Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
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Free Music Notes for Wilco (The Album)
Free Music Review: In the Vein of Sky Blue Sky
Hit: 4 Stars
If you liked Sky Blue Sky you will probably enjoy this, and I did like Sky Blue Sky a lot! I'm a fan of Wilco's earlier work like Summer Teeth and Being There as well as Jeff Tweedy's solo work. This recording is in that same arena for me. It's definitely worth a listen, enjoy.Free Music Review: Solid Album
Hit: 4 Stars
Another well made offering from the consistently unique and creative Wilco. A step down from earlier works but a worthy purchase nevertheless.Free Music Review: An Open Letter to Jeff Tweedy of Wilco
Hit: 3 Stars
Dear Mr. Tweedy:
I really wish I liked Wilco (The Album) as much as I like Wilco (The Band).
Wilco (The Song) starts off promising, with a charging wall of bluesy guitar sound. But the lyrics, a tongue-in-cheek love letter from your band to its fans, feel flat and uninspired, a lazy victory lap rather than an exploration of new territory.
I'm sorry, Mr. Tweedy, if I'm hating on you for loving on me. There are some great moments here, to be sure; the next two songs rank among your band's best work. But all in all, the album has a slightly generic feel. There's a taste of almost everything your band's done--the pastoral melodies of "Sky Blue Sky" and the pleasant pop of "Summerteeth" and the guitar workouts of "A Ghost is Born" and the countrified psychedelia of "Being There" and the experimentalism of "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot." But so many tastes end up making for a relatively bland album, at least by your band's standards. It's almost as if you put your discography in a blender and hit "Puree."
A little bit of everything ends up being a whole lot of nothing. Well, maybe that's a little harsh, but I do mean it, or something like it. You sound content and philosophical and meditative--on "Solitaire," you mention how it "took too long for me to see I was wrong to believe in me only," and that sounds like a statement from a healthy and happy and well-adjusted individual. But is that what we want? I kinda miss the alienation of "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" and elsewhere, the angsty Jeff Tweedy that sang "I am so out of tune with you" on "Being There's" "Sunken Treasure." Granted, you can't keep doing the same thing over and over again, and I don't necessarily want that. But I do want something more solid and substantive than this, whatever the mood. In some ways, your previous album, though it had fewer rough edges, was a bolder statement, in that it was at least a solid and consistent and thematically whole piece of work. That one, and every other album since "A.M." felt like an artistic statement, a "This is what Wilco is" kind of gesture that somehow also expanded the definition of what Wilco was. This one feels like a question in response to a question, as if someone asked "What is Wilco?" and you replied, "Well, what do you want us to be, baby?"
I'm sorry if I was harsh. This isn't goodbye; it's still a see-you-later. Look around for me the next hometown gig; I'll be the one wearing a party hat.
Love,
Alfonso
Free Music Review: Wilco bounce back....sort of.
Hit: 3 Stars
First, the good news. Wilco (The Album) represents a return to form after 2007's mellow (translation: comatose) Sky Blue Sky. This album is much more lively and engaging than their previous effort and there are more hooks and memorable melodies to be found. Now the bad news. Wilco (The Album) is still sub-par Wilco; paling in comparison to the back to back artistic homeruns of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost is Born. However, asking Jeff Tweedy and company to turn in a third effort comparible with those two is a tall order.
One of the great things about Wilco is how they have progressed from album to album. Just go back and listen to their debut, the poppy, alt-country, A.M. and then follow their arc all the way to 2004's A Ghost is Born and what will be most striking is how they not only grew as musicians and songwriters, but also how each record sounded different. That all came to a screeching halt with Sky Blue Sky which found the band sounding bored with their art for the first time.
So yes, Wilco (The Album) does recapture some of the group's artistic ambitiousness while maintaining some of Sky Blue Sky's straightforward vibe. The opening track, "Wilco (the song)" mixes dark lyrics with a tounge in cheek nod to fans as Tweedy reassures fans that Wilco will love them. It's one of the odder entries into the band's catalog, but it works. Meanwhile, "You Never Know" and "I'll Fight" are some of the band's catchiest tunes in years. The rest of the material doesn't stand out as much, but repeated listens do reveal intelligent, searching lyrics and subtle hooks. Neither of those were anywhere to be found on Sky Blue Sky.
Wilco's creative streak may be over, but as the song title states, "You never know". Tweedy is bound to deliver something completely new and original next time out. If not, at least he and his band don't seem resigned to merely releasing an endless array of variations on Sky Blue Sky. Wilco loves us all too much for that.
Free Music Review: Not Bad, And Not Great Either
Hit: 3 Stars
Wilco's strength has always been their ability to seemingly endlessly musically quote 60s and 70s bands. They keep the listener guessing whether you're hearing a little snippet from an Eagles song, maybe, or, at times, a guitar riff or coda lifted from Yes or Genesis, just to mention a few.
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot saw Tweedy experimenting with his beloved Beach Boys influence by adding all kinds of electronics. In the process, he also stumbled upon (some might argue it was his state of mind at the time) the thin line between sanity and insanity or the thin line between life as we know it and the dissolution of consciousness once we leave this life.
But I digress.
On Wilco (The Album), the electronics are for the most part gone. The album (no pun intended....or, wait, maybe it was intended) opens with "Wilco/the song". This is one of several instant classic rock songs in the style of the Stones or maybe Beatles at their jammingest.
Unfortunately, after several listens, I found myself pushing the "skip" button on most of the ballads. Out of 11 songs on the record, there's about 7 keepers. That said, for the fans who like ballads, they'll be happy with the rest of the record too.
Nels Cline is a badass guitar player. Having seen the band play these songs at Red Rocks just a couple of weeks ago, Tweedy held his own on the guitars as well.
As mentioned above, Wilco's strength (those who didn't like 60s and 70s rock will say it's their weakness) is their ability to channel their 60s and 70s influences.
On "Wilco/the album", the single biggest influence that shines through seems to be the spirit of George Harrison and his guitar.
And that's a good thing.