

I decided remember some self proclaimed super fans complaining that Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was 'more of Jeff Tweedy's stupid noise experiments'. (not here of course. This place was not around.) I also seem to remember A Ghost is Born being greeted by some here with decided indifference if not outright hostility. We don't have to go very far on this very page to find the negative vibes about Sky Blue Sky. We all love the band we THINK and HOPE Wilco is.

 

I'm just along for the journey that this band is taking. We have to come to grips with several things. Even before he tragically passed, Jay Bennett was never going to be asked to come back. Wilco is Jeff's band...his vision, his songs. In firmly acknowledged hindsight, I think that the noise tht covered up the songs in YHF (that Jim O'Rourke significantly lessened) might have been some of the bone of contention between the two. Jeff has moved away from the deconstructed songs in a decided manner over the last three records with one NOTABLE exception (the drone man...the drone).

 

I still bristle at the poster who, in a thread rightly forgotten (see...editing spelling), jokingly (I HOPE) wished Jeff would start getting high again so he would write more 'interesting' music. That poster is/was an ass with internet cojones. Now, I don't presume to suppose that this disgusting opinion is widely shared here, but the sense that some want something much different from the band has been stated firmly in this thread. I'm not a fanboy by any stretch of the imagination. I approach the music in the following fashion: I like the musical journey that this band has taken. I like and enjoy the music that is being presented. The day I don't like the music, I won't come on here and piss and moan about the good old days of Being There, Summerteeth etc.; I will simply no longer follow the band. I am almost there with some of the bands I follow (I won't get into discussions about the missteps that Springsteen has taken lately), but I still enjoy what Wilco is producing.

 

Let's have a little perspective here.

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

Ok, you're right, Desire is classic. Ah how analogies break down. I think the Marquee Moon-> Adventure one was better. I might like WTA better than Planet Waves, which is a weird thing to think about, and probably irrelevant.

 

More what I was getting at is this: great artists create uneven catalogs that have nooks and crannies different people love for different reasons. There are people out there who would rather listen to Neil Young's Reactor, or Arc, or Shocking Pink over something like Ragged Glory. I don't agree with them, but none of those are Harvest. And the fact that we're personally invested in these non-canonical semi-gems is fun. WTA is that to me. A cool album, its own little imperfect world that I like to pop my head into. I like to because there's an awful lot there to look at and if I only listened to 'Classics' I would get bored, and would be like one of those people who can't drink a glass of decent wine without trashing it. I've been to the Louvre, the Met, and El Prado but I still love going to the Denver Art Museum. I still have YHF on my shelf but I still like listening to WTA.

 

----there, ten more analogies, that will probably break down with little effort!

Nah nah. I get, and agree with the analogy. I just don't consider Desire to be a non-classic. I put it up there with Blonde on Blonde, and the numerous other classics.

[bobbob1313]

I don't have any use for "Solitaire". It is the most awkward song Jeff's ever written, and I really thought it would grow on me. Not a fan.

 

"You Never Know" has gotten on my nerves, and I'm not a fan.

 

"I'll Fight" is the best song emotionally on the album.

 

"My Country Dissapeared" is so much better than I expected.

 

It's mostly good, but probably comes injust above SBS in their albums, so 2nd worst. Still like the songs I like a lot, but it's got the only Wilco song I consistently dislike.

[wilconut]

WTA is just a fun record. Every band needs that. Now Wilco has it. And I have to say, they do 'fun' better than any band around.

[Al.Ducts]

I don't have any use for "Solitaire". It is the most awkward song Jeff's ever written, and I really thought it would grow on me. Not a fan.

 

 

I actually happen to love this song. Sound absolutely gorgeous on vinyl. The double voicing is fantastic and I love all the subtle background layers. I will admit that its slightly less effective non-vinyl however.

[Sir Stewart]

I don't put much stock into what the 'intelligentsia' thinks about records until at least three years after the release.

Who?

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

Who?

 

The intelligentsia (from Russian:[1][2] интеллигенция from Latin: intelligentia) is a social class of people engaged in complex mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them (e.g., artists and school teachers).

