Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
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Free Music Notes for Sky Blue Sky
Free Music Review: Direct and Mature
Hit: 5 Stars
Such a pleasure to hear pure talent on display. Jeff Tweedy's been a critical and cult favorite for the past several years, in part, because his rich musical mind went to work deconstucting songs and busying them up with random ideas. He asked us (no, demanded us) to take the ride---and, quite often, the challenge's been worth it. My concern has been that we were hopping on the Tweedy burnout parade.
But now, Wilco (and, yes, this feels like a BAND at work) has put aside the druggy psychedelia for pure songcraft. The warmth of Jorgensen's Hammond organ gives a grounded richness to some of the songs and the guitar interplay of Tweedy and Cline covers familiar Wilco/70's Steely Dan/Slash and Burn territory. We had an inkling of what was to come with Kicking Television---their energetic, guitar-driven live album. Those songs burst into life through the fantastic interplay of these musicians.
The new songs on Sky Blue Sky hold up after repeated listenings and the lyrics never get in the way---in fact, they intrigue. Tweedy's loopy vocal (as they'd say on American Idol -- he's "pitchy") is a unique instrument in itself. Ragged and loose, his tenor still wraps around a song like no one else in the business. He stamps the songs as his own. And, the full arrangements display a mature sound that separates this band from anything else out there in rock/pop. They couldn't reinvent "A Ghost is Born" or "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" without eventually hiding from delivering real, direct SONGS. Yet, they now show they've got the goods.
I began listening to this album with the intent of applying a solid 4 star rating for its consistency throughout. The more I listen and realize the pure beauty, wonderfully vital arrangements, and a splash of edginess applied for good measure: it's a 5.
Free Music Review: Subtly, stunningly beautiful
Hit: 5 Stars
This is definitely a grower. Takes about a dozen listens or so to really get its hooks sunk deeply in. But by the time that happens you should be in agreement with most knowledgable fans of good music that Sky Blue Sky is right up there with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot as Wilco's best work.
Listen to a song like "You Are My Face," the lyrics, the harmony, the shimmering notes leading into the bridge, the slam and the rhythmic tempo change and snarling guitar on the bridge, the passion in the vocals on the bridge, and then how amazingly perfectly they set the song back down into the final verse.
Listen to a song like "On and On and On." After slowly and tenderly pleading "please don't cry," the song builds up in force (and another great rhythmic change-up) and in the last line pasted here, Tweedy delivers the perfect clincher:
Please don't cry / This world of words and meanings makes you feel outside / Something that you feel already deep inside / You've denied /
Go ahead and cry
Just about every single song on SBS has a moment of perfect, brilliant musical craft like those listed above, a moment where, if you're a musician, you'd say "I wish I had thought of that." From the ferocious groove-jams on "Walken" and "Shake it Off" to the delicate turnaround on "Leave Me Like You Found Me" to the monstrous White Album riff on "Hate it Here" to the soaring vocal after Nels' beautiful solo on "Either Way." And the craft doesn't exist just for craft's sake, it exists to let the very direct emotional content of Tweedy's lyrics come soaring through the music. The music has depth and passion underneath its seemingly subdued presentation. And the band sounds amazing.
Boring? Only if you're not really listening. This record gives me chills every time.
Free Music Review: Making the "leap" album...
Hit: 5 Stars
There are artists who are on your radar for years, and you know they're fantastic, and you eagerly await each album, but whom you would not include among the likes of Zeppelin, or the Beatles. You buy each album eagerly awaiting the one where they finally make the "leap" to that next level...the upper echelon of rock bands.
Sky Blue Sky is the "leap" album for Wilco.
That isn't to say that their other albums aren't very good...and it's CERTAINLY not to say that Wilco is now on the same level as the Beatles and Zeppelin...I doubt anyone ever will be...but they have clearly elevated their game and made an album that is wholly transcendent.
I have a strong appreciation for music that pays tribute to heroes of days past, but still retains a certain freshness, and Sky Blue Sky has this quality in excess. At times it recalls Velvet Underground, The Beatles, Phish, and others, but it is never retreading old material. It remains very new and original. There is an elegant simplicity to the music here, as evidenced from the start with Either Way. The guitar solo from this song is simplistic bliss. I am particularly fond of Side With The Seeds, Hate It Here, and Walken. The last two of which recall the Beatles so strongly that it puts a smile on my face to think of them. If you enjoy any of the bands mentioned in this review, then I highly recommend this album. There is no way...NO WAY...you will be disappointed.
This is music for those who are eternally optimistic about life despite being well aware of the fact that there is no real evidence to support such a positive outlook. It's heartbreakingly beautiful, and depressingly uplifting. New and Old. Obviously, it's highly contradictory, but on the whole, a beautiful album. Pick it up.
Free Music Review: Subtlety may sound "dull" if you don't pay attention!
Hit: 5 Stars
I could not disagree more with the negative reviews of this album. It is an incredibly tender and subtle work that continues to reveal itself over time. I love the 70's rock pallet that Wilco employs on many of the songs and the lyrics are touching and inspiring. The music explains itself to the attentive listener, but I must address the critics of the lyrics.
Jeff Tweedy is responsible for some of my favorite lyrics over the years and the thing I love most about Sky Blue Sky is his emotional progression as an artist. Sky Blue Sky is the other side of Jeff's frequently depressed and dark lyrics. Where once he wrote "I know that I would die if I could come back new" he now writes "Either way, I'm gonna stay right for you." This is not to say that Tweedy has become an overly-hopeful cheese ball. Perhaps the most touching moment on the album is when he sings, "I should warn you when I'm not well, I can't tell." It is Tweedy's ability to take a discussion of the individual's lack of self awareness during bouts of mental illness and refine the truth down to a single sentence.
One thing I will mention about the music is the cohesion of the band - It reaches new heights. Many of the Wilco projects could be better described as Jeff Tweedy and Friends. This is simply not the case with Sky Blue Sky. Tweedy is still the captain but every member of his crew is essential to the musical journey and they are each clearly a part of the song crafting.
To be fair, Wilco has yet to make what I would consider a perfect album, but then again, few artist ever have. What Sky Blue Sky achieves however, is a subtle blend of honesty and maturity expressed by a group of musicians who clearly enjoy making music together.
Free Music Review: Sky Blue Sky
Hit: 5 Stars
Wilco-Sky Blue Sky *****
Enchanting isn't the right word, just the first one to come to mind, but it just might work. Sky Blue Sky is easily the most inspired and greatest work Wilco has ever put forth. While not the experiment that A Ghost Is Born was, it works in their favor that way. Not cluttered with what should not be. But not so minimalistic that it doesn't feel like Wilco.
Sky Blue Sky is the groups first album since vocalist, and (underrated) guitar god, Jeff Tweedy kicked his habit. Hence the title. A clearer sound than on their previous works also is a reflection of this.
'You Are My Face' is eloquent and coarse adding a texture and fresh feel to the bands sound. 'Impossible Germany' is a great idea, accompanied with one of the more subdued and better guitar solos of this decade. The title track serves as the focal point even though it is the most unmemorable track on the album. Remaining low key until you reach it than it absorbs you like nothing you have ever heard. 'Shake It Off' evokes the Grateful Dead at the height of their power before they became a parody of what made them great and original.
Tweedy's lyrical inhibitions have been set free on Sky Blue Sky making for Wilco's most personal and inspired album to date. Mikal Jourgenson becomes more than a vital part of the group on this album as he shines more than ever before with his masterful key work. His restrained approach breeds great life into the music.
Sky Blue Sky is one album that breaches genres finding a niche in every collection offering it a home. Highly Recommended.