I dig what you're selling here, suicide. I like a few Wilco tracks...I'll have to download these and check them out.

Any opinions on the compilation?

Me or the populace? If you meant me I haven't downloaded it yet. Its Christmas time and I work in the non-profit world so I make piss-all for money.

Downloading it now, thanks for the up. I'll give it a listen and let you know.

Wilco's been one of my favorite groups since I was a young'n. I've seen them live in Chicago, Santa Barbra, Hollywood, and San Fran. It's been very rewarding to be able to track their progress throughout the years and to see how Tweedy's songwriting has matured with each new collaboration and album release. Highly reccomend them to anybody wishing to expand their musical horizons. For me, "A Ghost is Born" was really the culmination of Tweedy's creative genius. The arrangements are very spacious and the content is very cerebral and mature. "Being There" is really reminiscent of "Exile on Main Street" by the Stones--it's really a conceptual collage, a collection of very promising ideas. The same might be said of "Yanke Hotel", especially if you have had the opportunity to listen to some of the B-Sides and alternate takes from the album. It was really a daring departure from what they were used to, and it propelled the group to new heights. Virtually every album serves as a landmark for Tweedy (as well as whatever fixed and auxiliary members were involved at the time). They're one of the greatest, most innovative live groups touring to boot.

Some very good documentaries to become familiarized with the band: "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart"; "Sunken Treasures"; and "Ashes of American Flags".

Finally gave it a listen. Great compilation and great choice on the song selection. They really flow together in the order you choose.

Thanks again.

You've got a great list going there already. Also, personally I wouldn't include Via Chicago as it's not one of my favorites, but that's just me. I didn't read through this thread to see what others picked, but some other favorites of mine:

Outtasite (Outta Mind)
Sunken Treasure (a personal favorite, I don't know how appreciated it is among others)
She's a Jar
I'm Always in Love
I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
Ashes of American Flags
I'm the Man Who Loves You
The Late Greats
Wilco (The Song)
You Never Know

Also best album: I'm torn between Being There, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and Summerteeth. I think I'll go with Being There just because I think it's the best album even if it doesn't have the best quality songs. A Ghost is Born is good but that one 15 minute song Less Than You Think completely takes away from the great closing song, The Late Greats, and kind of ruins the album a bit. I'd say A Ghost is Born has the best individual songs, but as a whole it's not as good as the other 3 I mentioned.

Anyone else think Sky Blue Sky is by and far their worst album? For some reason I've never been a big fan of it, I even like A.M. better.

I'm in full agreement that it's very poor.

Sky Blue Sky feels more to me like a sort of companion piece to Being There, which is my personal favorite album from Wilco. The songwriting of Sky Blue Sky is a little more straight-forward, and utilizes less of the loose experimentation of Being There tracks such as Kingpin or Red-Eyed and Blue.

Also, I never got into Sky Blue Sky's lyrics until recently. (Actually, Bon Iver was instrumental in helping me to understand Wilco's lyrics, when I read something about Bon Iver's lyrics only being used for their sound and not their meaning. For instance, the lack of using the sound "d" or "t" to make the sound more appealing) Wilco probably uses this technique, for instance on Please Be Patient With Me, which seems fairly devoid of meaning, but very pleasing to the ear.

"I should warn you
When I'm not well
I can't tell
Oh, there's nothing I can do
To make this easier for you"

Again, that's just my own guess; it could be anything. At any rate, that's how I got into the more bizarre lyrics of Wilco.

So, as for Sky Blue Sky as a whole, I don't at all think it's their worst album, but certainly not their best. The music does drag a bit toward the latter half. I'm kind of luke-warm on SBS.

It's just that coming after a record as brilliant and adventurous as A Ghost Is Born, it was hugely disappointing to hear Wilco regress like that.I thought Wilco(The Album) was very good though.