LaughingDog Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 I want in on this discussion! New here, been a HUGE Wilco fan for a year. Listened to them nonstop for literally the past year. I love this album. +1 on the Mikael comment, the piano in Sunday Morning is sublime - so pretty, so beautiful, so breathtaking. Sounds like stuff off of the Wilco Book. Why does nobody like Born Alone? One of my favorites from the album, no doubt. Rising Red Lung sounds like a cross between Chinese Apple and Solitaire - sooooo good. But really, the MVP here has got to be Sunday Morning. Such an intimately emotional, chilling, and sad song - one of the most compelling recorded songs I have ever listened to. So mature and masterful. Art of Almost is equally as good, really. Just mindblowing.I have loved I Might ever since it was released. Definitely a different cut on the album, seems a little more... I don't know, shiny? There is something juicing it up and making it sparkle a bit on the album. The single was raunchy and raw and fuzzy. Love both. LOVE the transition from AoA to this.Sunloathe was surprising at first, the first two songs set me up for a loud and fun album. Sunloathe is the first of the many introspective tunes on the album. Very Beatles-esque, definitely.Dawned On Me has the most catchy chorus ever.Black Moon sounds like it could be on WTA. I really like it.Born Alone - could not stop smiling during first listen. Love it so much.Open Mind: I liked the Strombo version better. I predicted they would record something like this in the context of the band, though. Kind of like Country Disappeared, a very straightforward solo acoustic translated by the six piece. Still a good tune. Wouldn't mind if it was gone from the album, to be honest.Capitol City reminds me of Jeff's solo version of Walken. I love it!Standing O... I don't like this one, to be honest. Reminds me of the song Summerteeth. Recycled that awesome organ riff from I Might, too. Maybe it will grow on me like I'm A Wheel grew on me. Didn't like it at first, now it's one of my favorites. We'll see.Rising Red Lung... love it so much. Glenn goes into this super tasty and sexy beat near the end, very much in the same vein as the Poor Places beat ("Someone ties a bow in my backyard to show me love").Whole Love goes into a beautiful chorus that I imagine future Wilco concert-goers will be singing along to. It ends magnificently, too. Perfect setup forOne Sunday Morning which, by the way, is in my opinion the greatest Wilco closer on any album. It is just unreal. I haven't cried listening to it yet, but I probably will one of these days, if it catches me off guard. I loved SBS, liked WTA. I love this more than both of those. Not a YHF or GIB yet, but pretty ridiculously close. I love you, Wilco. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kidsmoke Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 This line, from One Sunday Morning: "Bless my mind I missBeing told how to live..." is so poignant, and so honestly ambivalent. What a lot it says, in such a perfect little turn of phrase. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mpolak21 Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Props to Mike.Can we give props to Pat for some excellent production work? Yes, indeed. Right, now most of us are listening to this shitty 128 Kbps rip, and it still sounds great, imagine it on CD, or vinyl or even iTunes quality. Pat helped mix this too right? The layers on this really stand out. --Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smells like flowers Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Couldn't disagree more with those who found the second half of the record weak. Rising Red Lung, Whole Love, and One Sunday Morning were like a dream I didn't want to wake up from. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The High Heat Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 The Whole Love blows... ...the last album and a half completely away! Art of Almost oughta be outrageous live!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
groovingdan Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 YHFAGIBBTTWLSTAMSBSW(TA) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kidsmoke Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 I'm so intrigued with the idea that your brain processes familiar things very differently than new things... while listening to TWL, my brain kept trying to fit each song into an existing category (oh, this part sounds like Nick Drake, the Beatles, Cheap Trick, the Pixies, even America..) but as I listened I knew that soon those shallow new handprints will push down deeper, creating their own space in my brain --without the comparisons -- and reveal their own whorl-y fingerprints and love-lines and life-lines... As others have said here, thank you, Wilco! This record is a gem. I love how you put this. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GLHawk Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 I made a comment about The Late Greats being barely tolerable and I'm certainly not a troll. Wilco's music covers a lot of ground and everywhere that they venture isn't always for me. That's all. Can we still be friends? Truce. It's just that I know the songs better than I know you. So when somebody on the Internet says, without qualification, that one of my favorite songs is crap, it raises the hackles a bit. I've gotten used to people abusing WTA, even though I like that album a lot, but seeing someone rip on "The Late Greats" makes my head explode. Anyway, this new album is astonishingly good. I think "Sunloathe," "Dawned on Me," and "Born Alone" are sort of getting shortchanged here -- which I guess is understandable since there are so many standouts. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beltmann Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 This line, from One Sunday Morning: "Bless my mind I missBeing told how to live..." is so poignant, and so honestly ambivalent. What a lot it says, in such a perfect little turn of phrase.Yes. That song has sucked me in, perhaps because I have a father similar to the one described. