Search - Wilco :: Sky Blue Sky

"Either you will or you won't" (meet Wilco, the commitmentph

J. GARRATT | 09/08/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The making of "Sky Blue Sky" had some secrecy attached as well as confusing bits of information the band offered to their audience. Nels Cline suggested dueling guitars while Jeff Tweedy suggested a collective affinity for Fela Kuti. Drummer Glenn Kotche suggested that people should just wait and find out. My wife and I couldn't help but try and predict what was next for everyone's favorite alt-country-whatever outfit. I thought they would continue to branch out and get weird. She thought they would regress to a rollicking style a al "Casino Queen" from "A.M."



We both were wrong. "Sky Blue Sky" is Wilco's safest album. Whether it be music, lyrics, or production, the band took no chances with this album. Everything is, for better or worse, extremely even-keel. "Impossible Germany" is the one song here that possibly sounds like it could take flight, but the same track would be considered a snoozer had it appeared on "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" or "A Ghost Is Born."



A term that everyone used to describe this album was "dad rock." I'll refrain from using it since I'm not entirely sure what that means. I will say that compared to Loose Fur, Nels Cline, Glenn Kotche, and Jay Bennett solo albums, and just about every Wilco album prior to this, "Sky Blue Sky" feels like triple contraception. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Nothing lost, neither."

BORRRING! Formerly my Favorite Current Band

Mr Musical Snob | Coventry, RI USA | 07/05/2010

(1 out of 5 stars)

"From a band that I used to consider my favorite current artists, this is about as dull as they get! "Being There", "Summerteeth"(especially), and "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" are 3 of my all time favorite albums. The cream of the crop! But this album puts me to sleep and not in a good way like the Velvet Underground's 3rd album or Big Star's "Sister Lovers", but in a "Why did I waste my money on this!" sort of way.



I chalk it up to the sacking of Jay Bennett. The tension between Bennett and leader Jeff Tweedy worked in a way like Lennon balancing McCartney or David Gilmore and Roger Waters created tension in each other's lives to help them create wonderful works of art. Before Bennett, Wilco was mildly interesting, then with Bennett, one of the greatest bands, and now without him, Wilco is duller than ever. No one, prior to this album, regardless of personal opinion of Wilco, would have called this band dull, EVER! But that is exactly the case here.



The noisy outros of white noise, the swirling keyboard arrangements, and the ultra catchiness with extremely dark lyrics of the songs from the previous trilogy are all missing here. Everything that made them Wilco in my eyes is gone.Evolving is one thing, going from being the most extraordinarily innovative band to this snoozefest is another story ...Oh well. At least they made 3 of my favorite albums, that is more than most bands will ever have achieved! Please buy THOSE 3, you will be challenged with every listen, this one should be skipped over.



Buy those three albums and skip this one!!!"