 

i.e. members of a fan board devoted to the band.

[Sir Stewart]

So three years from now you'll listen to what the members of this site say about this album?

I don't get it.

[lost highway]

So three years from now you'll listen to what the members of this site say about this album?

I don't get it.

 

I think what was suggested was that the ultimate worth and effect of an album is not often clear until years after it has been released. Therefore consensus is not complete until that digestion time has happened. Seems a reasonable way to look at it to me. Sky Blue Sky looks different to me now that it's aged a bit and has a newer album stacked on top of it.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

I think what was suggested was that the ultimate worth and effect of an album is not often clear until years after it has been released. Therefore consensus is not complete until that digestion time has happened. Seems a reasonable way to look at it to me. Sky Blue Sky looks different to me now that it's aged a bit and has a newer album stacked on top of it.

 

 

He understands...he just feels it necessary to be the contrarian.

[LouieB]

 

 

(not here of course. This place was not around.) =

 

Actually VC was around at that time.

 

LouieB

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

Actually VC was around at that time.

 

LouieB

 

 

Hmmm...2001? (That's when I first heard YHF and when I heard the comments...I remember finding the original site before AGIB and lurking around a bit. I found this place through the Wilco newsgroup.)

 

But is that really the point of my post? All I have ever heard here is how outstanding YHF is...but then again, that started at least three years after the fact.

 

Now that there have been two nits picked on my original post, my position still stands.

 

Of course...YMMV

[LouieB]

I can't tell you exactly when VC started, but I am sure someone on here can. I know that it was in existence about the time YHF came out since that's when I first joined, long before AGIB was released. While one can never make a value judgement until a work of art has been out awhile, you can make some assumptions about it.

 

I said this earlier in this thread, but Wilco is not obligated to make a masterpeice each time out. YHF will always be a career defining album for Wilco, because of the way it was made and the circumstances under which it was released. Is W(TA) a greater album than YHF or ST, well I suppose only time will tell.

 

LouieB

[rwilson580]

I've been giving the album a break. My initial impression was somewhat negative -- it seemed a bit too accessible -- but with repetition I appreciated it more. Like some others, I find the Deeper Down / One Wing / BBN stretch one of their greatest ever. Country Disappeared is my favorite overall, with I'll Fight a favorite as well. Five outstanding songs out of eleven for me, and I don't dislike any of the others. That's not bad. It's good enough to confirm to me once again that no one in music today knows as much about constructing a song as Jeff Tweedy.

 

The one song on here that I am still very much on the fence about -- and could quite possibly become a favorite when all is said and done -- is Solitaire. I am forever distracted by the opening line of this song -- it just harkens so directly to the "Good Vibrations" line "Gotta keep those lovin good vibrations a happenin with her". If I can ever get past that I'll tell you what I really think of this song.

[Ghost of Electricity]

I can't tell you exactly when VC started, but I am sure someone on here can. I know that it was in existence about the time YHF came out since that's when I first joined, long before AGIB was released. While one can never make a value judgement until a work of art has been out awhile, you can make some assumptions about it.

 

 

Yes. If there is one thing I have learned with Wilco it is do not trust first impressions. Most of their records age well (all of them, actually) but the ones which I initially didn't go for often come out ahead of the ones that refused to leave the c.d. player for the first two/three months of their existence. Which is why i say wait a couple of years before discussing this. In fact, now is when we should really be discussing SBS, which another thread is doing, and it is coming out remarkably well I might add.

[porkdog324]

Here is what my iTunes says I like

 

- Wilco (the song) 27

- Deeper Down 42

- One Wing 33

- Bull Black Nova 9

- You and I 29

- You Never Know 26

- Country Disappeared 11

- Solitaire 10

- I'll Fight 42

- Sonny Feeling 25

- Everlasting Everything 7

- Dark Neon 4

 

Overall I like this album, I'm fairly new to the Wilco game, my first exposure was when i bought Sky Blue Sky when it came out. I've since bought all of their albums and still deciding on a fav...

[Sir Stewart]

He understands...he just feels it necessary to be the contrarian.

