Yes!

May YHF die a slow, painful death here.

Wilco

Strokes, but I'll be surprise if it wins this round.

i'm actually chugging an american aquarium at this very moment

"Why... won't.... you.... DIE?!?!?!?!"

Strokes by a mile. Hope this record wins.

Rock and roll or slow, slow death.

That Wilco album is abysmal.

There is more life and excitement in the first 10 seconds of 'Soma' than there is across the whole of YHF.

YHF is my favorite album of the 2000s so it would be hard to watch it drop out this early.

Seriously.

Some of you need to take a long look in the mirror.


Case in point:

Whoa, when did this happen?

Surprising, but not really troubling. I like this Strokes album more, but Wilco more in general.

All my lies are only wishes.

I can understand the "I've heard Yankee Hotel Foxtrot too much" or "YHF is where Wilco started to become too pop..." or "the noise-pop production of YHF sounds dated now...", but I can't understand the unmitigated, unconditional"Wilco sucks" meme. (Just as I can't understand anyone who doesn't "hear" Dylan or "get" the Stones.) I suspect there is some middle school "I am cooler than that" going on... which, of course, is foundational to much of the positioning in the indie-love world anyway.

I also wonder how many of the Wilco haters have ever seen them live. Wilco's music comes open live through Tweedy's self-absorbed passion and the rock and roll heroism of the band.

Tweedy and folks write brilliant lyrics.... that track back to the folk-rock of Americana, in all its politico-psycho-social import and tradition. This isn't done much anymore... I mean Green Day? who else?

YHF isn't my favorite Wilco... but it's the last Wilco before it became Jeff Tweedy and the Wilcos, and then Dad-rock featuring Nels Cline. Bennett gave Tweedy the grit and raw hurt that helps make classic rock and roll. The lyrics fill in the blanks, construct a provisional meaning of post millenial life, are a deep personal cri de coeur against isolation, political oppressions, and soulless commercialism. They portray love in the ruins of American Empire... right at the moment the Twin Towers are hit. It's big scale, significant, and relentlessly neurotic. It's got all the artistic, political, ambitious huevos that merit being album of a decade.

harry, you had me until you went on the dad rock tangent. otherwise solid post.

Liked (but certainly didn't love) Wilco up through about "Summerteeth." O'course, I like Uncle Tupelo way more than any Wilco, so I guess you can extract where I'm coming from. I just dig the raw guts rock thing more than the measured artistry of their mid-latter work. And I suspect you may be right about a live show connecting the dots for me, but until they play a festival I'll already be at (which there's hope for since the Beasties' ACL slot is still "TBA") that'll just have to remain unknown. Because I'm not laying out the long coin on seeing them do a headlining gig when there's an equal chance I'll either get my face rocked off or stick toothpicks under my nails to stay awake.

Until then (and very possibly after) I'll continue to find "YHF" offensively mediocre.

I'm not selling the "Wilco sucks" meme either. I happen to still like YHF but I also don't think it deserves "best album of the decade" accolades that many believe (as evident in these many polls we've done involving YHF). There have been many discussions on here about context with regards to music. I was fairly obsessed with YHF when it came out but as they have progressed I find that their later work colors how I hear YHF. I now see it as the beginning of their new direction where Tweedy is king. I happen to think Bennett kept Tweedy more focused on detail as apparent on the "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" dvd and I think Tweedy won way more arguments than he lost with regards to production and sound on the album. Without Bennett holding him in check, you get A Ghost Is Born which is easily my least favorite Wilco album. I will listen to YHF on occasion but most times it's going to be "Summerteeth" or "Being There".

As for the poetic heft that you've put on the album that is how it affects you and that's fine but when I hear "Heavy Metal Drummer" I don't hear anything other than a yearning for a more simple time.

As for "Is This It?" I don't know if it's the best album of the decade or not. I do know that I prefer it's bouncy basslines and indelible hooks paired with the mumbled vocals and self-possessed cool. It's important and ridiculous all at once. Sometimes, sex, drugs, and rock n roll are enough.

Or put by them:

When we was young, oh man, did we have fun

No way. AGIB is totally Jeff, Glenn, Jim & The Wilcos.

This always interests me, and I absolutely understand, and agree, with it. I wish Lou Reed would die before he further unplugs VU for me.

I agree with all of this and could never say it as well. With one exception, I love AGIB. I didn't always, but when I saw them play the songs live, the whole album changed for me.

The Wilco truth.

Meh, to each his own. I haven't picked up that Strokes record in 5 years or more and I still listen to YHF. I definitely dug Is This It when it was out and I saw The Strokes on their first US tour at the 40 Watt in Athens. That self-possessed cool of a trust fund kid is what I DON'T like about them. Fuck Julian Casablancas. I casually like the music they put out (and I've bought their records since), but in this case I don't think posing should be praised over substance. There are songs from YHF have an emotional grip on me whereas Is This It is a superficial toss-off that sounded best on cocaine and too much whiskey when I was 21. YHF still sounds good as I creep into my 30s.

Winner.

(#10) Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

WALKER IN '16!