Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

There are, in my estimation, only a couple of sins in music that are entirely unforgivable, and chief amongst them is to be boring. And that's my problem with this, an album that seems to have garnered plaudits and critical acclaim off the back of very little. For all the sonic bells and whistles, this is such a monotone-sounding collection; unvarying in tempo, tone or ambition. The melodies are boring; Jeff Tweedy has a boring voice; the bing-bong-whizz sound effects (or should that be affects?) are boring. I hate this album with a rare passion.

This album is LOVELY. Just out there enough that you can see a few wee aliens. But warm enough it’s like a big hug that smells like weed. Class.

Pretty boring album, there's some decent songs in the middle but it starts off with nothing and ends with nothing, I was not impressed with most of the songs on this album

I'm glad I listened to this album through my good headphones. The instrumentation is more interesting than I've given it credit for in the past. Dad loved Wilco, and I'm glad I can finally connect with it too. I'll listen to this album again.

I couldn't wait for this album to end.

Oh my... what a breath of fresh air! I've heard of Wilco but never taken the time to hear them out. This is the perfect bridge between Guster and Bright Eyes. They are sensitive with substance, but never whiny. Now that would be good enough to get my attention, but they make great use of distortion, sounds, and beats to really add some depth. The autoplay for youtube after this album suggests a day in the life by the beatles and I would agree that this album shares a lot with that track. My first impression was a 3 star album due to the lofi sound, but it grew to a 4 with the emo substance and then a 4.5 with the progressive instrumentals. A phenomenal record!

It was on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot that Jeff Tweedy's obsession with deconstruction and the studio reached its apotheosis. Tweedy always wrote simple songs, often based on Americana, which gave him the freedom to screw around with attenuating the structures, adding dissonant elements and noise, and subtracting or layering elements, all in the service of asking the question, "What makes a song work?" and laying bare the artifice of the studio. Fortunately for us listeners, Tweedy's obsessions aren't simply academic--his layering is often gorgeous and never more than on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Nowadays, it's common for bands to have heavily ambient elements and noise jostling for attention alongside more conventional song structures. I would bet that Yankee Hotel Foxtrot has a lot to do with that. Also Eno, industrial music from the 80s, and a bunch of other influences, but I digress. The songs on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot work both as deconstruction and as catchy tunes. You don't have to be a music geek to enjoy Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, but it definitely deepens the experience.

Cohesive as an album and has some interesting sounds, but those elements never quite combine. It's weird to say, since that should undermine the overall cohesion. Perhaps that means I'm not quite getting it. But the effect is that listening to the LP puts me halfway between "This is almost very good." and "This is nice background noise."

This is an easy one. This is one of my absolute favorite albums of all time, maybe even top 5. Every single song is good, and several of them are great. I Am Trying to Break Your Heart is the perfect first song for this album, and it just keeps going from there. The album is sad and sweet, but also revels in some happy moments, like War on War and Heavy Metal Drummer. I'd also recommend the documentary about the making of this album if you can find it (titled: I Am Trying to Break Your Heart) 5/5

How the fuck are there two Wilco albums in this list? It's alright, but hardly noteworthy. Christ, what if there's more? Fun fact: Wilco sleeps upside down.

Genuinely impressed by how boring it is.

NO! Just fucking no! Every algorithm in existence suggests that my indie-pop, singer-songwriter soul should love Wilco, and worship this goddamn album. I've tried. I really have. Took a long hiatus from it. Trying again in good faith via this site. Just a whiney, whiney nasely warble dragging my ears across a very lame, non-energetic blob of dull. Fucking no. Wilco annoys me.

this album was an exercise in restraint. there were some god awful sounds throughout the album, like that loud static noise?! the lead singer, jeff tweedy, has an unremarkable voice that even sometimes sounds like pure whining. those sorts of things soured me on the rest of the album very quickly. wilco did get something right: "heavy metal drummer" is the best song on this album. it's cute, charming, and there are no awful sounds on it. unfortunately, what that means to me is that wilco is capable of creating good, enjoyable music but chooses not to.

I don't really know what to take from this album. Is it iconic because this sound was the first in a wave of bands cutting albums like this later? This album has interesting stuff in terms of sonic textures but I don't see the cohesive whole where I care about it? I don't give a shit about this album.

