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Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is one of the first legendary albums that I was old enough, mature enough and enough of a fan of both the band and music to understand just how revelatory it was. I listened to the stream on Wilco's web site and found a bootleg online. I listened to it repeatedly and knew it by heart before I was ever able to buy it (which I eventually did). I had loved both Summerteeth and Being There as I became a Wilco fan, but YHF - holy shit.

Anyway, back to Summerteeth. It was immediately after I graduated college that I discovered Summerteeth (and Wilco). I mentioned on Tuesday that my college roommate had been a Wilco fan and I’d dismissed them. I don’t remember what it was that made me do it, but to be honest it was probably that my roommate liked them. I'm enough of a jerk that I probably dismissed them out of being too cool for my roommate's music. Yes, it was stupid. Long after I moved home from college, I read an article, I don't know if it was Rolling Stone or what, but I read an article raving about Summerteeth and I went to my favorite record store (what's that?) to buy it.

At first listen, I remember feeling a little put off by how overt the influence of The Beatles was. Of course, now I can’t even find the Beatles in Summerteeth. Obviously, the influence is there, but it doesn’t distract. If Wilco sound like The Beatles, it’s natural rather than an homage. It's fitting that this draft has Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, followed by Summerteeth, followed by Being There - it's the reverse evolution of Wilco. Listening to the albums in order of release, Summerteeth is obviously the bridge between the Being There and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. But it's not just that. Were it not for YHF, Summerteeth would be Wilco's masterpiece. It's a great album.

3 - Being There (Noah) - I knew when Steve got the first pick in our Wilco album draft that he’d take Yankee Hotel Foxtrot – like I said, it’s what I would have done and it’s appropriate - that is their defining masterpiece. But I believe Wilco has, to date, made three masterpieces – and Steve going first in our draft meant that I get both Summerteeth and Being There. If the band had broken up after Being There, it would have been a worthy career. Around the time of YHF's release, I had a friend who I told about YHF, telling him how great it was. I told him that I no longer struggled with which of Being There or Summerteeth was the best album and he couldn't believe that it was possible. That's how great Being There is.

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