Wilco

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Brilliant (give it 4.5 stars)

Review Score:

(8/10)
I'm not the type of person to throw around 4 or 5 star rating because "I like the band." However, this album is one of the few released during the year that truly deserves recognition for the earnest effort put into crafting it.

I'm also not one to say "go out and buy this album, it will change your life!" because, quite honestly, most people won't be able to digest this album. If you want a bunch of hum-alongs without having to do any work, then stay far, far away. This is for music fans who care about arrangments, compositions, added nuances. Its for fans of Radiohead (and bands like these) where effort is required to understand what the band is doing.

Its nice they have some poppy songs in there to give us some time to breath (Kamera, Heavy Metal Drummer, Pot Kettle Black, etc which are all thoroughly enjoyable on first listen). But the real treasures are songs like Poor Places and Radio Cure which start off kind of drab and unimpressive, until we realize we're on a long journey which would be overwhelming without the building of tension. "I'm the man who loves you" is another favorite, as the guitar gets a chance to air out a bit.

The only one that I still haven't figured out is Reservations... it just goes nowhere, but thats ok. There are a few sloppy moments here, and no one unified lyrical theme really so its not a 5-star album to me. Just one of the best of the year. If you like intelligent rock, this is for you.

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