I've listened to a little Wilco here and there over the years, but not this album. Gotta say, I really like it - love it when indie rock dabbles with ambient. This sounds like an album Pavement would put out a couple of months after developing a penchant for cat tranquillizers. Fave track - "Radio Cure" for that melancholy, "Poor Places" for those number station samples....

I bought three of Wilco's albums before this one. While I never bought Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, I was given as a present the documentary on making this album. There was a lot of drama around this album with the drummer leaving just before the recording and guitarist / co-songwriter Jay Bennett leaving just after. To top it off, Reprise (their label) refused to release the record. Wilco paid Reprise peanuts to buy out their rights to the record and then signed with the label Nonesuch who paid Wilco much more than Wilco paid Reprise. fyi, Warner Brothers owns both Reprise and Nonesuch. GONG! On the first song the drums are more conspicuous than on any other Wilco song; the drummer clearly wanted to let everyone know there was a new sheriff in town. lol The album has a smattering of upbeat songs and many of the typically very quiet introverted ballads that populate Wilco’s albums. The experimental music in the last 30 sec. of Poor Places and all of Reservations doesn't work for me. It was worth a try I guess; I understand musicians wanting to try new things but this didn't work for Wilco and should have been left on the cutting room floor. The experimental accents on I'm Trying to Break Your Heart are quite good. The differentiator between this song and Reservations is that the experimentation is an accent rather than the main course. Jeff's pensive voice on ballads is an acquired taste. On “Being There", Wilco’s second album, the songs with strong rhythms were so good you were motivated to play the whole album and invest the time to get to know (and get to like) the ballads. There are good songs with strong rhythms on this album, including Kamera, Heavy Metal Drummer and I'm Trying to Break Your Heart. War on War is also good. I can imagine that previous iterations of this song sounded like a nice Jeff Tweedy ballad that all but devoted Wilco fans would hate but it was then engineered to produce a catchy and experimental beats oriented tune. While the songs with strong rhythms are good, they're not on par with Wilco's best.

Yeah I would like this if I was a gen x democrat dad but I'm not so I think it's whiney and lame. This was a chore and a half. No thanks!

A little over a month ago I gave a mixed review of Wilco's Being There but said I was looking forward to the "indieheads essential" YHF. Well here we are. And color me impressed, every track stands out... no filler. Simple melodies, some catchy, some super experimental, with an aesthetically pleasing folky voice that reminds me of Sufjan Stevens. By far, the star of the album is the creative songwriting, covering themes of angst and existential dread. I really love the lyrics. My favorite is on "Ashes of America." Lyrics are full of literary devices that evoke imagery that speaks of the narrator's twisted and often flawed mindset. Vocals perfectly reflect the melancholic tone. Experimental techniques often reinforce the confusion and anxiety. However, this is also a double-edged sword, it gets a little too obscure. Especially in that first song. It took me a few listens to come up with some attempt of what they're talking about, and then to read interpretations online. "Oh so he's a drunk driver who improves his alcoholism from the size of an aquarium to a dixie cup." This can be a distracting (or engaging) experience for new listeners, making it slightly inaccessible since the songwriting is the main shine. The other fault that prevents this album from being perfect is the cohesion of the album. The songs stand really well on their own, and could be improved by some track reshuffling. But as is, the moods expressed in one song get totally disrupted by the next. "War on War" ends chaoticly, then immediately goes to a melodic and soothing "Jesus etc," then the deep introspective and political "Ashes of American Flags," then to the catchy pop "Heavy Metal Drummer." I'm not sure what to feel because it doesn't give me time to breath and prepare for different emotions. The intro "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" and closing "Reservations" perform their roles well respectively, but the rest either needs to be reshuffled or placed on different albums.

Meh, not for me. Some parts were interesting.

My dad’s response when I asked him what he thought of R.E.M. is apt here: “They have good arrangements.”

Sometimes I worry that all the lore surrounding this album overshadows the fact that it’s fucking fantastic. I’m not the world’s biggest Wilco fan but I do enjoy their music, and this is rightly regarded as peak Wilco. It sucks that there was so much tension and drama in the making of this, but the end result is so good. Also fun, as I’ve begun to explore his work more, I can definitely sense the fingerprints of Jim O’Rourke all over this.

