I love this band. Jumped on board in 1999 and own everything since. Always excited by anything new. No sampling required. Plopped the disc into the player and, yep, immediately it's a keeper with track uno. But then something unusual happens. The album just sort of lies there, if you know what I mean. It's still good, it completes the job, but it really doesn't throb your gristle. So I moved it forward in the rotation for the second spin, certain it would move a little more, moan a little more. Barely. So for spin #3, I moved it back in the lineup, thinking absence makes the heart grow fonder, the desire grow hotter. Well, it didn't work. The record's opening and closing tracks are outstanding, the rest are OK. I can safely say I've never said that about a Wilco record, ever. But if you are a fan like me and haven't sprung for "The Whole Love" yet, be sure to get the Deluxe version. All four extra tracks should have been on
the full-length.
A Grammy nomination? For Rock Album, no less? Really? This is obviously a nod based on track record, not merit (who the hell am I kidding, it IS the Grammys). In no way, shape or form is this a "Rock" record like the other nominees. Now if they had an entire record of this, they'd have been a shoo-in...
Remember, Wilco was originally an alt-country act, and there is a trace of it here again. If you're into the same ol' same ol', then there is way too much variety on this record for that mentality. In fact, the tracking is somewhat disjointed, pun intended. One of those didn't even help the middle 37 minutes. It received a lot of love from the WPRK DJ's with one of them labeling it "Dad rock." I almost hit a tree laughing. But then he said he liked it, so his dad must have been a late-era Beatles fan.
Lots of high praise for this record from many a younger reviewer. For me, it was an off year for one of America's best bands of the last dozen years. They usually hit the ball out of the park. This was a deep fly ball to the warning track.
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