Sky Blue Sky

by

Wilco

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Probably my favorite thing about Wilco is that each of their albums is completely different from one another... however, what makes their latest effort different from previous ones is that it's hard to categorize this record. It's not experimental like YHF, it's not alt-countryish like A.M., it's not raw like Ghost is Born... it's mostly just a bunch of simple, beautiful songs, half of them being ballad-like. I'll say right now that, outside of a couple blazing guitar solos from Nels Cline, I don't think that Jeff uses the instrumental talent of his bandmates (or himself) enough on this record. I thought "Ghost is Born" had some unbelievable percussion and guitar moments, and that is mostly lacking on "Sky Blue Sky". With that said, I've already found myself singing along to all 12 tracks on this record, and the best moment for me is the very opening acoustic guitar strumming on the first track, "Either Way", followed by a classic-sounding opening vocal from Jeff, which has already been hard to match in the live performances of the song.

You gotta respect a guy who plays before thousands of people at most shows and decides to make a quiet, little record to tour off of. Wilco is one of those bands that is not meant for the big arena, and this album, probably more than any of their others, will be unkind to the big venue. It'll be interesting to see how the band delivers these mostly quiet little songs to a large mass of fans.

Well, it's kind of good. I read one review in Entertainment Weekly that said it was an Eagles album, which scared the heck out of me, luckily, it's not an Eagles album. I like most of the songs, and it's a better album than A Ghost is Born, which aside from Handshake Drugs and ATWSS, sounded like a string of B-Sides. I enjoy five out of the first six songs, then have to skip a few, and like What Light. I would compare Wilco to Radiohead, Being There, Summerteeth, and YHT are much like The Bends and OK Computer, absolutely brilliant, then the albums get spotty for me. I am a huge Wilco fan, so I buy the albums, but I can't believe someone who isn't a huge fan would be happy with the last two studio releases. I'll just keep listening to Kicking Television and my concert CD's, remembering the old days...