Transcendent. This album was originally scheduled to release on 9/11, yet it somehow captures the post-9/11 ethos perfectly. It's also fresh today. Complex in all the right ways, without sacrificing listenability or accessibility. It's cliche for hipsters to fawn over this album, but in this case, they're right. Best track: I Am Trying to Break Your Heart

Absolute classic album. Top 200 for me. Essential listening.

Loved this in highschool, my dad loved this when he was in his 20s, is it that good not reeeally but do I fuck with it? Yup. Pot kettle black!!!

This one’s a little overrated, isn’t it? Like maybe just a tiny bit? It is. Like Kid A, this is one of those albums that doesn’t really surpass the sum of its influences, at least if you’re familiar with the music of Wilco’s contemporaries in the Chicago indie scene. On Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Wilco feels a bit indebted to the music that was going on around them in the Chicago post-rock scene and the broader indie rock world. You hear traces of Tortoise or The Sea and Cake in the record’s bubbling analog synths and the influence of Jim O’Rourke (Gastr Del Sol and later Sonic Youth), who mixed the record, is readily apparent on the more experimental songs. If YHF was your introduction to this sort of alt-rock minimalism, I can understand this record ranking highly for you, much like Kid A might open the door to the worlds of Aphex Twin or Boards of Canada for Radiohead listeners. If you were already familiar with Jim O’Rourke or John McEntire or Stereolab before hearing this record, you might not find it all that special. …and honestly, “Heavy Metal Drummer” is pretty much a Pavement song. I think it’s about time we all came to terms with that. Don’t get me wrong, I think there are some fantastic songs on this record: Ashes of American Flags, Jesus, etc, Kamera and Pot Kettle Black are all excellent. It’s just that Yankee Hotel Foxtrot leans more on experimentation than song craft to me, and the experimentation doesn’t always work. Wilco found a better balance of the two on 1998’s Summerteeth, which, to my ears, is the Wilco record to beat.

meh

I think if I didn't read your reviews before listening I wouldn't have spent the whole thing thinking: 'There's no way this is a five star album' then maybe I would have enjoyed it a lot more. It was great in parts but also just not that good boys, I'm sorry, I'm bringing it down

A little weird, not very melodic, not too much fun

It was okay. Generally inoffensive, but not that exciting. Not sure I really needed to hear it before I die. Feels like it might be a grower... Seems I was right about it being a grower. Enjoying it more on second listen. Some really nice guitar sounds. Vocals reminiscent of Mark Everett. Don't think it will ever be a favourite album, but I like it enough to revisit again.

in oregon if you don't like wilco they are legally allowed to kill you

Poor man’s radiohead, love it

very interesting…some of the songs felt very indie folk but some of them had these insanly creative electronic elements, and some were cold and ambient. not sure what to think, but i enjoyed it a ton, easy 5 stars, the creativity and noise on this record is unlike anything ive heard.

Modern Classic

I love everything about this record. The instrumentation is weird and sorry of broken. The vocals are unsure delicate. Even the story of this records failure to be released by WB, leading to the band releasing this on their own. This record shouldn't work. But it's a classic piece of Americana. It's one of my favorite records of all time.

An easy 5 for me. I know I say this a lot, but for a while this was one of my favourite albums. A perfect example of clever, alt US indie. Amazingly their record label hated this and sacked them, not long after it got picked up by a rival and became a huge hit. Wilco were the first band I ever saw live that told the audience to put their phones away. Love them for that. Anyway, this is and always will be an incredible album for me!

Love this album so much. It’s all about the production; just those dry and crispy guitar bits with the lush vocals and strings…the way this album *sounds* deserves 5 stars and that’s not even talking about the songs. Must-listen #66.

One of the all time greats!

A real grower of an album. For me it took a few good listens to really uncover everything taking place, but it’s so worth it! And I feel like it just gets better and better by the end. Don’t give up on what seems like a mellow album, listeners! So good.

Instant classic!

