― President Evil, Monday, 12 March 2007 12:04 (seventeen years ago) link
― Simon H., Monday, 12 March 2007 14:52 (seventeen years ago) link
― n/a, Monday, 12 March 2007 15:27 (seventeen years ago) link
― G00blar, Monday, 12 March 2007 18:27 (seventeen years ago) link
― MC, Monday, 12 March 2007 21:28 (seventeen years ago) link
― M@tt He1ges0n, Monday, 12 March 2007 21:32 (seventeen years ago) link
― Drooone, Monday, 12 March 2007 21:34 (seventeen years ago) link
― Zeno, Saturday, 17 March 2007 22:42 (seventeen years ago) link
― davedestroybox, Tuesday, 20 March 2007 23:58 (seventeen years ago) link
― drag ass snag, Thursday, 29 March 2007 11:07 (seventeen years ago) link
― akm, Thursday, 29 March 2007 18:34 (seventeen years ago) link
― Charlie Howard, Monday, 14 May 2007 13:05 (seventeen years ago) link
― curmudgeon, Monday, 14 May 2007 13:51 (seventeen years ago) link
― Scik Mouthy, Monday, 14 May 2007 14:08 (seventeen years ago) link
― Edward III, Monday, 14 May 2007 15:10 (seventeen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 14 May 2007 15:12 (seventeen years ago) link
― ksg, Monday, 14 May 2007 15:35 (seventeen years ago) link
― QuantumNoise, Monday, 14 May 2007 15:41 (seventeen years ago) link
― whisperineddhurt, Monday, 14 May 2007 16:39 (seventeen years ago) link
― QuantumNoise, Monday, 14 May 2007 16:41 (seventeen years ago) link
― Chuck_Tatum, Monday, 14 May 2007 16:49 (seventeen years ago) link
― Charlie Howard, Monday, 14 May 2007 16:53 (seventeen years ago) link
why do wilco members wear long sleeve shirts, and sometimes even a suit above it on their live performence, for example yesterday,in this hot crowded venue at the end of june? just wonderin'..
― Zeno, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 07:21 (sixteen years ago) link
just to enhance the visual chemistry on stage i guess.
works nicely for me
― Charlie Howard, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 07:29 (sixteen years ago) link
The best thing about this album is the guitar solos. I've been wondering lately whether I might have a secret, as-yet-untapped jam-band love considering how much I like it when Wilco and Sonic Youth get all mellowed-out and jammy.
― jaymc, Thursday, 28 June 2007 02:08 (sixteen years ago) link
Well, what do you think of the Dead?
― Z S, Thursday, 28 June 2007 02:13 (sixteen years ago) link
This album kind of rules. I bought the vinyl, which sounds soooo amazing. It's the first Wilco album I've ever bought (maybe the first one I've ever heard all the way through?) I bought it cuz I kept hearing them performing the songs on all these radio shows .. i think it was the 'Prarie Home Companion' set that sold me. but anyway, Nels Cline is seriously the star. there are points where he sounds just like my hero John Cipollina but in general he just brings some bite to this band. Tweedy still bugs me -- though sorta hafta admire just how well he has the Lennon phrasing down on this record -- but the band and music really shine.
and yeah, the "Brontosaurus" rip in "Hate It Here" is funny and great.
― Stormy Davis, Thursday, 28 June 2007 04:42 (sixteen years ago) link
"The best thing about this album is the guitar solos"
OTM.it's Cline at the peak of his powers,Tom Verline style.. i'd say this: best album - being there best production - ghost is born best playing - sky blue sky (though it has the weakest songs)
― Zeno, Thursday, 28 June 2007 10:51 (sixteen years ago) link
I reckon it's a lost John Lennon album from his Wilderness Years.
(That's the second half of the 70s, not 1980 - present day).
― Matthew H, Thursday, 28 June 2007 13:37 (sixteen years ago) link
I haven't heard much of the Dead, although the little I have heard has them noodling over pretty basic three-chord blues progressions, so I haven't been too enthralled.
Tom Verlaine is another good example of a jammy guitar soloist I like.
― jaymc, Thursday, 28 June 2007 14:48 (sixteen years ago) link
Nice to see people coming around to this disc. Bee OK (who sounds like he or she might be affiliated with Wilco's management team, but I'm guessing) said upthread that BSB is "a very good album." That's right. And it's really the perfect compliment for this record: Humble, succinct and accurate.
― Daniel, Esq., Friday, 29 June 2007 17:24 (sixteen years ago) link
Oops, I meant "SBS." Sorry.
