November 5, 2007

Top albums of 2007--1--Sky Blue Sky


I always start this and rarely finish, but would like to post some of my favorite albums from this year. With that in mind, I will post some here and there on my favorites and if I hit the top ten, that is great. If not, oh well.

No real order, but wanting to talk about those albums that I really like. Top on that list, I think, is Wilco's Sky Blue Sky

I have heard many Wilco fans complain about this album, but I really like it. It is a sharp departure from the last two albums, to be sure, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was more political and global, while A Ghost Is Born was far more about personal pain and anguish. YHF had the amazing songs "Poor Places" and the "Ashes of American Flags" while A Ghost had the deeply personal "Handshake Drugs" about Tweedy's own battles with addiction.

Tweedy himself said that he wanted to make an album that would not make his wife sad, and Sky Blue Sky is that album. Not as dissonant as either of the previous two, SBS retains much of the musical complexity of Wilco's latest work. The album's opening verse sets the tone:
Maybe the sun will shine today
The clouds will blow away
Maybe I won't feel so afraid
I will try to understand
Either way

My personal favorite from this album is the title track, though "Impossible Germany" is also an amazing song.

My top ten will be a tough list. There are some albums out from people I really like--but albums that I really don't know that well. This is not one of those. I have listened to this one a lot, and while it is no YHF or Ghost, it is a very good album and well worth the listen.

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