But perhaps the most anticipated album of this year (at least for me) has been the new Wilco release:
Sky Blue Sky, which came out last week. SOF and I have been listening to it off and on over the time and both agree that it is really a solid album. Like most Wilco albums (after AM, that is), it requires a few listens to like it. Hell, I hated A Ghost is Born the first couple of times through--and that now makes me wince. How could I hate such an amazing album?
This one did not turn me off, but repeated listens have really brought the subtleties to the fore. Nels Cline's guitar work is really great and the entire band is in tune (no pun). Watching the DVD (I recommend buying the version with the dvd) you find out that they recorded the songs together (as Brandi Carlile did her recent album) with little or no over dubbing. It gives the album a real fresh and organic sound. Songs like "On and On and On" have a simplicity and beauty that their earlier work lacked. Or this opening from "Either Way."
Maybe the sun will shine todayOr perhaps I am just biased because I think Wilco is the best band of our generation.
The clouds will blow away
Maybe I won’t feel so afraid
I will try to understand
Either way
4 comments:
Best band of our generation? Wow, that's a statement right there. I can't quite describe what makes a band great, but two things that come to mind are influence/impact and longevity. Some, like the Sex Pistols, Velvet Underground, or the Police, are incredibly influential, but short-lived (late greats, perhaps?). Although for the most part, I would rather listen to Wilco, they would have a tough time knocking a band like U2 off the top of my list of greats.
Still, in my book, nobody but nobody can touch the Clash nor Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys.
Bob Wills and the Texas playboys are not part of my generation. Maybe you are older than you appear on TV.
I certainly have U2 on my list of dominant bands, though their work the last 10 years has disappointed me somewhat. Hard to top their work in the 80s, I think.
Re: Sky Blue Sky I'm hoping to maybe get it for Fathers Day...
Re U2: yuchhh...Thye were interestiing many many years ago for about 15 minutes...Since then it all sounds so phony-forced- monotonous/ cookie-cutter obvious to me. Maybe because one or two of them have other important fish to fry.
The only thing Wilco fries is their music & themselves--though, hopefully that is behind them.
Older than I look? Not so much, but there IS a Bob Dylan poster that I really like . . .
I love Wilco, of course, but the point about the Clash, Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, the Kinks, or other late greats is that they hold up in both influence and longevity.
As far as U2, different strokes for different folks, I guess. They lost me the first time with Rattle and Hum, but when I came back to that years later I realized it was a great album. Admittedly, some of their REALLY BIG SHOWBIZ of recent years is not my bag.
Hold Steady fans might also dig Ian Drury and the Blockheads, a band that emerged in the UK about the time Bruce and Co. were coming up in Jersey.
Hey FP, maybe see you round the Square?
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