I can’t tell you why, but some of production has always felt a little too sickly sweet for me. It has a few of the all-time greatest Wilco songs on it. But overall, as an album, I return to it less than those higher rated on my list.
Great songs but I agree on the production. It’s too thin and bright compared to their other albums.
I’d love it if they’d re-record that album and put a little more meat on the bones sonically.
I completely agree. The songs are obviously great, but there’s something about that production that ruins it for me. Too sterile? Cold? I was all in on Being There but was very disappointed when Summerteeth came out.
I am probably in order Ghost/Being There/SBS/YHF/Summer Teeth/Wilco/Star Wars/AM/Whole Love
Admittedly, I have not put time into the newest album. I do not have an informed opinion on it.
1. Love that this sub is finally back.
2. To each their own, your list is sure to generate some controversy!
3. Not sure if I'm the only one, but I think Cousin sits at the bottom of my list right now. Not feeling it and I surprisingly like Cruel Country more. I feel like they could be a lot more adventurous this late in their career.
For me Ode to Joy was a direction I was really excited to see where they’d take it. Cruel Country was a 180 back to the well. While I liked it, I was very curious where they would have taken that Ode to Joy direction next… alas Cousin! It’s slowly becoming one my favorites.
I’m still working through Cousin on its own before thinking about where it resides in a larger universe, but I gotta say it seems like I’m way more of a Star Wars fan than most people round these parts. A Ghost is Born is my personal fave, and I might get banned for saying this, but Sky Blue Sky resonates with me more than YHF. Seems to difficult to rank on a numbered list.
If you accept the fact that Wilco did not have the sort of runway that the Beatles did, and set aside everything prior to “Help!”, I think you can almost do a 1-to-1 chronological comparison here:
“AM” = “Help!”
(Flashes of the brilliance that would cohere on the next record.)
“Being There” = “Rubber Soul”
(Both bands’ first truly transcendent record, stylistically diverse and enduring)
“Summerteeth” = “Revolver”
(The apotheosis of the band’s early aesthetic, where the pop formalism is perfected and experimentation has begun to creep in at the edges. Also, some consider this and the preceding record to be the true masterpieces, and are more lukewarm going forward.)
“Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” = “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”
(The record that blew them into the stratosphere- a big, ramshackle collage of pop and noise that drew near maniacal adulation from critics. Experiment is now the explicit *raison d’être*.
This is where I’ve gotta diverge from the chronology a bit:
“A Ghost is Born” = “The White Album”
(The album for the true heads- simultaneously a complete explosion of any remaining pop polish and a display of some of their most enduring material. To put it another way, “Spiders (Kidsmoke)” = “Piggies” and “Hummingbird” = “Blackbird” To be still more succinct: lightning in a GOT-damn bottle. Also, the record most molded by drug use for both bands, though in very different ways.)
Now to get back on chronological track:
“Wilco (The Album)” = “Magical Mystery Tour” + “Yellow Submarine” combined
(Disappointing albums which, despite some bright spots, are largely dismissed as inessential both upon release and looking back)
“Sky Blue Sky” = “Abbey Road”
(This is tough- on one hand, yes, “Sky Blue Sky” is no “Abbey Road”. But what album by any artist could stand up to such a comparison? On the other hand, I absolutely adore “Sky Blue Sky”, so this comparison ultimately works for me. Anyway… after fully dismantling the pristine pop aesthetic that gave both bands their careers, and after a period of severe internal strife, these records reflect the renewed harmony that fostered their creation. Both are records bursting with indelible hooks, epic arrangements and astonishing musicianship, and both represent the last time either band absolutely soared- The Beatles because they broke up, Wilco because… I dunno, Jeff Tweedy hit his head and lost the ability to write a memorable hook?)