It slightly hurts me that Mermaid Avenue is on this list. Maybe one of the few times where I’d argue less is more. Just having Yankee Hotel Foxtrot would be fine. If you aren’t looking for a full deep dive, all you need from this band is right here. I’m not sure why I ever listened to this album in the first place. Or what has kept me coming back. In the back of my mind I know there’s probably something better out there I could be spending my time with. Maybe it’s my dislike towards being told the music I listen to isn’t cool. I definitely feel like a hipster when this is on, but I promise you I am not. It’s surprising, because I’ve heard enough music similar to this that I’ve actively disliked to know this is generally not my thing. In some way, the crown jewel of Jeff Tweedy’s career resonates with me in a way I have found few other albums capable of doing. This is my definitive Americana/indie rock album. The weather was so beautiful today. At least I thought it was. Very windy but not uncomfortably cold, with the slightest hint of rain coming down. Pretty gloomy, but fitting for the season. That’s sort of the way I see this album. It’s so steeped in a deep and suffocating melancholy, but there is an ever so small amount of hope coming in through the crack in the door. The light at the end of the tunnel. Something like Radio Cure is oppressively sad, and feels gray and bleak in comparison to the song that precedes it. The lyrics are really where that hipster idea comes from. A lot of what he’s saying might not have any profound meaning. But every so often there is something really good. “Distance has no way of making love understandable” and “I know I would die if I could come back new” have always stuck out to me. Reservations is particularly a song I want to talk about. It had been a while since I last heard it, so I was going in more blind than not. But it’s hard to really explain the effect it had on me. The best way I can break it down is as if the song physically expunged all of the air from my lungs. I was left feeling winded and short of breath. By no means is it a traditionally written indie rock song, but it’s a positively beautiful one. I may never really know why I continue to come back time and time again to this. But it has rooted itself deeply in my heart, and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Rating: 10/10!

A modern masterpiece and in so many ways, probably still the quintessential Wilco album.

I knew I liked them from 'California Stars' and 'Jesus etc' but didn't expect this. I'm completely hooked and can't stop playing it. Every track, every minute, every moment gets better and better with every listen. So much depth, so immersive. I love it.

Always hard to decide whether I think this or Sky Blue Sky is a more perfect record, but it is like comparing Abbey Road to the White Album. And yes, I made that parallel, because Wilco is that good. I think this is a culmination of everything the band (and Jeff Tweedy before Wilco) had been doing in the years before, while the addition of Nels Cline on the next album took things to an entirely new level. Both are always worth the listen.

This album is a true highlight in the history of songwriting. It does not provide that much innovation, but the sheer craftmanship cannot be denied. Songs like "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart", "War on War", "Jesus, Etc.", "Ashes of American Flags", "Heavy Metal Drummer", "I'm the Man Who Loves You", "Pot Kettle Black" and "Reservations" are amazing. Yes, that is almost all of the songs. The other ones are "just" great and live all these songs are even better. One of the true classic albums!

Absolutely Excellent.

Listened to this album on repeat for a year when it came out. LOVE LOVE LOVE. so sad that this incarnation of wilco didn't stick around for longer.

One of the great recods of our time.

I fucking love this band! I've been listening to Wilco for a long time now, and this is their best album. period. from lyrics, to the instrumentals and just the feel of the album, it's one of my favorites.

It was much more alternative and experimental than I expected, but I only had a passing familiarity with Wilco. I think I liked it

I've always been obsessed with Heavy Metal Drummer. Solid album.

Ez jóóó

Surprised from the comments that many find this boring. This is a great album - stretching the band (perhaps to breaking point) and delivering some really fine songs.

Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Really good album to listen! There's a lot of elements of what makes this album really unique, also the fact that it has a lot of depth into the lyrics and the messages that they try to convey to the audience. This album is so complex that there's rarely one genre to categorize it, it combines so many genres into one and somehow it works. Overall, this is REALLY great! 1.- I Am Trying to Break Your Heart = 10/10 2.- Kamera = 8/10 3.- Radio Cure = 9/10 4.- War on War = 8/10 5.- Jesus, Etc. = 9/10 6.- Ashes of American Flags = 9/10 7.- Heavy Metal Drummer = 7/10 8.- I'm the Man Who Loves You = 9/10 9.- Pot Kettle Black = 7/10 10.- Poor Places = 10/10 11.- Reservations = 10/10 FINAL SCORE: 8.7/10

Las bandas que se conocen gracias a personas que dejan en uno marcas para toda la vida tienen una mayor relevancia. Otro recuerdo. Se trata de un trabajo más ¿solemne? ¿oscuro? O algún concepto que aúne a ambos. Es increíble la función de The Beatles en toda la música. Fueron como una pandemia benévola y parece que lo seguirán siendo. El disco abarca distintas emociones desde lo musical. Quizás eso lo hace particular.

