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Fun Stuff => BAND => Topic started by: ChozSun on 11 Mar 2006, 17:21
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... what album would I start with and what you recommend.
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Yankee Hotel Foxtrot!
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Seconded. YHF is the album to go for.
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Yep.
Then get Summerteeth and have a happier life.
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YHF.
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Yankee Hotel Foxtrot -> A Ghost is Born -> Summerteeth
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Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
You will not/should not be disapointed after that just dive right into their other stuff, I love it all.
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I find that to be a big problem of mine, if I listen to a bands best stuff first, I cant go back and listen to the crappier stuff.
Anyway, yeah, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. I hear their new live album is alright too, the live in chicago or some such crap.
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Thanks to everyone.
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I find that to be a big problem of mine, if I listen to a bands best stuff first, I cant go back and listen to the crappier stuff.
Anyway, yeah, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. I hear their new live album is alright too, the live in chicago or some such crap.
It's quite simply the best live album I've ever heard, without exaggeration.
And personally I'd suggest starting with Summerteeth and moving on from there, because I think Summerteeth is more accessible, a better starting point, and it's last song isn't complete cack, unlike Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.
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Kicking Television is indeed awesome.
I'm gonna second Summerteeth for the starting album.
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Honestly? Yankee Hotel Foxtrot got me into indie rock. Period. I borrowed it from the library back in my punk-rock days based on the album cover looking cool. My mind was BLOWN.
So that's what I'd start with, personally. It converted a kid whose favourite band was NoFX into somebody who has a love-hate relationship with Spin magazine.
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(*takes out the Wilco A.M. album, beats dead horse with it)
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YHF is genius. Pure effing genius.
That said, when you're done salivating over it, make SURE you get the first Mermaid Ave with Billy Bragg and Wilco.
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(*takes out the Wilco A.M. album, beats dead horse with it)
Love that record.
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Yankee Hotel Foxtrot!
BEST ALBUM EVER.
Not really.
But up there.
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I feel like this thread was made for me to post in.
Basically, the issue with Wilco is that depending on what album you buy, you are getting a completely different band. The only real constant you are going to find is Jeff Tweedy.
So, in order.
If you are into really simple slow country jams with a bit of an Indie Twinge, get AM. It's a spectacular album, not as deep as their later stuff, but the one you are most likely to put on in the car while driving. It's also the only album where anyone BUT Tweedy sings. There's a track called "It's Just That Simple" where the bassist, John Stirrat, takes lead vocals. Other Stand Out Tracks are "Blue Eyed Soul" and "Passenger Side"
After that, you get Being There which I honestly think might be their best album, or at least the best starting point. It's almost an epic album, in some ways. There's two discs to it, and they complement each other beautifully. The first disc is for the most part way faster, more power poppy almost. It's not bad, but the second disc is the best part. Really slow, mournful, songs, with really deeply depressed lyrics. If you take the first song off disc one "Missunderstood" and add it to the second disc, you get a collection of some of the best songs of their carreer. Other High points include "Sunken Treasure" "Outtasite(Outta Mind)" and "Outta Mind (Outta Sight)"
Summerteeth is, in my opinion at least, their weakest album, but it's also the easiest to listen to. It's really just a straight up indie-pop album. It's by no means a bad album, and actually has some of the best lyrics Tweedy has ever written. The problem I have with the album is overproduction. There are just too many redundant sounds added on top of the music, which ruins the effect. There are still great songs, just not as many. "Via Chicago" and "She's a Jar" stand Out.
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is an just 100% indie rock. Guitar Jams, random sounds, static, noise, amazing percussion, and brilliant songwriting. Tweedy's voice is at it's best, the whole album flows together perfectly... there really isn't anything wrong with it. But again, it is really easy to just NOT LIKE IT at first, because it's an icredibly dense, complicated album. Best songs are "I am Trying to Break Your Heart" "Jesus Etc" "I'm The Man Who Loves You" and basically all of them. If you can handle it.
A Ghost is Born is really closest to a sort of Indie Rock Neil Young. The guitar parts on all the songs have been drawn out into elaborate jams, sometimes as much as 10 minutes long. The lyrics are more nonsensical, but they are clearly secondary in importance to the music in this particular case. Again, it's not the most accessible of their albums, but if you are already into good music, you will start tapping your toes and singing along pretty fast. "Spiders(Kidsmoke) and "Hummingbird" are the essential tracks.
If you are a fan of folk music, Wilco did 2 albums with Billy Bragg, covering Woodie Guthrie songs. Their much more country, and you aren't getting the full Wilco experience because it's a different lyricist, but there are amazing songs on both of the albums. Great old timey feel, easy to pick up and get into. "Another Man's Done Gone" "California Stars" and "Remember the Mountain Bed" are the essential tracks. "Bed" is actually one of the best songs Wilco has ever recorded.