Customer Reviews

A.M.

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I absolutely love this record. I am a relatively new fan to Wilco (about a year and a half), but they have quickly become my favorite band. My first Wilco record was Summerteeth (which was the best record of 1999) and from there I've worked my way backward chronologically (in fact I now have every record by Wilco, and Uncle Tupelo). Jeff Tweedy's ear for a pop hook was at it's peak with this album. It's an album in the truest sense... no filler, no need to skip a single song, and every tune will have you singing along so that you'll wonder how you've lived without this music in your life until now. Wilco is a band that you don't merely like, but love. I hope you've got some extra cash laying around because once you buy this record you'll be hooked and have to have all of them. Fans of Bob Dylan (especially the basement tapes, Blonde on Blonde, etc), The Band, the Beatles, Neil Young, Mercury Rev, Elliot Smith, etc. will love this record.

Being a band like Wilco has got to be hard. Every album is a step forward, revealing something new about the musicians, both as musicians and as human beings, and displaying a new depth and lyricism that builds on their previous work and is absent from so much contemporary music on the radio and on TV. Unfortunately, it is for this reason that 'A.M.' is to many Wilco fans what 'Pablo Honey' is to many Radiohead fans: a debut album, worth owning but not their best (and so rarely listened to).

Despite 'A.M.' being a debut record, there is nothing really amateurish about it. The songs are solid, well-written pieces, performed with energy and well recorded. What changes with each album is the way Wilco approaches the songs: how can the music change? How can the music be recorded to add meaning to the lyrics? The straightforward nature of this album is not something to be ashamed of. It takes a little time for some newer Wilco fans to open up to the more obvious country stylings of 'A.M.' (myself included...it took me a good two years to finally appreciate Wilco's debut), but once one does, there is a great bunch of songs to be heard. "Should've Been In Love" and "Dash 7" are probably the emotional cornerstones and I consider them to be the strongest songs on the album. To be honest, the weakest song on the album isn't even a Jeff Tweedy song. "It's Just That Simple" is written and sung by John Stirratt. It isn't a bad song, it just has trouble standing next to the high caliber songwriting of Tweedy.

All in all, this is a very strong album. I urge newer Wilco fans that haven't heard it or haven't really listened to 'A.M.' to give it a chance; let it grow on you. It may not have the subjective flare of 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot' or the subtle silences of 'A ghost is born', but it is a Wilco album, with the same great songwriting and the same great love of music that has been with the band from the start.

I like records that let you know they mean business right away - and A.M. definitely does that. From the minute you put it on, it's like you've discovered a favorite record you've had buried for years in the back of your closet - all the tunes are catchy, all the words make a quirky kind of sense, and it's just plain great to listen to.

I love this record, not only because of the infectious quality of the music, but the lyrics are so great you'll be humming them to yourself later, eager to hear them again. Shouldn't Be Ashamed, Box Full of Letters, and I Must Be High are all really great, but my favorite is Passenger Side - a plaintive paean to losing your license and having to be carted around (I've got a court date coming this June/ I'll be driving soon/ Passenger side/ I don't like riding on the passenger side.") The songs are deceptive in their simplicity, played by a band that can really play their instruments well. Jeff Tweedy's voice may take some people a while to get used to, but he's got a great, vulnerable quality and he can really write a great song.

I gave it four stars because Summerteeth is supposed to be their best album, and the last song kind of lets the album taper off. But if you like REM (even as late as Out Of Time) you'll really like Wilco, and A.M. is a great record to get to know your new favorite band.

A lot of people love either SON VOLT or WILCO and hate the other. I can't understand it, personally. They are both necessities in your music collection. Buy "A.M." and set it next to "Trace," Son Volt's debut. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

While "Trace" is more sober and serious, "A.M." prefers a bit more tounge-in-cheekiness. Tweedy taunts hard-luck gamblers in "Casino Queen" -- "I split my paycheck/ With my wife that I just met/ She's lookin' like a wreck," he shouts. And the lamentations of the drunk in "Passenger Side," is laugh-out-loud funny -- "You're gonna make me spill my beer/ If you don't learn how to steer."

