YHF Named #2 Album of Decade

[Dude]

10. M.I.A.: Arular [interscope] (2005)

9. The Avett Brothers: I and Love and You [Columbia/American] (2009)

8. OutKast: Stankonia [Arista/LaFace] (2000)

7. Gillian Welch: Time (the Revelator) [Acony] (2001)

6. The White Stripes: Elephant [V2] (2003)

5. Bright Eyes: I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning [saddle Creek] (2005)

4. Radiohead: Kid A [Capitol] (2000)

3. Arcade Fire: Funeral [Merge] (2004)

2. Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot [Nonesuch] (2002)

1. Sufjan Stevens: Illinois [Asthmatic Kitty] (2005)

 

http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2009/11/the-best-albums-of-the-decade.html?p=5

 

Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot [Nonesuch] (2002)

By now, the story of this album has become rock ’n’ roll lore like Brian Wilson’s sandbox and “Paul is dead.” In brief: Once upon a time, the acclaimed Chicago rock band Wilco delivered an album called Yankee Hotel Foxtrot to Reprise, its longtime label, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Terrified by the album’s squalling feedback and abstract songcraft, Reprise executives ran screaming from the room. Ultimately, they decided to let the band go. Soon after, Wilco streamed the record for free online. The album was met with raves from both fans and critics, and was eventually picked up by Nonesuch, an artier subsidiary of the same parent company. “There was a common perception and irony,” Nonesuch senior VP David Bither says today, “of one Warner label passing on the record and letting the band go out of its contract for very little cost, and another Warner label picking it up and putting it out. In other words, paying for it twice.”

 

On that level, Yankee has come to represent everything that’s wrong with the music business: tone-deaf executives, a gross misunderstanding of online music, an institutionalized pandering to the lowest common denominator that obstructed the release of a timeless rock classic. And yet, on another level, Yankee’s success means that the system works. The record did come out, full of glorious static and muffled drums and conflicted patriotism. People did buy it. Wilco’s frontman, Jeff Tweedy, got to keep his ambiguous lyrics—he got to start the album by singing “I am an American aquarium drinker,” and after a while that didn’t seem so very weird. Everyone pretty much got it.

 

“Some of it at the time seemed very topical,” Bither says. “Here we were with a record that was being toured for the first time and performed for the first time literally days after 9/11. … That moment, those months, were a time when we were looking not for answers, certainly, but looking for questions.”

 

The album asked questions both of its audience and its corporate backers. And the response told us everything we needed to know about the music industry in the 2000s. Through its circuitous provenance and runaway success, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot proved that great art—even in difficult times—will find the light of day. - Nick Marino

[bleedorange]

Am I the only one that thinks Elephant is the worst White Stripes album of this decade? (And by worst, I mean least favorite.)

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

Above all else, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was a game changer. It was so full of backstory and drama for the band that the music could have easily been overshadowed. But the music is a towering accomplishment.

[cryptique]

10. M.I.A.: Arular [interscope] (2005)

9. The Avett Brothers: I and Love and You [Columbia/American] (2009)

8. OutKast: Stankonia [Arista/LaFace] (2000)

7. Gillian Welch: Time (the Revelator) [Acony] (2001)

6. The White Stripes: Elephant [V2] (2003)

5. Bright Eyes: I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning [saddle Creek] (2005)

4. Radiohead: Kid A [Capitol] (2000)

3. Arcade Fire: Funeral [Merge] (2004)

2. Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot [Nonesuch] (2002)

1. Sufjan Stevens: Illinois [Asthmatic Kitty] (2005)

Huh.

 

I don't like five artists on that list, love two, kinda like one, and am indifferent to the other two.

 

It's safe to say that I had an entirely different take on the decade.

[mpolak21]

Huh.

 

I don't like five artists on that list, love two, kinda like one, and am indifferent to the other two.

 

It's safe to say that I had an entirely different take on the decade.

 

Foxtrot and Kid A would be the only things on that list that would make my top ten of the decade. But for what it is, the top ten isn't too bad.

 

--Mike

[Moss]

They were robbed! Although I do like Sufjan. His song "John Wayne Gacy, Jr" from that album creeps me out.

 

I agree about the White Stripes, that would not be my first choice. Not sure about the Avett Brothers choice either. I like Emotionalism better so far.

[15step]

Above all else, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was a game changer. It was so full of backstory and drama for the band that the music could have easily been overshadowed. But the music is a towering accomplishment.

sadly i'll have to disagree

every review of this record begins with one or two paragraphs of backstory

followed by a brief description of the wonderful music on this record

the paste article is a prime example

sure we might all like to think the music is what stands as the towering achievement of this record

but frequent lineup discussions (which undoubtedly are the result of the major shakeup before and after this record) here often prove this is not the case either

[Guest Speed Racer]

sure we might all like to think the music is what stands as the towering achievement of this record

but frequent lineup discussions (which undoubtedly are the result of the major shakeup before and after this record) here often prove this is not the case either

 

No, I'm pretty sure the music is the towering achievement of this record. If the drama were the draw, I'd watch IATTBYH more than I'd listen to YHF, and that is certainly, absolutely not the case.

 

Edited to add: I'm pretty sure we don't discuss the music of the album much because it is so flippin' great no one really has anything more to say.

 

Music = awesome is not a good discussion.

Line-up changes = what the hell happened!? is a good discussion.

[cryptique]

Foxtrot and Kid A would be the only things on that list that would make my top ten of the decade. But for what it is, the top ten isn't too bad.

