I expect this to be a blow out, though i thought itd be cool to see who the die hard Son Volt fans are.

My favorite album by any of the above is Trace, but looking at whole bodies of work I give Wilco a slight nod.

I've never liked anything I've heard from UT or Son Volt.

I find Son Volt to be kinda corny and affected, and Uncle Tupelo to be mediocre to boring. I'm fascinated that Jeff idolized that dude.

UT is one of those bands I give the old college try once a year or so and nothing ever sticks.

In 1989, hearing UT for the first time (seeing them, first, really) was like a bolt of lightning. And, especially early on, Jay was really the heart of that band. It wasn't until a few years on that Jeff really started developing as a songwriter (I think that his first real major contribution was "Gun" from the second UT record), but then Jeff just really flourished. I don't know how that wouldn't threaten Jay. Plus. Jeff just kinda grew in another direction, away from the more pure-country sound that Jay practiced.

But, listen to Trace. Listen to mothafukkin "Windfall" or listen to "Tear-Stained Eye" and tell me then how you don't understand how Jeff could have idolized Jay. That's some timeless shit right there.

Wilco really seemed to sparkle and fade quick.

gave "Tear-Stained Eye" a listen and as soon as I hear his voice my eyes roll. I don't know what it is about him, but I can't get past his voice. I want to shake him. I'm sure he's a good songwriter, maybe I'd like someone covering him.

Compared to what?

I agree Sun Volt comes across as affectation. I'm not a fan of people trying way too hard to be some version of an authentic past that never existed. For me, both Uncle Tupelo and Wilco have one album I come back to and a bunch of others I don't much care about. For Uncle Tupelo it's March 16-20, 1992, which reminds me of seeing the guys playing small acoustic gigs in their early days that will always be the way I remember them. No Depression is pretty good too and these guys deserve big credit (or blame) for the alt-country explosion. For Wilco, it's Yankee Foxtrot Hotel, which is just a solid album. I never understood why it was branded as some out there effort. Outside of some mildly interesting sound effects between songs, the actual album itself is really about as straight forward as you can get. Sadly, their last few albums have been monumentally boring if pleasant. I can play them in the background and not be offended, but that's about it. I'm picking Uncle Tupelo just because they have the one record I return to more than any of the others.

Have you ever given Trace a proper listen? If the first song, "Windfall," doesn't blow your hair back, I'd be shocked.

seems emotionless, bored of himself, which is a bummer because I like his songs and sound

I thought the most recent Wilco was pretty good, and maybe great if shorter. The last one was a big fat turd.

Hmm, Dump Jack not liking Son Volt simply doesn't make sense.

Wilco is, of course, the call. Yes, the last few albums seem pretty middle-of-the-road (even given the Nels virtuosity in the guitar effects). For me they've become more a live band than a "what did they record this time?" band. Their body of work is long and laudable. Some of their songs don't fully open up until you've heard them live a couple of times. Dare I say they have become the Grateful Dead (we are going to Santa Barbara tomorrow - 300 miles away - just to hear them again - on tour). Although it's far from 'shrooms and "miracle" and sleeping in the parking lot, it's more getting a quality motel, and making sure we have the heart meds. Which, of course, aligns with Wilco's perceived irrelevancy. But Jeff can still write some of the best songs in popular music. Sunday Morning's lyrics, melody, arrangement is as good as any song in the last ten years. Songs, however, are increasingly old school.

Son Volt is one note. Jay keeps looking for that lost chord. His vocals is a one trick pony... every vocal mines the same vein. Every song kind of sounds the same... but that one note, that one song, is the gritty, yearning, timeless heart of American music. And you can heart "it" reflected in his tube-amp crunchy guitar sound... Sometimes nothing satifies like Son Volt, and Trace is the masterpiece. If you can't understand why the young Jeff the songwriter was attracted to Jay, you aren't listening.

Uncle Tupelo can't fully be appreciated from the filter of 2012. In the era of big hair, synths, incipient gansta rap, or the grunge and/or twee indy response to big hair/shoulder pads, UT recalled the ear to something earthy and authentic, political and hungry, with a twang and a harmony.

Not sure why I remember this, but it's probably because the same exact song from the same exact mix is what sort of put them on my radar, even though at the time I didn't like the song all that much. I did grow to like it later.

Also, Wilco gets my vote.

Damn I stand corrected. I guess I have enjoyed a SV song or two. I've definitely listened to full albums but they've just never made an impact. I suppose that would be more accurate than 'disliking'.

Wilco gets my vote. Their albums are solid, songs are memorable and good, and the musicianship is very high quality. Like Harry said, they really shine in a concert setting. I can always count on the new songs digging in once I've heard them live. That emotional connection I feel with live music is hard to tie into solely on their clean "Dad rock" recordings.

Son Volt pretty easily for me. I only really like AM and Being There as complete albums from Wilco. Sometimes, YHF scratches an itch for me but I think the lyrics are on it are in the Interpol level of terrible, and I haven't liked even a single song I've heard from them post YHF.

I like UT but they don't have the body of work of Son Volt, every album was marred by a few weaker Tweedy tracks (even to the extent that I like early Wilco, I don't think Tweedy had found himself yet while in UT) and Anondyne is a pretty forgettable album.



I gotta say I think you are selling Farrar short here. It's true that he doesn't have a great vocal range and your statement is probably fair if you ignore about 30% of Son Volt's output but he has mixed things up more lately with the addition of horns, harder edge rock songs on Okemah, etc. I also disagree that Trace is the masterpiece. As great as Windfall and Tear Stained Eye are, there's a lot of filler on there. I'd put it near the top of the bottom half of the Son Volt catalog as a result.

At a casual glance my ranking would go Wilco>Uncle Tupelo>Son Volt.

(Things might get more interesting if we tossed in various side projects... Loose Fur and Jay Farrar's Terroir Blues would rank above most Wilco, imo)

I've liked the last couple of Son Volt records more than the last Wilco albums. "The Search" is probably the best thing I've heard by either in several years.

All that said, "Summerteeth" is also my favorite thing that any of the parties involved ever did.

Tough call at this point.

Harry is totally right about Uncle Tupelo: Not possible to appreciate properly in 2012. I used to like them a lot, now I merely appreciate their contribution and rarely if ever put on one of their records.

Son Volt has come on very strong for me in recent years. I always loved Trace but I really dug their last two albums and thanks to the tireless boosterism of Billy and Caputo, I now can not get enough of Okemah and the Melody of Riot. A song like "Atmosphere" at top volume is just about as good as it gets.

I'm always up and down on Wilco, but they win; the live band Tweedy finally assembled has manged to save the occasional mediocrity of their most recent records and there are usually just enough good songs to keep me interested.

I probably heard UT in 92 for the first time, give or take a year and it seemed so bland and dull back then. I thought college had sucked all the life out of my brother and his taste had gone to shit. My ears didn't perk up until the first few seconds of "Sunken Treasure" and then I was sold.

I listen to Uncle Tupelo albums more than either Son Volt or Wilco. I also still listen to the first three Wilco albums on occasion and several Son Volt albums as well (Trace, Straightaways, Okemah, The Search)

I'm not interested in Wilco's new albums anymore, but still pick up and enjoy new Son Volt/Jay Farrar stuff.

The elephant in the room here is that "Drown" is the best radio single any of these bands ever conceived. (apologies to "Monday")