Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

^ Yeah I’m definitely vibing with the first half more so far.

Album Rating: 4.0

Last three songs are real good too though - tracks 7 and 8 are the most mediocre...if any of them are

Album Rating: 4.5

8-10 is my favorite stretch, although the opener and quiet amplifier are my favorite tracks overall

Nice. Haven't enjoyed much post-YHF Wilco (The Whole Love being the exception), but this sounds like it might be worth at least a few spins.

great review as always

i'll admit that i haven't kept up with the last few wilco albums. i listened to the first half or so of this and wasn't very captivated. i'll have to revisit it and pay more attention, but i was just sort of laughing at how quiet and understated this all is despite the fact that there are like 7 people in this band now

Album Rating: 4.5

Others may disagree, but I wouldn't say you've missed much lately (at least between Star Wars and Schmilco). I mentioned a few comments up that my favorite stretch is near the very end of the record, so I'd give that a shot ('Hold Me Anyway' will cure any boredom caused by how understated the rest of this is). Still can't guarantee it'll be your thing, but the album is a subtle grower - a funny thing to try to say about an album 4 days old, but...it just...is.

yeah i'll come back to it at some point before the year ends. i'll have to listen to it with headphones to get the details

though i'll admit that i would love for them to just make an album like A.M. or Being There again

grower now means anything you connect with more after the first few days of listening lol

Album Rating: 4.5

Being There is their peak for me (I know everyone blows their load over Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, but that's firmly entrenched as #2). Being There is just so too beautifully composed, lyrically thoughtful, and musically engaging/fun. I'll admit this is nowhere near that, but it does achieve something of a hipster movie drama score appeal that feels like it could have been on a 500 Days of Summer or Garden State type of artsy fartsy soundtrack. I love that kind of music.



"grower now means anything you connect with more after the first few days of listening lol"

in the streaming era a few days is all you get

yfh gets the #1 spot for me, but being there was arguably more important to my musical development. it could easily be a 5 as well

Album Rating: 3.5

"grower now means anything you connect with more after the first few days of listening lol"



in the streaming era a few days is all you get



Ah way too real. Yet to return to this cause there's so much I want to listen to. The balance between returning to stuff and listening to something new is really difficult to maintain

Album Rating: 4.0

A top-tier Wilco album.

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

Ok so this does continue to grow more with each listen. It's definitely better than the Star Wars/Schmilco duology but not as much as some are saying; the band clearly were taking themselves a bit less seriously in that phase (see the album titles and covers) which I think led people to dismiss them. I mean this really is not all that different from Schmilco, it's only a tad more refined, and doesn't have a goofy title/cover. In any case, latter-day Wilco remains criminally underrated in general.

Album Rating: 4.0

I think this sides more with Spoon/Yo La Tengo type stuff than the 'back to basics' easybreezy stuff on the last two

Album Rating: 3.3

i don't see much of a difference between this and schmilco tbh as far as overall vibe goes, although i like this a tad better. last few songs and quiet amplifier really save it

Album Rating: 4.0

Quiet Amplifier is the best song yup

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

Surely Star Wars was doing way more of a Spoon/YLT thing than this one is :-/



I'm relistening to Schmilco right after this and now I'm even less convinced this one is better. I rated Schmilco a 4 back at release and somewhere along the line dropped it to a 3.5 without relistening but honestly it may still be a 4; it has a couple more of those somewhat tryhard weird moments characteristic of late Wilco than this album does and is a bit more obviously tuneful but it really just isn't all that different. Image is everything, I really do think people were fooled by the goofy album title and cover. It almost makes this album feel less genuine to me, like they're trying to get their fans back by saying "We can still be serious!" when anyone who actually listened to Schmilco and Star Wars knows they've always been serious about their trade.

Album Rating: 4.0

You will not convince me there is a song approaching the quality of Quiet Amplifier on either of those - although I do like 'If I Ever Was a Child' on Schmilco.



But that tune is more of a 'fun' and 'lite' offering.



Star Wars and Schmilco are definitely 3 out of 5's for me - esp Star Wars that I spent ages with looking for the good in it when it came out. 'Sky Blue Sky' is also distressingly weak barring a couple of great songs. Could this one be another 3.5? Maybe.



It's definitely got more about it than either of those three and seems a steadier listen than Ghost or S/T



Honestly the only songs here I'd rate under a 4/5 are 7 and 8. This is tight.

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

Yeah Schmilco is finishing up now and as Sturgill says, fuck all y'all, it's better than this.

Album Rating: 4.5

Schmilco is my least favorite Wilco album