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Rank The Studio Albums


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Why rank 'em when you can crank 'em?

 

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Why rank 'em when you can crank 'em?

 

Can't disagree with that. I get sucked in to these threads, because I'm always curious how other Wilco fans hear things. But when I submit a ranking of my own, I feel kinda dirty afterwards. I remember all the times when one of the celler dwellers was just what I needed.

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Summerteeth (as far as listening pleasure)

 

TWL (I think from start to finish this is their best since YHF)

 

YHF (This was my masterpiece prior to TWL)

 

Being There (my first Wilco - the second CD has a couple songs I skip through)

 

Ghost (Less than you think is atrocious - but not my least favorite Wilco song)

 

Sky (again, a couple of clunkers)

 

AM (good album, but the band was obviously starting to learn the ropes)

 

W(TA) (a couple of great tunes, and a few horrible ones. Also, my least favorite song Everlasting Everything)

 

 

For what it's worth...

 

Bob

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1.ghost is born

2.summerteeth

3.yhf

4.whole love(except the title of the album)

5.sky blue sky

6.all the unreleased songs

7.mermaid aves

8.being there

9.am

10-wta

-2 and 3 are interchangable.6 could technically be the complete recordings but its missing many great tunes, a new complete recordings should be made with tweedy songs,b-sides,wilco book songs since that doesnt seem to count and get rid of the live recordings. curious if the mermaid ave 3 will have unheard tweedy sung tunes.

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  • 2 weeks later...

1) BT

2) ST

3) AM

4) YHF

5) SBS

6) TWL

7) AGIB*

8) WTA

 

The thing about this list... 1,2 & 8 stand solid for me... the rest 3-7 are always shifting for me with mood, season, life events.

* But.. songs from AGIB played live blow me away.. they are amazing songs! just not overly crazy about the studio production.

That being said.. i love all the studio albums.

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  • 4 months later...

1. AGIB

2. ST

3. YHF

 

4. TWL

5. BT

 

6 (tie). SBS & AM

 

8. W(TA)

 

1, 2 & 3 are completely interchangeable depending on the day. TWL might eventually jump in there, but I need to give it more time. W(TA) hasn't aged well for me - I kinda liked it when it came out; now there's only a couple of songs that I look forward to.

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My ranking

BT

ST

YFH

AM

TWL

Ghost

SBS

WTA

 

I can dig it :). I have grown to appericiate AM quite a bit over the years. It would be no lower than six on my list (SBS and WTA are the two I just never really got into all that much, but even then there are parts of SBS I really like. And I just don't listen to Wilco the Album, so that might have something to do with why I don't rank it all that highly.).

 

--Mike

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For me, AM is the a transition album. The band changing from Uncle Tupelo and becoming Wilco. The process wasn't complete until Being There. The only "Uncle Wilco" album. I like it, but I look at it "for the most part", as a Wilco plays the songs of Uncle Tupelo. Exceptions being Dash 7 and Too Far Apart. Just my opinion.....

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For me, AM is the a transition album. The band changing from Uncle Tupelo and becoming Wilco. The process wasn't complete until Being There. The only "Uncle Wilco" album. I like it, but I look at it "for the most part", as a Wilco plays the songs of Uncle Tupelo. Exceptions being Dash 7 and Too Far Apart. Just my opinion.....

 

Honestly, I've never understood this view. I hear a band that's having a lot more fun than Uncle Tupelo. I hear a band that doesn't take itself so seriously. I hear a looseness and a swagger that was absent in Uncle Tupelo, yet there was also a pop sensibility that wouldn't have flown in the UT world. In fact, I hear a lot of songs that Jay Farrar probably would've had no interest in playing.

 

Is A.M. mostly labeled as twangy, "alt-country" in the same vein as UT? Perhaps, but I don't hear it that way.

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Honestly, I've never understood this view. I hear a band that's having a lot more fun than Uncle Tupelo. I hear a band that doesn't take itself so seriously. I hear a looseness and a swagger that was absent in Uncle Tupelo, yet there was also a pop sensibility that wouldn't have flown in the UT world. In fact, I hear a lot of songs that Jay Farrar probably would've had no interest in playing.

 

Is A.M. mostly labeled as twangy, "alt-country" in the same vein as UT? Perhaps, but I don't hear it that way.

 

I understand not hearing it that way. I also agree that A.M. would never have happened under Farrar's watch. It is too pop.... too much REM (post 92) with a country feel. I don't feel fun though, except on the two tunes I listed. I hear pressure. That is okay, I hear a band trying harder than on any other album, but they are trying for a 90's top twenty hit. I hear a band sounding like what they are told they are supposed to be. I hear a band looking for a "One Head Light", visa The Wildflowers, The Counting Crows, or Sheryl Crow...... That is my point. The journey and not the destination is most important, to BE THERE. I hear Uncle Tupelo without Farrar's heavy hand. Free, but in a zone that is giving it away for free.... I like it, but it isn't earnest. The band found earnest on Being There. That is what makes Being There such a great album. Hints the title.... :)

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I understand not hearing it that way. I also agree that A.M. would never have happened under Farrar's watch. It is too pop.... too much REM (post 92) with a country feel. I don't feel fun though, except on the two tunes I listed. I hear pressure. That is okay, I hear a band trying harder than on any other album, but they are trying for a 90's top twenty hit. I hear a band sounding like what they are told they are supposed to be. I hear a band looking for a "One Head Light", visa The Wildflowers, The Counting Crows, or Sheryl Crow...... That is my point. The journey and not the destination is most important, to BE THERE. I hear Uncle Tupelo without Farrar's heavy hand. Free, but in a zone that is giving it away for free.... I like it, but it isn't earnest. The band found earnest on Being There. That is what makes Being There such a great album. Hints the title.... :)

 

Fair enough, though I disagree about Wilco aspiring to be The Wallflowers or Counting Crows. That might be what their label expected, but I think Tweedy was more interested in maintaining some of the UT fanbase, hence an album with very little risk. In fact, I'm certain he's been quoted saying something to that effect.

 

While Being There might be more "fun," you can't deny that "Casino Queen" is the perfect soundtrack to a boozed-up night. Just listen to those whoops and hollers. They're rocking their asses off. I mean, any song with a riff like that -- that also features Brian Henneman clinking gin bottles together -- is a damn good time.

 

You may hear different and that's ok. But I don't hear a band trying too hard. They probably never had a better time making an album than they did making Being There, at least from my point of view. I wasn't around for those sessions. :-)

 

As for "trying," do I think they tried way harder on ST and YHF than AM? Yes. Are those better records than A.M.? General consensus is yes. And the results are stunning. But I guess that's the beauty of it and what makes us such lucky fans, to love and follow a band that has a consistently great catalog.

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