(photo: Autumn de Wilde)
It feels odd to be putting up a review of Wilco (The Album) now, even though today is the album’s official physical release day. Back on May 15, I wrote about Wilco making the album available in high- and low-res streams on their site to thwart the album’s leak. Still, unless you found yourself a leaked copy of the album, that’s been the only way to really listen to the music, which isn’t as conducive to enjoyment as actually playing it yourself.
For Wilco fans, Wilco (The Album) feels like a personalized birthday gift, complete with hand-made greeting card and specially chosen wrapping paper. From the opening love-letter-to-fans “Wilco (The Song)” through to the fourth track “Bull Black Nova,” there’s something to appease fans of Being There and A.M. Wilco and fans of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot/A Ghost Is Born and Sky Blue Sky. Those first four songs feel like a sequential journey through their back catalogue, whether intentionally or not, leading listeners to “You and I”, where Jeff Tweedy duets with Feist. It is a plaintive and sweet song; the vocals sound as if they were recorded while Tweedy and Feist were standing face-to-face, hand-in-hand, under a canopy of twinkling lights, the band dress in matching gold-lamé suits positioned behind them on a gymnasium stage. That’s all good, by the way.
From there, Wilco (the Album) feels like Wilco (the band) have rediscovered Wilco (the spirit). Much less introspective and experimental, the six remaining songs take the refrain to “You Never Know” to heart. As Tweedy sings “I don’t care anymore/I don’t care anymore,” you sense the shackles of expectation and responsibility falling from their ankles. They cut loose, play free, and make some of the best music of their career. The dramas of past recordings, the addictions to pain killers and pressure from the public seem like a forgotten memory. The album’s recording was finished prior to the death of former band mate Jay Bennett, which I’m sure must have affected Tweedy; I can only wonder how that incident may have influenced the album if it had not been finished yet.
Wilco (the Album) is a perfect entrance point for new fans, and a great gift to those who’ve been following them for years. It manages to be the perfect balance of past, present and future, and the epitome if the gift that keeps on giving. Thank you, Wilco, it’s just what I always wanted.
MP3: Wilco (with Feist) “You And I”
Myspace: Wilco
1 Comment so far
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I think those of us who listened to the streaming version were a lot more accepting of the album when it actually came out. Seems a lot of the discontent on the reviews I’ve read so far is from people who have just listened a time or two and were frustrated it wasn’t what *they* wanted it to be.
Comment by Windfarm 07.02.09 @ 12:38 amLeave a comment
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