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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The sky is getting clearer for Wilco, 24 Jun 2007
II find that Wilco's sixth studio album sounds a lot like a belated follow-up to "Being There" from 1996. It represents a shift back to an organic, rootsy sound and approach (also suggesting the sounds of '70s soft rock.)
However, it certainly is no backwards step for the band. I would rather say that "Sky Blue Sky" sees Jeff Tweedy relaxing into a groove with his band and allowing himself some fun.
"Sky Blue Sky" is more of a grower than, say, "Yankee" and "Ghost" were. It invites you to join in. "Maybe the sun will shine today," Tweedy sings on the opening line of the opening track, setting the tone for the CD. The band then turns a simple acoustic line into shimmering currents that ebb and flow, mirroring Tweedy's reflections throughout an album which, like its predecessors, is meant to be heard in its entirety.
It is also interesting to see how Tweedy's vocals have continued to improve in clarity and precision.
On the slow-burning "You Are My Face", the guitar talent of Nels Cline is a marvel of subtle implosion. I think, personally, that Cline is the best guitarist that the band has ever had. Speaking of guitars, the freak-outs on "Your Are My Face" and "Side with the Seeds" are truly great.
The other studio "newcomer" Pat Sansone's keyboards also shine. Listen to him adding soulful accents to the aforementioned "Side with the Seeds."
"Impossible Germany" is one marvellous Tweedyian turns of phrase that makes its sense in a kind of crazy way. Jazzy and country overtones mingle on this amazing track.
On "Please Be Patient with Me," Tweedy asks gently, instead of demanding sympathy, as he has sometimes been wont to do. "I should warn you I'm not well."
The lovely closing track, which goes "On and On and On", is destined to be played at lots of weddings-to-be: "On and on and on we'll stay together yet / until we disappear together in a dream. / I will live in you and you will live in me / until we disappear together in a dream."
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Safe-ish but sound, 21 Jun 2007
`Sky Blue Sky', Wilco's sixth album, once again shows Jeff Tweedy's willingness to change the band's style which makes his band so interesting. Virtually gone is the experimentalism in sound which was so prominent on `Yankee Hotel Foxtrot' and `A Ghost Is Born', instead Wilco deliver a set of laid-back, mellow alt.country/rock songs which exude an atmosphere of contentment.
As we have come to expect from Wilco the standard of musicianship is extremely high. There is a loose, free sound to the record, for example on `Impossible Germany' with its extended guitar workout. On that song and others, notably `Please Be Patient With Me', which reminded me of a cut from Lou Reeds `Coney Island Baby' the guitar sound is very 70s but it works well.
There is satisfying variety too. "Sky Blue Sky' is a mellow number which would not be out of place on `Being There', whilst the final track builds superbly from a keyboard backing to a great finale.
For me the most interesting song is `Side With the Seeds' which starts with gentle piano then develops with an intricate and insistent electric guitar pattern backed with strings and Hammond organ and finishes with a furious guitar climax. This track recalls some of the experimental spirit of the last two releases.
I gather Tweedy has overcome personal problems and this record certainly sounds like that of a contended man. `Maybe you love me/Maybe you don't' he sings on the opening track and it sounds like he is not bothered either way.
`Sky Blue Sky' is a supremely accomplished rock record, mellow and retro-sounding in places, which confirms Wilco as one of the world's best bands. If you like their previous edgy approach you may find this record a little safe and cosy, but no-one can deny the quality of the music in display here.
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Staying right for you, 15 May 2007
Wilco is basically the reigning king of alt-rock -- even when it stumbled, it was still keeping a hand on the throne.
And fortunately, after the disappointing "A Ghost is Born," Wilco returns with a mellow, more optimistic sound in "Sky Blue Sky." Frankly, Jeff Tweedy sounds more at peace with the world, and he wraps that peace in a back-to-basics country-rock blanket.
"Maybe the sun will shine today/The clouds will blow away/Maybe I won't feel so afraid/I will try to understand either way," Tweedy sings over a folky guitar, a swelling violin and a flickering piano. It sounds like a promise to a loved one, after his stint with addiction: "I will try to understand/Everything has its plan/Either way I'm going to stay right for you..."
He follows it up with a gentle river of mellow, smooth alt-rockers laced with keyboard, stomping rockers, loosely-wound acoustic ballads, drawling electro-country, and combinations of all of the above. And they're all slow-burning, meditative and reflective, right up to the hopeful "What Light" and the delicate piano'n'strings of "On and On and On."
You could call this Jeff Tweedy's "recovery album" -- it's filled with new hope, old fears, repairing relationships with loved ones ("you're gonna need to be patient with me") and reflections on the world. There's something very personal about most of these songs.
And the music has gone back to basics -- rippling acoustic guitar, piano melodies and ripples of retro keyboard, and some blasts of bass and violin. While Wilco doesn't forge any new territory, they do polish up what they have with some lovely harmonies and layers of delicate instrumentation.
Tweedy's slightly rough voice is a pleasant one, registering yearning, sorrow and optimism through the album. The lyrics stumble at times, such as one cringingly awkward intro ("Impossible Germany/Unlikely Japan/Wherever you go/Wherever you land"), but fortunately are fairly solid for the rest of the album ("When the mysteries we believe in/Aren't dreamed enough to be true/Some side with the leaves...")
"Sky Blue Sky" isn't quite Wilco at its best, but it is Wilco in a solid, musically adept place, with a note of optimism that hasn't quite been there before.
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