I have quite a love/hate relationship with Wilco.
Why?
Well - love because I genuinely think "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" is a good album.
Also, I tend to hate anything I hear by them the first time through.
I really hated this album.
I just did.
I heard that the recording was all Pro-Tools and that Tweeds plays most of the guitar on this album and Nels Cline wasn't in the band, so on paper, it looks like a transitory album. The first song I heard from it was "handshake drugs" which I had to learn for the first Pilcher's List gig. We never played it, but how dare a band follow up a boring 3 chord song for 4.5 minutes with 1.5 minutes of noise for no reason.
I could imagine how these sessions went down:
TWEEDY - uh...so, Sue said I need to record an album because Spencer needs new shoes. uhm...well, crap. Where's Jay?
GLENN - hmm, do i get to play drums on this thing? I mean, the 3rd track is just a drum machine for 4 minutes...
TWEEDY - uh, sure, that's what the next 6 minutes of the song are for.
JOHN - So, the 3rd track is 10 minutes long?
TWEED - Well, actually closer to 11. I'll sort it out in pro-tools. don't ask stupid questions.
LEROY - eyaeah, I think I'm gonna quite soon.
MIKAEL - me as well.
TWEEDS - Oh, hey! there's jim o'rourke!
JIM - sorry guys, sonic-youth was busy saying they didn't want a 3rd guitarist on the new album...
GLENN - wait, one song is acoustic then buzzing noises for 15 minutes. what the hell? can i play the drums on this thing?
TWEEDS - uh, well, pick a buzzing sound. everyone pick a puzzing sound!
JOHN - jeff, you should stop smoking.
TWEEDS - shut up or join son volt john!
LEROY - Uh, i'm still here guys.
TWEEDS - here's a rock out song with no lyircs other than "123456789" and "uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh".
GLEEN - thanks jeff.
JIM - WHAT?! sonic-youth is gonna tour with Mark Ibold!? He never released anything on drag city!!
JOHN - how bout a bass solo jeff?
TWEEDS - oh, well, don't forget about the 11 minute one during the third song!
JOHN - well, thats two notes.
TWEEDS - shut up or join son volt.
JOHN -
GLENN - so, what else is there?
TWEEDS - hm a beatles rip off, a crazy horse rip off, and 9 or so more others. i don't know, pro-tools can figure it out. op! gotta go to rehab. see you soon!
Needless to say, you can see what I found annoying about this album.
EVERYTHING!
and i refused to listen to it for months.
then when working on a rough draft for a paper a few weeks ago, i promised john i would listen to it.
what did I find? well, i was right! there's a 11 minute song, some beatles/crazy horse ripoffs and other stuff, but its all so enjoyable! i mean, i can live with "handshake drugs" and "less than you think" and "hell is chrome". why? because, i don't know, i just can! don't get me wrong, i still think YHF is a better release, but this is still all right. I mean, listen to "muzzle of bees" - that's a pop song in there! "I'm a Wheel" is Wilco's "My Pal the Tortoise" by TFUL282 - just bopping along with some silly lyrics and whatnot. "Theologians" has that country rock crap that the kids like. "Less than you Think" is the 15 minute one with some noises at the end. its a good one to fall asleep to. but don't! because you'll miss the last song - 2.5 minutes of music with songs you can't hear on the radio.
I do feel that Glenns contribution that made parts of YHF so exciting are missing just to add emphasis to Tweedy's newfound guitar playing stuff. I think Jeff played most, if not, all guitars on the album (this was pre-Nels Cline for those confused). Furthermore, i find the piano playing on this album to be annoying and just chord pounding, which gets old fast. also, what's the name of that neil young tune that has that lyric "and if we never get out of here..."? because the first track on this sounds like that.
hmmm, i need a better way to end this review. suggestions?
OVERALL RATING - waffle sticks with powdered sugar
KEY TRACKS - "i'm a wheel", "spiders", "muzzle of bees", "at least that's what you said"
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