Wilco's 2002 breakthrough 2002 release,
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, became a cause célèbre in the music press thanks to the band being unceremoniously dropped by
Reprise Records (who deemed it unlistenable), and then signed by
Nonesuch after the band began streaming it through their website, a novel strategy at the time. The critical and commercial success of
YHF came with a reappraisal of
Wilco in the eyes of many, who suddenly no longer seemed like that alt-country band from the other guy in
Uncle Tupelo. 2004's
A Ghost Is Born saw
Wilco taking the experiments of
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot to the next level, while applying the lessons in new ways.
A Ghost Is Born is a considerably warmer and more organic listening experience, and the extended instrumental breaks in several of the songs (two cuts are over ten minutes long) sound more like a group in full flight than the Pro Tools-assembled structures of
YHF.
Jim O'Rourke, whose post-production work on
YHF played a huge role in crafting its sonic personality, produced and played guitar on
A Ghost Is Born, and he encouraged
Jeff Tweedy and his bandmates to explore the dynamics of their songs and refine their instrumental interplay, which had experienced an audible shift following the departure of guitarist, keyboardist, and secret weapon
Jay Bennett and the addition of multi-instrumentalist
Leroy Bach and keyboardist
Mikael Jorgensen. If
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot boldly announced
Wilco's sonic innovations,
A Ghost Is Born feels more subtle, though no less adventurous and more sure on its feet. It was also more of a "grower" than
Wilco's previous efforts, requiring more attention from the listener to appreciate its qualities, though "Hummingbirds," "Handshake Drugs," "Hell Is Chrome," and "Wishful Thinking" would all become fan favorites, and for good reasons. At the time of the album's release, the full extent of
Tweedy's struggles with drug dependence and mental health during the making of the LP were not widely known, and they've since provided a subtext for the frequently haunted effect of the lyrics and
Tweedy's vocals, as well as the long drone passage that closes "Less Than You Think." (The closer, "The Late Greats," rallies to end the set on an upbeat note.)
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was seen as an out-of-the-box masterpiece, while that can't be said of
A Ghost Is Born. In retrospect, though, it was a key salvo in
Wilco's evolution into one of America's best and most adventurous indie bands, and paved the way for the steady stream of great albums that would follow. [In 2025,
Nonesuch issued an expanded deluxe edition of
A Ghost Is Born packed with seven discs of rare and unreleased material. Along with an excellent remaster of the original album, the box included two discs of outtakes, most recorded during sessions at
Tortoise's SOMA Recording Studio in Chicago, and they offer an invaluable perspective on how the band and the songs evolved along the way. There are also two discs devoted to an October 2004 concert that was one of the first after
Wilco unveiled a new lineup featuring
Nels Cline and
Pat Sansone, and the show is a gem, with the band clearly excited to let rip on-stage. The last three discs are devoted to extended, open-ended jams the group called "Fundamentals," and while they'll be appreciated by serious fans, they're a bit much in one sitting, even though they offer a welcome fly-on-the wall view of their creative process. The set also includes a book containing rare photos and an excellent extended essay from
Bob Mehr on the creation of
A Ghost Is Born and the group's growth in a difficult period. It's the definite study of a watershed work in
Wilco's catalog, assembled with impressive care and attention to detail.] ~ Mark Deming
