Wilco Album: “Being There”

Wilco is probably capable of making a great album of just about any genre imaginable, but on Being There they went with a genre that is impossible to describe. Often said to 'borrow' from various great records of the late 60s and early 70s, Wilco really does sound more different than you'd get the impression they do. No song is made up simply of one influence, and influence never goes ahead of pure songwriting genius.

The opening track on Being There, 'Misunderstood,' as with many other tracks on the double CD, has been compared countless times to other songs and records. However, with every reviewer thinking it sounds like one thing, it's hard to imagine Wilco ever really just went out and made any songs based on just one person's music. 'Misunderstood' is an amazing way to start off an album, but it shines not just because of the noticeable influences, but mainly because of Jeff Tweedy's lyrics and voice along plus the incredible talent of the rest of the band. If you think 'Hey that sounds like The Beatles,' or 'Hey that sounds like John Lennon' before you think 'Wow, that was an incredible song,' then there is something seriously wrong with you.

After the booming finish of the heartfelt story of a musician returning home in 'Misunderstood,' the records moves on to the somewhat more upbeat, although more mellow 'Far, Far Away,' and then on to '70s rockers' 'Monday' and 'Outta Sight (Outta Mind). While when you think about it lyrics in the latter song are not exactly happy ('Well okay, I know you don't love me but you'll still be thinking of me,') the song still seems very upbeat and certainly isn't trying to depress you.

This rock mood is soon killed by the AM-esque 'Forget the Flowers,' where Tweedy doesn't go back to his alt-country roots, but more so to older straightforward country. The essence of this song would fit on any of Wilco's albums, it obviously would have been slightly altered had it been on Wilco's only album better than Being There(to date), Summerteeth. An excellent song either way. One more sad song follows, 'Red Eyed and Blue,' which goes with a slightly less country approach than 'Forget the Flowers,' and comes out well.

From here Wilco balances the last too more depressing song with 'I got you (at the end of the century).' This and the next song 'What's the World Got in Store' have you realizing that this is definitely becoming a great first side. Then the next song, 'Hotel Arizona' completely confirms this, sounding like something Neil Young would have on a greatest hits record. The first side finishes off with 'Say You Miss Me,' another great love song, with Jeff Tweedy's own style.

The second disk opens with two songs that are similar in some ways to the first two songs on the first disk. 'Sunken Treasure' is another great drawn out piano/guitar song that let's you look at Tweedy so closely you can't help but love it. 'I got my name from rock n' roll' he sings, and you know his lyrics are a window straight into him. Similar to 'Far, Far Away,' the next song 'Someday Soon' brings a dreaming less intense song to the table, followed by an acoustic version of 'Outta Sight (Outta Mind),' which in this case goes by the name 'Outta Mind (Outta Sight).' While not as good as the original in terms of it's upbeat rock sound, it still comes off very well.

Then Jeff Tweedy goes into another song about other people's music with 'Someone Else's Song,' a song portraying the frustrated feeling of try to impress someone but just sounding no different than anything before you, which ironically does not describe Wilco, with Being There no longer sounding much like anything from Uncle Tupelo. Kingpin is a much less serious song, that seems to just be Tweedy having some fun ('I wanna be your kingpin, livin' in, Pekin'.)

From there 'Was I in Your Dreams' goes into classic Wilco, sounding happy with dark lyrics, followed by another song of this style, 'Why Would You Wanna Live,' which is so much happier sounding than the lyrics would suggest. In this type of Wilco song will either feel upbeat to you or feel really depressed depending on your mood and whether you focus on lyrics or music.

'The Lonely One' does not hide behind any happy music; it is in the same fashion as 'Forget the Flowers' a straight for sad song, even if it is somewhat less country.

The last song on the record is one of the best record finishers in a while, 'Dreamer in My Dreams.' Even if you've leaned towards the slower, sadder song on the record, this song will still be one of your favourites. It's an excited big loud song that doesn't feel like 'hard rock,' but more like a great live performance in a small place. By the time this song is over and has had it's various false endings, you can't help but be taken away by this record.

