Wilco (The Album)

by Wilco

Overview

Rock & roll lifers that they are, Wilco knows the implications of a self-titled album, how any record bearing an eponymous name is bound to be seen as a reintroduction. That's why they puncture Wilco (The Album) with a parenthetical aside, a slyly ironic joke that deflates the notion that Wilco is returning to its roots while signaling that the band is finally lightening up again, a notion reinforced by the camel birthday party on the cover. And, to be fair, "reintroduction" is indeed too strong a term for a band that never went away, they merely spent a decade-and-a-half on a walkabout, consuming anything that came their way, changing their tone and tenor from record to record. Wilco (The Album) finds Wilco the band happily returning from the wilderness, taking stock of where they've been and consolidating all they've learned into one tight, likeable record. (The Album) never veers too far into the experimental -- nor does it dabble in country-rock, a sound that's largely remained verboten in Wilco ever since their debut -- but the reverberations of the Jay Bennett era can be heard in how "Bull Black Nova" builds to a shuddering, noise-filled coda, or the band's general mastery of varying degrees of light and shade. All this studio texture is not the focal point, it's the coloring on a collection of straight-ahead rock and pop songs, tunes that are generally soft, sunny, and hazy -- quite exquisitely so on the '70s George Harrison pastiche "You Never Know" and the nearly Baroque "Deeper Down" -- but also jangly and sparkly, as on "Sonny Feeling," or that have some measure of backbone, as on the spiky "I'll Fight" and the cool shuffle of "Wilco (The Song)." If Wilco (The Album) as a whole is considerably less ambitious than its predecessors, it compensates with its easy confidence and craft: it's the work of a band that knows their strengths and knows what they're all about, and it's ready to settle into an agreeably comfortable groove. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	06/30/2009
Label:	Nonesuch
UPC:	0075597984965

Tracks

1. Wilco (The Song)
2. Deeper Down
3. One Wing
4. Bull Black Nova
5. You and I
6. You Never Know
7. Country Disappeared
8. Solitaire
9. I'll Fight
10. Sonny Feeling
11. Everlasting Everything

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Wilco   Primary Artist,Vocals
John Stirratt   Guitar (Bass),Vocals (Background)
Jeff Tweedy   Vocals,Guitar (Acoustic)
Neil Finn   Vocals (Background)
Jason Tobias   Cimbalom,Percussion
Dave Max Crawford   Trumpet
Nels Cline   Guitar,Guitar (Electric)
Max Crawford   Trumpet
Pat Sansone   Organ,Guitar,Vocals (Background)
Leslie Feist   Vocals
Mikael Jorgensen   Piano,Synthesizer,Vocals (Background)
Glenn Kotche   Drums

Technical Credits

Bob Ludwig   Mastering,Remastering,Mastering Engineer
John Stirratt   Group Member
Jeff Tweedy   Composer,Group Member,Graphic Design
Wilco   Producer
Jim Scott   Mixing,Engineer,Producer,Audio Engineer,Mixing Engineer,Audio Production
Glenn Kotche   Group Member
Jason Tobias   Engineer,Audio Engineer
Nels Cline   Group Member
Lawrence Azerrad   Graphic Design
Autumn de Wilde   Photography
Pat Sansone   Composer,Group Member
Jordan Stone   Engineer,Audio Engineer
Kevin Dean   Mixing
Mikael Jorgensen   Group Member
TJ Doherty   Engineer,Audio Engineer