The first thing to be said, is that this is definitely not Wilco’s best; far from it. This album is lacking in the experimentative energy that is apparent in Wilco's more recent albums. The laid back, alt. country style that is Sky Blue Sky, is the style of music that Wilco has supposedly matured from, not the other way around. Although this may sound like I’m saying that this album is a piece of crap, I’m not. What I mean to say is that this album is good, but not breathtakingly good (as Yankee Hotel Foxtrot rightfully was.) This album shows a more passive, and clean side (yet not too passive or distortion-free) to the Wilco that we all know and love. It lacks those experimental-style, distortion heavy, 10 minute songs that we got on “A Ghost Is Born” (Spiders…Less Than You Think), and it lacks the complete passive clean side that we got on “Being There.” (Lonely 1…).While the album has the elements of both styles (the title track as the “clean, passive style”, and Shake it Off, as a more “loud, aggressive” song.) it fails to reach out of its comfort zone (the area in the middle of the distortion heavy style, and the passive, clean style), and produce an epic, unforgettable song, that are common on Wilco’s other albums.
Saying this, the album does have its good tracks. What Light, and Side with the Seeds, both live up to the potential that this band was; and Impossible Germany’s guitar solo is impressively pretty. Tweedy’s voice never fails to grab the attention of the listener, and Cline’s solos never cease to amaze.
All in all, Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky is a decent attempt to recreate their more mellow days, but as a whole, it lacks the the qualities necessary to do so. Despite this, as a Wilco fan I am still impressed by this album, and can’t bring myself to award it anything lower than 3.5 out of 5 stars…
Highlights:
Wilco - Impossible Germany
Wilco - Side With the Seeds
Wilco - What Light
Buy the album: Amazon
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