"Ode To Joy" Reactions

[knotgreen]

This album release has sure brought out the worst in Wilco fans. Love or hate OtJ, a few minutes in that FaceBook group is more unpleasant than any music Jeff has put out in his entire career. It's really sucking the fun out of this album cycle. 

[HeavyMetalDrummist]

This sounds like Warmest to me.

 

I'm not saying it's bad, and I'm going to continue to put the work in to warm up to it, but it's not what I was hoping for.

 

That's OK for sure. I'm not the artist here. I'm the consumer. And hey ... after all, this is still Wilco. I'm going to listen to it and become familiar with the songs.

 

Also of note: I'm currently battling a sinus infection that's made me nearly (hopefully temporarily) deaf in my right ear, so my listening experience has been accompanied by a frustration that I know I probably can't really hear everything I need to.

 

[lost highway]

This album release has sure brought out the worst in Wilco fans. Love or hate OtJ, a few minutes in that FaceBook group is more unpleasant than any music Jeff has put out in his entire career. It's really sucking the fun out of this album cycle. 

 

 

Yeah, it's really bad. Somehow this forum contains both the positive and negative personal reviews without the nasty stuff.

 

I had to stop posting for fear that I was making it worse. Something about a facebook, colored-text screen containing one flippant sentence telling me that the album I'm deeply enjoying is trash really grates on my nerves. 

 

I've already written a lot about why I think this is a fantastic record, so maybe the new insight I can offer is this:

 

The fact that Wilco has released a highly controversial album is awesome.

[TCP]

I would 100% of the time choose an album that causes this sort of a reaction out of the fanbase over an album with an apathetic "yeah it's OK I guess".

 

That said, yeah, the Facebook group is pretty nasty right now. By no means the mod team's fault (I can't imagine how frustrating a job like that would be at times like this ...for no pay!!). I think it's just a symptom of the Facebook group getting too large in the past few years. ViaChicago continues to contain the best Wilco dialog on the internet. 

[jff]

However anyone might feel about this album, I think we can all agree that this is not the type of album one would expect from a band that recently announced their inaugural Mexican beach bash.  That kind of thing implies "we're going to have some fun."  But the album is mostly bummer rock.   

 

As for me,  I think this would have been a better record if they found a more uptempo song for track 2, or if not uptempo, then something that puts across a different feeling, sort of like they did with Kamera after I Am Trying to Break Your Heart.  The sequencing doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but I can't find fault with any of the songs taken individually.

[SarahC]

I would 100% of the time choose an album that causes this sort of a reaction out of the fanbase over an album with an apathetic "yeah it's OK I guess".

 

That said, yeah, the Facebook group is pretty nasty right now. By no means the mod team's fault (I can't imagine how frustrating a job like that would be at times like this ...for no pay!!). I think it's just a symptom of the Facebook group getting too large in the past few years. ViaChicago continues to contain the best Wilco dialog on the internet. 

This 100%. I was lamenting to somebody earlier that I missed the tight knit days of VC in comparison to the huge, and sometimes kinda volatile facebook group,

 

I really am enjoying OTJ, there’s lots of little things to pick up on, much in the same way as AGIB and YHF had tiny things that (at least for me) it took a while to hear. I’m looking forward to see where this one grows. Also excited to see how they fit in a live set. Super excited to hopefully hear “Hold Me Anyway” next weekend in Atlanta through Nashville. 

 

It’s interesting comparing it to Schmilco and Star Wars, in that I think it might sonically lie closer to some of the outtakes from TWL with the noise etc, I don’t know, it also kinda reminds me of the instrumental stuff from the Wilco Book CD back around AGIB. 

[nalafej]

So, Darin Gray is on this album?

 

I'm not buying the album to get the liner notes to confirm - and you are likely joking anyway - but a Darin appearance seems unlikely given Jeff and Darin's apparent falling out. I meant to imply that the record has adventurous percussion as a base.

[SarahC]

I'm not buying the album to get the liner notes to confirm - and you are likely joking anyway - but a Darin appearance seems unlikely given Jeff and Darin's apparent falling out. I meant to imply that the record has adventurous percussion as a base.

Hold on, they had a falling out?

[nalafej]

Hold on, they had a falling out?

 

I guess it could be jumping the gun, but he didn't make it to Solid Sound for the first time in 2019 and hasn't been playing with Jeff's solo band (I like to call it Jeff Tweedy & Nepotism) in quite a while. He also hasn't tweeted about Wilco or Jeff in a long while and didn't put his association with Jeff in a few recent gig bios.

