 "Staggering post-modern masterpiece" | 2009-08-01 |
| - Reviewed By blackbeardo |
Wilco
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
2001; Nonesuch Records
My Rating: 10/10
If SUMMERTEETH is Wilco's OK COMPUTER, then YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT is Wilco's KID A. On SUMMERTEETH, WILCO proved themselves to be capable of pushing the envelope in just about any direction, but it seems that wasn't enough for Tweedy. Whereas the band built symphonies out of songs on SUMMERTEETH, on YHF they take the tracks, demolish them, pick up the pieces, and glue them back together into staggering postmodern masterpieces. The album opens with "I am trying to break your heart", a left-field folk song that seems to meander drunkenly down a city street. It's as clear a signal as the band can send that you are in for something completely different on this record, and yet the song somehow manages to grab you and pull you into Wilco's brave new world.
"Kamera" backs it up with a catchy, even-keeled, mid-tempo groover recalling jazz-rockers Steely Dan, only to descend into the most experimental piece on the record, "Radio Cure." While it's my opinion that "Radio Cure" is only essential in the way "Fitter Happier" is essential to Radiohead's OK COMUTER, it could be argued that this is the record's defining moment. When Tweedy howls, "Distance has no way of making love understandable", he sucks you right into the album's narrative, a meditation on communication and the distance between you and me.
"War on War" gets things moving again, and "Jesus etc." delivers the knock-out blow. Though written before September 11th, 2001, the song's lyrical imagery of "tall-buildings shaking" and "voices singing sad sad songs" seems to neatly summarize the myriad national sentiments in the days following the attacks. Call it a historical accident, but Tweedy's words, coupled with the album's dual-structural cover art, lends the record a prophetic tone, especially when "Jesus" is followed by "Ashes of American Flags." "Ashes" is apparently the third in a four part cycle of deconstructed folk songs, seemingly pushing ahead without a tempo, random instruments firing from every corner. "Heavy Metal Drummer" lightens things up a bit, recalling the midwestern nostalgia of BEING THERE, and "I'm the Man Who Loves You" even brings a little brass back into the mix.
"Pot Kettle Black", though great, comes off with the least impact, while "Poor Places" is the last (and best) in the previously mentioned song cycle. As "Poor Places" drifts into ambient HAM radio transmissions, you start to see that this record is all about communication, about reaching out for something to hold onto in the darkness. The album ends with "Reservations", a track that sharply contrasts the deadpan album opener with Tweedy's complete emotional buy-in. Tweedy sings "I've got reservations about so many things but not about you" with such direct abandon that it seems as if the whole thing has been a complete transformation.
YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT is Wilco's avant-garde masterpiece, and rightfully deserves a place in the collection of any fan of good music. While not everyone will find everything here appealing, it nevertheless is one of the first great records of the 21st century.
TRACKS:
1. I am trying to break your heart (5/5)
2. Kamera (5/5)
3. Radio Cure (3/5)
4. War on War (5/5)
5. Jesus, etc. (5/5)
6. Ashes of American Flags (5/5)
7. Heavy Metal Drummer (4.5/5)
8. I'm the Man Who Loves You (5/5)
9. Pot Kettle Black (4/5)
10. Poor Places (5/5)
11. Reservations (4/5) |
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 "Country's Ok Computer" | 2009-05-25 |
| - Reviewed By User: A8IFUOL8S9BZC |
| YHF may be slightly excessive in its sonic texturing, leading to a few pockets of dead noise here and there, but most often compresses and contorts into fascinating shapes instead. The disc still sounds about as superb an example at the expansive direction Wilco was taking their once traditional sound with hardly any residual pretension. |
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 "Playing With Toys" | 2009-05-04 |
| - Reviewed By stevecarter13 |
| I have been digesting Wilco in reverse chronology. I started with Blue Sky Blue after seeing them on SNL. Then I tried Kicking Television, and am now on to Being There and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. I find YHF the least enjoyable of the four albums, and actually find it irritating to listen to, particularly in comparison to the beautiful musicality of the later two works (guitarist Nils Cline being a serious upgrade) and the beautiful simplicity of Being There. The band seems to be playing with its toys, messing up otherwise good songs with out-of-place distortion and repetitive noises. After reading about the struggle Wilco had to get this album issued, I really wanted to like it. Instead, I have discovered why their former label hated it so. |
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| "good condition, arrived promptly" | 2009-03-05 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2JOM2BFQ9CXB8 |
| excellent condition, arrived promptly. Very disappointed with swearing on the album...would like to return for this reason or exchange am not sure if that is possible would make me a very satisfied customer. Contact me! |
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| "American Music At Its Finest" | 2009-03-04 |
| - Reviewed By User: A19BZDG7REYKZ1 |
If you payed attention to music in the early part of this decade, you undoubtedly heard the debacle that was Reprise Record's attempt to drop Wilco over this album. This tale has surrounded the album since it was released; however, once you look past it, you will find the best American album to be released this century.
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot kicks off with "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart", a brutally honest song amazing in its beauty. It sets the tone for the whole album with the constant ambient background that surrounds the deconstructed pop of Wilco. The album picks up with "Kamera", a more traditional Wilco song, but is halted by the masterful lament of "Radio Cure." Songs like "I Am The Man Who Loves You" and "Pot Kettle Black" prove that Wilco still knows how to rock. However, after multiple listens, the highlights of the album are "Ashes of American Flags" and "Poor Places", both lyrical masterpieces.
Overall this album is a drastic departure from the alt-rock of AM and the Beach-Boy Americana pop of Summerteeth. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot's briiant mixture of Americana and ambiance, along with Tweedy's best songwriting, make it Wilco's best album, and the American album of recent memory. |
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| "desert island disc!!!" | 2009-01-04 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2BEG9366FRFUU |
| I have listened to this album countless times over the years, and the beautiful melodies that Tweedy et al weave together never grow old. A classic for the ages... |
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