Wilco Overrated??

Bigb · Joined: 18 Jul 2003 Posts: 221

I have seen in a couple of posts where Wilco was bashed or called overrated? C'mon now. Wilco is easily the best, or one of the best, bands making music today. It's easy to jump on someone that the critics so widely admire but it doesn't make it right. While you may love Jay, and I do, that doesn't discount Wilco by any means. While I like TB very much, it's no YHF (in my very humble opinion).

Jay has been making great music but his masterpiece has been Trace up until now. I'd like to see that direction again sometime. The songs that you can't help but like. I feel like there are several songs on TB that you have to try and like.

Boots · Joined: 16 Jun 2003 Posts: 35 Location: Bloomington, IN

I love TB and I love Wilco

"Can't we all just get along"

tracer · Joined: 23 Jun 2003 Posts: 150 Location: kansas city

as much as i love wilco, i've always loved son volt and jay farrar more, so take this with a grain of salt. i wouldn't say wilco is overrated, because they are clearly making great music, timeless music. at the same time, i think they love the attention, and it worries me. maybe it's just because i hate seeing shows with 1000s of people instead of shows with just 100s. or maybe it's because i hate hearing people talk on and on about wilco and YHF when they'd never of wilco until last year. who knows. but their newfound status could change them. one of the greatest things about wilco is that they are always evolving, and do it with success. am to being there, being there to summerteeth, summerteeth to yhf, they were all big jumps. have you heard the free wilco ep? while 3 of the songs are outtakes, they're starting to sound the same. and what about loose fur. while it might be a tad more experimental, it's not way off yhf. i just hope they don't get caught up with making yhf again and again, i just hope they don't get caught up making indie rock records. it'll be interesting to see how they go on without jay bennet. and while i might sound pessimistic, i'm eagerly awaiting to hear what wilco's got in store.

Boots · Joined: 16 Jun 2003 Posts: 35 Location: Bloomington, IN

tweedy needs someone else to sort of counter him, it worked with Farrar of course, and although I like AM it's nothing to write home about. Then Jay Bennett comes on to the team and you get Being There, Summerteeth, and YHF. Then Bennett leaves, now I am a bit worried. I just think Tweedy needs someone else to help him find his best songs, well there's my 2 cents

gb68 · Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2003 9:33 am Post subject:

From my perspective, I think Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy have both improved as writers and musicians over time. While I like their older stuff, too, I feel as though their more recent work shows that they've both become more skilled, confident and mature in their respective projects.

That said, I have to admit that I've felt for a long time that arguing about music is a bit like arguing* about food. What tastes good in my mouth isn't necessarily going to taste good in yours. You never know what some people are going to like. I've got a kid who likes to eat cat food, boogers, and bugs off of trees. He even liked those nasty Harry Potter vomit-flavored jelly beans. Who knows what kind of music he's going to like in ten years. I'm a little scared.

I've written a lot of songs myself, and I've done some collaborating, as well. Having another musician's perspective can really be inspiring. But I imagine when it gets down to being someone's livelihood, success, or the lack thereof, can put major strains on a working relationship. Like any business venture, when partners share a common goal and are willing to make compromises, it can be a great thing. When that's no longer true, it's no fun anymore. I can say I have been in bands that started out being a good time, and ended up being just another lousy job.

*I mean "arguing" in the true, logic-class sense of the word, where one makes a statement and backs it up with facts and provable assertions, as opposed to the more common connotation where "arguing" implies people with different points of view getting angry at each other. Music is experienced in such a subjective way that the former is not really possible, so one regrettably often ends up with the latter. As an example, one can compare scores of Beethoven's early- and late-period string quartets and show examples in the later works of improved compositional technique, greater thematic unity, more daring harmonic movement, etc., but to say the late quartets are "better" is entirely in the ear and mind of the listener.
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v · Joined: 18 Jul 2003 Posts: 51

love that wilco. yhf: 'kin marvellous. haven't played it for, coo, probably 6 months now. nor farrar, maybe even longer. must check out his wineyard blues

the go betweens: now theres some good singing and writing and playing.

Alexa · Guest

bentonbourbon · Joined: 20 Jun 2003 Posts: 824

I think Wilco's a great, great band .... I'm also curious to see post-Bennett Wilco....
Jay just has his own thing going .... it's so unique
Impossible to compare but I do wish a documentary like " .... break your heart" was made on Jay ...

Coffee Creek · Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2003 11:54 am Post subject:

I wish I had two cents!

gb68 · Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2003 12:28 pm Post subject:

uesbc · Joined: 16 Jun 2003 Posts: 20 Location: NYC

Wilco is great, but I do fear that the lineup changes will hurt their creativity going forward. Let's hope I'm wrong.

To follow up on a point that BigB made, Wilco is definitely the best "band" making music today. Here are my top 5 "bands":

1. Wilco
2. Flaming Lips
3. Coldplay
4. Grandaddy
5. Dandy Warhols

fygmynt · Joined: 09 Jul 2003 Posts: 67 Location: fort collins, CO

the question here isn't: "is wilco a good/great band?" of course they are. wilco, and i don't think there's much of an argument here, is a better "band" than son volt. they started off slow (i can hardly listen to AM anymore), and of course son volt started off with a masterpiece, but then son volt languished and wilco hit their stride. being there is timeless; summerteeth is fantastic, if a little too sweet; yhf is what it is...i don't like it nearly as much as the previous two, but i recognize what it has to offer (i'm one of those who dumped radiohead when kid a came out...bleh). like someone else mentioned, i'm finding its replay value to be very small indeed. wilco is more consistent and more exciting a band than most...for sure.

but right, the question isn't "wilco: good or bad"...it's "wilco: overrated?" and i think the answer has to be yes. and sure, it isn't their fault. the strokes were overrated too, but is this it is a damn fine rock record.

anyway, there's my handful of change.

~fygmynt
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SonWilco · Joined: 25 Jun 2003 Posts: 154

Wilco is not over rated. In fact if anything their don't get as much attention as they deserve and I'm glad. Jay, same thing. I don't think either of those guys are in it for the popularity. To my ears these guys have made some of the best music of the past 100 years and it's still some what a secret. I don't want to see Jay or Jeff on MTV burping and cussing like Ozzy, or shaking his ass for money like some talentless whore for the pepsi generation.

Montana-Bitterroot · Joined: 15 Jul 2003 Posts: 17

Wilco is good but yes the are overrated.
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Haggischomper · Joined: 17 Jun 2003 Posts: 190 Location: Chicagoland

The older I get, the more I appreciate AM.

I'm funny with Wilco. Sometimes I love 'em to death, other times (like now) I can go months happily never hearing them. Tweedy's soundtrack thing and the Loose Fur effort are plain old painful though. Probably, the two worst records in my collection.
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