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Why is there such disappointment over Wilco(The Album)?


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I wasn't disappointed when it came out, I'm more disappointed that it didn't stick with me the way their other albums have. I just don't listen to it as much. I'm actually a fan of SBS because it was cool to hear these guys sitting together in the loft and just adding parts to Jeff's songs. It was like being a fly on the wall of a Wilco rehearsal. For WTA, the songs were good, but just seemed to lack some inspiration. Maybe it was how the basic tracks were recorded (with only 2/3 of the band present and on a short schedule) or where. They said they loved the sound of the studio but maybe it was just because they were there and into the 7 Worlds sessions that made it feel right to them.

 

Oh well, still love the band and as stated before, if it was a band I'd never heard of before, it would have hit me harder.

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Guest Speed Racer

I wasn't disappointed when it came out, I'm more disappointed that it didn't stick with me the way their other albums have.

 

This is how I feel. If I had heard a W(TA) song on the radio and not known of Wilco, I'd have thought, "Geez, that's a good song; I should buy the record." Four minutes later, I would have forgotten that sentiment entirely (I'd tell you which other bands this has happened with when I listen to the radio, but I can't remember :lol ). When I said what I did about SBS earlier in the thread, I meant that in the good way; while I didn't like it, at least it stuck with me. It was an adventurous Wilco album precisely because it was a large departure from its previous sounds. ST was polarizing, YHF was polarizing, ABIG was polarizing and so was SBS. W(TA) may have been, and if it stuck with me I could tell you.

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I thought SBS and W(TA) were both boring compared to everything they did before. there were a couple of songs on SBS that I liked, but that's it. and that duet with Feist can go straight to hell!

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Wilco (The Album) and Sky Blue Sky just sound to comfortable to my ears. It's not that the songwriting is bad exactly, and the musicianship is solid...but (to my ears) neither album has the necessary friction to really make the jump from listenable to really inspired. There are moments, for sure, on each album that I can really get into and Jeff and the band seem really happy with what they're doing. As I've mentioned before, I think they just need to challenge themselves a little more, try something uncomfortable, and create that tension in what they're doing. You don't have to be unhappy to create great art, but you need something to work against to give it character.

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i only like "i'll fight" from the album. i think the arrangements and production are really bad for their standards. but, i mainly don't like the album now because jeff tweedy got a bit angry with me in some interview about saying the production was shit. i'll never forgive him for that! :monkey he better misquote me if i say the next album is good, just to balance things out with me and him

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As a collection of songs, I think WTA is pretty remarkable. it just doesn't have an overall theme or structure that lures me in to the whole thing - When I listen to Summerteeth or AGIB, the album seems to be a complete work from start to finish. With a couple exception, WTA feels like you could put the songs on shuffle and not disturb the continuity.

 

Which is fine, really. There are some fantastic songs. It's just different from their previous efforts in that regard.

 

And while we're picking nits: I really, really wish they blew out One Wing at the end. it screams for a long guitar section - if you listen to the Lollapalooza 12008 (or perhaps other early versions) the band stretches out the end a bit and it's really quite fantastic.

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I like Wilco (The Album). It has several good songs, and is much better than Sky Blue Sky which is "Impossible Germany" (great song) and the 11 crappiest songs Wilco has written since A.M..

 

That said, I haven't found Wilco nearly as captivating since Jay left, and now that he's gone for good, I have some doubts that Wilco will ever get their brilliance back.

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I'm convinced that if any other band other than Wilco put out WTA we would be losing our shit over them

 

WTA is the only album in Wilco's catalog, other than perhaps AM, that feels to me like an album some other band could have put out. To me, that's what makes it their weakest album.

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I have loved every album this band has put out....even AM. (I can't believe the lack of love that record gets)

AM was a great album from the baby Wilco. People still request material off it. Only folks who weren't there at the time dis it. The rest of us know it was great.

 

LouieB

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Guest Speed Racer

I have loved every album this band has put out....even AM. (I can't believe the lack of love that record gets)

 

I'm with you on A.M. For his age and experience, Tweedy penned a pretty good album in 1994. Some of those songs are favorites - Dash 7 is one of my favorite Wilco songs, as is That's Not the Issue. But all the faults of the album I can write off as naivete or the perils of youth. They don't have those excuses in 2011.

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I have loved every album this band has put out....even AM. (I can't believe the lack of love that record gets) Jeff Tweedy is a genius and can do no wrong in my book. BUT this album is so-so. :ohwell I do love Solitaire though. :stunned

 

When AM was new, one of my coworkers put it on the mix in the restaurant where I worked. It stayed in the mix for months. I really liked those songs, and if it weren't for hearing them in that context, there's a very good chance that Wilco would be just another Radiohead, or something, to me. A band that is supposed to be really good, and who has a few songs I know and like, but that I've never given serious consideration.

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AM was a great album from the baby Wilco. People still request material off it. Only folks who weren't there at the time dis it. The rest of us know it was great.

 

LouieB

 

I was going to defend AM by writing something very similar. One thing I always hated hearing is "you had to be there". But, you really did have to be there.

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I was going to defend AM by writing something very similar. One thing I always hated hearing is "you had to be there". But, you really did have to be there.

 

I have to agree to an extent, when AM came out (and Trace) I was excited, awesome I get two very legitimate Uncle Tupelos, both records were great, both seemed to carry on the UT vibe and at the same time they were very much different if you know what I mean. I do have to confess that I was more into Trace then AM at the time, but my IPod shows that AM has received many more listens then Trace in the time since.

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