Customer Reviews

Down with Wilco [Vinyl]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is my first experience with Minus 5, and I'm not exactly sure what I came expecting. I was attracted to it by a description I'd read elsewhere of this CD's "lush, orchestral country-rock tunes." There's certainly a lush sound here, and a lot of orchestral touches, but I don't hear so much of the country-rock (or alt-country, etc.) sound as echoes of the Sgt. Pepper-era Beatles sound. Anyone who liked Wilco's "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" will certainly feel right at home with this CD. Scott McCaughey does most of the vocals, with Jeff Tweedy doing the honors on "The Family Gardener." All of the tunes are pleasant and very listenable, but overall the entire set is much more subdued and low-key where I had hopes of more up tempo jangly guitar. As is, "Down With Wilco" is a pleasant surprise. Not what I expected, but a good performace in it's own right.

It seems that if a band today sounds like another band they can be dismissed. This is a philosophy for elitists and shut-ins! This album is good. Sure they are emulating the Beatles and the Beach Boys, but it is quite obvious as the lyrics are at times and self-mocking in acknowledgment. This album has a lot more than borrowed styles. The melodies are catchy, along with the lyrics. Despite its almost simultaneous recording with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Down With Wilco is quite different. Some of the songs recall each other, but that is because they are very good songs.
What is fun about this album is that at times it is a bit ridiculous but quite catchy. Its quirkiness is resilient and keeps you coming back for more to grasp and relive those awkward moments. This album good, buy now..

This album didn't give it all up on the first few listens. I got if about six months ago (on the same day I bought Wilco's A Ghost is Born, which I am pretty disapointed in overall), and as often happens with some of my favorite albums, it wasn't until later that I popped it in and couldn't take it out of the CD player. Just listening to it once or twice is not enough to "get it." Fun lyrics trapped in sad songs, and sad lyrics wrapped in poppy gems.

Not for those that want an easy listen.

Using "Pet Sounds" and "Summerteeth" as sonic templates, this latest assemblage of the Minus 5 has constructed a monument to baroque pop. Every melody is adorned with all the bells and whistles a modern recording studio could offer. And really, I do mean bells and whistles, as well as tambourines, shakers, Moroccan horns, kalimbas, marimbas, and crotales (no idea what that last thingee is, but it's right there in the liner notes). In short, "Down With Wilco" is 13 melancholy pop songs hung with enough audio ornaments to either rule your world or leave you cold, depending entirely on your predisposition towards ostentation. It helps that Minus 5 mainmen Scott McCaughey (the Young Fresh Fellows) and Peter Buck (REM) have surrounded themselves with "A" level talent like Ken Stringfellow (the Posies), Sean O'Hagan (the High Llamas), and the members of Wilco (Wilc... er, nevermind), and if that doesn't account for a "supergroup" then I'll torch my Blind Faith dog collar.

To be honest,i don't know anything about minus 5,so i bought this album on the back of wilco's contribution. Wilco fans will love it, it has the poppy feel of summerteeth mixed with their 'new sound' of YHF. Jeff Tweedy only gets lead vocals on one track, 'the family gardiner' but it definitely feels like a wilco album.Plus you get the added bonus of scott mccaughey and co. taking up where pink floyd and the beatles left off. so the bottom line is,if you're a wilco fan buy it

Being a longtime fan of Wilco, but not knowing much about the Minus 5, I was intrigued with this release by the combined band members. The album opener, "Days of Wine and Booze" is simple and melodic. It is reminiscent of Pink Floyd's "On the Turning Away". The album continues with power pop gems that feel influenced by a wide range of artists such as The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Byrds, and Harry Chapin (yes, Harry Chapin). With Minus 5's Scott McCaughey on vocals (with additional vocal help from Wilco's Jeff Tweedy) the supergroup covers a wide range of musical styles. From the spacey Grandaddy-ish gems "What I Don't Believe" and "View from Below" to possibly one of the greatest 60's pop gems ever recorded, "Life Left Him There" (albeit 35 years late), this album does not disappoint. Only several less than spectacular tunes keep this one from five stars.

Think Beatles period Revolver, Kinks period Village Green Preservation Society and any period of XTC, throw them all together and you've got the new Minus 5 CD. Borrowing heavely from these past influences and coming up with something completely original and inovative, Scott McCaughey along with Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Ken Stringfellow,(Wilco) and Sean O'Hagan (High Lamas) have struck gold. Expansive, melodicly explosive and ever so seductive, "Down With Wilco" will be a disc you'll return to for that "Fix" of nostalgically induced brillance. Highly Recommended!

I was attracted to this album by a love of all things Jeff Tweedy, and I wasn't at all disappointed.

On my first listen I was a little upset by the lack of Jeff Tweedy vocals, but I have found Scott's voice to be strangely soothing after a while.

Try "Retrieval of You" and "The Town That Lost Its Groove Supply" along with "What I Don't Believe" for a smattering of the styles on this album.

Don't look for a Wilco record here, look for an enjoyable pop record that is so far the best release of 2003 (with the Wrens' Meadowlands a close second).

I like Wilco, and I enjoyed this record. Plus the cool red-colord plastic casing will blow your mind for about 5 seconds.

Like a few other reviewers, I didn't know much about the Minus 5 and bought this for the very enticing title, Down With Wilco. Coming off the heels of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, I (like many other Wilco fans I'm sure) prayed this would be YHF part two. I was disappointed in this respect. As much as I'd like to draw comparisons to Wilco's masterpiece, there aren't many similar traits at all. That description probably makes this album sound like a poor recording, but it is actually a very good record. I strongly agree with the reviewer popkulcher's statement that "The album neither seeks nor achieves greatness, but for light, entertaining pop-rock, you can't ask for much more." And enternaining it is indeed. I never realized how clever a songwriter Scott McCaughey was. His nasaly puns can grow a little annoying like on the waxy dance song The Town That Lost Its Groove Supply, but at other times, like on Where Will You Go? and That's Not The Way That It's Done, his sweeping, 70s inspired rock songs are commendable. I wish Jeff got a few more songs as lead vocalist, (he only sings solo on The Family Gardener) but I again reminded myself that this wasn't Wilco, and with that different perspective, the music all sounds fine. My favorite song is The Old Plantation. It sounds a little bit like Pulp in the beginning, then the music rolls into a stunning, McCartneyesque refrain. If you're in the mood for a strange, diverse, melodic album with a myriad of standout tracks, pick up Down With Wilco.

From an old guy whose seen alot of crap pass by. Great album, turned my UCSD student daughter on to this record--she loves it too. Nit-pick all you want, but in a world of Britany and American Idol, something like this album is rare and precious indeed. Keep yourselves together, the groove supply has already run out. When you all are older, you'll look back wondering why you couldn't appreciate what you had when you had it.