Wilco - The Whole Love

bold99 · Sep 03, 2011, 10:23 PM

Been listening all day...first Song Art Of Almost is amazing..cannot wait to hear this live.

ironmike · Sep 06, 2011, 04:09 PM

download this album at musicconsortium.blogspot.com

oistheone · Sep 06, 2011, 05:25 PM

The last 90 seconds of "Art of Almost" is full of the most out-of-this-world guitar playing I've ever heard. I've seriously heard nothing like it, ever. Just insane.

Ghosts_on_TV · Sep 07, 2011, 01:06 AM

Best since A Ghost is Born, easily. And I dig SBS and W(TA).

sweatboard · Sep 07, 2011, 02:04 AM

I watched "Ashes of American Flags" last night and was thinking about how Nels is some kind of conduit for alien flower seeds in your brain.....he's like a sunshower.

http://www.nelscline.com/

chaqueta sucia · Sep 07, 2011, 08:16 AM

After my first few listens I will agree it is their best since AGIB, a little more solid all the way through. I too really like SBS and W(ta). Nels Cline is an animal on the guitar, one of my favorites in all of music. My only complaint in the last few albums is I miss the great harmonies and killer choruses of when Jay Bennett was making albums with them. Obviously that can never be again but something has been missed dearly in their sound since the line "a circle can have only one center" was said to Jay.

Penny Lane · Sep 07, 2011, 09:28 AM

After a few listens, I'm not big on the first couple of the songs, but I really like the rest of the album. The first song (Art of Almost) sounds like Radiohead, and if I wanted to listen to that, I'd listen to Radiohead. That said, Tweedy can make anything work and it will be good live. **standout tracks Black Moon and Born Alone
No matter what, it's just good to have some new Wilco. Can't wait for the Central Park shows.

Penny Lane · Sep 07, 2011, 09:29 AM

Quote from: chaqueta sucia on Sep 07, 2011, 08:16 AM
My only complaint in the last few albums is I miss the great harmonies and killer choruses of when Jay Bennett was making albums with them. Obviously that can never be again but something has been missed dearly in their sound since the line "a circle can have only one center" was said to Jay.

Yep

bold99 · Sep 07, 2011, 02:14 PM

I cannot wait to hear "Art Of Almost" live...the end of that song makes me want to break things. My favorite Wilco song in a long time.

chaqueta sucia · Sep 07, 2011, 03:53 PM

Quote from: Penny Lane on Sep 07, 2011, 09:28 AM
After a few listens, I'm not big on the first couple of the songs, but I really like the rest of the album. The first song (Art of Almost) sounds like Radiohead, and if I wanted to listen to that, I'd listen to Radiohead.

I will say for their last two albums they were faulted for not sounding enough like Summerteeth/YHF/AGIB in sound............so maybe this is their extreme attempt at trying to recapture what has been gone for a while for them. I do not mind the song myself but it does come off as them trying too hard and yes I too hear radiohead.

I will say I really like Black Moon to Born Alone to Open Mind........the middle of the album. I also will say One Sunday Morning as a closer is one of Tweedy's best lyrical moments in some time. Overall a very solid listen.

ALady · Sep 07, 2011, 04:25 PM

I think it's pleasant enough. Definitely a step up from Sky Blue Sky and (the Album).

bold992006 · Sep 08, 2011, 10:46 AM

Quote from: chaqueta sucia on Sep 07, 2011, 08:16 AM
After my first few listens I will agree it is their best since AGIB, a little more solid all the way through. I too really like SBS and W(ta). Nels Cline is an animal on the guitar, one of my favorites in all of music. My only complaint in the last few albums is I miss the great harmonies and killer choruses of when Jay Bennett was making albums with them. Obviously that can never be again but something has been missed dearly in their sound since the line "a circle can have only one center" was said to Jay.

I wouldn't totally agree with this. I love John and Pat backup vocals. "You are my face" is so great with John.

chaqueta sucia · Sep 08, 2011, 11:57 AM

Quote from: bold992006 on Sep 08, 2011, 10:46 AM

I wouldn't totally agree with this. I love John and Pat backup vocals. "You are my face" is so great with John.

They are good for sure but not Jay B and imo gone is that era of brilliance in songwriting they had together with Jeff and Jay B. Now imo their songs are much more straight forward(SBS/W(TA)/TWL) than Summerteeth and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. That is not a bad thing always but I for one miss the older sound......may just be me I don't know.

bold992006 · Sep 08, 2011, 01:27 PM

Quote from: chaqueta sucia on Sep 08, 2011, 11:57 AM
Quote from: bold992006 on Sep 08, 2011, 10:46 AM

I wouldn't totally agree with this. I love John and Pat backup vocals. "You are my face" is so great with John.

