Wilco Sky Blue Sky by: Justin Pearsall Mon:28-May-07 Label: Nonesuch Year: 2007 WB rating 82 out of 100

First off, let’s be truthful, I am a massive Wilco fan. If Jeff Tweedy recorded an album of himself with a xylophone and spoons, I would still purchase it. But purchasing it, doesn’t mean that I would ‘buy it’, in the sense that you have to swallow everything that is served to you and nod your head accordingly.

It’s true; Sky Blue Sky is not Wilco’s best album. And yes, it has a very mellow contemporary-rock-esque sound. But is it really half as good as Yankee Hotel Foxtrot as some are claiming? Is Sky Blue Sky truly surpassed by Nelly Furtado’s Loose and Gwen Stefani’s The Sweet Escape? Is it a steaming pile of horse crap as some would lead you to believe? No, it’s not.

More than anything these reviews are the prime example of people judging a band negatively because of the brilliance of their past work. But, just because Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was an amazing album, it should not mean that Wilco are judged on this precedent; like any band they should be classed on the current standard of what’s around; their past albums a factor, not a sole criterion, in this judgement.

Anyway, the point of all this is that Sky Blue Sky is far better than a mid-fifties score. While it does have moments where Wilco sound diluted – as if a link in their unique deconstructing of song stage has been forgotten – the majority of the album is enjoyable and interesting; a couple of tracks even amongst the band’s best.

The opening suite of Sky Blue Sky, ‘Either Way’, ‘You Are My Face’ and ‘Impossible Germany’ all work together to establish Wilco’s intentions early on. Atmospheric and restrained, the climaxes of the song are no longer carried by Tweedy’s voice or the grand soundscapes of recent times, but are driven by the guitar work of Nels Cline, whose jazz-inspired virtuosity is one of the main reasons for the divided opinion about the album. Undoubtedly, Sky Blue Sky is guitar heavy, the highlight of this direction being the three-pronged, near three-minute guitar conclusion to ‘Impossibly Germany’ that some will find fitting and others will view as needless.

The other dividing factor of Sky Blue Sky has been the relative simplicity of Tweedy’s lyricism and songwriting. Gone is the protagonist who introduced themselves as: “An American aquarium drinker/I assassin down the avenue,” (‘I Am Trying To Break Your Heart’), now replaced with bare-facedness and plain intentions “I will try and understand you/Either way/I’m gunna stay”. The hopefulness and positivity in the words is hard to ignore, as even in the past Tweedy could turn an upbeat tune into disorder: “Livin’ poorly, I felt like a clown/I looked like someone I used to know” (‘Handshake Drugs’), whereas on Sky Blue Sky, jovial tunes like ‘Walken’ are simply that; light and fluffy.

Aside from these points of division there are some inspired moments of songwriting and sensational musicianship that make this record a compelling listen. The simplicity of the album’s title track belies its brilliance, its restrained jazz-swing feel punctuated by Cline’s fluid lap steel; Tweedy’s open delivery perfectly suiting the songs sentiment. Similarly, on one of the album’s few piano driven moments, ‘Leave Me (Like You Found Me)’, the delicateness of Tweedy’s song writing is presented sans the clamour and clutter of the last two records, which suggest that the band are returning to their A.M. roots in their latest attempts to evolve.

But it is on the album’s final track, ‘On and On and On’ that Wilco deliver their best, sounding as if they have found that curious middle ground between simplicity, emotion and deconstruction. The song’s gradual build is unlike anything else on Sky Blue Sky, and is in ways more reminiscent of Brian Wilson’s ‘Until I Die’ than it is Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, as the simple piano rhythms are attacked by interplaying melodies that crash over the listener like breaking waves. Fittingly, the song dies off into the abyss, with Tweedy leaving no room for ambiguity: “You and I, we’ll stay together yet/You and I, We’ll try and make it better yet”, closing the album with a sentiment that could be used to describe the challenges Wilco face in competing with their enviable back catalogue.
 
Rarely, if ever, has a band continually outgrown themselves with each album and whether it be Radiohead, The Shins or Andrew Bird, there is a common trend in recent times for great bands to release albums that simply do not stack up to their past work. Sky Blue Sky is certainly an album that falls into line with this trend, but, like these other releases, it is still a good album, and one that has been unfairly written off by too many reviewers.