Red Mosquito

Chris_H_2 wrote:Star Wars is the best thing the band has put out since A Ghost Is Born, and it’s not even close.

Chris_H_2 wrote:Star Wars is the best thing the band has put out since A Ghost Is Born, and it’s not even close.

What a crazy statement. Trag is right that Schmilco is better but you are both wrong because Sky Blue Sky has bangers, even if it is a bit top heavy.

verb_to_trust wrote:

Chris_H_2 wrote:Star Wars is the best thing the band has put out since A Ghost Is Born, and it’s not even close.

What a crazy statement. Trag is right that Schmilco is better but you are both wrong because Sky Blue Sky has bangers, even if it is a bit top heavy.

I remember how pumped I was for SBS, seeing as how it was going to be Nels Cline's first Wilco studio album. And I also remember how incredibly disappointed I was when it came out. I knew going in that Impossible Germany was going to be on it; they had been playing it live for a good year before the album. But outside of that and Side with the Seeds (a Top 10 Wilco song for me), every other song was super mediocre and overdone. Jeff Tweedy pigeonholed every one to fit a Nels Cline solo or incorporate some aspect of him in the sound. And for that reason, none of the songs really sounded sincere or spontaneous.

And Schmilco is just really forgettable.

by the way, Cold Slope into King of You is right up there with the best Wilco 1-2 songs (along with Monday --> Outtasite and IATTBYH --> Kamera)

tragabigzanda wrote:Counterpoint: Sky Blue Sky is the most direct, clear-eyed record they’ve ever written; it’s also the most classic rock album they’ve done by a wide margin.

SBS reminds me of what a lot of people found/find so off putting about My Morning Jacket's Evil Urges. Over produced. Complicated. A band trying way too hard to be something that they're really not. Tweedy even acknowledged during one our living room concerts that in hindsight the band was really struggling to find its sound from SBS through the Whole Love and tried too many different things, which is what led to the stripped down (direct and clear-eyed) SBS.

Whatever they tried on The Circus Love didn't work

Nels joining the band really seemed to be the dividing line. It's been 15 years and they are still trying to figure out how to be a band with him. There have been a few high points (SBS, Schmilco, Star Wars) but downright clunkers like the last record too. Tweedy needs a foil like Jay was. The band as it's constructed now sucks each other's sucks too much.

by the way, i nominate Capitol City as worst Wilco song from a studio album.

Chris_H_2 wrote:by the way, i nominate Capitol City as worst Wilco song from a studio album.

It's definitely something on Whole Love but that's got to be up there. I'm pretty sure Jeff played it the last time i saw him.

verb_to_trust wrote:Tweedy needs a foil like Jay was.

could

not

agree

more

SBS is my least favorite, despite two of my all time favorite tracks

The way I feel about Wilco is maybe the way most RMer's feel about Pearl Jam these days.

I understand now.

lennytheweedwhacker wrote:SBS is my least favorite, despite two of my all time favorite tracks

let’s f#ck

lennytheweedwhacker wrote:SBS is my least favorite, despite two of my all time favorite tracks

Similar to how I feel about Art of Almost and One Sunday Morning on Whole Love.

verb_to_trust wrote:

lennytheweedwhacker wrote:SBS is my least favorite, despite two of my all time favorite tracks

Similar to how I feel about Art of Almost and One Sunday Morning on Whole Love.

that song is glorious

They should just issue a 7 inch with AoA and OSM. I'd buy that shit.

I'm listening to Ode to Joy now. Really enjoyed Quiet Amplifier.