After four universally acclaimed albums, well-documented lineup changes, and a rehab stint, the sky cleared for Wilco. But for many critics and fans, a wide open Sky Blue Sky (TMT Review) is not such a good thing.
We were used to grinding synth drones lapping at Jeff Tweedy's folksy strummers. We were accustomed to country pop ditties disintegrating into vicious feedback squalls. And we loved the little ticks and clicks and loops and bloops that seasoned every track on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. That's why Sky Blue Sky's clipped, clean guitar workouts came as such a shock to the system. "We want weird Wilco" was somewhere in the subtext of each Sky Blue Sky review. Critics were worried they had been duped all these years by a little studio trickery and a wayward country band. If Sky Blue Sky is the sound of Wilco finding their way, it seems like most listeners are hoping they'll get lost again before the next album.
Now that I got you all pumped up, here are some Australian dates for 2008:
