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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Storming live-set from Wilco..., 17 Nov 2005
Around the time of 'summerteeth' it was shocking how bad a live-band Wilco were - since then half the band have gone ditch-ward and Tweedy's former alt-country crew have embraced Jim O'Rourke, systems-muzik, 'Music for a New Society', Krautrock & 'Metal Machine Music.' As much as I loved 'Being There', the 'Mermaid Avenue' albums & 'summer teeth', Wilco have become a much more interesting band with 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot' & 'a ghost is born' - the two albums which much of the material of 'Kicking Television' (recorded to celebrate a decade of Wilco) focus on. The current Wilco line-up including Tweedy, long-time cohort John Stirratt, Leroy Bach, Glenn Kotche, Nels Cline & Pat Sansone fantastically represent the material here. Already this is one of the great live albums, offering great interpretations of the studio work. There are two 'new' songs (the title track, a cover of Charles Wright's 'Comment') and not much material pre-the year-zero 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.' There is nothing from debut 'A.M.' (which is about right as only 'Passenger Side' & 'Box Full of Letters' really appeal)and only one-track from alt-country classic double LP 'Being There', the opener 'Misunderstood' (which memorably requotes Peter Laughner's 'Amphetamine'from the Rocket from the Tombs days). The gorgeous 'summer teeth' fares better with 'A Shot in the Arm' (which prefigured the droney/repetition thing Wilco expanded on with YHF) & the melancholic 'Via Chicago.' The only diversion from these are the 'Mermaid Avenue'-tracks 'One By One' & 'Airline to Heaven' - the latter is closer to the version featured in the cult-classic film 'Jesus'Son' than the Bragg/Wilco-take (ironically Bragg & The Blokes' tale on the 'Mermaid'-material was equally fantastic...) The remainder, as suggested, stems from 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot' & 'a ghost is born' - two fantastic albums where I reside & the peak of Wilco's career as far as I'm concerned. The highlights at present would be 'Handshake Drugs' followed by the fractal-stoner rock of 'I am Trying to Break Your Heart' (imagine The Jesus & Mary Chain falling asleep with John Cage...no, imagine!)It's all wonderful, mind you, but another peak would include 'Ashes of American Flags' - which becomes more potent with the decades of war, hypocrisy & woe. It will be a National-Anthem within years...My favourite song from 'YHF' remains 'Poor Places' , which comes across wonderfully live, especially when fluxing into post-Kraut'Rourke 'Spiders (kidsmoke)', which comes across a lot more in this live version.. ghosts are born everyday...
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good anthology for beginners, but a good live album...?, 12 April 2006
Ok, I can barely begin to believe I'm going to be remotely derogatory of Jeff and the boys. I own all the Wilco albums, love both Loose Fur subsiduarys, adore Mermaid Avenue, even like The Minus Five, and I bought Kicking Television without blinking. But, I kinda wish I had...
Don't get me wrong - this is an excellent collection of songs, a splendid introduction for a newcomer to the band, but as live albums go - maybe it's a throwback from my teen rock days - but I expect a bit more energy and interest from a Live Album.
Another way of putting it: I found myself wondering what the point was. Wilco are tight and professional, album tight in fact. Those mad meandering guitar solos that made Ghost is Born at first difficult then joyous to bear - they're there live - unaltered. And the improvised 'jazz' feel is gone. If ever there was a time to test the limits (which it seems to me Wilco are all about on their albums) then surely live is where the magic kicks off? Nope. It's solid. It's good, great even, but worth committing to disc in double CD form?
Yes - I can hear the outcry: "Are you mad? Via Chicago, dude! The titular track! I Am Trying To Break Your Heart! They're great!"
Sorry, but Via Chicago is the only interesting deviation from the album versions, the only sign of a band pushing themselves and their audience. The rest of it - it's there, it's great, but it ain't NEW.
Nor does the album contain much personality from the band. Jeff Tweedy is a great frontman and is an etertaining speaker between songs. But here there are brief asides of moderate amusement. Again - not good enough to gain the praise and awe others have granted it here.
It's a compilation. A best of. And it's good. But as a Live Album - it fails to reach the imaginative heights expected of Wilco.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a proper live album, 20 Jan 2006
This actually sounds live, not pro-tooled to death. It crackles with electricity and shows that Wilco is not as po-faced a band as suggested by the highbrow critical praise.The audience really responds to the energy of the band - it makes you wish you had been there. The absolute high point is during Via Chicago, where Tweedy and Stirratt harmonise over a few bars of chaotic noise, never losing the beat, and the whole band cuts straight back in as though nothing had happened! It's fantastic, and the audience appropriately enough go wild. On Spiders (Kidsmoke), and Handshake Drugs, Tweedy, Nels Cline and Pat Sansone all play lead guitar together in the coda sections - but not the obvious type of lead guitar. It's pretty wild. I gather this thing was filmed; the official website has one song available to view, go and have a look at that if you have any doubts. Then come back and order the CD. I was a massive fan of the Jay Bennett-era of this band and really thought they would never recover from his departure/sacking/whatever happened, but here we have the first fully-convincing live incarnation of the band, delivering the goods on disc.
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