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bleedorange Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 The only song for me that really didn't register on the first listen was Standing O. Open Mind also didn't do a whole lot for me, either. Every other song sounded great. And there is something about Whole Love that really works for me. It's not my favorite, but the guitar in the background, Jeff's falsetto, the backwards guitar, and the harmonies all come together for me really well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beltmann Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Why does nobody like Born Alone? One of my favorites from the album, no doubt. Welcome to VC! Nice first post--and I'm totally with you regarding "Born Alone." I think it's one of best power pop songs in the Wilco catalog. Love it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kalle Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 I believe in one of the recent Jeff interviews he said that One Sunday Morning is an actual true story where he went for supper with the author Jane Smiley and her boyfriend and he told Jeff the story and then Jeff ended up writing a song about it. I just think it is seriously incredible, maybe top 5 Wilco songs for me and I'll probably even go out on a limb and say best one of the best Jeff has written since Jesus Etc., I am just floored by it. Also I hope to god they play it live I don't care if they have to cut two songs from the set for it, it'll be totally worth it. Edit: Here's Jeff's response in the St. Louis magazine article. There’s a song on the new album called “One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley’s Boyfriend). Smiley’s from Webster Groves—do you know her? I don’t know her very well, but I have met her and her boyfriend, and I’m a little nervous about that song now because I’m hoping that it will be taken in good spirits. Having met her only once, though, I will say that I know her better than I know her work even. It’s really more about the meeting of her boyfriend, and I had a really poignant moment over dinner with him one time, so I thought it was cool to reflect that in the song. Even though now I’m really sad that I’m going to have to skirt around this for the next year. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
-seven Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Yes. That song has sucked me in, perhaps because I have a father similar to the one described. I think a lot of us can relate. It strikes a cord with me too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kalle Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Also I don't think anyone has really made the comparison between Open Mind and Country Disappeared yet. Both 6/8 tunes with really good lyrics but suffer from a really interesting arrangement like Black Moon or Rising Red Lung. Standing O, for me anyways, sort feels a lot like Sonny Feeling in a lot of ways as well, just a lot better. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
porkdog324 Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Also I don't think anyone has really made the comparison between Open Mind and Country Disappeared yet. Both 6/8 tunes with really good lyrics but suffer from a really interesting arrangement like Black Moon or Rising Red Lung. Those songs sound nothing alike, why would anyone compare them? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jtn191 Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Why does nobody like Born Alone? One of my favorites from the album, no doubt. I do. I went through all the songs and decided to learn one of them. I picked Born Alone. The chords have been submitted to Ultimate Guitar and will be up soon. I was lost on a few of the lyrics though... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
explodo Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Sorry to get freak out juice all over you.That's what she said? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SeattleC Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 I think you need to listen to the album a little bit more before making such generalizations. I think a lot of the songs that you think are boring, are really great folk songs. I agree, how can people be so judgmental after such a sort time. Oh, I forgot, look at history. Maybe later we can parse it all based on the past musical history. But for now, just shut up and listen ok, talk about it too, it wouldn't be a chat board if we all sat around and said it's great. but I do think it's great.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bigideas Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Wow, just finished my first listen on headphones.I was surfing too and wasn't paying complete attention, so I can't go too in depth, but what I heard was a pleasant surprise. Unless I am delusional, I think this will easily get their best reviews since AGIB and maybe even YHF.Should have no problem at least scoring an 80 on MetaCritic (AGIB=81, YHF=87). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
calvino Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Standing O is a favorite of mine - perfect beginning and end of song. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
aricandover Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 That's what she said? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Excitable Boy Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 I'm loving every song on the album. Favorites are Art of Almost, Dawned on Me, One Sunday Morning, Capitol City, and Whole Love. I was a little underwhelmed by Open Your Mind at first, but strangely enough I am finding the melody stuck in my head more than any other song....weird.... I love all the John Lennon & Randy Newman vibes going on. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sweet Papa Crimbo Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Standing O is a favorite of mine - perfect beginning and end of song. I think this one will absolutely SLAY live. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
danelectro Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Great album. But not crazy about it yet . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sweet Papa Crimbo Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 I'm loving every song on the album. Favorites are Art of Almost, Dawned on Me, One Sunday Morning, Capitol City, and Whole Love. I was a little underwhelmed by Open Your Mind at first, but strangely enough I am finding the melody stuck in my head more than any other song....weird.... I love all the John Lennon & Randy Newman vibes going on. I usually don't do the "sounds like Summerteeth meets A Ghost is Born"; but listening to this in the zoned out state, I was getting a heavy Revolver era Beatles vibe. This one, in my opinion, has a very distinct non-druggy, pyschadelic vibe to it.I'm really digging it and can't wait for the official release. No downloading poor quality rips for me this time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.