Wilco - A Ghost Is Born

  by Benjamin Howarth

published: 21 / 7 / 2004

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Every so often, whether it’s down to the economy, the stars, an unknown heavenly power, artistic quality cycles of one event feeding another every so often an album arrives that makes this whole alternative music thing worthwhile. An album that is so exciting, complex, challenging and most of all enjoyable, it justifies the very reason for being a music fan in the first place. Wilco’s 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot' was such an album, as important and as brilliant as 'Forever Changes', 'Pet Sounds', 'Blonde On Blonde',' Dark Side Of The Moon', 'Revolver', 'OK Computer', 'Low 'and all those other albums clogging up your 100 Greatest Albums poll. Ooh, someone out there is laughing at this absurd hyperbole, or at least chuckling! Wilco divide opinion. Either they are too experimental with their electronica undertones, or too boring with their Dad rockish fanbase and alt-country background, or overhyped or you crave something more electro futuristo. But laugh all you want, because there were a sizable group of people who heard 'YHF' and temporarily stopped waiting for the next Radiohead record, and started to wonder how on earth Wilco were ever going to top this sublime, ground breaking album. (For the record, I only placed the album at number 5 in the year end poll for this website. This was stupid. The album was number 1. Absolutely, without question.) Their title-defence begins with a strummed electric guitar and a piano, and then a voice. Jeff Tweedy’s half whispered singing is a very familiar, very welcome sound and for two minutes we are treated to a pretty ballad. Despite it being quite good, listening to these two minutes still felt strange. After all this anticipation nothing much happened. The phoney war doesn’t last long. The guitar chords stutter and the band arrive, breaking into a breezy rock and roll blast. Tweedy reveals his new trick for the first time, the extended guitar solo, which reappears throughout the record. It is a source of contention among fans and critics already, some saying its overdone and others, like me, feeling that it is essential to following up a classic album that a band adds a new dimension to the sound. And it will get rid of anyone looking for Radio 2 friendly AOR. The second song, 'Hell Is Chrome' boasts a variation on Tweedy’s guitar solo, this time being unhurried and expressive, more like Dave Gilmour than Keith Richards. But it is a predominately piano based ballad song with intriguing lyrics, as Tweedy is welcomed with open arms into a clean, safe environment where he feels he “belongs”, and he feels “safe”, yet it is called hell and he is lead there by a devil that “was not red, he was chrome”. I can’t quite decide what these lyrics mean, but, of course, the ambiguity is intentional, and I find it effective. The album steps up a notch with 'Spiders (Kidsmoke)' which is over ten minutes long but doesn’t begin to feel like it, engaging as it is to the last. Lead by a driving guitar riff, which is repeated for several bars and then reappears later as part of the songs circular structure, this song ably demonstrates that Wilco aim to travel well beyond the tested Foxtrot waters. It demonstrates a confident band, willing to experiment and push themselves further, and a song as unconventional as this is a big risk, but one worth taking and one that caused no harm. It’s the first song that, structurally, demonstrates another new approach to Wilco’s music, and that is a joy because it was when Wilco abandoned traditional song structures that they were most enjoyable in the past. 'Muzzle Of Bees' is back in more conventional territory, but it provides one of the albums brightest moments. One of the things I enjoyed on 'YHF' was the way that songs would meander along, only for a brilliant little guitar line or piano melody to pop out and surprise me. This is precisely what happens here. The song is a simple acoustic ballad, and certainly pleasant, but about halfway through there is a brief piano line which is just so beautiful, and it pops out and elevates the whole song. Simply marvellous! 'Hummingbird', again, is in conventional territory, but whilst it might be Jeff Tweedy on autopilot, it still boasts a good arrangement of piano, violins and horns. And it has a great vocal, a catchy chorus and has ‘single’ written all over it, becoming one of the songs that will draw you into quite a "difficult"album on first listen. 'Handshake Drugs' is a jaunty tale, which seems to allude to the misery that Tweedy felt with repeated migraines and a subsequent addiction to painkillers in lines like “I was buried in sound”, “I looked like someone I used to know” and “I was chewing gum for something to do”. Tweedy’s lyrics are again ambiguous and it is impossible to conclusively interpret them, but since he deals in nothing but significant subject matter this is far from a flaw. Sometimes, however, he can be remarkably direct. Indeed, Tweedy asks, “Is any song worth singing if it doesn’t help?” on the next track, 'Wishful Thinking'. This is a slow gentle song, which is initially rather unengaging, but as the melody unravels, the song sounds more worthwhile. On 'Company In My Back' there is some brilliant instrumentation. I found it very surprising, so I won’t spoil it for you by saying what happens, but it supports an already engaging song superbly. 'I’m A Wheel' is the most rock and roll song on the album, and could probably have snuck in unnoticed on 'Exile On Main Street'. Although it’s not demonstrative of Wilco’s true strengths, being upfront where they are generally subtle, it is effective and ensures that the album won’t grow boring as it nears its conclusion. 'Theologians' is back in more familiar territory, as Tweedy bemoans, “Theologians don’t know nothing about my soul” and proclaims, “I am all emotion”. This is another potential single, but it is no fluffy pop song, with the album’s finest guitar solo an integral part, it couldn’t just saunter along. Next, we come to the album’s most debated song, 'Less Than You Think', a fifteen-minute piece consisting of mostly ambient noise. Whether or not one truly appreciates this is down to personal judgement, and no amount of criticism will change that. Although it often gets skipped, I can play this song, largely for two reasons. Firstly, I like the idea of neighbours thinking, “what the hell is that noise?” and also because if you can make it through it, the next track feels even more exciting,. It’s a bit like a reward. Whether this sort of thing is really art, however, is debatable and it perhaps harks of Wilco trying a bit too hard, and it sadly diverts attention from the first few minutes of the piece, which feature one of the band’s strongest piano ballads. Final song, 'The Late Greats\ is in danger of being forgotten, but it is a great piece of electric alt-country, and reminds a little of the great Uncle Tupelo, where Tweedy started out! Tweedy sings, “the best songs will never get sung”, but Wilco have a knack for transforming some ordinary, if touching, songs into great music with a combination of inventive musicianship and even more inventive song structuring. Now, I’m aware that I’ve taken you into every single track, and that it was rather long, but as a fan, I like to read extensive reviews of landmark albums, and I consider this to be one. Once again, Wilco have crafted a work that requires patience and concentration but that is varied, and aims to outreach itself. Though they rely less on the electronic undertones of the last album, the production work of Jim O’Rourke is still very classy, and the bands knack for developing original song structures is still equalled only by the very finest bands. Wilco deserve their exalted reputation, and only time will tell if this album proves to weaker, the equal to or better than 'YHF' but right about now it is more than satisfying enough.

Track Listing:-

1 At Least That's What You Said
2 Hell Is Chrome
3 Spiders (Kidsmoke)
4 Muzzle Of Bees
5 Hummingbird
6 Handshake Drugs
7 Wishful Thinking
8 Company In My Back
9 I'm A Wheel
10 Theologians
11 Less Than You Think
12 The Late Greats

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