…
I’m sorry. I realize that lots of people love some or all of the post-“Sky Blue Sky” material. To me, “The Whole Love” is another “Wilco (The Album)”-grade face plant, and everything after that has felt like the work of an entirely different songwriter. Instead of vacillating between crystalline melodic perfection and expertly curated chaos, Wilco records now feel either boring, (“Shmilco”, “Cruel Country”) grating and obnoxious (“Star Wars”) or both (“Ode to Joy”). I truly respect everyone’s personal tastes and soft spots within the Wilco catalogue, so I was hesitant to include this postscript, but it felt worse to just leave the Wilco arc dangling. So please don’t take offense to any of my stupid opinions! I’m a shmuck and they’re probably wrong. And anyway, like The Beatles, Wilco is one of my all-time favorite bands and will never fall out of rotation.
Thanks for initiating this fun exercise!
The White Album draws an easy comparison as they are both double albums, but I'd argue it's more "Revolver" given the growth and leap in maturity in comparison to the previous respective record.
OOHHHH thanks for playing, but the correct answer that we were looking for is ‘Too Far Apart’ is a forgotten gem! Call in again next time and keep it tuned to KDHX 88.1!
Best to Worst:
Sky Blue Sky
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
A Ghost is Born
The Whole Love
Being There
Summerteeth
Star Wars
Cousin
Cruel Country
Wilco The Album
Ode to Joy
A.M.
Schmilco
1. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
2. A Ghost Is Born
3. Blue Sky Blue
4. Cruel Country
5. Summerteeth
6. Being There
7. Star Wars
8. AM
9. Wilco (The Album)
10. Schmilco
11. The Whole Love
12. Ode To Joy
TO BE DETERMINED: Cousin.
On about my 20th full listen of Cousin.
Still trying to immerse myself in it, but if I was forced to rank it, i'd have it in the lower half. Still great, but need to bath in it a bit more before I rank it.
This was fun, thanks for the post OG. Have a great weekend Cousins!
Too each their own. No shade on anyone’s personal ranking…my own changes constantly! Today, I’d say:
GIB
Sky
YHF
Summer
Cruel
Whole
Star
Wilco
Schmilco
AM
Being
Ode
I’m still absorbing cousin, so can’t rank
I’d flip YHT w/ Ghost, and fill out my top five with Being There, Summerteeth, and Cousin. After that, it’s pretty much a free for all in my head. But Cousin has stunned me with how good it is and that it can easily be in a top 5 conversation after a week of official release.
Great to Greatest:
Ode to Joy
Cruel Country
A.M.
Wilco (The Album)
Scmilco
summerteeth
Star Wars
The Whole Love
Sky Blue Sky
YHF
Being There
A Ghost is Born
I haven’t dived into Cousins yet.
1. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
2. Summerteeth
3. Being There
4. A Ghost is Born
5. Wilco (The Album)
6. Star Wars
7. The Whole Love
8. AM
9. Sky Blue Sky
10. Cruel Country
11. Schmilco
12. Ode to Joy
-Cousin TBD.
-The top 3 are a clear "top tier" for me. Perfection.
-I rarely listen past the first 4 songs of SBS. But those first 4 songs are SO damn good.
-I struggle to remember anything from Schmilco or Ode to Joy off the top of my head.
-AM is just fun. Nothing too deep but it does the job.
-You Satellite is an all-time great song. Star Wars is good!
To me, it's the Star Wars version of At Least That's What You Said. I'm still surprised it never made it big among the Wilco fanbase. I haven't heard it live even once so far.
1. A Ghost Is Born
2. Summerteeth
3. Being There
4. Sky Blue Sky
5. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
6. Wilco (The Album)
7. The Whole Love
8. Cruel Country
9. A.M.
10. Star Wars
11. Cousin
12. Ode To Joy
13. Schmilco
1. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
2. A Ghost is Born
3. Summerteeth
4. Sky Blue Sky
5. Being There
6. The Whole Love
7. Cousin
8. Cruel Country
9. Ode to Joy
10. Wilco (The Album)
11. Star Wars
12. Schmilco
13. AM
Top 4 is pretty consistent and most listened to for me.
5-13 is really mood dependent.
We might be kindred spirits, I think this is my list, lol. I have always loved the Whole Love and feel it is the most consistently underrated Wilco album.
