Album review: Wilco - Wilco (The Album) (4/5)

Back in 1987, I thought all albums were named after a song on the album (most are, after all), so I was a little surprised to find that Whitney Houston's album Whitney didn't actually contain a song called "Whitney." Of course, I since learned how foolish my thinking was, but I can't help but enjoy the fact that Wilco's seventh album, the eponymous Wilco (The Album), also actually contains a song called "Wilco." Somebody actually went and did it!

The band's last album Sky Blue Sky (2007) was my first exposure to them, and they won me over with its laid back melodies and inventive song structures. On Wilco, the melodies aren't quite as grand, and the songs follow generally very traditional forms, but it's still a pretty decent outing.

"Wilco" is a short and sweet upbeat opener about how when all else fails "Wilco will love you." Nice to know bands appreciate their fans as much as fans appreciate them. "Deeper Down" is appropriately darker and mysterious sounding. It has a lovely strings and electric guitar center, although on Sky Blue Sky, such a passage would probably have been more interesting (and four times longer). "One Wing" is a forlorn breakup song. It has a pleasing melody that, in Wilco style, takes off during the middle section.

While the opening songs are good, the songs in the middle are the strongest. "Bull Black Nova" builds its sound upon staccato guitar and piano chords, layering sounds through the song's cool instrumental sections. This was the kind of song I really appreciated on Sky Blue Sky (see "Side with the Seeds" or "Shake It Off"). "You and I," a duet with Feist, has a sweet acoustic melody, and Jeff Tweedy sounds great with her. "You Never Know," the album's first single, is the album's most upbeat moment with an assertive piano backing and harmonized vocals.

"Country Disappeared" is mellow, with a downbeat melody and lyrics about "crushed cities." "Solitaire" is mellow too, but with a lighter mood. "I'll Fight" opens with brief but nice acoustic guitar melody and then picks up with more energy than the previous couple of tracks. After the dark lyrics of several songs, "Sonny Feeling" is a refreshingly breezy song wtih Beach Boys-esque harmonizing. "Everlasting Everything," despite its dark (but true) lyrics about how "everything alive must die," professes to believe in everlasting love.

Wilco is an (almost) worthy follow-up to Sky Blue Sky, not quite as good, but still very enjoyable.

Best: You Never Know, Bull Black Nova, You and I, I'll Fight, Wilco