― Daniel, Esq., Friday, 29 June 2007 17:25 (sixteen years ago) link
Bee OK (who sounds like he or she might be affiliated with Wilco's management team, but I'm guessing) said upthread that BSB is "a very good album." That's right. And it's really the perfect compliment for this record: Humble, succinct and accurate.
haha, no i have nothing to do with Wilco, Nonesuch, WB or anything else having to do with the business. i'm just a music fan.
― Bee OK, Friday, 29 June 2007 20:00 (sixteen years ago) link
Fair enough. And it is a very good album.
― Daniel, Esq., Friday, 29 June 2007 20:18 (sixteen years ago) link
From FLUXBLOG today:
Some people seem a bit surprised when I tell them Sky Blue Sky is one of my top favorite records from 2007, and maybe a lot of that has to do with the fact that I've barely written about it. It's been a fairly private pleasure for me, particularly over the summer when its calming chords provided some relief from stress and worry. This isn't to say that Sky Blue Sky is an entirely relaxing set of songs -- if anything, I kept going back to it because its emotional state so neatly echoed my own experience of trying to stay cool and collected while quietly freaking out. Most of the worst reviews for the record glibly dismissed the music as "dad rock," which is sort of aggravating because I think that the epithet accidentally touches on the stoicism and maturity that is key to the record's appeal, but favors a kneejerk appreciation of less emotionally (or musically) complicated music. Also, it's a huge mistake to write it off as an album full of wanky, meandering guitar solos. Yes, there's a lot of solos, but they are part of dynamic, meticulously crafted instrumental sections that carry a great deal of the record's emotional weight. The words are fine, and as usual, Tweedy's voice is extremely charismatic and expressive despite his limitations, but for the most part, the major action on the record happens in the instrumental sections -- the climax, the resolution, the postscript. It's both the feelings buried underneath the surface that you can't quite let out, and the things you just can't articulate with words for one reason or another. It's a very sophisticated and subtle work of art, and though it is understandable why so many people would either neglect or dismiss it for not automatically revealing its charms, I promise you that the album has quite a lot to offer.
Yeah!
― Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 6 December 2007 02:07 (sixteen years ago) link
"Impossible Germany" is one of my favorite songs of the year.
Then again, Wilco is my favorite band.
― three handclaps, Thursday, 6 December 2007 02:17 (sixteen years ago) link
Wow Daniel, thanks for posting that Fluxblog piece. Matthew is OTM.
― three handclaps, Thursday, 6 December 2007 02:18 (sixteen years ago) link
He is. I like how he describes Sky Blue Sky as "a work of art." That's totally OTM and it makes the rockist in me happy.
What some people miss about this disc is how great the performances are, especially by Nels Cline. The DVD included in the deluxe version of Sky Blue Sky makes this clear; Cline's solo on Impossible Germany (also one of my favorite songs of the year) is breathtaking and dynamic.
― Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 6 December 2007 03:10 (sixteen years ago) link
sky blue sky - songwriting - mediocre. instrument playing and production - superb.
― Zeno, Thursday, 6 December 2007 04:07 (sixteen years ago) link
I like this. I'll probably never not like anything they do though.
― W4LTER, Thursday, 6 December 2007 04:26 (sixteen years ago) link
Daniel, have you seen the ACL performance of IG or heard the live version on the Sky Blue Sky Bonus EP? Nels shines on both of them (as usual).
― three handclaps, Thursday, 6 December 2007 05:06 (sixteen years ago) link
i saw the ACL performance of Impossible Germany IN PERSON BABY
― stephen, Thursday, 6 December 2007 06:35 (sixteen years ago) link
zomg
― W4LTER, Thursday, 6 December 2007 06:42 (sixteen years ago) link
seeing wilco live some months ago was the best show ive seen last year i think.
― Zeno, Thursday, 6 December 2007 07:02 (sixteen years ago) link
Live version on the DVD that came with the deluxe version of Sky Blue Sky. Not sure if that answers your question. But yeah, Nels Cline is a monster on the DVD version.
― Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 6 December 2007 19:55 (sixteen years ago) link
"Impossible Germany" is one of my favorite songs of the year Then again, despite the fact that Wilco is far from my favorite band.
― jaymc, Thursday, 6 December 2007 19:57 (sixteen years ago) link
Here's the version of 'Impossible Germany' I saw. So so so so good.
― Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 6 December 2007 20:04 (sixteen years ago) link
Nels Cline is so fucking ace on this record.