The first Wilco album I heard, and the reason why I expect the others to be so much better than they actually are. This is really good, a lovely set of songs enhanced by electronic fiddling and distortion. Kamera, War on War, Jesus etc, are all great, and the eponymous numbers station broadcast integrated into Poor Places is a stark and haunting climax. I can even tolerate Heavy Metal Drummer this time around. Happy to spend the day with one of the more interesting indie albums of the 2000's once again.

I first heard this album when it was new. I already had a respect for Wilco, but wasn't that familiar with their music. When Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was released, the reception felt like this was the next Radiohead. I listened to it once or twice, but I just didn't understand what anyone loved about this album (just like my reaction to OK Computer). I didn't get it and Wilco was off my radar forever. When this album came up as my next listen, my first reaction was "Oh really?!? We're doing this again?" However, I did actually enjoy the listen this time. Nothing that knocks my socks off. Just a good solid album that almost piques my interest. The whole album just got me in the mood for Golden Smog, what I would consider a better version of Wilco. I was most engaged in the middle of the album (from Jesus Etc. to I'm The Man Who Loves You). At one point, near the end of Ashes of American Flags (I was doing yard work at the time), the lyric "All off the falling leaves filling up shopping bags" played while I was actually emptying my mower bag into the larger bin. Eerie, but appreciated. This album was definitely worth the second listen before I die. I may hear it again, I might not. It was a good experience though and I give thanks for the suggestion even though I was sceptical out of the gate. Edit: I realized the impression this album gives me... Pavement light.

The most successful Wilco's album. Great calm and melancholic mix of art-rock / indie rock. Recording sessions were documented for the film "I Am Tryind To Break Your Heart". Reprise Record refused to release the album because they felt unhappy about the end result so the band streamed the album for free on their website in 2001. Later in 2002 the album was oficially released by Nonesuch Records and critics acclaimed the album as one of the grratest albums of the 2000s.

Fourth Wilco album. They made a documentary about the making of. Their drummer was fired at the beginning of the sessions, and a guitarist was fired after the album was made. A good listen.

Some great songs and some meh. Would be 3.5 if I could.

I've always found Wilco underwhelming for the amount of hype they receive. This album was no different. Not bad! Just not great either.

All the songs have the same vibe. Some interesting sounds and instrument choices, but just not enough variety.

Obvious references are Radiohead and Flaming Lips but YHF leans less heavily on studio tricks than either of those bands. Compared to Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots it has clearer provenance and compared to Kid A it is a lot more accessible. The trade-off is that it's more boring than either of those records. I Am Trying to Break Your Heart begins with a pleasant musique concrete hum which continues in one form or another throughout the album. There's a nice contrast between the warm and fuzzy guitar tone and hum and the story of regret. Kamera is an indie rock song and it would be fine if I turned on the radio with friends in the car to find it playing. Radio Cure starts with quite a nice tense acoustic guitar strum but occasionally swells into a twee pop thing at odds with the message about a long distance relationship. The single War on War is a fun and upbeat number with a climax that pays tribute to Sonic Youth. Jesus Etc. starts a bit more interesting with a lounge number with surrealist lyrics and a fiddle. Ashes of the American Flag is indie sludge that shows you everything that was wrong with music in the 2000s. The other single Heavy Metal Drummer has the best studio work, with breaks and a heavy synthetic bass line in the chorus making it the rare Indies song that you could dance to. I'm the Man Who Loves You keeps the energy going with a country tinged song with simple yet effective lyrics and some great brass. Pot Kettle Black is a pretty standard indie pop number which does nothing for the album. Mellotrons are nice I suppose. Poor Places again channels Sonic Youth with lyrics that could have come straight out of Thurston Moore mouth before a pop resolution which morphs into a kind of cool instrumental vamp and then back to noise. Reservations is a ponderous and overwrought love song which is entirely skippable. The final three minutes of slow piano chords and the ubiquitous radio noises are fine but won't win any awards for sound design. As an unrepentant jungle and IDM freak I was surprised by how often the overdubs and abstract stuff in the album felt like it took away from the story telling. I know the album is full of radio themes but why? There are flashes of brilliance and a few songs which I'd put on a mixtape for my girlfriend but ultimately this isn't earth shattering. On the one hand what they did to secure the master and self release on the internet was super cool, but I think if a label had a bit more control and cut the length by 15-20 minutes this could have been a 4.