YHF and Time (The Revelator) are the only two that'd make mine. And come to think of it, I'm not too sure about Time (The Revelator) (though I do love Gillian).

[Hoodoo Man]

They were robbed! Although I do like Sufjan. His song "John Wayne Gacy, Jr" from that album creeps me out.

 

 

Agreed. That song gives me the chills every time I hear it (which I would assume is the whole point and therefore a successful song).

 

This being a Wilco board and all, it should surprise none that I put YHF at No. 1 and even if I just swapped the top 2, it would be by a landslide. YHF is that freakin' good.

[Al.Ducts]

Really? I and Love and You from the Avetts? Emotionalism, at least in my opinion, is a MUCH stronger album.

[jimmyjimmy]

Really? I and Love and You from the Avetts? Emotionalism, at least in my opinion, is a MUCH stronger album.

 

Thank you.

 

I've almost posted that sentiment three times now....

[radiokills]

Illinois ahead of YHF and Kid A?

[Guest Speed Racer]

So I know this is not the Someone Else's Song Forum but what is so good that Paste would make it #1? I heard one song, I know. But 20 seconds into YHF and I was blown away beyond expression.

 

It's a very rich album that works both as a concept album about Illinois and about loss/love/life etc. "Casmir Pulaski Day" is an exceptional song - one of my all-time favorites, though I'm not a huge Sufjan fan. "Chicago" is far too emo for me, in spirit if not in sound; I had a friend who listened to it way too much when the album came out - the type who thinks that if she listens to a song on repeat enough, her life will actually change. So that ruined that song for me. But the album is pretty complex and very rich. It wouldn't make my Top 10 of the Decade by a mile, but I can see why someone would put it there.

[jff]

Not a single album from 2006, 2007 or 2008. That seems odd.

 

Crap list, overall.

[15step]

No, I'm pretty sure the music is the towering achievement of this record. If the drama were the draw, I'd watch IATTBYH more than I'd listen to YHF, and that is certainly, absolutely not the case.

 

Edited to add: I'm pretty sure we don't discuss the music of the album much because it is so flippin' great no one really has anything more to say.

 

Music = awesome is not a good discussion.

Line-up changes = what the hell happened!? is a good discussion.

 

so you think the music is great but the drama is worthy of discussion

thank you for helping me to confirm that still what stands out more than the music on this record is the drama associated with it's making.

[Guest Speed Racer]

so you think the music is great but the drama is worthy of discussion

thank you for helping me to confirm that still what stands out more than the music on this record is the drama associated with it's making.

 

No.

 

What I said was that we often don't discuss how great the music is here (though there is a live thread on this very topic further down the page - gasp!) because "Wow, it's awesome!" "OMG forrealz!" doesn't make the most lively thread. The Jay v. Nels talks and discussions about the line-up changes are as lively as they are because there are so many unknowns and strong, conflicting opinions that it makes for a more heated discussion.

 

Edited to add: The making of Metallica's St. Anger was also very dramatic, but no one remembers the doc or the album because the music sucked donkey balls.

[bleedorange]

so you think the music is great but the drama is worthy of discussion

thank you for helping me to confirm that still what stands out more than the music on this record is the drama associated with it's making.

 

I'm pretty sure you missed the point.

 

I like Kala more than Arular. Any White Stripes album this decade more than Elephant. Neon Bible more than Funeral. Speakerboxx more than Stankonia. But I do think Illinois is an exceptional album.

[Guest Jules]

so you think the music is great but the drama is worthy of discussion

thank you for helping me to confirm that still what stands out more than the music on this record is the drama associated with it's making.

If you surveyed everyone who's purchased YHF, I'd say 25% or less would even know of this "drama".

[Guest Speed Racer]

I like Kala more than Arular. Any White Stripes album this decade more than Elephant. Neon Bible more than Funeral. Speakerboxx more than Stankonia. But I do think Illinois is an exceptional album.

 

There's nothing on this list I particularly like, save YHF, but there's also nothing on that list that surprises me either.

[Guest Jules]

There's nothing on this list I particularly like, save YHF, but there's also nothing on that list that surprises me either.

Way to make a stand, Lauren.

[choo-choo-charlie]

Am I the only one that thinks Elephant is the worst White Stripes album of this decade? (And by worst, I mean least favorite.)

 

De Stijl is where it's at.

[Guest Speed Racer]

Way to make a stand, Lauren.

 

Haha! I didn't mean for that to seem wishy-washy. I read a lot of lists, and nothing is particularly bold on that list, except perhaps ranking Sufjan #1. I can see why everything made the list, though I don't like but one of the albums. I despise the music of Arcade Fire with a fiery, burning passion, but do not doubt that it's pretty musically sound.

 

I also own only four of those albums, only one of which I listen to in heavy rotation, with only one song on any of the others really making it onto my playlist. I've heard most of the others, but did not like them enough to buy them or, frankly, remember them.

[choo-choo-charlie]

Above all else, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was a game changer. It was so full of backstory and drama for the band that the music could have easily been overshadowed. But the music is a towering accomplishment.

 

That's for damn sure, although I do agree with the other poster's assertion that a vast number of YHF reviews all begin with two paragraphs of backstory. I do think that to tell the YHF story there does need to be some mention of the creative process, band lineup change and the Reprise/Nonesuch switchover - but I'd rather see these things...ahem, buried in sound.

[Guest Runaway Jim]

Foxtrot and Kid A would be the only things on that list that would make my top ten of the decade.

 

Same here.

 

Casmir Pulaski Day" is an exceptional song - one of my all-time favorites

 

Same here.