 

Not true at all - you genuinely confound me time and again. And be fair - you edited and elaborated upon your post after I asked my questions. I actually agree a lot with what you said. AGIB was definitely raked over the coals here when it was first available.

[Livin' in New Orleans]

I don't put much stock into what the 'intelligentsia' thinks about records until at least three years after the release.

 

I decided remember some self proclaimed super fans complaining that Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was 'more of Jeff Tweedy's stupid noise experiments'. (not here of course. This place was not around.) I also seem to remember A Ghost is Born being greeted by some here with decided indifference if not outright hostility. We don't have to go very far on this very page to find the negative vibes about Sky Blue Sky. We all love the band we THINK and HOPE Wilco is.

 

I'm just along for the journey that this band is taking. We have to come to grips with several things. Even before he tragically passed, Jay Bennett was never going to be asked to come back. Wilco is Jeff's band...his vision, his songs. In firmly acknowledged hindsight, I think that the noise tht covered up the songs in YHF (that Jim O'Rourke significantly lessened) might have been some of the bone of contention between the two. Jeff has moved away from the deconstructed songs in a decided manner over the last three records with one NOTABLE exception (the drone man...the drone).

 

I still bristle at the poster who, in a thread rightly forgoteen, jokingly (I HOPE) wished Jeff would start getting high again so he would write more 'interesting' music. That poster is/was an ass with internet cojones. Now, I don't presume to suppose that this disgusting opinion is widely shared here, but the sense that some want something much different from the band has been stated firmly in this thread. I'm not a fanboy by any stretch of the imagination. I approach the music in the following fashion: I like the musical journey that this band has taken. I like and enjoy the music that is being presented. The day I don't like the music, I won't come on here and piss and moan about the good old days of Being There, Summerteeth etc.; I will simply no longer follow the band. I am almost there with some of the bands I follow (I won't get into discussions about the missteps that Springsteen has taken lately), but I still enjoy what Wilco is producing.

 

Let's have a little perspective here.

 

I really do agree with this.. it needs time to sink in.. And I can't really say that any songs here are bad songs at all. I mean, we have a batch of well-made songs here, they are what they are in my opinion.

[Sparky speaks]

I include One Wing and You Never Know in mixes I make for myself and others but I haven't listened to the whole album since early July. Much like AGIB I only listen to two or three songs and hardly ever the whole album. I have found myself really getting into SBS the past month. I listen to parts of it almost every day in the car. But then again I liked it the first time I heard it.

[Al.Ducts]

The play count doesn't lie:

 

One Wing (43)

Deeper Down (40)

Wilco (the song) (37)

I'll Fight (35)

You Never Know (35)

Bull Black Nova (32)

Country Disappeared (32)

Sonny Feeling (32)

Solitaire (27)

Everlasting Everything (26)

You & I (24)

Dark Neon (20)

 

Thought Dark Neon would be higher. I think its one of the strongest songs on the list.

[Livin' in New Orleans]

I LOVED the album initially... I could not stop listening to it. However, this was after a period of waiting obsessively for the album to come out, checking updates, etc. When it leaked, I was ready to like almost anything, and the fact that I enjoyed it more than Sky Blue Sky was another plus. However, this was the first Wilco release that I have awaited with such anticipation, but I can say with confidence that even if I did await SBS with such anticipation, I would like W(TA) more than it upon first listen. Regardless, I was itching for new Wilco, and that's what we got when it leaked. I then cut myself off until release date, and when it did come out I listened to it nonstop for a week or so, then gradually less.

 

As of now, I don't find myself listening to it as much as other Wilco material, but this could be because I simply wore it out for a while, and I am listening to other things for the time being. This is how I often am with music, although there are some records that simply don't wear out. W(TA) may not be one of those records, but I still think it is a great album. Or maybe it didn't wear out, and I just don't find myself listening to it as much as other Wilco releases. OR maybe, it is because I am in my first year of college with lessened listening time and find myself listening to music that I am very familiar with given the busy and sporadic schedule (walking to class, etc.) rather than acquainting myself with a new album.

 

Regardless, of the reason, I believe that it is too early to make such judgements, as the album came out 2 months ago.