JEFF TWEEDY every album ranked
The frontman of Wilco, Jeff Tweedy is an American icon to some people and others. (http://www.avclub.com/article/read-nick-offerman-wants-marry-jeff-tweedy-220796?permalink=true)
And now here I am ranking Jeff Tweedy's albums that he has been apart of from best to worse. I include all the Wilco, Tupelo and Mermaid Avenues but don't include some of the more obscure releases like the stuff he did with Loose Fur, etc. |
| 1 |  | Wilco
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
TOP TIER:
~5.0 range
Maybe the best album of all time. The arrangement and obvious de-construction and reconstruction of each song blended by the great production of O'Rourke culminates in a doozy of a record.
Every time there's a national tragedy and the USA is in a subdued, sober mood I'll probably listen to 'Jesus Etc.' a few times. It'll just feel right. |
| 2 |  | Wilco
Summerteeth
The start of TIER 2:
~4.5 range
While coming up with this list I had a hard time ranking 2 - 5, they're all damn good albums that are pretty gosh darn close to perfect.
Summerteeth probably comes the closest with timeless vibes scattered throughout. I personally think 'How To Fight The Loneliness' and 'In a Future Age' kind of lag behind the rest of the album, which is a testament to the quality of the of the songs. |
| 3 |  | Wilco
A Ghost is Born
A Ghost is Born is the closest Wilco will ever get to a progressive record. 'Spiders (Kidsmoke)' is a little long and I still don't think I've ever made it all the way through the noise at the end of 'Less Than You Think' but there's not much else to complain about. |
| 4 |  | Billy Bragg and Wilco
Mermaid Avenue
Who knew that Billy Bragg, Wilco and Woody Guthrie's lyricism would be as good of a combination as it turned out to be. Natalie Merchant's song is kind of boring and out of place but not much else is. 'One by One' is very powerful and 'California Stars' is a vibe and a half. |
| 5 |  | Wilco
Being There
On my first time(s) through Being There I thought that the first disc was a 4.0 and the 2nd a 3.0. But now I realize that all 19 songs are worthy of being on this high quality double LP. Being There hosts some of the most apt songs for listening to late at night as well as some of the most energetic Wilco's ever writ. |
| 6 |  | Uncle Tupelo
Anodyne
The start of TIER 3:
~4.0 range
Uncle Tupelo's final record is their best, and the most analogous to a lot of the ALT-COUNTRY sound that would be continued with Whiskeytown and others in the middle 90s. 'The Long Cut' is a classic Tweedy song that preceded the notion of a classic Tweedy song. This is a good evening sitting around drinking beer album. |
| 7 |  | Wilco
The Whole Love
Wilco's best record since the core days of Being There - Sky Blue Sky, the epicenter of Wilco's critical acclaim and output. The Whole Love proves that Wilco wasn't totally finished with the BLEEP BLOOPS and more experimental songs with the 'Art of Almost' serving as a great opener. This album also has a great closer with 'One Sunday Morning' being a perfect song to listen to on a nice and easy Sunday morning. |
| 8 |  | Wilco
Sky Blue Sky
Throughout various reddit and sputnikmusic posts, a surprising number of people have listed Sky Blue Sky as their favorite Wilco album using such reasoning as "fuck man I know it's not as 'boundary pushing' as some other shit they've done but it's still pretty DAMN. good."
I agree that Sky Blue Sky is a wonderful album, but it's a little too same-tempo same-vibe for me throughout it's run time. |
| 9 |  | Uncle Tupelo
Still Feel Gone
The 2nd, fuzzier version of No Depression boasts two of Tupelo's greatest songs with 'Gun' and 'True To Life.' I think this is a slight improvement of No Depression and if you like Uncle Tupelo you're sure to like this. |
| 10 |  | Uncle Tupelo
No Depression
[Insert history of alt-country and the whole magazine named after this album here]. The first few times listening to this I thought that No Depression was a nice and well 3.5. A little bit less enjoyable (but more intense) version of Social Distortion's self titled album, but then it grew on me a little more than expected. No Depression is worth the hype it gets. |
| 11 |  | Son Volt
Trace
SON VOLT SURPISE. Similar to Boney's Wilco Ranked list where he threw in Sukierae for a small added twist, I will throw in Son Volt's first -- and only -- album where they had a chance to compete against Wilco. Jay continues his quality stretch of songs that he was known for with Uncle Tupelo, but the album kind of lags at the end. If you're into alt-country this is a highly recommended entry into the classic sound. |
| 12 |  | Uncle Tupelo
March 16 to 20, 1992
Most people seem to like this just a bit more than I do. This is probably my least favorite Uncle Tupelo album while many list it as their favorite. One of the most positive aspects of this is that the bluegrass-acoustic sound explored at length is somewhat different than anything else Jay or Jeff have ever attempted. But some of the songs fail to satisfy me. Lilli Schull is the one of the most boring stretches of 5 minutes that I ever hope to discover. |
| 13 |  | Wilco
Wilco (The Album)
The start of TIER 4:
~3.5 range
Here is where we start to get into the 3.5 range. Wilco's self titled is one of the least noteworthy albums Tweedy has put out. There's not a lot of greatness on this thing but there's also not a lot to hate. That's about all I have to say haha. |
| 14 |  | Wilco
Schmilco
Somehow Wilco managed to have a more provocatively named album and album cover than Star Wars. A lot of these sounds are similar to Sukierae in that they're more acoustic based. If I Ever Was a Child can be easily added to "Wilco's Best Songs" and 'Normal American Kids', 'Someone To Lose', and 'We Aren't The World' are all solid tunes. |
| 15 |  | Wilco
A.M.
Wilco's first album, while not really sounding too similar to Uncle Tupelo, boasts a homogenous and more generic set of alt-country-rockers. It even features John Stiratt, the nice looking bassist that somehow never got fired by Tweedy, singing on 'That's Not The Issue.' |
| 16 |  | Billy Bragg and Wilco
Mermaid Avenue, Vol. 2
The second installment of Mermaid Avenue is already starting to become a little redundant, but there are some quality cuts on this. 'Remember the Mountain Bed' deserves to be recognized as a great Jeff Tweedy song and 'Hot Rod Hotel' is a great Billy Bragg song. |
| 17 |  | Wilco
Star Wars
Fuzzier than most, Star Wars might have the distinction of being the beginning of the end for our old boys in Wilco. This doesn't have any STANDOUT songs that rival Jeff Tweedy's best, but it never gets too bad neither. |
| 18 |  | Tweedy
Sukierae
The Start of TIER 5:
~3.0 range
While Sukierae has a lot of good songs on it, and even explores some musical material that is somewhat novel to Jeff Tweedy's musical career so far, it goes on for far too long. If you cut off 8-10 songs and made this a single LP then it would have very little problem reaching a 4.0 give or take a few tenths. 'Low Key', 'Nobody Dies Anymore' and 'High As Hello' are some of the stand-outs on this. |
| 19 |  | Billy Bragg and Wilco
Mermaid Avenue Vol. III
Besides 'Listening To The Wind That Blows' there's nothing on this that really warrants any attention. It's also an hour long. Only listen to this if you're trying to compile a Jeff Tweedy List. |
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