But Tweedy knows how to be both silly and inspiring. Songs like "Box Full of Letters" and "Pick Up The Change" will linger in your mind long after they're over. They're both catchy and thought-provoking. The line that really sticks with me is "I just can't find the time to write my mind the way I want it to read." Get this album, and you'll find plenty of lyrics and hooks that speak to you, too.

Wilco is one of the two bands to rise from the ashes of Uncle Tupelo, the band that created the so-called "Insurgent Country" genre. The second of these two is Son Volt. This album was not received very well by the music press as it was released at about the same time as Son Volt's debut which was crically acclaimed. The comparison of these two albums is somewhat unfair as they are stylistically very different. Wilco is led by Jeff Tweedy, the member of Uncle Tupelo who tended toward catchy Roots Rock songs as opposed to Jay Farrar (now in Son Volt) who tends much more toward traditional country. A.M. is immediately listenable and struck me initially as something that I would tire of - this initial reaction has not held up - I still love this album each and every time I listen to it. It has almost direct follow on from "Anodyne", Uncle Tupelo's final album, with catchy songs like Box Full of Letters and Shouldn't be Ashamed. Yet there is depth provided by moody, soulful songs like Dash 7 and I Thought I Held You. Jeff Tweedy's trademark sense of humor is as strong as ever in Passenger Side and I Must Be High. In short, if you loved "Anodyne" by Uncle Tupelo, in particular these songs: Acuff-Rose, The Long Run, New Madrid, We've Been Had and No Sense in Lovin - then you will LOVE this album. But even if you prefer the style of Jay Farrar and Son Volt, this album is worth its price as the natural successor to the Uncle Tupelo era.

When I first bought this album I listened to "I Must Be High", "Box Full" and "Casino Queen" most of the time. After awhile I decided to sit down and listen to the whole thing again and see what I thougt. I couldn't believe what I had missed out on. While the first three songs are nice pop rock songs - the rest of the album really covers a wide variety of sounds. "Blue Eyed Soul" is one of Wilco's best songs. Also John's twangy vocals on "Its Just That Simple" really capture the country side of Wilco at the time. It would be nice to know how this record would've been different had Bennet been in the band at the time, but the way it is is good enough. I think that this album is often overlooked as Wilco's trying to be UT record, but it isn't hard to imagine any of these songs being on Wilco's later records. If you enjoy hearfelt songs that come from a variety of angles musically you should consider this album.

In 1995; music was needing a savior band. After the death of grunge; us; the music fans were needing a true band to carry the songwriting torch. Wilco came up to the plate and hit a home run.

Born from the defunct Alt-Country pioneering band; Uncle Tupelo, Wilco came out with a debut every bit as raw and edgy as The Rolling Stones early recordings; and arguably better. Jeff Tweedy's songwriting on this record is flawless and heartfelt. From the upbeat; 'Casino Queen', to the mellow; 'Dash 7', the music arrangments and songwriting seem flawless; but still sound edgy and cool.

A beautiful mind captivating record. This is what good; no great music sounds like. The record has a poise to it and still this youthful energy of a band that's just coming to terms with starting over and making a muture, elegant yet gritty debut album. Thisband rocks more than people give them credit for; and this record shows off that rock bambast.

