Album: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Artist: Wilco
Release Date: September 18, 2001
Genre: Alternative Rock
Length: 0:51:51
Label: Nonesuch Records
Producer: Wilco
Rolling Stone Top 500 (2012): #493
Rolling Stone Top 500 (2020): #225
1,001 Album Book: Yes
Please, I beg of you, can I check out of this hotel early...
Fourth album by Wilco, released originally September 18, 2001 for free on the band's website and eventually released in stores on April 23, 2002. Surprisingly, when released, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot peaked at #13 on the Billboard 200 and has received numerous perfect scores from critics.
Throughout the eleven tracks on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Wilco changes musical styles ever so slightly from each song to the next, whether that serves them well or not. Most albums in history feature one of the artist's strongest songs on the album first in order to capture the listener's attention or a short introduction song, however, Wilco decided to put one of the weakest songs of the entire album right at the beginning. "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" features disjointed musicianship and weak vocal power to create an overall horrible opening song. Following this song up with a decent jam should be easy one would think, but that's where this album continues to fall flat. There are parts in songs like "Kamera", "Jesus, Etc." and "Heavy Metal Drummer" where the band decides to start sounding like professional musicians again, but quickly forgets the simplest music theory and it makes them sound like five year olds picking up instruments for the first time in music class. The parts that do sound great are contrasted with singer, Jeff Tweedy's almost prepubescent-like voice. One thing the album does right is the ability to add some sounds and noises that make some songs interesting, but that's exactly what they are. Noises.
I'm typically a fan of experimental features and sounds that aren't common in songs, but the entire album just fails to execute these points to the fullest. I understand what they were going for and I truly appreciate them for trying, but sometimes it's best to try something and realize it just doesn't work well. Some parts throughout, Tweedy sounds quite great, honestly. But with all the great sounds that come from him, it's either overshadowed by all the bad parts of his singing or by horrible sounding instruments. I will give it to them though, this album may just sound bad now in 2020 but in 2001 the experimentation in this type of alternative rock was new. In 2020, we are used to hearing these types of things and the innovation from groups that utilized their influence from Wilco make the album a little bit better to me. There are some decent songs throughout like "Pot Kettle Black" and "Kamera", and that is only because these songs are more simple and Tweedy understands his range. I'm not sure I would necessarily recommend this album to anyone, but I still think someone should listen to bits of it, purely for the experimentation aspect. Some songs are pure comedy, while others give a good look at what indie bands from the 2010s were influenced by, they just executed it much better than Wilco.
Favorite Songs: "Kamera", "Pot Kettle Black"
Least Favorite Song: "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" (so many to choose from it was almost hard not to put them all)
Production Quality:
Mix = 7/10
Innovation = 9/10
Songwriting Quality:
Arrangement = 7/10
Lyricism = 8/10
Instrumentation Quality:
Vocal Timbre = 4/10
Instrumental Timbre = 5/10
Group Chemistry = 2/10
Overall Likability:
My Personal Rating = 2/10
Overall Rating: 5.3/10
Any confusion on how the rating is weighted/calculated, please look at my "About" page.
Remember this is all my opinion! Let me know if you agree, disagree or have any comments!
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