[saluqi]

Ode to Joy?  Wilco should have just named it Sky Blue Sky II.  When I first got on VC in 2008 SBS was still taking a beating from many hardcore VC'ers, I didn't get the criticism then, and I don't get it now.  Wilco is band that been around the block, lyrically, sonically and personellwise,  and they can make any album they want to, hell they own the damn label.  I guess folks expected light-hearted poppy tunes with lots of hooks and clever lyrics given the title "Ode to Joy", but no, the band goes and throws out a curve ball maybe hoping the fans can rise to the occasion and appreciate the fact that they're not sitting back on their laurels rehashing the familiar.  I trust Tweedy and the boys to know what they're doing, and Ode grows on me with every new listen.  If you're not into it, that's cool, just think of it was as an experimental album of deep cuts.  

[jff]

Ode to Joy?  Wilco should have just named it Sky Blue Sky II.  When I first got on VC in 2008 SBS was still taking a beating from many hardcore VC'ers, I didn't get the criticism then, and I don't get it now.  Wilco is band that been around the block, lyrically, sonically and personellwise,  and they can make any album they want to, hell they own the damn label.  I guess folks expected light-hearted poppy tunes with lots of hooks and clever lyrics given the title "Ode to Joy", but no, the band goes and throws out a curve ball maybe hoping the fans can rise to the occasion and appreciate the fact that they're not sitting back on their laurels rehashing the familiar.  I trust Tweedy and the boys to know what they're doing, and Ode grows on me with every new listen.  If you're not into it, that's cool, just think of it was as an experimental album of deep cuts.

 

I think a large part of the criticism is that it isn’t enough of a curve ball after Schmilco, Warm, and Warmer. People wanted a curve ball and didn’t get one.

[chisoxjtrain]

Posted the basic chords to a few new songs for you guitar players out there. I think I'm up to six total now. Everyone Hides, Bright Leaves and Quiet Amplifier are next on my list. The school year has started and I don't have a lot of time.

[theashtraysays]

This album release has sure brought out the worst in Wilco fans. Love or hate OtJ, a few minutes in that FaceBook group is more unpleasant than any music Jeff has put out in his entire career. It's really sucking the fun out of this album cycle. 

 

 

That said, yeah, the Facebook group is pretty nasty right now. By no means the mod team's fault (I can't imagine how frustrating a job like that would be at times like this ...for no pay!!). I think it's just a symptom of the Facebook group getting too large in the past few years. ViaChicago continues to contain the best Wilco dialog on the internet. 

 

 

This 100%. I was lamenting to somebody earlier that I missed the tight knit days of VC in comparison to the huge, and sometimes kinda volatile facebook group,

 

If you had told me 10 years ago that VC would be the safe haven for civil discourse regarding a new Wilco record, I would have called you a liar.  Or at least a lousy prognosticator.    

[bböp]

I guess it could be jumping the gun, but he didn't make it to Solid Sound for the first time in 2019 and hasn't been playing with Jeff's solo band (I like to call it Jeff Tweedy & Nepotism) in quite a while. He also hasn't tweeted about Wilco or Jeff in a long while and didn't put his association with Jeff in a few recent gig bios.

Your nepotism comment notwithstanding, I think it’s safe to say that rather than a falling out where they’re not friends anymore, it’s maybe just more of a thing where Darin lives downstate (like a five-plus-hour drive from Chicago) so to rehearse for occasional one-off gigs, it’s just more of a hassle to get the band together. Obviously Darin was brought on when the band was gonna be a regular touring act for a while during the Sukierae cycle, but now that it’s more of a one-off band, it was just easier to keep it to folks who are local?

 

And maybe, musically, Darin and the rest of the band aren’t as compatible as they could be. He obviously comes from a much more experimental, improvisational background and since they’re not gonna be touring for the foreseeable future, perhaps it made sense to just quietly cut the chord now.

 

I saw Darin recently at a small solo show/interview he did in Chicago and while he didn’t say anything directly about the Tweedy band, Jim Elkington stopped by and things seemed cool. So I wouldn’t necessarily read anything more into it other than that Darin probably won’t be playing with the Tweedy band for the foreseeable future. But what are they gonna do, send out a press release about it? Things like this happen with touring bands all the time...

[nalafej]

Your nepotism comment notwithstanding, I think it’s safe to say that rather than a falling out where they’re not friends anymore, it’s maybe just more of a thing where Darin lives downstate (like a five-plus-hour drive from Chicago) so to rehearse for occasional one-off gigs, it’s just more of a hassle to get the band together. Obviously Darin was brought on when the band was gonna be a regular touring act for a while during the Sukierae cycle, but now that it’s more of a one-off band, it was just easier to keep it to folks who are local?

 

And maybe, musically, Darin and the rest of the band aren’t as compatible as they could be. He obviously comes from a much more experimental, improvisational background and since they’re not gonna be touring for the foreseeable future, perhaps it made sense to just quietly cut the chord now.

 

I saw Darin recently at a small solo show/interview he did in Chicago and while he didn’t say anything directly about the Tweedy band, Jim Elkington stopped by and things seemed cool. So I wouldn’t necessarily read anything more into it other than that Darin probably won’t be playing with the Tweedy band for the foreseeable future. But what are they gonna do, send out a press release about it? Things like this happen with touring bands all the time...

