If you aggregating a lot of binary opinions, I vote yes you should buy it. It's more accessible and less mysterious-sounding than their usual fare, which you may consider either a plus or a minus. If you're wondering what my underlying stance is, a few days ago I said to Brian Hooks something like: "I'm glad I've never really been a fan, that leaves me free to enjoy them without feeling threatened by what they stand for."
I’m not sure exactly what your getting at above.
I like listening to Wilco, but I do find them pretentious (both musically and personally) and that annoys me. It often doesn’t seem like they are having fun.
I find it perverse that Wilco turned out to be the more successful half of Uncle Tupelo. Jay Farrar’s contributions were uniformly more musically profound and more honest, and yet Son Volt has nowhere near the listenership of Wilco.
wilco sucks. mark e. smith is the dylan of our generation not jeff tweedy
That’s right, Sidereal. Everyone who was paying attention at the time thought that A.M. was nice and all, but that it was clear that Tweedy was not the brains of the operation. However, I think Jeff has always been willing to try something new and working with great musicians like Jay Bennett (RIP) certainly helped him go where Jay Farrar and Son Volt never could.
“I’m glad I’ve never really been a fan, that leaves me free to enjoy them without feeling threatened by what they stand for.”
What exactly does Wilco stand for besides (good) MOR dad-rock? Do they represent a band winding down and becoming less adventurous? It’s very hard to see how whatever they are could be threatening in any fashion.
Other possibilities re: Wilco’s stance.
-They represent a talented band that doesn’t try to be innovative. Artists have a responsibility to advance the art and be daring.
-They represent a talentless band that relies on inauthentic emotional signaling for sales and acclaim. How can such a successful band have anything honest and sad worth saying, especially now?
-They represent a talented band that has disturbingly betrayed their alt-rock heritage by including electronic elements and other weirdness.
-They represent a talentless band that used OK Computer esque production on YHF to give more weight to their otherwise unspectacular songs. YHF is just Summerteeth + melancholy digital tricks engineered by Jim O’Rourke to ensnare the critics.
The Village Voice hits it out of the park (http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-07-01/music/wilco-the-review/)
“”Wilco” is a five-letter word for the quiet slaughter of all that is elemental, passionate, and reverentially stupid about rock ‘n’ roll. Try finding a vein on a Wilco album. Oh, Wilco: middle-aged Midwesterners with stubble and suit jackets. Precise instrumentalists who make mushy, edgeless music. Two healthy guitarists who alternate featherlight solos with the sound of breeze and rustle. (The pussyfooters call this “atmospherics.” Whatever it is, it’s very tasteful.) Wilco: The Band That Rocks, Within Reason. Their peak party moments sound like a good time as described by someone who hasn’t actually had one. “I’m trying to balance fun with crushing depression,” frontman Jeff Tweedy once said onstage. “Always a challenge.” In this band, that’s a punch line. Is there anything dangerous about Jeff Tweedy? Is there anything dangerous about a pale father of two, comfortable in soft denim, mewling his way through a prescription-pill addiction with songs about how dishwashing just isn’t the same without his wife around?”
thehove nails it. My grandmother loved this album, though she still cranks the Tony Bennett when she’s in the mood for something heavy.
Finally, a critic whose appreciation of YHF matched mine: turgid and boring. Just the kind of album Rhapsody music service was made for: one you could listen to and then pass on.
Totally agree with thehova. I’ve never been a mega fan of Wilco, but always enjoyed their albums and concerts. I saw them about 3 months ago and they were so constipated and uptight, the show sucked. Have fun, why is that so hard?
Getting the thumbs-up from an economics blog must surely be the death knell for any rock band…
thehova: No, you’re not. Yankee Foxtrot is an unlistenably bad album. The fact that Tweedy – maybe the worst singer of a major band I’ve ever heard – was allowed to be the front man speaks ill of his bandmates ears. Then there are the songs, with their endlessly repeated bass lines. I’m even into pretentious bands – just not really untalented pretentious bands.
I wonder what it’s like to be the type of person who searches for reviews of bands they don’t like on unimportant websites. I guess everyone craves the experience of creating something –including and especially those whose talents peak at talking shit.
‘wilco sucks. mark e. smith is the dylan of our generation not jeff tweedy’
Didn’t Smith hit his prime about twenty years ago? I’d say he hardly qualifies to be a part of this generation.
I think Wilco is a pretty good Replacements tribute band. Some of the …Break Yr Heart docu was interesting in this regard: Two equally annoying guys annoying each other. On one side you had the Brian Wilson wannabee who thought he was the only person in all of Chicago that knew what a diminished chord was vs. the self-involved songwriter type with an affected vocal style, exaggerated illnesses, faked barfing and passive/aggressive behavior. I think their ethos is faked –not sure there’s a place for ethos in rock, it’s certainly not needed. I think they pretend to have depth. I’m not into their style of music but they seem to play fine. I think to an outsider Farrar’s material is certainly Wilco’s equal but the Obamatons went with Tweedy and made him wealthy. LOL
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