Sky Blue Sky (Nonesuch; 2007)
I don’t like Sky Blue Sky. It’s too tame, sounds too polished and the song writing takes two steps backwards for everything that they did right. And they did do a few things right here, namely the opening track Either Way, but after Either Way’s perfect hooks and besides Impossible Germany’s nice jam, Sky Blue Sky is easier forgotten, and better off, to be honest. Although A Ghost Is Born was relatively tame as well, it was still an ambitious, courageous album. Sky Blue Sky just feels like an album made by a band that forgot its fans for a few recording sessions. It feels like an album that an album taking the lazy way out would make. There are a few admirable tracks, namely the two mentioned above and Hate It Here, but you’ll find you’re trying to convince yourself that it’s all really not as bad as it seems, that after a few times it’ll get better. It does, but there are more engaging things to listen to in the meantime. Depending on what you're looking for in Wilco - last eras country songsmiths or exciting, experimental Yankee Hotel Foxtrotters - you might favour or hate this album. To me, it belongs in the background, and it might be the same for you. Deal with that or skip this entirely.