The first listen went by a little unnoticed. So I played it again. There were parts that got my attention but nothing that really grabbed me by the balls.

Suffers from 'Macbeth is Boring' syndrome.

The album is just so lifeless and uninspiring and never picks up. Greatly lacks rhythm and anything truly memorable. But not bad enough to not have in the background at the very least.

This album was just very very uneventful and boring

YHF? You have failed?

Two or Three good Songs but as a whole quite Boring. Too centered around lead Singer/lyriks. Lacks the melodic elements and dynamics to excite.

Solid. Pleasant alt-country. 7/10

This album is boring as hell. Which is super disappointing. I wanted, I truly wanted to enjoy this piece, I feel like I’ve heard great things about it. But right away from the first track, I realized how dull the vocals were. Like my god, have some tone. Express emotion. Relying on lyricism alone to make your point and stance will not work. Especially when the lyricism itself is lacking. There are some lines that scream creativity, but the majority of this album has the most cliche lyrics I’ve ever heard. Something interesting happened at the beginning of War on War, but then it just switched back to the same-old formula of boring instrumentals covered by even more boring vocal delivery. And that trend continues throughout. For some reason, Wilco decides to add in some experimental elements that actually grab your attention. But only, in the last 30 seconds of the songs! Aren’t you supposed to grab the attention in, perhaps, the first 30 seconds? And some of these songs are long. For no reason whatsoever. Nothing happens. Anyways, at least it’s not total trash. Definitely not worth listening to again however.

Not worth the effort.

Dreary. Sorry, couldn’t find anything to like much here.

Like country moved to the suburbs

I wanted to like this more. This seems to be in my musical wheelhouse, but it came to me an competent but generally uninteresting. It began to blur together.

Oscar Kilo

not very interesting or energetic

Just not good. Whiny, boring, bad lyrics, worse vocals, drab nothingness of music. And at some point I will encounter another one of their albums on this list, yieeeesh. Wilco and this album are if Modest Mouse had to fight the aliens from SpaceJam (The Monstars) and when lose, they lose all their talent and any ability to feel emotions. 1.2/10 59/1001

I just listened to this and I already forgot everything about the album. I don't think I've ever listened to anything so lacklustre before. At least bad albums are bad, this is just....beige nothingness.

Horrível

Nothing grinds my gears more than a singer who sounds like they're bored while singing

Maybe I'm not the target audience for this album but I couldn't get into this at all, it was too slow and it didn't grab my attention. From a quick Google search on Wilco, I found they were listed as alt-rock but I think they're much more alt than rock as alt-rock is a genre I usually enjoy. The bright spots in the album were the instrumentals and the lowest point was definitely capping off what I would consider to be a snoozefest with a 7 minute song. Overall yankee hotel foxtrot is more boring than bad, but honestly, I'd rather cringe than yawn. Best song: Jesus Etc. Worst Song: Reservations Skips: The whole album

This is so unremarkable that I'm inclined to believe that this albums inclusion on this list is the result of someone's having been paid off. I mean really. I make it a point to listen to each of these albums at least once through, but this one was a real challenge to not skip the aggressively boring tracks. 1/5

I can't explain this album other than saying it's one of the best albums I've ever heard. Maybe it's because it is my favorite genre so it's easy for me to find an album in that genre that's critically acclaimed and I'll automate like it, or maybe the lyrical matter and the writing is so good that I can push away my bias to enjoy what I think is beautifully written music. I've heard this album a handful of times. Jesus, Etc. and Heavy Metal Drummer are on my main playlist so I listen to those songs often enough, but since I haven't heard it in a while I genuinely forgot how great this album is.

Super Dope

Fantastic album of collective dissonance, upbeat rock tunes and introspective songs that are diverse enough to keep you interested yet cohesive enough to present a sense of place throughout the album. A must listen all the way thru.

Band-defining. One of my favorites of all time.

Perfecto

Love the whole album, especially I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, Jesus, Etc., and I’m the Man Who Loves You. They’re excellent live and Jeff Tweedy’s memoir is worth a read.

Before I started listening, I thought there was a chance this would be only a 4. It’s one I have no childhood affinity for. It’s grown on me over the last 20 years—was maybe a 2 or 3 the first time I listened in 2002. There were definitely listens when I thought it was boring and bland. But then I dove in and there was no way it would be anything other than a 5. On headphones, which is not how I usually listen, there were so many interesting sounds. I love the lyrics. At this point it’s just a trusty companion. I’ve got reservations about so many things, but not about this album.

