Wilco
Wilco (The Album)

Nonesuch
out June 30th

[75]
[Rating Scale]

[rating:75/100]
It’s easy to give an album a 75/100. It is. People that love the album are okay with it, because your glass is ¾ full. People that hated the record are okay with it because you haven’t been overtly generous. People get worked up over extremes, and 75 is neither altogether here nor there. It requires little commitment from the author. You give an album a 90, or (conversely) a 20 you’re committed to your decision. You loved it or hated it, and you’re on the hook for that. Still, when I listen to Wilco (The Album) it just feels like a 75. The record is very good, but in aggregate never achieves the greatness of Jeff Tweedy & the boys’ previous work. There are moments (though few and far between) throughout the album where you get anxious for something new, and for that it gets a wishy-wash 75.
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