Most detractors are usually looking for country or alt-country and really don't find too much of it, but if you're looking for a great record, even if all your favourite records are alt-country, this is still one of the greatest albums released during the 90s. It may even be one of the best to come before the 'end of the century.'

Wilco is a terrific band, and I wholeheartedly enjoy all of their releases...but "Being There" is their finest endeavor, and their one album that will best stand the test of time. There are times when Wilco seems more like "Jeff Tweedy feat. Wilco," and "AM" and "Being There" offer the most input from Bennett et al., which really results in a much more diverse-yet-cohesive sound than on, say, "Summerteeth," which is sonically beautiful, but the lyrics often seem mismatched with the music. That said, Tweedy is the principal songwriter here, and this album catches at a point where he's more articulate than on some UT releases and "AM," but he's obviously still a little self-conscious, and are less explicitly personal than what "Summerteeth" would later produce. Most of the Uncle Tupelo-related angst is released in the first track: "Take the guitar player for a ride/cuz he ain't never been satisfied/he thinks he owes some kinda debt/be years before he gets over it...I'd like to thank you all for nothing, I'd like to thank you all for nothing at all." "Being There" is about a lot of things, I'm sure, but most obviously and most powerfully, it's an detailed trip through a very vulnerable folksinger's relationship psyche. The album gets lonely, joyful, melancholy and wistful all on the first disc and reexamines them all again on the second. It's a perfect documentation of a relationship, never overstated and very subtle. After this album, it may be a little hard to go back and listen to your Cure cds; all the emotion that you hear in Robbie Smith's tortured voice and lush instrumentation is there in Tweedy's hushed sighs and delicate guitar licks. Instrumentally, the album is also quite diverse. Tweedy is often wailing on Telecasters and Bennett is usually behind the Hammond organ, but equally as often Tweedy's relatively alone on acoustic, or the whole band's together in a swelling Spector-esqe song, like "Monday," which even includes trumpets. Somehow, it all pulls together perfectly, and is produced so warmly that it's impossible not to be pulled in. You will be hardpressed to find a review that criticizes the use of two discs: the end of disc 1 leaves you starving for more, and disc 2 only barely satiates. This album highlights Wilco's immense talents, and stands out as one of the greatest musical achievements of the 1990s. The album is truly timeless, and I would recommend adding "Mermaid Ave Vol 1" to your order; because Wilco is addicting.

Many fans of Uncle Tupelo and Wilco's "A.M." bought this double-disc album, and didn't know what to think.

Although, many songs feature the perfect alt.country stylings we'd grown to expect, the band also didn't hesitate to ROCK OUT, garage-style. A blast of guitars and noise and crashing symbols rushes hotly out of the first track, "Misunderstood," and the album quickly declares itself as something all its own, something that owes nothing to any of its old fans, or to the band's old sound, or to anyone: "I'd like to thank you all for nothing, nothing, nothing at all!" Ungrateful, but heartfelt enough to give a person chills.

From there, the album alternates between lilting steel guitar numbers and raw (yet melodious) garage rock. An occasional horn section explodes from nowhere. Lyrics wonder: "What's the world got in store...for you?" Lyrics contemplate love and Y2K in a timeless way. Lyrics express being lost and feeling hopeless and needing music. "Why would you wanna live...in this world?" one song asks, but then proceeds to answer that question with a jaunty little fiddle reel. Things get loud and rowdy, things get bummed and introspective, but the music NEVER suffers.

It's always great.

And it's always cohesive: Wilco makes albums, not collections of songs. The songs fit together and lead to each other and form a whole. The band offers enough alt.country goodness to please its old fans, and enough rock and roll to please everyone else: this album is almost like the band taking its old fans by the hands and walking with them to even greener pastures, leading them from "A.M." to "Summerteeth."

And it's a nice walk.

And there's a lot to see and hear.

And you'll be glad you took it.

