New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

6 - The Whole Love (Steve) - I'm delighted to get Wilco's latest release with the 6th pick in the draft, both because I think it is a great album and also because in any draft, it's always fun to get rookies and sleeper picks. Because we just sang its praises in our review on Tuesday, I will use my remaining time to say how fine I am with passing over A Ghost Is Born. Though it features some excellent songs - "Spiders (Kidsmoke)" is the standout track, "I'm A Wheel" is a good time, "Theologians" and "Company In My Back" are very essential - most of the rest of the album falls flat for me. Putting aside the 15 minutes of ridiculous noise that is "Less Than You Think", "Hell is Chrome", "Muzzle of Bees" and "Wishful Thinking" are among Wilco's least compelling songs. Half of the album is great, but the other half is forgettable and frankly kind of boring. Give me the consistently Really Good Sky Blue Sky over the uneven A Ghost is Born any day.

7 - Wilco (The Album) (Noah) - I'll have more later this week on the best song from Wilco (The Album) - Bull Black Nova - but for now, I'll say that I think this album is significantly better than Sky Blue Sky. It's got a number of non-Bull Black Nova standout tracks, including Wilco (The Song), You Never Know, and I'll Fight. But it's also the Being There to Sky Blue Sky's A.M. If I'm going to go all in on this analogue (and I am), I'm really looking forward to the next Wilco album (as I always), because that makes The Whole Love the new Summerteeth in the second act of Wilco and the next album the new Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

8 - A.M. (Steve) - I tried to convince Noah I should have the seventh pick to compensate for his getting to pick second and third, just to try to avoid Wilco's debut. It's a fine album, but one I don't own and haven't listened to more than a handful of times. As I've said, back then I was more of a Son Volt fan, and Son Volt's debut Trace is the better of the two debuts. Wilco agrees, or at least Brian Henneman does: "The first Son Volt record was pretty fucking good. It was like watching a prize fight at that point. Wow! He slammed him there! Ouch! What a counterpunch! It was exciting being on the sidelines watching these guys. It's like Jay [Farrar] had something to prove with that first album, an urgency to it that none of his albums since have had. I felt he had a chip on his shoulder, and it shows up in the music. It was stunning. It was humbling. I think that kicked Jeff in the ass".

In contrast to the rest of their catalog, A.M. is merely a Good album, dwarfed not only by Trace, but by Wilco's follow up, the over stuffed buffet that is Being There. My favorite song on A.M. is "Casino Queen", a rollicking bar song with great lyrics like:

The room fills with smoke and I'm already broke,
And the dealer keeps on joking as he takes my last token

It's a song with great energy and a singable chorus for sure. In 1995 A.M. was an underrated first record from a band with an interesting legacy (Uncle Tupelo) and lots of promise. But, in 2011 it can't be anything else but an enjoyable afterthought compared to the entirety of what came after it.

For the original version of this post, including music, click here.

Continued:       1       2       3       4       5