― Stormy Davis, Thursday, 6 December 2007 20:58 (sixteen years ago) link
it's year in review time so i have been listening only to 2007 albums. this album has shot into my Top 5, outstanding!
― Bee OK, Friday, 7 December 2007 09:25 (sixteen years ago) link
On & On & On is also one of my favorite songs of the year. Those guitars! That keyboard sound! Tweedy's vocals! Incredible.
― three handclaps, Saturday, 8 December 2007 05:15 (sixteen years ago) link
it's really just that the guitar on this record is so fucking amazing, every song's horizons are extended by some sick guitar part
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Monday, 31 January 2022 22:28 (two years ago) link
The power pop appeared to come back on the uptempo songs from The Whole Love (and perhaps on You Never Know) but I couldn't help wondering what Jay would have brought to them
It feels like Jeff has fallen back to writing every song in first position on the guitar which to me is making so much of his recent output sound so samey. He's clearly happier keeping vocal pitching fairly low and hushed too
― PaulTMA, Wednesday, 2 February 2022 01:12 (two years ago) link
Rather than retread old ground, these days I'd just be keen to hear someone come up with some more interesting (and lively) chord changes here and there
― PaulTMA, Wednesday, 2 February 2022 01:14 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5tmVsUKCiY
this 8 minute "impossible germany" rules
― ufo, Wednesday, 2 February 2022 09:30 (two years ago) link
Just fired this up
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 2 February 2022 22:57 (two years ago) link
So far: I can totally understand why the me of 2007 loathed this. It’s still not high in my overall Wilco estimation but after a long day of middle management it’s nice enough.
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 2 February 2022 23:06 (two years ago) link
“Glass of white wine, middle-aged, home alone on a weeknight” Wilco
Otherwise known as Chillco
(I’m not making fun of it anymore than I’m making fun of myself at this age)
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 2 February 2022 23:30 (two years ago) link
Oh right, “Leave Me” was always such a pretty song.
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 2 February 2022 23:33 (two years ago) link
In conclusion: I’m in a mellower place with SBS but it’s still not The Wilco Album I Reach For Automatically.
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 2 February 2022 23:42 (two years ago) link
i think Sky Blue Sky is vastly underrated. i felt it was an album that had Wilco hit their stride. i understand that is not like by most of their older fans but think it is their lost. it really has some of their more solid songs but most people just say that it's dad rock, so whatever.
― Bee OK, Wednesday, May 6, 2009 9:11 PM (twelve years ago)
i pretty much stand by that and i have been wanting to listen to this present day to see how i feel
good revival series for Wilco Brad, it has been fun to read #originalthread
― Bee OK, Thursday, 3 February 2022 05:12 (two years ago) link
i just remembered that years back when i worked at my college radio station we got the promo copy. i let my grad colleague hear it first because he'd been a bigger wilcohead and his immediate review was so lackluster that i'd never heard the album. what are the best YHF/AGIB type tracks?
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Thursday, 3 February 2022 07:55 (two years ago) link
none of it really sounds much like yhf but none of it is too far from most of the mellower tracks on agib. just listen to "impossible germany"
― ufo, Thursday, 3 February 2022 08:08 (two years ago) link
it's not the most agib-like track (idk which is exactly) but it's the album's defining moment
― ufo, Thursday, 3 February 2022 08:15 (two years ago) link
Do they ever not play Impossible Germany outside of album shows?
― PaulTMA, Thursday, 3 February 2022 16:05 (two years ago) link
I don't know if this is their best record (probably Mermaid Avenue for me) but it's the only one I still listen to, and didn't get bored of.
This post was OTM
Oh man, why can't the whole album sound like the middle two minutes of 'You Are My Face'? Christ, why couldn't the whole of 'You Are My Face' sound like that?― G00blar, Monday, March 12, 2007 1:13 AM (fourteen years ago) bookmarkflaglink
― Chuck_Tatum, Thursday, 3 February 2022 21:54 (two years ago) link
I'm not sure about more recently, but it did get played outside of album shows now and then. The band recently issued a box set of shows from the Capitol Theatre from 2014 where it was played.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 3 February 2022 22:58 (two years ago) link
they haven't played it at every show ever since its release but it's pretty close
― ufo, Thursday, 3 February 2022 23:03 (two years ago) link
possible and likely at every show
― I know we will continue to be a power couple (Sufjan Grafton), Friday, 4 February 2022 02:01 (two years ago) link
I got the impression it has got to the stage where there'd be riots if they didn't
― PaulTMA, Friday, 4 February 2022 12:01 (two years ago) link