 

That all makes sense including criticism of my nepotism comment I've always been a fan of Darin's playing. Almost pulled the trigger on William Tyler tickets for tomorrow and would have loved to seen DG perform with him again.

[bböp]

That all makes sense including criticism of my nepotism comment I've always been a fan of Darin's playing. Almost pulled the trigger on William Tyler tickets for tomorrow and would have loved to seen DG perform with him again.

Yeah, I hear ya. Definitely a Darin fan as well.

 

As for the Wilco Facebook group, can’t we just agree that all Facebook groups eventually become unbearable. I’m not in the Wilco one, but the My Morning Jacket one can be quite annoying (or amusing, depending on how you look at it).

[choo-choo-charlie]

I'm not buying the album to get the liner notes to confirm - and you are likely joking anyway - but a Darin appearance seems unlikely given Jeff and Darin's apparent falling out. I meant to imply that the record has adventurous percussion as a base.

Yes, I realize it’s unlikely. You said the album sounds like On Fillmore + Jeff. Hence, my question if Darin is on it, because he’s the other half of On Fillmore with Glenn.

[Shug]

Ode to Joy?  Wilco should have just named it Sky Blue Sky II.  When I first got on VC in 2008 SBS was still taking a beating from many hardcore VC'ers, I didn't get the criticism then, and I don't get it now.  Wilco is band that been around the block, lyrically, sonically and personellwise,  and they can make any album they want to, hell they own the damn label.  I guess folks expected light-hearted poppy tunes with lots of hooks and clever lyrics given the title "Ode to Joy", but no, the band goes and throws out a curve ball maybe hoping the fans can rise to the occasion and appreciate the fact that they're not sitting back on their laurels rehashing the familiar.  I trust Tweedy and the boys to know what they're doing, and Ode grows on me with every new listen.  If you're not into it, that's cool, just think of it was as an experimental album of deep cuts.  

 I just wish the music and songcraft and performances had substance.  it could be dark angry or bummed out disonnant substance like At Least That's What You Said, Spiders or Bull Black Nova or upbeat rocking substance like Side With The Seeds Theologians or Wilco The Song and You Never Know or it could be sad and beautiful substance like you Are My Face Wishful Thinking or Country Disappeared, but this is just wispy and barely there.  I'm just not into minimalism much.  I get that some people hear a lot of beauty in it an thats great for them, its just not what I like.  I don't expect anything from the band, but I certainly feel its my prerogative to feel disappointed when I don't like what they are putting out and I certainly don't think I'm failing to rise to some standard just because my tastes are different from other fans.  I'll appreciate the originality when it leads to music I like, when it doesn't, I won't.

[kjelli]

Mojo review

Musikkekstra (KK) in Norwegian

 

[kjelli]

Review in The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/oct/04/wilco-ode-to-joy-review

[nalafej]

Yes, I realize it’s unlikely. You said the album sounds like On Fillmore + Jeff. Hence, my question if Darin is on it, because he’s the other half of On Fillmore with Glenn.

 

Probably beating the dead horse with this clarification, but...Just like some people say Art of Almost sounds like Radiohead, I'm saying OTJ sounds like an On Fillmore album. Not that all members of On Fillmore are on it. 

[5hake1t0ff]

OTJ seems to me like the first Wilco concept album since YHF - and in a somewhat parallel way.

 

YHF was playing with whether folk songs could interact with, withstand, piece through the noise of "The Conet Project" numbers stations. It created that feeling of defiance that love in times of wars - both internal and external - requires. And it nailed the post-9/11 zeitgeist, if unintentionally.

 

With OTJ, it's the "silver black boot that cracked my front tooth." The thuds of the boots on gravel. A totalitarian regime; or at least the march through what feels like a really bad dream. And here too, surviving terrors real, or dreamed, depends on the songs and their potential to sustain our purest emotions. Thanks again, Wilco.

[jff]

I guess it's good that I didn't know there was FB group.

 

Now that I've had a chance to listen several times through, I'd say this album puts them on an upswing after Schmilco, but is nowhere near as good as SBS or Star Wars, so I don't understand the "Best album since AGIB" thing that's been pretty common in a lot of reviews and commentary.

[bböp]

I guess it's good that I didn't know there was FB group.

 

Now that I've had a chance to listen several times through, I'd say this album puts them on an upswing after Schmilco, but is nowhere near as good as SBS or Star Wars, so I don't understand the "Best album since AGIB" thing that's been pretty common in a lot of reviews and commentary.

Judging by the revisionist history regarding SBS, that means folks should start coming around to SW in about 2028 and OTJ in 2031 or so...

[50footqueenie]

Judging by the revisionist history regarding SBS, that means folks should start coming around to SW in about 2028 and OTJ in 2031 or so...

 

OOOH CONTROVERSIAL!  Are you saying the average Wilco fan is 'slow'...? 

 

Personally I still don't get the second disc of BT.