New Wilco

I'm fine with saying Farrar is on par with Tweedy as a songwriter, and even superior in many instances, but not FAR superior, which is the way SJ's JayFarrar initially said it.

 

I think he's a bit biased.

I like mystery in my lyrics. I like cryptic. But good songwriters, IMO, can do that and still make a fairly discernible point. That's why I liked The Album. I really liked the music, and I didn't have the regular WTF? moments I normally have when listening to Wilco. Obviously, I can get past those, but sometimes, while I apppreciate Tweedy's willingness to occupy space far outside the box, it takes away from my overall experience.

 

Mine was the New Daisy.

I acknowledge some bias and I also acknowledge that "far" superior was a but of hyperbole.

What I can't deny is Tweedy, occasionally, has lyrics that sound like they were written by the manatees that write Family Guy.

 

I have as big a man-crush on Tweedy as anybody but it does seem like, at least early in his career, that he was probably a hard guy to work with, especially for others with big personalities/egos.

After the Uncle Tupelo breakup, there was the Jay Bennett stuff. Jay sure seems pretty dickish in the movie and sure looked like he was trying to give himself equal billing in what had really been someone else's band, but you can't tell me that Jeff wasn't part of the disfunction, even if it was his own personal problems getting in the way.

If you've ever seen "Man in the Sand," it was pretty clear that Jeff and Billy Bragg didn't see eye to eye on a lot of stuff. Jeff looks hard to work with (this movie, of course, told more in Bragg's perspective whereas IATTBYH was told more in Jeff's). However, I'll add this: I'm convinced that Billy Bragg wanted Wilco simply as an alt-country backing band for his record and didn't know what he was getting with Tweedy & Co. I also think Bragg was a little ticked that Wilco might have done a better job with Woody Guthrie's songs than he did and couldn't admit it. While Billy wanted more pro-union, anti-fascist songs, Jeff was finding love songs and other lyrics with more depth. (I know this is over-simplifying it a bit).

I really hate comparing Wilco and Son Volt because they have gone such different directions. Twenty years later, is it really worth debating the breakup of Uncle Tupelo and the bands that came out of it? At the time they came out, I really liked "A.M" but I loved "Trace." When the second albums came out, "Being There" grabbed me and shook me and convinced me to follow Wilco, while the second Son Volt record sounded like it was made up of outtakes from the first. Almost a carbon copy (my thought at the time).

 

Agree completely with Kato here.

Farrar is still trying to write a follow-up album that lives up to "Trace" (although he's certainly had good songs along the way).

But "Being There" was a big step past "A.M.," and grew on me every time I listened again -- just like subsequent Wilco albums.

Then "Summerteeth" really sealed the deal for me. A great album I listened to over and over again during a tough time in my life.

 

Pretty much all of the songs on "A.M." would have worked as Tweedy's contribution to an Uncle Tupelo album. As would most of "Trace." But beginning with "Being There," Tweedy started to expand his horizons much more than Farrar has ever seemed to do. With each subsequent album, Wilco has shook off its alt-country, No Depression magazine roots — to the betterment of the band, in my opinion.

I've seen Wilco seven times in concert, beginning with the "Being There" tour, and the band has been great every time. Last concert was Sept. 19, 2007 in Columbia, MO on the "Sky Blue Sky" tour, one day after seeing them in Little Rock, AR.

Can't stand Wilco (The Album), but I need to pick up the new one.

Joe

 

Grow up!

 

Not sorry. Dull and depressing, with very little redeeming value. I'm doubting Wilco's playlist on this tour includes more than two songs from (The Album).

And I'm older than you, Mr. Consonants.

 

Ya, but I feel older right now. I know WTA is their most hated (maybe least loved is a better term) album, but I just like it. It has a clarity that the other albums are too often devoid of. I half-jokingly refer to it as their adult contemporary album. There are a few songs I always skip over, but aside from Being There, that's the case, for me, with all of their stuff.

 

Just tried to get pre-sale tickets. What a fucking joke that system is.

I have officially hit the point where going to a concert is no longer worth the ridiculous bullshit you have to go through to buy tickets.