Thunder Matt's Saloon
Wow. Just wow.
Fuck. Yes.
I want this blog entry tattooed on my cock. I figure if I up the font to 14 point, it should almost cover it.
Bill Hicks (I don't particularly think he was that hilarious, but this quote is great)
“If you don't think drugs have done good things for us, then take all of your records, tapes and CDs and burn them. Cause you know what? The musicians that made all that great music that's enhanced your lives throughout the years? Real fucking high on drugs. The Beatles were so fuckin' high they let Ringo sing a few songs."
That's the only way Ringo ever got to sing. And I want some of the drugs that the lads were on when they wrote "I Am the Walrus". Maybe my posts would be funnier. At least they might have animals in them, unless the Mancoulteratee counts.
Underrated: Ringo
I can appreciate the viewpoint, and this is definitely not the best Wilco album in my opinion. However, there are three serious flaws in the argument of this post.
1) I don't think it would be going out on a limb to question whether Lingering Bursitis even listened to the latest Wilco album before making these statements. There is not a single reference to any song, nor are there any specifics to back up the "sucks" and "stagnation" claims. Obviously it's more of an attack on Tweedy, but the blanket statements about the record should at least be backed up with examples, comparisons, etc.
2) Summerteeth and YHF were not so much born out of Tweedy's addiction to painkillers as they were out of the push and pull between he and Jay Bennett. Their rocky professional relationship certainly aided in Tweedy's dependence on drugs, but does one really need an addiction to painkillers, of all things, to be creative? Michael Jackson was on painkillers for the better part of the last 20 years and he produced garbage in that span. Painkillers are not heroin or acid, which are the drugs that drove some of the more brilliant artists over the last half century.
Ironically, Jay Bennett just died from a painkiller overdose about six weeks ago. Painkillers also arguably had something to do with Jackson's demise. Popping pills leads to depression and accidental death, more than they do creative spontaneity.
3) This latest album was largely laid down while members of the band were in New Zealand for the 7 Worlds Collide recording session. Tweedy has attributed the more sparse, stripped down feel of the album to the fact that they intentionally limited the variety of instruments that they had access to. On previous Wilco albums, the band had a limitless supply of tools available in the Loft recording studio in Chicago. If your music is indicative of the environment it was created in, then I can certainly see how Tweedy was influenced by his surroundings, and how this particular set of songs came to fruition.
As far as "scandal, heartbreak, drug addiction and financial hunger" can drive a person, there has to be a point where they step off that train to avoid insanity and an early demise. Not every artist really aspires to go out in flames like Cobain, Hendrix, Joplin, etc. Some have wives and children that take far greater precedence than making music snobs happy.
Dear 30 Century Man:
1. I've listened to it a lot, and I didn't think people would want to read a song-by-song review when the point could be made more succinctly with just one word: "sucks".
Plus, it would be missing the point I was trying to make.
2. Thanks for sucking the joy out of this one. Those albums were good because of the conflict, because of the drugs, the tension, the anger, the fury... now, I'd be amazed if he wasn't neutered in rehab because the music has lost all of its punch.
Also, I reserve the right to harp on drug use, and its correlation to creativity, as much as the next guy. Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.
3. A very eloquent explanation as to why the album sucks so much. Again, wonderful that he does charity work, but the songs on Wilco (The Album) are still rubbish. No amount of acoustic philanthropy changes that. I appreciate your defense though.
Now go suck the fun out of someone else's efforts, maybe while listening to Wilco (The Album) and plugging your asshole with Wilco (The Sex Toy) and drinking Wilco (The Pinot Grigio).
Wilco (The Pinot Grigio) has actually been fantastic on these warm summer days.
Also, HOW DARE YOU INSULT MICHAEL JACKSON!?!?!
I kid, but seriously... the dude barely wrote any of his songs anyway, so blame the aging, goateed skeleton that is Quincy Jones.
Alternate solution to improve Wilco: Hire Ringo.
Before Ringo, the Beatles had to go to Germany just to get gigs.
Impossible Germany was written about Ringo.
Hey settle down ladies. At least the new Wilco isn't as bad as the greatest Green Day pile of turd called an "album". So I guess all is not lost.
Yeah, but saying one pile of shit stinks less is damning with faint praise.
This post makes me proud to be an intern at TMS. The album truly blows.
In the time it took me to read these comments, I sharted. Also, when I first read this blog, I was quite ripe with that feeling you get when you have to work with the annoying person at the office. However, now the biggest thing that bothers me is that you asked God to stop Wilco, which is as useful as the shit stain I just acquired in my underpants. If you were really going to ask God's help in stopping a musician, would it not be more beneficial to stop someone whom at least doesn't have the potential to make a decent "album"? Plus, the last time I asked God for something I was, like 9 and I'm pretty sure God said, "Shut the fuck up kid. By the way, I'm going to give you the 'itis' and you will be shitting your pants all your life." Wilco is not the problem here. Obviously, God didn't answer you. I like egg salad.
Dear Nick fucking Rossman:
your comprehension skills are lacking. I said I thought Wilco needed drugs again so they could make a good album. Don't believe I told God to fully and completely stop Wilco. I'd never do that.
Maybe it's all the sharting and underpant-shitting you do that is the problem.
Interesting stuff.
I gotta say though, I think a lot of the noted "stagnation" is being misattributed to drug abuse. (Tweedy himself has stated that his drug addictions had little to do with his creative process in a recent NYT article, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/0...ic/05carr.html)
More likely, it has something to do with a 40-something with a wife and two kids becoming more mature and not having the energy or intensity of a 22 year old. Not quite the eye-catching title though.
In any case, why the fuck do you care?
What difference does it make if Tweedy wants to do soft porn now? (Argument could be made that he always did [AM] and that Summerteeth and YHF were aberrations).
Who wants a 40-year-old pretending to be a 20-year-old punk rocker anyway?
The last two records suck
You should watch the Wilco DVD release "Ashes of American Flags". I enjoyed it very much, but more specifically, it talked about the band and how they are dealing with getting older.
Basically all the head-banging associated with their rock songs was doing quite a number on their aging bodies.
While I would absolutely love a more experimental Wilco album like A Ghost is Born or YHF again. I am very happy for (The Album). It really hearkens back to Being There and AM.
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