Wilco

Being There

1996; Reprise Records

My Rating: 10/10

It's difficult to overemphasize the importance and significance of BEING THERE. It is THE place to start for anyone new to non-CMT Country music. While there are plenty of great alt-country records out there, and some might even be more consistent and concise at delivering on Gram Parson's deposit of Cosmic Americana, BEING THERE ties in so many other influences that it transcends the genre, and hints at greater possibilities.

From the sad and swaying "Far Far Away" to the optimistic "What's The World Got In Store", Tweedy covers all of the requisite emotional bases, but it's in going the extra mile on tracks like "Misunderstood" and "Sunken Treasure" that Tweedy delivers grand artistry, transforming the lives of suburban midwesterners into cinematic epics. Additionally, Tweedy proves that Wilco is capable of power-pop greatness with "Monday", "Outta Site" and "I Got You (At the End of the Century)", roadhouse swagger with "Forget The Flowers" and "Someday Soon", teary-eyed nostalgia with "The Lonely One" and "Say You Miss Me", and classic rock throwbacks with "Hotel Arizona". But it's not just the songs themselves that make BEING THERE stand out - it's all about the unpolished edges. From the numerous shouts of "Nothing!" in "Misunderstood" to the seamless segue of "Red-Eyed and Blue" into "I Got You (At the End of the Century)", BEING THERE glories in the journey of making an album.

That message - the experience of being there - eminates from both the songs AND the album artwork, which consists purely of photographs from the recordings sessions. Tweedy invites the listener to BE THERE with the band as they make a record, to be uplifted, moved, and changed, and to come away wanting to experience it all over again. In this, Wilco seems to have captured the very heart of the alt-country genre.

But for Wilco, after being lauded for this record, it wasn't enough to rest on the laurels of making an instant classic. With a masterpiece under their belts, it was time to push the boundaries of the genre they had helped create.

TRACKS:

1. Misunderstood (5/5)

2. Far, Far Away (5/5)

3. Monday (5/5)

4. Outtasite (Outta Mind) (5/5)

5. Forget the Flowers (5/5)

6. Red-Eyed and Blue (5/5)

7. I Got You (At the End of the Century) (5/5)

8. What's the World Got in Store (5/5)

9. Hotel Arizona (4/5)

10. Say You Miss Me (4.5/5)

11. Sunken Treasure (5/5)

12. Someday Soon (4/5)

13. Outta Mind (Outta Sight) (3.5/5)

14. Someone Else's Song (4/5)

15. Kingpin (3.5/5)

16. (Was I) In Your Dreams (4/5)

17. Why Would You Wanna Live (3/5)

18. The Lonely 1 (5/5)

19. Dreamer in my Dreams (3.5/5)

This was a fairly staggering conception, warts and all, and it wouldn't be until the next release that Wilco truly become masters of the artform, but it's quite a worthy, powerful ride for what it is. The record, for the first place, should have been on one CD and trimmed a bit. There are some half-songs ("Red Eyed and Blue," "I've Got You," which while peppy has some pretty dumb lyrics, and "Kingpin") and it gets a bit mired in its own moroseness towards the end (though "(Was I) In Your Dreams," Why Would You Want to Live," and "The Lonely 1" are all lovely songs in their own respects, it's a bit punishing to have them back to back to back), but there are such dizzying moments of transcendence on this record that you can mostly forgive it for its faults.

The two focal points of the record, "Misunderstood" and "Sunken Treasure," are powerful, emotionally geared epics that set the course for the whole record- themes of loss, betrayal, and distance. The whole record throbs with an organic closeness- the songs feel like they're no more than a few inches from reach. "Far Far Away" sounds like the band's encircling you in the studio, Jeff Tweedy in front of you strumming an aching melody. "Dreamer In My Dreams" is like a racous live take (hoe-down, even?), with some frenetic violin playing and an improvised feel with Tweedy's hoarse vocal.

One could say the record throbs with pain, as well- the sonic equivalent of pain and trying to be ambivalent about it. It's the band's most intimate recorded performance, and though they will aim for and achieve higher, this will hold a special place in any fan's heart too.