Wilco

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

One of the stellar releases of 2002. Essential.

Review Score:

(8/10)
Perhaps two of the best things to happen to Wilco is to (a) change record labels, and (b) have producer extraordinaire Jim O'Rourke at the helm. With expectations low after their exit from Warner/Reprise, 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot' is Wilco's shining masterpiece, twangy roots-rock meets neo-psychadelia. The bitter departure actually translated into more creative control. O'Rourke brings an added ingredient to the table, a childrens workshop-type experimentalism that compliments Jeff Tweedy's emotionally drenched vocals. An outpouring of soul meets ecclectic arrangements/instruments, yet still within the bounds of Wilco's earthy 'wine in casks of oak' alt-country sound. After the opening surreal haze of 'I Am Trying to Break Your Heart', this CD clanks and rings, romps and weeps, a self-examination of the human spirit. You get the sense you're empathizing with someones joy and pain, paired with a musical child genius inquisitively toying around in an instrument-filled playroom. 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot' is powerful as it is mystical, an awakening as it is a desperate search, an intimate journey into your musical soul.

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