I have this album and had not listened to it in many years. I had forgotten how damn good it was. 4.5/5 #141

Incredible stuff. Never really listened to it in one sitting before now but it's damn near perfect. Standouts: Heavy Metal Drummer, Jesus Etc., I Am Trying to Break Your Heart

no skips this was great

Loved it. Great song writing, love the blend between acoustic and electric, great guitar tones too Fav tracks - all

if you don't get it, that's fine. If you do get it....good job

Wilco is one of those bands, like Radiohead, that lives in their very own space in the same way Pink Floyd does. You either dig them or you don't. They are an amazing band. Well worth a deep dive.

This grew on me so much after listening a few times. I went from thinking this was a 3 star album to now thinking this is solidly 5 stars. Beautiful music full of emotion and rich production. If you find this album boring as I did at first give it another chance or two and you might be well rewarded.

wonderful revisiting this after many years. a great chicago band with great chicago album art, and obvsiously american. I used to tear up during Jesus Etc, and now that im older with a hardened heart, I can feel the song massaging the parts that haven't been so embrittled.

There isn't a single miss on this album. Sometimes there are stretches of albums where you say "wow A to B to C is such an amazing span", but this alum is incredible from A to Z. I can understand why pop girlies and buddies could get lost in Radio Cure or Ashes of American Flags, but Jesus Etc, War on War, Pot Kettle Black , and Heavy Metal Drummer should be universally loved. While the largest pleasure of this album is the beautiful ebbs and flows, ups and downs, etc, it is the small pleasures that keep me coming back to it year after year. The trumpets calling out on I'm the Man Who Loves You which gives this a classic late 90s/early 00s Ska sound, the double tracked vocals on Pot Kettle Black a la Elliott Smith. 5/5

Pre listening: oh gosh another album where I'll never be able to separate it's reputation from my opinion of the album. In my recollection, Wilco was just too soft for me. But I'm excited to give them another try. +1 automatically for having album artwork of buildings I recognized long before I knew anything about music (not plus one star, just plus one) Interesting--I never knew Wilco started as an Alt-Country band (or rather, that the alt country band Uncle Tupelo was the progenitor of the indie rock band Wilco). The publication history of this album is wild. Hats off to indie artists for recognizing what they had and just releasing (also man the early internet was such a fascinating place-- :( such optimism for what eventually became sprawling networks of lies and truths). Also all that just to land on a different subsidiary label of the same company. Funny. Listening Notes: -I am trying to break your heart might be the only one I know well ahead of time. I'm not sure I can get behind his flat-toned singing. It's soft on instrumentation. (Second listen: this works better with the context of the rest of the album. Interesting choice to do that with a first song, since they initially exist without context per se) -Kamera is still sad boy vocals, but it turns out he has some vocal range. That makes I am trying to break your heart's flat vocals intentional, improving my opinion of both songs. Love the cowbell(?) here. -War on War was quite good. this album really works up a head of steam building up to the most famous tracks. An aspect of the album era that we seem to be losing over time (not in a crotchety way; plenty of people still make *albums*) -Jesus etc. is cheating. Jeff Tweedy knows that a short violin solo is the fastest way to my heart. I feel played. But it worked. (Edit: apparently not violin. this set off a silly search for the liner notes, but I can't figure out what it is. Just credited as "string arrangement," which I guess is obvious) -Ashes of American Flags has an inarticulable sadness (even with the distorted wail at the end) that I find really beautifully done. -It's incredible, given where we start, how natural such a fun track as heavy metal drummer feels in this space of slow somber reflection. -Reading Pitchfork's review from 2002 (I don't normally do this), it's so nice how unabashedly pretentious they used to be. Like, I'm an obnoxious dork, and there used to be a music review website for people like me. Ah well, it's probably for the best that they became more inclusive. Review: Ugh fine. After nearly a decade of raining on this parade, I have to acknowledge it's a perfect album. It builds perfectly to a full sound in the late second half. I'll have to listen a lot more to understand the album, but respect to an album I guess I never took the time to really sit with.

Wonderful. Knew it already, but the songwriting is solid, the instrumentation is the right amount of interesting without being distracting.