Wilco (The Album)

I don't believe there is a band in existence today that puts out music as wide-ranging, yet consistently excellent as Wilco. With each album, the Chicago-based sextet is not afraid to challenge their fans by offering up different musical styles ranging from Americana to electronica to straight ahead rock 'n' roll. You simply never know what you are going to get with a new Wilco album. Well, except for their newest release, entitled Wilco (The Album) which the band has been streaming on their web site for weeks before officially releasing it last Tuesday.

Freealonzo wrote an excellent review of the new album. There are also glowing reviews in Pitchfork, their hometown Chicago Tribune, Spin and others. I'll let you read those reviews for an impression of the songs themselves. I will say that, for me, Wilco (The Album) took five or six listens before I warmed up to it, which means it's a typical Wilco album. It's complicated, which is why you are not going to hear it played on 99.99% of radio stations and it won't appeal to the American Idol crowd. Like most Wilco albums, it takes some work to get used to. In fact, the only Wilco album that I fell in love with on the first listen was Sky Blue Sky. (I also liked their first album A.M. the first time I heard it, but I have always thought that it was a "left over Uncle Tupelo album.").


I've always felt that Wilco fans fall into two camps. The first camp are those fans that prefer the "alt-country Wilco" of A.M., Being There, and Sky Blue Sky. The other camp are those fans that prefer the anxiety-ridden, edgy Wilco of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost is Born. Summerteeth and Wilco (The Album) are probably the two releases that fall somewhere in-between genres. It's no secret that the so-called anxiety-ridden albums were released when Jeff Tweedy experienced his own anxiety and prescription-drug issues, which is well-chronicled in this excellent New York Times article.

While I appreciate all of the Wilco albums for what they are, I most-often fall into alt-Country camp. This is why I generally gravitate towards the "Sky Blue Sky sound" and enjoy the "soothing" songs on the new album such as One Wing, Country Disappears and Everlasting Everything. Sometimes, however, things can come along in life that require repeated listens to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. I went through a phase recently in which I listened to A Ghost Is Born almost every day. That's the thing - for most every mood, there is a Wilco album.

I'm looking forward to the next Wilco gig in town since I can't make their upcoming show at the hippie festival in Detroit Lakes, MN with CR and Tito Jackson. I'm very interested to see how they treat their new songs live in concert.

So pick up the new album and give it about six listens. I think you'll like it.

Jeff