Saturday, June 26, 2004

I guess it's time for me to (briefly) weigh on the big debate of the year: Wilco's A Ghost Is Born.

It's good. Not as good as Yankee Hotel Foxtrot or Summerteeth but better than what most people are listening too. (trust me, I've watched some MTV the last few days.) Like Radiohead's latest, it's uneven, a little full of itself, and overly long - but these are little criticisms we can forgive because we're talking about Wilco here.

Is that fair? Should a band be given more room to fuck up because they've accomplished brilliant things in the past? We do that for directors and actors and other "mainstream" things, why not weird indie bands?

To answer: No, it's not fair. Yes, we should. And, yes, mainstream is apparently synonymous with suckiness and therefore, by lower standards, this album is brilliant.

5 comments:

Kristin said...

Alan just got the album. At one point, this horrible mechanical noise filled the house. I turned everything off to try to determine if it was coming from outside or inside. I yelled to Alan, "What the hell is that noise?" He called back, "It's the new Wilco album." Nine minutes of teeth grating noise. Very cool. Anyway, Alan says he likes the album.

elad said...

hehe. are you talking about "Spiders (Kidsmoke)" ? i love that song.

:P

Kristin said...

No, according to Alan, it's "Less Than You Think."

Anonymous said...

It's weaker than their last 3, but I still like it. It continues the YHF sprawl without the band losing control. Spiders and the other long one are my least favorite tracks, but they fit the concept of the album. If you want a comparison, it's a better followup to YHF than Amnesiac was to Kid A.

- Mike

elad said...

well, welcome! i'm very proud of my name even though, as you can imagine, people here in the U.S. (where i was born and live) have a terrible time pronouncing it. i've had a billion wrong variations on it over the years.

but, nowadays, when someone does pronounce it right, i know they're actually trying and i appreciate it, a lot.

:)