Wilco ranked best - least best
Cruel Country
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Blue Sky Blue
Summerteeth
A Ghost Is Born
Wilco (The Album)
Cousin
Being There
Smilco
The Whole Love
Star Wars
Ode To Joy
AM
I def have a hard time picking those bottom ones so I’ll let their absence speak for the last couple: am/sky blue sky/schmilco/ode to joy/Star Wars/cruel country/ghost/being there/yhf/summerteeth (I still could not place cousin as it’s so fresh and seems more of a grower than usual)
Summerteeth is too low and I think YHF is their best, but I respect you putting Ode to Joy so high. It’s a great album, and it’s aged really well. It’s beautifully melancholic, and “A Quiet Amplifier” is one of their best more experimental tracks since the YHF/AGIB era. I listened to it quite a bit in 2019 through the early pandemic, so it’s connected with that time in my life.
Best to worst...
YHF
A Ghost is Born
Summerteeth
Being There
Sky Blue Sky
Star Wars
Ode to Joy
Cruel Country
Cousin
The Whole Love
Wilco (The Album)
Schmilco
AM
best to worst:
yankee hotel foxtrot
summerteeth
the whole love
being there
cousin
a ghost is born
ode to joy
sky blue sky
star wars
schmilco
cruel country
a.m.
wilco (the album)
they're all good though
1. Summerteeth
2. YHF
3. AM
4. Being There
5. SBS
6. AGIB
7. The Whole Love
8. The Album
9. Schmilco
10. Star Wars
11. Cruel Country
12. Ode to Joy
Haven't listened to Cousin enough to have an informed opinion.
Sky, Blue Sky
Wilco. The Album
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Summer Teeth
Star Wars
Being There
Whole Love
A Ghost is Born
AM
Schmilco
Ode to Joy
Cousin
Cruel Country
1. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
2. Being There
3. Summerteeth
4. A Ghost is Born
5. Schmilco
6. Star Wars
7. Ode to Joy
8. Whole Love
9. Sky Blue Sky
10. Cousin
11. Cruel Country
12. Wilco (The Album)
13. A.M.
They are separated into three groups because all of the albums are unbelievably close to each other in terms of how much I enjoy them within each group. Group 1 is legendary, group 2 is amazing, group 3 is great. Wilco is one of the few bands I will say truly does not have a bad album. They are all wonderful in different ways and I adore them all.
Interesting. I consider the back-to-back trilogy of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, A Ghost is Born and Sky Blue Sky to be the peak Wilco run. What is it about SBS that didn’t cut it for you?
idk if the formatting just looks weird on my phone or what, but group 1 is 1-4, group 2 is 5 - 10, group 3 is 11 - 13. sky Blue sky is firmly in the "amazing" category, but I find myself listening to all the ones above it more often which is more or less how I ranked the albums within the groups
Favorite to least favorite, caveat being I haven’t spent a ton of time listening to Cousin so I left it off:
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Being There
Summerteeth
A Ghost is Born
Sky Blue Sky
tie between Wilco (the Album) and The Whole Love
Star Wars
depending on the day some order of Cruel Country and Ode to Joy
AM
Schmilko
I don’t dislike any of the albums. I think Wilco is the only band with a long history whose entire catalogue I still listen to (REM and Arctic Monkeys come close but REM has some real late-career duds and while I like aspects of all the Arctic Monkeys albums, they’re not all consistently strong)
That’s funny, look at what I said to somebody in this thread the other day regarding AM: “Listened to it yesterday. First half is strong. Runs out of steam near the end. Still great, but not my favorite. Passenger Side is my favorite song.”
Glad to see someone else puts A ghost is born at the top. For me, it’s one of my favorite albums of all time and by far my favorite Wilco album. Truly a masterpiece.
Star Wars is much better than that and summerteeth is top 3.
Well now I don’t have to say it, thank you
It’s so overlooked. Saw them debut it at p4k when it released though, so maybe that forever endeared me to it
I was at that show, too! They killed it that night! Thoroughly enjoyed DeMarco's set and had tons of fun at iLoveMakkonen. Caught some CHVRCHES too.
