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Wilco
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
label: Nonesuch
released: 04.23.02
our score: 5.0 out of 5.0
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You wake in the middle of the night, worrying,
drenched in sweat. Why did you wake? Suddenly your questions return
to you... you're wondering "Where has all the great rock
'n' roll gone to? Where are the days when rock was innovative
enough to actually go someplace interesting and new, yet remain
accessible enough to be truly enjoyable?"
And it's buzzing in your ears, over and over and
over...
Yankee
Hotel Foxtrot ... Yankee Hotel Foxtrot ... Yankee
Hotel Foxtrot ...
Three years
have passed since Wilco's last true studio album, Summer Teeth,
was released. A sonic triumph in its own right, Summer Teeth,
found this group of alt-country rockers venturing more into rock
than country areas, and was hailed by fans and critics alike as
one of the greatest albums of 1999. Foxtrot continues this journey,
while at the same time finding Wilco with a heavily-changed lineup,
including the loss of Jay Bennett and the additions of Glenn Kotche
and Leory Bach.
Upon first
listen, it's evident Foxtrot continues in the dirge-like
depression heavily present on Summer Teeth. Life is about
love, love is about pain, and pain and love make excellent songwriting
material. The album opener "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart"
finds Tweedy contemplating his true stance in a relationship,
going back and forth between how he really feels and how he wants
to feel. It's indecisively cruel, yet lonely and heartwrenching
at once.
The album does, however, pick things up in places
such as the single "Heavy Metal Drummer." A nostalgiac
look back at the infatuations people have with the rock and roll
lifestyle, it's the album's most carefree moment, and an example
of why the band has come as far as it has.
For an act to have come so far since the early
days of Uncle Tupelo, and up through what is basically five Wilco
albums (excluding Foxtrot) a band has to grow. And this is where
Wilco shows their truest inspirations. While they were dropped
from the Reprise label due to a corporate unhappiness with the
final product, Nonesuch saw that Wilco has done what few artists
have done: Make pop music that is daring and innovative enough
to make people say "Wow, now that's an amazing record."
You'll feel it yourself as the Beatles-esque "Day
In The Life" cacophony builds at the end of the uber-track
"Poor Places."
The best music is the music that sends chills
down your spine as you listen to it... the music that you can't
help but sit in awe of. It's rare that it happens, but when it
does you never forget it.
Wilco have built an entire album around this feeling.
17-Apr-2002
6:30 PM
If you
liked Yankee Hotel Foxtrot...
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| Tracklist:
1. I am trying to
break your heart
2. Kamera
3. Radio cure
4. War on war
5. Jesus, etc.
6. Ashes of american flags
7. Heavy metal drummer
8. I'm the man who loves you
9. Pot kettle black
10. Poor places
11. Reservations
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