Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
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Free Music Notes for Sky Blue Sky
Free Music Review: Wilco is a Must See Live!
Hit: 5 Stars
Before Live Show this album gets: 4 stars (maybe 3.5)
After Live Show this album gets: 5 stars (perhaps 5.5)
This band is so good live I can't stand it. You have to see them live. Then and only then can one begin to understand the genius in Wilco. Wilco's music is like a fine wine and WRT to sky blue sky it just gets better and better with each listen.
It may take a bit of time but give sky blue sky enough spins because it's worth it... and don't forget to see them live!
Free Music Review: Suffers from high expectations
Hit: 3 Stars
One of the happiest mysteries of the past decade is how Jeff Tweedy - the less talented member of the seminal alt-country outfit Uncle Tupelo - has evolved into a peerless experimental rock bandleader whose increasingly innovative work remains grounded in an accessible, rootsy ethos. In part, this transformation has been driven by a revolving cast of muses - musical luminaries like Jay Bennett and Jim O'Rourke who have pushed Tweedy's Wilco to set the bar higher on each release. With Sky Blue Sky that mantle has shifted to avant garde jazz guitarist Nels Cline whose New Monastery - an audacious interpretation of Andrew Hill's music - was one of the most interesting records of 2006.
Against such a backdrop, anything less than a once-in-a-generation album would have suffered from high expectations. And while Sky Blue Sky is still a solid release, it falls far short of its promise, instead landing near the top of that largely risk-averse, roots-and-jam-band genre known as "dad rock."
Musically, Sky Blue Sky is a mature follow-up to the band's 1996 release Being There, a remarkably incisive, guitar-driven, theme piece on bridging the gap from small town to big city and from youth to adulthood. The songs are impeccable; Tweedy sprinkles in a few well-timed George Harrison licks, and percussionist Glenn Kotche, a longstanding enemy of the standard backbeat, mixes up the rhythms enough to engage listeners, but never lets them forget it's a rock album. Still, Wilco has traversed much ground since 1996. A throwback does not do them justice.
There are two exceptions, the back-to-back "Side With The Seeds" and "Shake It Off." The two traverse miles of musical ground in a manner not attempted since the days of early Pink Floyd or Selling England-era Genesis. Cline earns his paycheck here, adding textures that turn what would otherwise be simply solid compositions into mind-blowing psychedelic affairs.
To be sure, many of the other songs on Sky Blue Sky will be welcome additions to the Wilco canon once they've been worked out in the live arena. But at their core, they're a step back both musically and lyrically.
Free Music Review: Peeling an Onion
Hit: 5 Stars
This is one of the most richly textured rock albums I've heard in a while. The guitar work is absolutely gorgeous. There are some classic songs on this record. Free Music Review: sterile sound mix ruins album
Hit: 2 Stars
Sounds like Wilco is trying to merge their alt-country roots with the newer sounds they explored in "A ghost is born" and "Yankee hotel foxtrot". Unfortunately it doesn't work and the album is disappointing and uncompelling even though some of the songs are very good. To me the biggest problem with this record is the overall sound: For a supposed return to alt-country the sound on this album is remarkably cold, sterile and unsatisfying. The music has no warmth and this is largely due to the sterile sound mix. This could have been a stellar album because some of the songs are really great: "Shake it off", "Walken", "On and On" and my favorite song on the album "What light", but the album is ruined by the disappointing sound mix.Free Music Review: A floor cleaner AND a dessert topping (beautiful AND groovy)
Hit: 5 Stars
I've heard a great many Wilco fans remark that Sky Blue Sky is too ponderous or slow for their taste.
On the other hand, many of its advocates are pleased that at the very least it sounds a little like their older work (they remind me of the character in Woody Allen's Stardut Memories who miss his "early, funny films!")
Both takes, in my opinion miss the mark because neither are showing any active appreciation for this incredible record.
In reply to the first point I find it sad that the attention span of music "fans" is so woefully short. Why are listeners unwilling to sit down with a record for an hour or more and just listen to it on its own terms? Isn't it more rewarding to let a piece of art sink in and grow on you? Does it not then become a part of your life and your soul, as this album most certainly does when one gives it a chance?
Secondly, while it is fine to tune in to Wilco's earlier albums (all of them great for very different reasons), why would we expect the band to produce the same things they did in 1995? Perhaps those old early fans should heed Tweedy's advice that "You have to learn how to die if you wanna be alive."
Tweedy and the wonderful, cohesive lineup of the band at present are not trying to be anything other than what seems right for them right now. Isn't that what art is all about?
The result: not only is this album sensitive, delicate and gorgeous when it chooses to be, but in equal measure, it is downright rocking. Even though I prefer to listen to this (or any) record in its entirity, "Shake It Off," "Hate It Here" and "Walken" are some of the grooviest songs, ever. Sometimes I drive around in my car a few extra miles just to dig these incredible tracks.
Not only does SBS reflect Tweedy's increasing maturity and comfort in himself, but also I find it to be very romantic, explicitly revealing his deep appreication and love for his wife, Sue. As the wife of an artist myself, I can attest to the fact that our path, although incredibly rewarding, isn't easy. "Patient with Me," "Hate it Here," and both the opening and closing tracks are very moving love songs, indeed. Thank you, Wilco for enriching my life with your work.