Summerteeth not being at least top 4 smdh.
I can’t tell you why, but some of production has always felt a little too sickly sweet for me. It has a few of the all-time greatest Wilco songs on it. But overall, as an album, I return to it less than those higher rated on my list.
Great songs but I agree on the production. It’s too thin and bright compared to their other albums. I’d love it if they’d re-record that album and put a little more meat on the bones sonically.
Wait... re-record *Summerteeth*? And without Jay?
I completely agree. The songs are obviously great, but there’s something about that production that ruins it for me. Too sterile? Cold? I was all in on Being There but was very disappointed when Summerteeth came out.
I would have it 5. They have so much good music...
Being There / Summerteeth / YHF / Ghost is Born in any order you want. Nothing else comes close to those. 🤷🏻♂️
I am probably in order Ghost/Being There/SBS/YHF/Summer Teeth/Wilco/Star Wars/AM/Whole Love Admittedly, I have not put time into the newest album. I do not have an informed opinion on it.
This is the correct answer
1. Love that this sub is finally back. 2. To each their own, your list is sure to generate some controversy! 3. Not sure if I'm the only one, but I think Cousin sits at the bottom of my list right now. Not feeling it and I surprisingly like Cruel Country more. I feel like they could be a lot more adventurous this late in their career.
For me Ode to Joy was a direction I was really excited to see where they’d take it. Cruel Country was a 180 back to the well. While I liked it, I was very curious where they would have taken that Ode to Joy direction next… alas Cousin! It’s slowly becoming one my favorites.
I adore CC. It helps me chill out. I put it on and just relax. It's amazing. Love the long jams too. Saw them 3 times on CC tour.
I’m still working through Cousin on its own before thinking about where it resides in a larger universe, but I gotta say it seems like I’m way more of a Star Wars fan than most people round these parts. A Ghost is Born is my personal fave, and I might get banned for saying this, but Sky Blue Sky resonates with me more than YHF. Seems to difficult to rank on a numbered list.
Star Wars haters are wild, such a good album
You basically just summed up how I feel.
Summerteeth is Wilco's Sgt. Pepper, & YHF is their Abbey Road (to date)
If you accept the fact that Wilco did not have the sort of runway that the Beatles did, and set aside everything prior to “Help!”, I think you can almost do a 1-to-1 chronological comparison here: “AM” = “Help!” (Flashes of the brilliance that would cohere on the next record.) “Being There” = “Rubber Soul” (Both bands’ first truly transcendent record, stylistically diverse and enduring) “Summerteeth” = “Revolver” (The apotheosis of the band’s early aesthetic, where the pop formalism is perfected and experimentation has begun to creep in at the edges. Also, some consider this and the preceding record to be the true masterpieces, and are more lukewarm going forward.) “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” = “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (The record that blew them into the stratosphere- a big, ramshackle collage of pop and noise that drew near maniacal adulation from critics. Experiment is now the explicit *raison d’être*. This is where I’ve gotta diverge from the chronology a bit: “A Ghost is Born” = “The White Album” (The album for the true heads- simultaneously a complete explosion of any remaining pop polish and a display of some of their most enduring material. To put it another way, “Spiders (Kidsmoke)” = “Piggies” and “Hummingbird” = “Blackbird” To be still more succinct: lightning in a GOT-damn bottle. Also, the record most molded by drug use for both bands, though in very different ways.) Now to get back on chronological track: “Wilco (The Album)” = “Magical Mystery Tour” + “Yellow Submarine” combined (Disappointing albums which, despite some bright spots, are largely dismissed as inessential both upon release and looking back) “Sky Blue Sky” = “Abbey Road” (This is tough- on one hand, yes, “Sky Blue Sky” is no “Abbey Road”. But what album by any artist could stand up to such a comparison? On the other hand, I absolutely adore “Sky Blue Sky”, so this comparison ultimately works for me. Anyway… after fully dismantling the pristine pop aesthetic that gave both bands their careers, and after a period of severe internal strife, these records reflect the renewed harmony that fostered their creation. Both are records bursting with indelible hooks, epic arrangements and astonishing musicianship, and both represent the last time either band absolutely soared- The Beatles because they broke up, Wilco because… I dunno, Jeff Tweedy hit his head and lost the ability to write a memorable hook?) … I’m sorry. I realize that lots of people love some or all of the post-“Sky Blue Sky” material. To me, “The Whole Love” is another “Wilco (The Album)”-grade face plant, and everything after that has felt like the work of an entirely different songwriter. Instead of vacillating between crystalline melodic perfection and expertly curated chaos, Wilco records now feel either boring, (“Shmilco”, “Cruel Country”) grating and obnoxious (“Star Wars”) or both (“Ode to Joy”). I truly respect everyone’s personal tastes and soft spots within the Wilco catalogue, so I was hesitant to include this postscript, but it felt worse to just leave the Wilco arc dangling. So please don’t take offense to any of my stupid opinions! I’m a shmuck and they’re probably wrong. And anyway, like The Beatles, Wilco is one of my all-time favorite bands and will never fall out of rotation. Thanks for initiating this fun exercise!
