Part of Who Are Wilco? (Disc. #2)

Following the landmark achievement of 2002's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, the possibilities for Wilco's sound seemed endless. What they would do next was anyone’s guess. And, if nothing else, the resulting album became (and to some extent, continues to be) a serious talking point for listeners of all persuasions. On A Ghost is Born, the nascent noise/pop exploration of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot gave way to unapologetic experimentation as the band incorporated everything from motorik kraut to ambient sprawl. A lot of it works; some of it doesn’t. But I’d take the confounding mess that is A Ghost is Born over anything the band has done since. The fact that “Bull Back Nova” exists (from Wilco's latest, self-titled album) is enough to convince me that, yes, this is indeed the same band that could incite a discussion regarding the limits of the pop form. By comparison, A Ghost is Born didn’t attempt to meet the listener half way. It believed enough in its audience to stand on its own and operate by its own unique logic.

This is all just popular opinion of course. And, coming from someone like me, I don’t even consider A Ghost is Born to be all that demanding. Sure, there’s 12-minute kraut jam “Spiders (Kidsmoke),” and an extended sequence of industrial ambiance (“Less Than You Think”), yet those two pieces on their own constitute more personality than Sky Blue Sky and Wilco (The Album) can muster combined. As a result, talk of A Ghost is Born inevitably centers on these two tracks, when in all honesty it’s the other, more conventional moments that hamper this album. People seem to forget that in between these two monoliths lie a run of some of the most pleasant songs Wilco have ever managed. The fact that I can do this review from memory speaks, at the very least, to something noticeably different than what many other records of this kind have to offer.

What I won’t do, however, is sit here and try to paint A Ghost is Born as some sort of overlooked masterpiece – which it clearly is not. Play it side by side with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and it pales considerably in comparison. Ultimately, Wilco swung a little too far, a little too hard; perhaps they weren't aware of the fact they just aren’t built for something as blatantly provocative as this. It was immediately clear upon release that they had touched upon a perfect middle ground with Yankee, and while A Ghost is Born is in some ways the band’s most interesting album, it’s also tripped up by some poor decisions. Up until recently, “At Least That’s What You Said” was Wilco’s most anti-climatic opener, more interesting in concept than execution. Meanwhile, “Hell is Chrome” is so traditional that it actually manages to stand out, though more as something the band had long since mastered than as anything other than simply pleasant. 

On the other hand, “Company in My Back” is one of the most easily melodic tracks Tweedy’s ever penned, while at the other extreme is “Spiders (Kidsmoke),” probably the boldest and most successful statement the band has ever made. The fact that I respect A Ghost is Born more than I actively enjoy it is no small consolation – some records should wish for as much. All I know is that straight-forward records like Sky Blue Sky will be deleted from my hard drive long before I get sick of exploring the many contours of A Ghost is Born. This is a record that happens to occupy a unique place in my record collection: an album as subtly conventional as it is unapologetically provocative – one of the decade’s true anomalies.

Last Word:

Over four years later and A Ghost is Born, Wilco’s fifth and most unique studio effort, still carries with it the power to challenge and confound its listeners.

Review By:
Jordan Cronk, Music Editor

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