General Consensus on Wilco (The Album)

[lost highway]

I also can't believe there isn't more love for "Deeper Down." What a breathtaking song that is -- great contributions there from Pat and Nels plus great lyrics and singing from Jeff.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

Hmmm, do you include Impossible Germany in your dislike of SBS, or is that subsumed within the "almost"???

I like the music okay, but the lyrics are pretty horrible ... consequently, I don't really like the song.

[The High Heat]

W(TA) is my least favorite Wilco album. Their are parts of it I want to like, but I can't sustain longterm interest. Recently, however, I came across the Martha Quinn interview of Bob Dylan in 1984 in which he discusses an apparent rejection by fans and critics of Shot of Love and Street Legal. Dylan's take is that those albums weren't rooted in his earlier music, so his listeners couldn't attach what they've experienced to what those two albums presented to them. "They have no history." Just made me wonder if this idea of an abruption in album progression might be in play when it comes to how we receive W(TA). Maybe, maybe not. Just something I think about when I struggle with what was and what is, Wilco-related or not.

 

This is a great interview if you've never seen it. There's five parts to it, starting with Martha fixing Bob's makeup for him and finishing with Dylan actually complimenting Quinn for her interview skills (A rare moment indeed!). This is part 4 and Dylan discusses the above idea just before the 4:00 minute mark.

 

[Guest McGuffin]

We've got a horse race as to what's worse - the comments in this thread or this album. Some of you guys try far, far, far too hard.

 

Half of this album is alright. The rest is detritus. I abandoned this one almost entirely faster than SBS, which is almost, but not quite, as bad. I've listened to a lot less of Wilco in the last several years thanks to these two weak albums.

 

The immediate winners on WTA were One Wing, Bull Black Nova, You'll Never Know and Everlasting Everything. Wilco the Song grew on me and is alright. And, funny enough, although despised at first, I actually think You and I is halfway palatable.

 

Deeper down and tunes 7-10 are terrible, in my opinion. We've had two albums where they seriously drag to the finish line and barely cross it.

 

Just for kicks, the two worst Wilco songs ever, in my opinion, are Walken and What Light. Oof. Intolerable.

[junkiesmile]

We've got a horse race as to what's worse - the comments in this thread or this album. Some of you guys try far, far, far too hard.

 

Half of this album is alright. The rest is de

tritus. I abandoned this one almost entirely faster than SBS, which is almost, but not quite, as bad. I've listened to a lot less of Wilco in the last several years thanks to these two weak albums.

 

The immediate winners on WTA were One Wing, Bull Black Nova, You'll Never Know and Everlasting Everything. Wilco the Song grew on me and is alright. And, funny enough, although despised at first, I actually think You and I is halfway palatable.

 

Deeper down and tunes 7-10 are terrible, in my opinion. We've had two albums where they seriously drag to the finish line and barely cross it.

 

Just for kicks, the two worst Wilco songs ever, in my opinion, are Walken and What Light. Oof. Intolerable.

You didn't just try a little hard? I agree with What Light. Walken reminds me of Kingpin. Musically cool with throw away lyrics.

[deepseacatfish]

"Wilco (The Song)" should've been a b-side, "Deeper Down" is forgettable, "One Wing" is a potentially good song buried by thudding dullness, "Bull Black Nova" is boring, "You and I" is pretty and slight, "You Never Know" is fun after one listen and useless after two, "Country Disappeared" and "Solitaire" are the only two good songs, "I'll Fight" is a song on this album, "Sonny Feeling" is sorta cool, almost good, ultimately just there, and "Everlasting Everything" doesn't really exist.

Brilliance.

 

Really I think both Sky Blue Sky suffered from some over-production and a lack of risk-taking. There are some good moments on both but those two albums definitely rank at the bottom of Wilco's catalog for me.

[choo-choo-charlie]

I think it was just as much of a risk for Wilco to make a more straightforward record than doing what many expected of them and make an "experimental" record, whatever the hell that overused term means. The results of SBS were mixed and its reception was mixed. In a sense, to me, it was much like one of the other Wilco records that consistently shows up at the bottom of people's lists -- A.M. -- in that the record was made by a group of guys trying to figure out the next step for the band and find some common ground, learning each other's style, taste, and approach to making music.

[Guest Speed Racer]

I think it was just as much of a risk for Wilco to make a more straightforward record than doing what many expected of them and make an "experimental" record, whatever the hell that overused term means.

 

Why does everyone think "they didn't take a risk" means "straightforward"? I wouldn't call a lot of SBS or W(TA) straightforward, but they feel half-finished and the songs kind of blow = they didn't take a risk.