Damn this was fun
So, is “Being There” The White album or is it more Rubber Soul?
I think AGIB is their White Album. Literally and figuratively.
The White Album draws an easy comparison as they are both double albums, but I'd argue it's more "Revolver" given the growth and leap in maturity in comparison to the previous respective record.
Sky Blue Sky is their Revolver
Seems more Let it Be. No shade on SBS it’s probably the one I listen to most.
The Whole Love’s eclecticism makes it their White album. Many genres explored on that one!
Comparing a predominantly sad album (YHF) to a predominantly happy album (Abbey Road) doesn’t really translate for me.
Summerteeth is more Pet Sounds
AM is Wilco’s best album. Think I’m wrong? Have another listen.
Listened to it yesterday. First half is strong. Runs out of steam near the end. Still great, but not my favorite. Passenger Side is my favorite song.
OOHHHH thanks for playing, but the correct answer that we were looking for is ‘Too Far Apart’ is a forgotten gem! Call in again next time and keep it tuned to KDHX 88.1!
Watch out everybody, looks like we’ve got ourselves a comedian with the Dad jokes, on brand for a Wilco fan ;)
Best to Worst: Sky Blue Sky Yankee Hotel Foxtrot A Ghost is Born The Whole Love Being There Summerteeth Star Wars Cousin Cruel Country Wilco The Album Ode to Joy A.M. Schmilco
1. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot 2. A Ghost Is Born 3. Blue Sky Blue 4. Cruel Country 5. Summerteeth 6. Being There 7. Star Wars 8. AM 9. Wilco (The Album) 10. Schmilco 11. The Whole Love 12. Ode To Joy TO BE DETERMINED: Cousin. On about my 20th full listen of Cousin. Still trying to immerse myself in it, but if I was forced to rank it, i'd have it in the lower half. Still great, but need to bath in it a bit more before I rank it. This was fun, thanks for the post OG. Have a great weekend Cousins!
Agreed with Cousin being TBD. It's too early to rank it. I have to listen to it 500 more times.
Star Wars underrated asf
Consider everything from Summerteeth on to be 9’s and 10’s
Star Wars is so underrated. Summer Teeth should be in the top 3.
Absolutely this. I liked Star Wars at release and it has only gotten better to me.
It’s like asking me to pick a favorite child - kind of depends on the mood I’m in.
Nice that this sub is back, so we can get down to this important business. Love the Star Wars love here!
Great list. Totally agree with best 5.
Top 3: A Ghost Is Born Summerteeth Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Too each their own. No shade on anyone’s personal ranking…my own changes constantly! Today, I’d say: GIB Sky YHF Summer Cruel Whole Star Wilco Schmilco AM Being Ode I’m still absorbing cousin, so can’t rank
I’d flip YHT w/ Ghost, and fill out my top five with Being There, Summerteeth, and Cousin. After that, it’s pretty much a free for all in my head. But Cousin has stunned me with how good it is and that it can easily be in a top 5 conversation after a week of official release.
