Review - Wilco's A Ghost Is Born
   by Michael Morris, Senior Editor Lobetoxy.com

As with any band's follow-up to a defining album, there has been some skepticism surrounding Wilco's latest release, A Ghost is Born. Can it stand up to their masterpiece, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot? Can Tweedy stand on his own without major songwriting contributer, Jay Bennet? Have Tweedy's health troubles over the past few years taken their toll?

The first thing that is noticeable about AGIB is that whether he's concsious of it or not, Jeff Tweedy is following the ghost of John Lennon. Like Lennon after his departure from that other significant band of the 60's, his delivery is a little more distant, his melodies are a little more linear, and his writing is a little more depressing. If McCartney was Lennon's lighter side, Bennet was surely Tweedy's. Even Tweedy's voice sounds alarming like Lennon's at times. The subtle and eery "Hell Is Chrome" and piano pop of "Hummingbird" could have come straight out Lennon's songbook of the 70's.

With this kind of frost setting in, AGIB lacks the soul of previous Wilco records. On the surface it can sound sterile, without the emotive undertones that Wilco has so successfully delivered in the past. Even YHF, with its electronic and noisy backbone had a heaping helping of heart and passion. With a bleak cover of nothing but a simple white egg, AGIB portrays a new Wilco that seems more distant and synthetic than before.

Regardless of Wilco's disposition, what they haven't lost is their ability to paint pretty pictures with words and images that don't make much sense. Where YHF had "disposable Dixie cup drinking, I assassin down the avenue," AGIB has "I'm an ocean all in motion, I'm a cherry ghost." Like poetry often does, Tweedy carefully delivers abstract words that communicate more texture than content.

Despite the complex canvas on which AGIB is painted, many of its songs shine brilliantly. "Muzzle of Bees" is a delicate, acoustic spinning wheel, and one of the prettiest songs in the band's catalog. The surprising "Theologians" bounces along like a piece of 70's blue-eyed soul. "At Least That's What You Said", the album's opener is a beautiful lullaby that turns hostile and allows Tweedy to rip the best guitar leads he's ever put on tape. As with every Wilco record, the playing is expertly crafted and perfectly measured. Bassist John Stirrat and drummer Glenn Kotche hold Tweedy's tunes in a sonic cage that give them room to run but don't let them get away.

AGIB does step on some questionable landmines, though, the most obvious being the 12 minutes of art noise that follows the otherwise harmless ballad "Less Than You Think." But that isn't the most abrasive inclusion. "I'm a Wheel" comes from out of nowhere as arguably the worst song ever played by Wilco. "Once in Germany someone said nein. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine." Tweedy hasn't quite reached Dylanesque status, where he can say anything he wants and his listeners will think it is art. But perhaps the most disappointing move was the decision to turn "Spiders (Kidsmoke)", a live staple during the YHF tour, into an 11 minute bore 3 songs in to the record. In concert the repetitive groove was a great mood setter, but here on record the song's lack of any melody whatsoever is a little hard to get past. Perfectly good pop turned plastic.

Perhaps AGIB is the result of rough year for Tweedy and the band. Re-hab for pain killers, revolving band members, the constant pressure of living up to some amazingly high, and perhaps, unfair expectations. But as most great artists have proven, pain can be exploited and twisted into something beautiful.