Wilco – A Ghost Is Born (2004)

I first listened to this album in a now non-existent record store, called Stupido, in Helsinki. I had heard about the band and heard some good reviews on it, but I had never actually heard the band. Then I saw this album being advertised as a new release. Encouraged by the reviews, i wanted to listen to the album and did that there in the record store. Already from the first couple of songs it became clear that I had been missing out on something amazing before. Wilco's experimental and sometimes even noisy, yet delicate and melodic music hit me really hard immediately. I took the CD immediately to the counter and bought it. The clerk asked me what I thought about it and when I said that it sounded quite amazing, he said that he himself had found it a bit too experimental. I only understood what he meant later on, when I got to listen to the album in its entirety, but even then I disagreed with him.



The first thing I remember about the album was the song Hummingbird. This sounded like a modernised version of The Beatles. The songwriting, the melody and the sounds were amazing. To be fair, that is one of the most straightforward songs on this album, but it just drew my attention in first. Since then I've come to love the whole album. The only bits that were almost too experimental to me on the album were the very long noise sequences in Spiders (Kidsmoke) and the 15 minutes long Less Than You Think that has about 10 minutes of noises that the lead singer Jeff Tweedy says he hears when he's having a migraine. But even those things don't really bother me anymore after I have listened to this album enough.

Of course most people would say that this album's predecessor, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, is the band's greatest album. I actually agree with them, but at the same time, this album is personally as important one. There's something about that first introduction to a band that just stays there. Nothing that you'll hear afterwards will replace that experience you had when you first heard them.

The album has a number of amazing songs. I have to mention Company In My Back by name, because the melody and guitar work in that song is pure genius. Hell Is Chrome is also quite an amazing song and the guitar solo is a great introduction to Wilco's sharp guitar solos. The Late Greats sounds like the old Wilco, before their experimental era.

Later on I've had a privilege to see Wilco live twice. First time was at Huvilateltta in Helsinki. That show just blew my mind. It was an amazing mixture of delicate folk/country songs with amazing noise somewhere in between. I feel like you can only properly appreciate the solo guitars of Wilco when you've seen them live. The guitar playing is really amazing and a rare gift in an era where massive guitar solos are not really a thing anymore. The next time I saw them was about ten years later, just a few months ago here in London at the Brixton Academy. I wasn't expecting that much as I had not been too impressed with some of the latest Wilco albums, but my expectations were exceeded again. They had amazing decorations on stage and they played some amazing songs with amazing noise and guitar solos. Wilco is one of those bands that hasn't given in to fame and started compromising in their sound. Also, Jeff Tweedy is just such a nice guy that you can't but love them.

Wilco is one of my life's great bands. Their music links to many of my personal life events and they keep making interesting stuff for me to listen to. Even if they sometimes make something that is not that much of interest, i haven't lost hope and I can still expect to be surprised by them positively over and over again.

Listen to the album on Spotify.