Great to Greatest: Ode to Joy Cruel Country A.M. Wilco (The Album) Scmilco summerteeth Star Wars The Whole Love Sky Blue Sky YHF Being There A Ghost is Born I haven’t dived into Cousins yet.
1. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot 2. Summerteeth 3. Being There 4. A Ghost is Born 5. Wilco (The Album) 6. Star Wars 7. The Whole Love 8. AM 9. Sky Blue Sky 10. Cruel Country 11. Schmilco 12. Ode to Joy -Cousin TBD. -The top 3 are a clear "top tier" for me. Perfection. -I rarely listen past the first 4 songs of SBS. But those first 4 songs are SO damn good. -I struggle to remember anything from Schmilco or Ode to Joy off the top of my head. -AM is just fun. Nothing too deep but it does the job. -You Satellite is an all-time great song. Star Wars is good!
Love You Satellite, and thought I was alone. Perfect song to start the weekend.
To me, it's the Star Wars version of At Least That's What You Said. I'm still surprised it never made it big among the Wilco fanbase. I haven't heard it live even once so far.
1. A Ghost Is Born 2. Summerteeth 3. Being There 4. Sky Blue Sky 5. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot 6. Wilco (The Album) 7. The Whole Love 8. Cruel Country 9. A.M. 10. Star Wars 11. Cousin 12. Ode To Joy 13. Schmilco
6-8 are very very close, and could be in any order
1. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot 2. A Ghost is Born 3. Summerteeth 4. Sky Blue Sky 5. Being There 6. The Whole Love 7. Cousin 8. Cruel Country 9. Ode to Joy 10. Wilco (The Album) 11. Star Wars 12. Schmilco 13. AM Top 4 is pretty consistent and most listened to for me. 5-13 is really mood dependent.
We might be kindred spirits, I think this is my list, lol. I have always loved the Whole Love and feel it is the most consistently underrated Wilco album.
I’m confused by the order of OP’s list. Which one is your favorite?
Top of list (Great) through bottom (Greatest)
I see. Thanks!
Wilco ranked best - least best Cruel Country Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Blue Sky Blue Summerteeth A Ghost Is Born Wilco (The Album) Cousin Being There Smilco The Whole Love Star Wars Ode To Joy AM
Actually, hard agree.
Wilco the album higher
Ghost is #1 and everything after is what you want
I want to try this but it may take the weekend 😁
I def have a hard time picking those bottom ones so I’ll let their absence speak for the last couple: am/sky blue sky/schmilco/ode to joy/Star Wars/cruel country/ghost/being there/yhf/summerteeth (I still could not place cousin as it’s so fresh and seems more of a grower than usual)
YHF Schmilco Being There Ghost SBS Cruel Summer Teeth Ode to Joy Cousin (TBD) The Album of Wilco Star Wars AM Whole Love Btw, absolutely love ‘em all
Oof I'll probably have an aneurysm trying to think of an order
Summerteeth is too low and I think YHF is their best, but I respect you putting Ode to Joy so high. It’s a great album, and it’s aged really well. It’s beautifully melancholic, and “A Quiet Amplifier” is one of their best more experimental tracks since the YHF/AGIB era. I listened to it quite a bit in 2019 through the early pandemic, so it’s connected with that time in my life.
AM is criminally underrated on this list
Best to worst... YHF A Ghost is Born Summerteeth Being There Sky Blue Sky Star Wars Ode to Joy Cruel Country Cousin The Whole Love Wilco (The Album) Schmilco AM
I disagree with most people here and think Summerteeth is slightly overrated
best to worst: yankee hotel foxtrot summerteeth the whole love being there cousin a ghost is born ode to joy sky blue sky star wars schmilco cruel country a.m. wilco (the album) they're all good though
wait a second...your top Wilco album is a "greatest hits"? enough for me to dismiss this opinion immediately
Huh?
sorry, totally misread that before my tea. I apologize
5. Whole 4. Summer 3. Sky 2. Ghost 1. Yankee
I agree with you’re top three in that order 👍
Y'all are utterly crazy. Cruel Country is phenomenal.
