Wilco Sky Blue Sky

"Maybe the sun will come out today/Maybe the clouds will go away," croons Jeff Tweedy on the first track of Sky Blue Sky. Indeed, it seems like Wilco has finally turned its head away from the dark depression that Tweedy embodied for most his adult life. This album shows a much softer, happier side of Tweedy and Wilco, ripe with delightful guitar solos (you should have seen them in concert!) and rather trippy lyrics. Some have critiqued Wilco for never having lyrical substance, but to say this is to completely disparage the care that they have taken to make their words sound important. They still manage to do the same with Sky Blue Sky, but their message is just a littler clearer, a little more direct.

Perhaps it's that directness that is so appealing about Sky Blue Sky. Many listeners have cited this album as Wilco's worst, but I would say that these individuals never really understood Wilco in the first place. This is a success story, and SBS is the part in the movie where they all the hard work and dedication pays off. Listen to "Impossible Germany" and tell me that Tweedy doesn't have a smile on his face when that 3 minute guitar solo just frees itself from the speakers. Even in person, they all look content with where they are musically--and perhaps it's that balance, that calmness that upsets people.

But ignore those fools and play SBS loud. You'll hear the sweet-talkin' Tweedy's sensitive side on "Hate it Here", and you won't be able to get that Theologian-like "Walken" out of your head. Play the Neil-Youngesque "What Light", and you'll be sold that this album is as solid as the defining Yankee Hotel Foxtrot or A Ghost is Born.

So forget what you've been told. Go and get yourself a copy of Sky Blue Sky.
Listen to "Impossible Germany" (4.8/5)
Listen to "What Light" (4.4/5)