Thoughts on Wilco

A.M. and then go listen to all of Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt's "Trace" and "Straightaways"

Yankee Hotel Foxtrox is one of the best albums of the 00s.

Yankee hotel foxtrot is amazing.

But for my money Sky Blue Sky is their best work.

Summerteeth is probably my favorite album.

Just one song...their cover of California Stars.

Being There was my first Wilco purchase waaaaay back in college and I still enjoy it.

Their studio stuff doesn't do much for me, but love them live. Only albums I really listen to by them are AM and Kicking Television.

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Sky Blue Sky is their masterpiece

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and even the Mermaid Avenues with Billy Bragg.

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Even? It's freaking great. I think that was what got me into them. Local record store always threw promotional stuff in the bag when you checked out, and I scored a 4 track EP with California Stars on it. A couple weeks later I was back in College Station and went into the record store there to buy the only Wilco CD they had in the used CD section and it was Being There. Dropped off in the purchases after Wilco (the album) but have been listening to them ever since.

ETA: I think Summer Teeth was one of my all time favorite day drinking songs: LINK

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A.M. and then go listen to all of Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt's "Trace" and "Straightaways"

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This....Summerteeth, Being There and the Billy Bragg stuff used to be my faves but it's like another group altogether. I recall an interview w/Tweedy quoting The Beatles as his primary influence during Sky Blue Sky... which is a good way to approach Wilco. They are a musical journey, not on such a grand scale of pioneering music's future as the Beatles, but if you listen to the early stuff of either group, you cannot have any idea of what either is about as a whole. Son Volt, Uncle Tupello, and the Billy Bragg Wilco are good records to help understand where it started from.

My first thoughts on Wilco is that they are superior to most bands in creating a vibe or a place for a listener to escape to. Like The Beatles that Tweedy quotes, they are masters at capturing the spirit of music itself. An extraordinary elusive task.