[Atticus]

very carefully and slowly ..It's an abbreviation of the State I live in

That information pertained to the above dialog in what way?

 

ok now on with the Show

Lighten up See you at the Boston Show.......

 

now I'm really confused.

 

so it's an abbreviation for the state you live in and your last name? what are the odds?

 

(and you still didn't answer the question)

[Barbarino]

Yankee Hotel Toxtrot.

That's a good album.

[choo-choo-charlie]

 

Why does everyone think "they didn't take a risk" means "straightforward"? I wouldn't call a lot of SBS or W(TA) straightforward, but they feel half-finished and the songs kind of blow = they didn't take a risk.

 

Does everyone think that? I think songs like "Either Way" and "What Light" are 100% straightforward = easy, mellow tracks. No dissonance, no squalling noise, no strange chords, nothing too risky. And not everything in Wilco has to have those attributes. I enjoy my Sky Blue-Vanilla Sky, and the more complex flavors of other records. Are the songs half-finished? Perhaps. Perhaps SBS could have benefited a bit more from less playing, "thinner" (read: less instrumentation) arrangements?

 

That's a good album.

 

It's a good one.

[calvino]

 

Hey, you left off the best part!

 

Quote

 

@Wilco362 Sounds like a bitch who wouldn't know a good band if it smacked her in the face

 

Nah - I did say that too, but I didn't think it was funny.

[Sir Stewart]

"say"?

[Guest Speed Racer]

Now the truth comes out!

[calvino]

It was a typo.

 

I saw it

[Sir Stewart]

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

Brilliance.

 

Really I think both Sky Blue Sky suffered from some over-production and a lack of risk-taking. There are some good moments on both but those two albums definitely rank at the bottom of Wilco's catalog for me.

 

Over-production? In comparison to YHF? Sky Blue Sky is a band record. A band playing together playing songs. No Pro-tools. Few if any overdubs.

Jeff appeared to be reacting to the manner in which his last three records had been recorded with all the emotional wreckage that accompanied them and made a decision to do it all differently.

[Atticus]

if sky blue sky had been recorded the way the bonus shake it off thingie sounds, it would rank a lot higher for me.

[fortuleo]

The real question is not if W(TA) or Sky Blue Sky (or The Whole Love) are good, bad, better, disappointing etc. The question is "would I have become such a fan of this band by discovering them with these albums". And the real answer would be 'no' for most of us who first heard the band in the Bennett years. The last LP that could really gather new fans was probably AGIB, because it could seduce the "art rock" crowd. I like/love the subsequent albums, but I like /love them as valid additions to the band's oeuvre, and I'm almost certain they were made with that intention. I doubt I would have become an absolute fan of theirs with these two lps, but that doesn't prevent me from citing "Either Way", "You Are My face, "Deeper Down" or "Ill Fight" amongst my favorite Tweedy songs.

[Ghost of Electricity]

The real question is not if W(TA) or Sky Blue Sky (or The Whole Love) are good, bad, better, disappointing etc. The question is "would I have become such a fan of this band by discovering them with these albums". And the real answer would be 'no' for most of us who first heard the band in the Bennett years. The last LP that could really gather new fans was probably AGIB, because it could seduce the "art rock" crowd. I like/love the subsequent albums, but I like /love them as valid additions to the band's oeuvre, and I'm almost certain they were made with that intention. I doubt I would have become an absolute fan of theirs with these two lps, but that doesn't prevent me from citing "Either Way", "You Are My face, "Deeper Down" or "Ill Fight" amongst my favorite Tweedy songs.

The problem with your theory is that Wilco's fan base has increased significantly over the last two records.

[Guest Speed Racer]

The problem with your theory is that Wilco's fan base has increased significantly over the last two records.

 

But Justin Bieber has a bigger audience. You're so right!

[Ghost of Electricity]

Justin Bieber does not exist.

[choo-choo-charlie]

Bieber. Hmph. I hate that chick.

[fortuleo]

The problem with your theory is that Wilco's fan base has increased significantly over the last two records.

You're probably right. But for those of us who became fans at the time of BT, ST or YHF, it's fair to say that we probably would not have become infatuated in the same way if we'd first listened to SBS or W(TA). I think that's the main reason why those discs are often dismissed by people who kinda 'like' them but know they would not have fallen in love with them. It's like an old friend who has changed a lot. Sometimes you still like/love him, but you're saying to yourself "if I'd met him now, we would never become that close".

[Ghost of Electricity]

I know I wouldn't have, I'll give you that.