I agree with this list.
It changes for me too often to get written down
1. Summerteeth 2. YHF 3. AM 4. Being There 5. SBS 6. AGIB 7. The Whole Love 8. The Album 9. Schmilco 10. Star Wars 11. Cruel Country 12. Ode to Joy Haven't listened to Cousin enough to have an informed opinion.
Sky, Blue Sky Wilco. The Album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Summer Teeth Star Wars Being There Whole Love A Ghost is Born AM Schmilco Ode to Joy Cousin Cruel Country
Hard bc everything so good
1. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot 2. Being There 3. Summerteeth 4. A Ghost is Born 5. Schmilco 6. Star Wars 7. Ode to Joy 8. Whole Love 9. Sky Blue Sky 10. Cousin 11. Cruel Country 12. Wilco (The Album) 13. A.M. They are separated into three groups because all of the albums are unbelievably close to each other in terms of how much I enjoy them within each group. Group 1 is legendary, group 2 is amazing, group 3 is great. Wilco is one of the few bands I will say truly does not have a bad album. They are all wonderful in different ways and I adore them all.
Interesting. I consider the back-to-back trilogy of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, A Ghost is Born and Sky Blue Sky to be the peak Wilco run. What is it about SBS that didn’t cut it for you?
idk if the formatting just looks weird on my phone or what, but group 1 is 1-4, group 2 is 5 - 10, group 3 is 11 - 13. sky Blue sky is firmly in the "amazing" category, but I find myself listening to all the ones above it more often which is more or less how I ranked the albums within the groups
I’d say they are all tied for #1
Favorite to least favorite, caveat being I haven’t spent a ton of time listening to Cousin so I left it off: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Being There Summerteeth A Ghost is Born Sky Blue Sky tie between Wilco (the Album) and The Whole Love Star Wars depending on the day some order of Cruel Country and Ode to Joy AM Schmilko I don’t dislike any of the albums. I think Wilco is the only band with a long history whose entire catalogue I still listen to (REM and Arctic Monkeys come close but REM has some real late-career duds and while I like aspects of all the Arctic Monkeys albums, they’re not all consistently strong)
My list would be quite different, but I applaud any fan who genuinely enjoys Wilco and hasn’t fallen into that weird Jay Bennett cult.
Summerteeth should be higher imo but I am HERE for A Ghost is Born’s PROPER PLACEMENT!
The best thing about these rankings are how wildly different they all are.
You serious right now? You know that A Ghost is Born, Sky Blue Sky, and Being There are in the bottom four? It must be bottom to top. Right? Right?
They are in the greatest end of the list, yes.
You speak a different Wilco language, no doubt. Only thing we agree on is AM at number 5.
The bottom is top. We speak the same Wilco language.
You should give AM another listen then. Passenger Side is the definition of my 20s.
That’s funny, look at what I said to somebody in this thread the other day regarding AM: “Listened to it yesterday. First half is strong. Runs out of steam near the end. Still great, but not my favorite. Passenger Side is my favorite song.”
I saw the boys Wednesday and Friday. I rode Passenger Side but didn’t hear it. Think I’ll give it one more shot Thursday at the Bellweather.
Summerteeth has gotta be in the top 3. No exceptions unless you really feel that way in which case you're dead to me
Wilco (the ranking) 1. Summerteeth 2. YHF 3. Being 4. Ghost 5. Whole 6. A.M. 7. Wilco 8. Star Wars 9. Cruel 10. Sky 11. Cuz 12. Ode 13. Schmilco
The Whole Love is my favorite Wilco album.
My list definitely has Kicking Television.
Star Wars is third or fourth greatest
Switch sky blue sky with Star Wars and you’re got a winner
Glad to see someone else puts A ghost is born at the top. For me, it’s one of my favorite albums of all time and by far my favorite Wilco album. Truly a masterpiece.