really? seems a bit severe

1. Uncle Tupelo


107. Wilco



249. Son Volt

In fairness, I'm not someone who continues to seek out albums by bands I'm no longer impressed with so I never heard anything from the last two. I openly disliked A Ghost is Born though and found Sky Blue Sky dull and forgettable.

Dull & Forgettable were pretty good at The Oregon Pickathon last year.

3 years ago i might have gone with Son Volt, as The Search was the first album i had from either of these bands, and i loved it. I still think its great, and sadly underrated. But ive since explored almost all of Wilcos work, and I find a lot to like. I still play YHF a lot, and it seems im a minorty here but i think ther last couple albums are quite good. Ive also explored all of Son Volts work, and it doesnt aliign with my tastes like he Search did. A littlle too country for my tastes. I havet given Uncle Upelo a shot yet. Also saw Wilco live last week, and you guys are right, they really put on a great live show.

Never really get a hankerin' to listen to any of these bands anymore, but Still Feel Gone & March 16-20 get more plays than any Son Volt or Wilco record. Still adore AM (last tour I caught) and will reach for A Ghost is Born over anything recent - this is when I stopped buying their records & started downloading/deleting. I gave up on Son Volt after Okemah, but I always check out to see what Farrar's working on and Trace is forever an all-time favorite if not only for nostalgic ties to that fall of '95.

Anodyne is my favorite album of them all. I have my original CD that I bought in 1993 or 1994 and still pull it out like once a month. No Depression, Still Feel Gone, Being There, Trace, Straighaways, and Summerteeth are all incredible and among my favorites. I like AM, Mermaid Avenue, and kinda like YHFA but otherwise, just a lot of disappointments lately.

I'm going...

UT
Wilco
SV

Compared to nothing. Just a statement.

It seems like in 2002 or so they were billed as the greatest thing ever. Since Foxtrot they've been pretty mediocre.

I am generally in agreement with you that Wilco, since YHF, has been a bit lacking (although I do like them more than you). However, The Whole Love is the best thing that they've done since YHF and, if you ever liked the band, you might want to at least give the new one a shot. Never hurts to give a listen.

I asked because you could pretty much say the same about the other two bands much more easily than Wilco I would think.

I mean Uncle Tupelo didn't "fade" so much, but still their time was brief.

It's all just personal taste, of course, but I have a hard time understanding how even a six-year, three-album run from Being There to YHF constitutes a "quick" "sparkle". But then A Ghost Is Born is probably my favorite Wilco album so what do I know.

This was actually kind of close between UT and Wilco for me, but I give Wilco the slight edge just for having covered more ground and having a larger volume of music I care about. I love March 16-20, 1992 perhaps more than any single Wilco album, though.

No, it's a totally silly statement. New Wilco gets at best indifference from me these days (don't think I even heard a note from that last album) but I totally concede that they are as popular as ever. Each album usually enters the Top 10 at this point and their tours usually sell out. It's like saying boy that Radiohead really seemed to sparkle and fade quick. Both bands have large catalogs, longevity, and have pretty much solidified their places in rock history.

where do the other Dick's Picks thread dwellers stand on Sky Blue Sky? I ask because people that don't like it frequently mention it sounding like the Grateful Dead and mean that as a negative.

I really love Sky Blue Sky. Frankly, the guitar playing on SBS is better than Jerry and Bobby.

Agreed. Sold out tours, album chartings, high-profile publicity stints, and let's not forget that they've successfully put on 2 straight years of a great, family-friendly festival up in Mass. They pretty much can play where they want, and can cash their own checks with their new label--I would say that sparkle and fade comment is fairly ignorant of what Wilco is nowadays. That said, I'm biased because I love Wilco, but one can't ignore the facts.

In some ways I feel like Wilco has built themselves towards perfection, now almost cold like. The Dead just kept playing to play as good as they could as a band, not so forced on evolving themselves rather than just changing the sounds. And while I may agree with you that the guitar is more rock in Wilco if the styles are even comparable(not really) I would say Jerry & Co. were not as bombastic seeking as they were just grooving in it. Those fuckin hippies.

I beg to wonder(not really) what a Dick's Pick thread says when comparing a Nels' controlled riff to torqued string vs. a Jerry bluegrass jazzed interlude. How does that happen? Oh wait- flashback.

It's my least favorite Wilco album...As far as the guitar playing goes, aside from "Impossible Germany" which is just sort of in its infancy there, I think Nels sounds better on the last two records (there are some really underrated guitar freakouts on Wilco, and I even prefer Tweedy's strung out playing on A Ghost Is Born. (I credit Tweedy with coming up with some really inventive shit that Nels came in and improved on greatly.)

Uncle Tupelo > Sun Volt > Wilco

a complaint with the current lineup is that there are three great guitar players and I pay to see Jeff and he rarely goes too far off the map on guitar.

I still think I'd almost put Wilco in a category like the Dead--not musically, but they sell out all their shows mostly because a devoid group of fans.

I was talking about musical output and, like Derris said, I generally greet them now with indifference. I don't consider that to be equal to "a solidified place in rock history." For a band that was every critic's darling a decade ago, you really don't here them mentioned in the same light anymore.

Charting...not worth talking about this day and age.

I like it a lot, but I've never really got a Dead feel from it or the band either. Maybe those who get to see them live every other day can expound upon the comparisons but I can't.

I think I'm going to work on a Wilco playlist today, YHF and on.

np: Handshake Drugs.

I hear a similarity to studio Dead, the loose but tight quality, the kind of lazy sunday afternoon songs.

This I can get behind. The vibe behind 'Impossible Germany' and 'You & I' grabs me like 'High Time' and 'Black Peter'.

Don't you think though that critics are typically more obsessed with the "next great thing" than "aged band with good following putting out its 8th record"?

With that being said, a lot of critics stepped all over themselves to say that the last record was the "best since YHF".

Is Son Volt a good live band? I don't think I've ever seen them.

I'd say so...they're not a MMJ, DBT's, Afghan Whigs type that are better live than on record but they sound good and usually mix in a pretty good cover or two. When I saw them on the Search tour when they had a horn section, they closed with a kick ass version of Bitch.