Album ratings for AM and WTA

[Guest Speed Racer]

One of the problems with W(TA) is that it's so technically precise. Every note is where it's supposed to be, to the max. They were finally able to capture some of their more raggedy, loose and fun side with TWL, but I think AM is brimming with rough-around-the-edges charm.

[hwllo]

I think Wilco the album will get better with age. It's like after people's disappointment with SBS everyone wanted wilco to hit a grand slam with the next one, and it just didn't happen. It's a very good album in my opinion. Falls short of wilco standards maybe, but still it's a chapter in a book that isn't finished yet, so when all is said and done who knows how important of a chapter it will be

[spongebob]

This says it all. WTA is an average album by a great band. Also, I don't get the love for Everlasting Everything.

 

Ugh, if only people would stop putting SBS and W(TA) on the same heap. First one is an excellent if somwhat uneven (yeah, several songs on its second half aren't that great but the same counts for AGiB) rootsy wind down album and an essential part of the Wilco discog. W(TA) on the other hand sounds like a band with nothing to say phoning it in.

 

As for A.M., I think it's a great start. Dash7, Passenger Side, Blue Eyed Soul, Too Far Apart, Pick Up the Change.....there is some really great songwriting. The band was still (and always is) looking for their sound. So to answer the original post......A.M.- 7/10 WTA- 5/10

[hwllo]

This says it all. WTA is an average album by a great band. Also, I don't get the love for Everlasting Everything.

 

 

 

As for A.M., I think it's a great start. Dash7, Passenger Side, Blue Eyed Soul, Too Far Apart, Pick Up the Change.....there is some really great songwriting. The band was still (and always is) looking for their sound. So to answer the original post......A.M.- 7/10 WTA- 5/10

 

Out of curiosity, which of these do you feel fall flat?

 

Wishful Thinking

Company in my Back

I'm a Wheel

Theologians

Less Than You Think

Late Greats

 

and then again on this

 

Please be Patient With Me

Hate it Here

Leave me Like You Found Me

Walken

What Ligh

On and On

 

I like both a ghost is born and sky blue sky, but to compare the second halves of the albums like that seems....well, just wrong

[choo-choo-charlie]

I wrote this post last year on one of those days where a record just clicks for you.

 

 

 

"In Defense of A.M."

 

Sometimes, you hear the right record at the right time. For me, yesterday, it was Wilco’s vastly underrated 1995 debut, A.M.

Blending country shuffles, classic rock moves and a barrage of tough guitar licks courtesy of sit-in lead guitarist Brian Henneman, the album’s tracks – sunny, radio-friendly and mostly condensed into pop lengths – represent what’s essentially another Uncle Tupelo album, minus Jay Farrar, towards whom many of the lyrics seem to be directed.

From the infectious opening drum pattern of “I Must Be High,” the chiming guitars of “Box Full of Letters” and the raucous “Casino Queen” to the deep-fried pickin’ of “That’s Not the Issue,” the boozy sway of “Passenger Side” and the slow-yet-punishing pace of “Blue-Eyed Soul,” the record reflects on a recent breakup with an air of relief, and relishes in newfound freedom.

Its recklessness and uncertainty is matched by its raw energy and joyous optimism. In the wake of everything that followed it, A.M. is often left behind in the minds of fans and critics, proclaimed to be the weakest link in the now-mighty group’s catalog.

Wilco may have made better albums after this one, but this record’s straightforwardness, crisp sound and immediate accessibility is hard to resist. Pop this in the next time you’ve got a sunny, open road ahead of you, and turn up the volume. It went down like a tonic the first time I heard it, and hearing it yesterday nearly had the same effect.

 

Note the shout-out to VC made by a commenter...

[Theremin]

I think Wilco the album will get better with age. It's like after people's disappointment with SBS everyone wanted wilco to hit a grand slam with the next one, and it just didn't happen. It's a very good album in my opinion. Falls short of wilco standards maybe, but still it's a chapter in a book that isn't finished yet, so when all is said and done who knows how important of a chapter it will be

Eh no, people wanted it to be great at its release but over the last 2 years W(TA) has clearly fallen from grace. And the fact that its successor is clearly the better album won't help W(TA)s case either.

[spongebob]

 

Out of curiosity, which of these do you feel fall flat?

 

Wishful Thinking

Company in my Back

I'm a Wheel

Theologians

Less Than You Think

Late Greats

 

and then again on this

 

Please be Patient With Me

Hate it Here

Leave me Like You Found Me

Walken

What Ligh

On and On

 

I like both a ghost is born and sky blue sky, but to compare the second halves of the albums like that seems....well, just wrong

 

I wasn't comparing second halves of albums. What are you referring to? I'm confused........

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

I'll never understand how people can put AM last, or even dislike it at all. It's certainly on the minor end of things, but there's no way SBS or WTW are better albums.

[hwllo]

 

I wasn't comparing second halves of albums. What are you referring to? I'm confused........

 

weren't you agreeing with the guy you quoted about the second halves of both albums having weak points?

[rwilson580]

One of the problems with W(TA) is that it's so technically precise. Every note is where it's supposed to be, to the max. They were finally able to capture some of their more raggedy, loose and fun side with TWL, but I think AM is brimming with rough-around-the-edges charm.

That's a good point. Although in some ways the band seemed to be reaching out to its audience (or maybe a broader audience) more than ever -- (The Song), the Camel, the duet, the homage -- the music maybe was sending a different message. Just a little too carefully constructed...a little too pristine...a little too remote. The rough edges that appear from time to time on their other albums are one of their endearing qualities.

[spongebob]

 

weren't you agreeing with the guy you quoted about the second halves of both albums having weak points?

 

 

Your correct I'm sorry. I was speaking to the primary SBS Vs. WTA comment that was made (not the ellipses secondary reference). A Ghost is Born is a great album no doubt.

[Autumnteeth]

That's a good point. Although in some ways the band seemed to be reaching out to its audience (or maybe a broader audience) more than ever -- (The Song), the Camel, the duet, the homage -- the music maybe was sending a different message. Just a little too carefully constructed...a little too pristine...a little too remote. The rough edges that appear from time to time on their other albums are one of their endearing qualities.

 

I look at WTA as the we are ok album, we are good at what we do, we can do what we want, and enjoy. It is a clear headed, concise statement about where they were in their career. Past vices were replaced by Obama endorsements, Where I lost it with the album was the Steely Dan feel to it. Still like it, and I remember listening to Everlasting Everything and thinking this is the redemption for the poppy, inside joke,for lack of a better word drivel, we were just served up. Like a giddy schoolkid who got the girl/guy they are in love with to go to a dance. The Whole Love is sort of the response to the I thought this is what I wanted, but sh#t was more complicated than I thought, response.

 

Everything has its time, but if you are the mindset that every album must be ranked, you are likely to believe every moment in life has to be ranked as well. WTA, like the life changing moment Dawn asked me to the Sadie HAwkins dance in 8th grade, turned out to be less significant than I thought. Wasn't bad, but it wasn't what I built it up to be. It was still, however, better than any alternative, just not what I wanted it to be. But, as Dawn said a week or so after, I am an idiot.