Someday, when you've got a long drive ahead of you, and a car with a CD player, get yourself a copy of every one of Wilco's albums, and play them all back to back, listening intently. Start with "A.M.," go to "Being There," "Summer Teeth," Yankee Hotel Foxtrot," "A Ghost is Born," and the upcoming live album.
Notice, as you listen, this band's amazing evolution. No band since Radiohead has shown such an amazing ability to completely outdo itself and evolve with every album. No band has stayed so completely great no matter what its sound. Today, the band is an experimental college-noise-rock guitar band--and they're great at it--but before that, back in 1995, they were the alt.country kings of "A.M."
Yee-haw!
These songs are filled with banjo, and fiddle, and guitar by Brian Henneman from The Bottlerockets. The songs are melancholy and happy, rocking and peaceful, feel-good and feel-strongly, and always, always high quality. This album picks up where Uncle Tupelo's "Anodyne" left off, and bridges the gap from that to Wilco's rowdier, more experimental "Being There." It's a classic, no matter what Greg Kot says in his book. It also features a great song, "It's Just that Simple," written and sung by John Stirratt, the band's bassist, something that's never happened on any Wilco album since. The whole album's got great lyrics (sample: "You've got a / blue-eyed soul / and if you don't / let it show."), and its last three tracks hint strongly at the weirder, less conventional direction the band was about to take.
I remember when Wilco was touring for this album, they came to Albuquerque and played an over-twenty-one venue, when I was only sixteen. I sat on my car in the bar's parking lot, near their shabby-looking tour bus and listened to the muffled notes of these songs trying to escape the dingy walls of the El Rey Theater. I loved these songs back then, when I had no idea of what this band was capable of, and I love them still, even though I've heard them take a very different direction.
Every song is good and thoughtful, and the entire album is worth whatever you have to pay for it.

Back in 1995, it must have been an exciting time to be a fan of Uncle Tupelo, waiting with baited breath for the debut albums by Jay Farrar's Son Volt and Jeff Tweedy's Wilco to be released, then spending countless hours debating their relative merits once they arrived. I didn't know Uncle Tupelo from my Uncle Karl at the time, but now 10 years later, I am finally ready to join the debate myself. As much as I have come to love Wilco (I currently consider them my favorite band), there is no doubt in my mind that Trace is superior to A.M. With A.M., Tweedy seemed content to step out of Farrar's shadow and offer evidence that he could write and perform several of the finest 1970s-style AOR songs of the 1990s. The stylistic leaps and consistency that would culminate in the landmark Yankee Hotel Foxtrot 6 years later would have to wait. Farrar never had plans to change his style or take his music in strange new directions. Instead, he grabbed the opportunity provided by the formation of Son Volt to perfect his sound and release Trace, a country-rock album of relentless, brooding purity that ranks among the 10 best CDs I have ever heard.

Though it fails to approach Trace's exalted status and is not even close to Wilco's best, A.M. still manages to inspire. It is the simplest and most straightforward of Wilco's albums, yet includes several of the band's most beautiful songs. If Jeff Tweedy's lament that `it shouldn't have to be this hard' doesn't touch you during `Shouldn't Be Ashamed', you are an emotionless automaton. "Shouldn't Be Ashamed" is one of those rare songs that manages to convey a universal human emotion that transcends space and time so that 20 years from now it will still sound just as powerful as it does today. Why `Shouldn't Be Ashamed', or the scorching `Casino Queen' for that matter, isn't a staple of classic rock radio is a mystery to me. Speaking of `Casino Queen', it has one of the filthiest guitar riffs I've heard this side of `Honky Tonk Women'. And then there's `Box Full of Letters', a classic breakup song rendered perfectly through Tweedy's heartfelt vocals. Even multi-instrumentalist John Stirratt takes a turn on lead vocals with the simple, yet affecting `It's Just That Simple', providing another of the album's highlights. Several additional songs, including `Should've Been In Love', `Pick Up the Change', and `Passenger Side', are also pleasant inclusions. Unfortunately, A.M. begins to lose steam towards the end with the competent but dreary tracks "Dash 7" and "Blue Eyed Soul".

Fans familiar with only Yankee Hotel Foxtrot or A Ghost is Born may be disappointed by the "traditional" sound of A.M., but if you enjoy other early Wilco offerings like Being There and the Mermaid Avenue albums, you will find A.M. to be a welcome addition to your collection. Clearly, Farrar was still running laps around Tweedy back in 1995, though his preeminence would be challenged only 1 year later when Tweedy and Co. fired back with the landmark double-disc Being There. But, that's a story for another day.

my favorite wilco album. the lyrics on this album are great. i feel like there music has grown over the years, but the lyrics are never as good as this album. i have all their work and really enjoy it, but there is not a bad song on this one.