Wilco-Sky Blue Sky and A Ghost Is Born

I have not heard these albums and am fairly new to Wilco. I enjoy Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

 

I might be in the minority, but Sky Blue Sky is my favorite Wilco album....

I also very much enjoy A Ghost is Born.

 

I strongly recommend the live album Kicking Television, recorded in Chicago on the A Ghost is Born tour. While Wilco's studio albums are great, live is where Nels Cline really fires all cylinders with his guitar.

 

AGIB is essential, but SBS less so in my honest opinion. I agree with hka that Kicking Television is a must. Others essential albums to consider are Being There, Summerteeth and the latest, The Whole Love.

 

Bear in mind that Nels Cline doesn't play on A Ghost is Born at all.
However Jim O'Rourke, who mixed Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, does.

 

I love A Ghost is Born, it's very reminiscent of YHF but a bit more minimalist, but I can't sit through Sky Blue Sky. I skip and go directly to Wilco (The Album) which I actually love.

 

Kicking Television is your best bet. I love the albums, but the way the songs appear on the studio albums are a bit.... sleepy. On the live album, they basically jump out of the stereo and come to life. Handshake Drugs and At Least That's What You Said are probably the most glaring examples.

 

Make sure you listen to Summerteeth first.

A Ghost Is Born is similar to Yankee but not as good imo. Still half of it is great. Sky Blue Sky is sort of a hippie rock jam band album made by a bunch of dads who secretly smoke weed in the basement when the kids are asleep and don't really have too long to jam all night or anything. And that's why I like it.

 

A Ghost Is Born may very well be my favorite Wilco album. Jeff Tweedy played lead guitar on this one and he did a magnificent job. He may not technically be a great guitarist, but his solos on this album are some of the most emotional and spot-on that I have ever heard.

Sky Blue Sky is worth it to me just for 'Impossible Germany' and the title track.

 

I would move backwards to Summerteeth and Being There. Both classics.

Also, get the DVD, I'm trying to break your heart. It's the perfect companion to Yankee.

Then get the first Jay Bennett solo disc...can't remember the name. Another nice companion to Yankee.

Then move forward to Ghost. A very good experimental record.

 

You should also check out the two Loose Fur albums, "Loose Fur" and "Born Again in the USA", both on Drag City. Loose Fur being a band formed by Jeff Tweedy, Glenn Kotche and Jim O'Rourke in the early 2000s, which I quite prefer to Wilco proper. (But then, I'm Jim O'Rourke's biggest fan.)
"Wreckroom", on Born Again in the USA, is a full-fledged masterpiece. Better than Led Zeppelin !
http://www.dragcity.com/artists/loose-fur

 

I like Ghost is Born better that YHF. Ghost is similar to YHF, but I enjoy the songs more on Ghost. I think it is a sonic masterpiece.

 

Jay Bennett's solo disc is called "Palace at 4am (part 1) and is good.

First I'd recommend all of the Bennett era Wilco albums- Summerteeth, Being There and Mermaid Avenue - all essential, brilliant and even better than YHF imho...

 

The middle of Ghost Is Born is as good as anything Wilco ever did.

The first couple songs and the second-to-last song will alternately put you to sleep and annoy the hell out of you.

I like the Sky Blue Sky album quite a bit. "Walken" is one of their finest, lesser-known tunes.

 

I think both SBS and AGIB are very underrated albums

Of the two I would say the following:
- AGIB: a tad experimental in parts like YHF though a different feel. Some songs like Spiders has as some call, a brautrock feel. It is not very cohesive either in my opinion but there are some great songs in this album (At Least Thats What You Said, Handshake Drugs, etc)
- SBS: Much more of an album from start to finish though Wilco took some steps backwards on this release. Much more of a mellow, stripped back afair but still a very good album. Personally, I would say this is a great pairing for a lazy, Sunday morning in the Fall while sipping a cup of coffee.

As another poster had noted though, the live set of Kicking Television is really great as well, and you may want to start there before either AGIB and SBS as it the concert is mostly comprised of YHF and AGIB tracks so it may work as a good bridge to AGIB.

 

It's really hard to pick a favorite, but I LOVE ABIB. I would rank SBS just slightly behind it. They are both essential.

 

I agree on the last song(s) on AGIB but I think At Least Thats What You Said is only bested by Misunderstood as their best album opener. Great, great song and an easy Top 10 Wilco song for me. I also love Hell is Chrome. Spikers, yeah, definately can be a diversive song (along with Company in your Back though I like it but agree that at best it is just average, same with Hummingbird)

 

Also if you can hunt down the YHF demos which are 'out there' and the More Like The Moon ep that came with the Australian tour edition of YHF it will be worth your while...

 

I love them both but A Ghost Is Born usually gets the nod because I love the sound of it so much. Their recording approach, and I would guess using Sear Sound studio, really shows up and pays off. There is more detail here.

You can go backwards as was mentioned for a differently great journey, but the way you are heading is just fine as well.

 

We will have to agree to disagree on that song. IMO, Tweedy cannot sing very slow, non-melodic material like "At Least That's What You Said" with any degree of interest. He sounds like a kid struggling to read his textbook aloud while the rest of the class daydreams...

 

there are no bad wilco albums.

 

Well you made me LOL!

 

Or go see them at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville later this month and you will be hooked.

 

YHF, while great, also is something of a transitional album. If you like weirder stuff, then move on to the albums you mentioned. The albums before YHF are more conventional. You'll find that paying attention, especially on Ghost, pays off. You'll miss a lot of things if you treat it as background music.

Chances are good that if you like YHF, you'll like anything Wilco did, but like the rest of us, you'll love some albums more than others.

 

Yes, this album, if nothing else sets a mood and what you described fits it well.