They are good for sure but not Jay B and imo gone is that era of brilliance in songwriting they had together with Jeff and Jay B. Now imo their songs are much more straight forward(SBS/W(TA)/TWL) than Summerteeth and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. That is not a bad thing always but I for one miss the older sound......may just be me I don't know.

I do love the older albums...but some of the post Bennett stuff IMO is just as good..and the trade off also is having Nels in the band which I absolutely love. I'm a big fan of Sky Blue Sky which I know a lot of people are not...but I think some of those songs, espeically live are incredible.

chaqueta sucia · Sep 08, 2011, 02:21 PM

I do love Nels and yes live he is the shiznit! 8)

ALady · Sep 08, 2011, 05:05 PM

Quote from: chaqueta sucia on Sep 08, 2011, 11:57 AM
Quote from: bold992006 on Sep 08, 2011, 10:46 AM

I wouldn't totally agree with this. I love John and Pat backup vocals. "You are my face" is so great with John.

They are good for sure but not Jay B and imo gone is that era of brilliance in songwriting they had together with Jeff and Jay B. Now imo their songs are much more straight forward(SBS/W(TA)/TWL) than Summerteeth and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. That is not a bad thing always but I for one miss the older sound......may just be me I don't know.

I hesitate to call the Whole Love a return to form, but it's leagues better than Sky Blue Sky/the Album, IMO. I don't miss the older sound much at all, but everyone always leaves A Ghost is Born out of the equation...their finest hour, if you ask me.

And I think that as a live band they are so much more cohesive and powerful now than they ever were during the Bennett era.

el_chode · Sep 08, 2011, 09:52 PM

Listened to it twice while in traffic. Didn't skip a song, had a few standouts, like it way more than the Album, not sure where to rank it in favorites. What I do know is that it's definitely more of a successor to Ghost than anything, but also sounds the furthest away from AM than anything too (as in it's a strange juxtaposition, not a quality comparison). It's like they're truly a new band, which makes sense given the time span.

Full disclosure, I was totally underwhelmed by Sky Blue Sky when I first heard it, then within a month it shot to one of my favorite Wilco albums. Ghost is one of my least favorite "albums". I view it as a collection of 12 awesome songs, many of which are my most favorite Wilco songs of all.

wolof7 · Sep 08, 2011, 10:22 PM

Quote from: el_chode on Sep 08, 2011, 09:52 PM
Full disclosure, I was totally underwhelmed by Sky Blue Sky when I first heard it, then within a month it shot to one of my favorite Wilco albums. Ghost is one of my least favorite "albums". I view it as a collection of 12 awesome songs, many of which are my most favorite Wilco songs of all.

Agreed with all of this cept loved Sky Blue Sky right out the gates and still feel its one of my favorites. I put it in the almighty grouping of being there > summerteeth > YFH just above Ghost is Born....and although Ghost may have some of my favorite tracks its not a Wilco album I can sink into often....I thought Wilco the Album had 4 strong tracks and the rest were passable

I need a few more listens to the new one to digest it fully but I'd put it on par with Ghost....Right now I'm digging 'Capitol City' 'Art of Almost' 'Standing O' 'the whole love' and think 'One Sunday Morning' is brilliant....the other trax are decent enough and I'm sure I'll grow to like them more.

It's weird how their fans find themselves with such opposite opinions of their albums sometimes.

ManNamedTruth · Sep 09, 2011, 01:14 AM

I've had high hopes for this album since hearing I Might on the radio for a few months now. I think the songs from A Ghost Is Born sound a lot better on Kicking Television. Damn I hope to see these guys live again soon, it's been since 2006.

headhunter · Sep 09, 2011, 09:02 AM

On my 4th listen and I'm really liking this album.
I agree that Sunday morning is brilliant.. All good out of the gate, certainly better than the album, and I expect to like it more and more as time goes on. Especially when I finally get my hands on the vinyl issue in a couple of weeks. Wilco ALWAYS does a great job with their vinyl releases.

I loved Sky Blue right out of the gate. And still do. YHF, Summerteeth and Sky Blue are probably my favorites (along with the Mermaid Ave 1 with Billy Bragg). But like Okonokos, I could happily just make do with the live Kicking Television, especially the vinyl box set which has 7 extra songs that never made it on to the 2 cd set.

Seeing them 2x later this month in NY's Central Park and psyched to see how it all plays live.