Editor’s Note: From Albumism’s inception back in 2016, we’ve remained unabashedly and unequivocally passionate about our mission of celebrating the world's love affairs with albums past, present and future.
But while our devotion to the album as an art form has remained steadfast, as evidenced by our deepening repository of individual album tributes and reviews, we’ve admittedly seldom taken the opportunity to explicitly articulate our reverence for the virtues of artists’ complete album repertoires as a whole.
Hence why we’ve decided to showcase what we believe to be the most dynamic discographies of all time in this recurring series. In doing so, we hope to better understand the broader creative context within which our most beloved individual albums exist, while acknowledging the full breadth of their creators’ artistry, career arcs, and overall contributions to the ever-evolving musical landscape.
We hope you enjoy this series and be sure to check here periodically for the latest installments.
WILCO
Studio Albums: A.M. (1995) | Being There (1996) | Mermaid Avenue (with Billy Bragg) (1998) | Summerteeth (1999) | Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (with Billy Bragg) (2000) | Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2001) | A Ghost Is Born (2004) | Sky Blue Sky (2007) | Wilco (The Album) (2009) | The Whole Love (2011) | Star Wars (2015) | Schmilco (2016) | Ode to Joy (2019) | Readers’ Poll Results
Over the last twenty-five years, Wilco have gone through a lot of changes. Their debut record, A.M. (1995), is a pillar of alternative-country. Later they would become indie rock giants with staple records like Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2001) and A Ghost Is Born (2004). Their latest, 2019’s Ode to Joy, is a folk protest record.
Wilco has covered a lot of terrain, remodeling their sound again and again, yet still sounding like themselves. The band’s personnel changed a lot in the beginning but has stayed the same since 2005: Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Glen Kotche, Mikael Jorgensen, Nels Cline, and Pat Sansone.
After A.M. came Being There (1996) and Summerteeth (1999). This first trio of LPs represent the first phase of Wilco, when their twang wasn’t hiding in the back. They are alt-country at its finest. (Tweedy’s previous band, Uncle Tupelo with Jay Farrar, is a forefather of the genre. Farrar went on to start alternative-country mainstay Son Volt.)
But with the release of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in 2001, the band’s legacy immediately shifted in more ways than one. After a dispute with their label, Wilco switched distributors, gained the rights to their record, and streamed it online from their website directly to fans seven months before its release—which at the time was unprecedented. But it ended up being the right move. Experimenting with sound while also pushing themselves into pop, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot put Wilco on college stations everywhere and they slowly started to trickle into the mainstream. It is beloved by Wilco fans, and if you don’t know Wilco, this is the Wilco LP you know. It’s why it gets its own paragraph.
Foxtrot’s follow up, A Ghost Is Born from 2004, pushed the band into further pop and commercial success, winning them a GRAMMY Award for Best Alternative Music Album. When jazz and experimental guitarist Nels Cline joined the band in 2004, Wilco’s records started to jam. Hear it on 2007’s Sky Blue Sky. Fast forward to 2011’s The Whole Love where they went back to long tape loops and swelling percussion with two of their longest songs in almost a decade (see: album opener “Art of Almost” and closer "One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley's Boyfriend)"). 2015 and 2016 brought sister records Star Wars and Schmilco, the first an electric romp and the second an acoustic LP, reminding fans just exactly what Wilco can do.
Wilco’s catalog is important to more than one genre and has inspired indie and folk (and experimental and pop) bands for over two decades. Jeff Tweedy’s voice and songwriting is singular. Whether or not you’re a regular listener, you can spot it in a crowd even though his songs are mostly about loneliness and laying down in the grass to watch the clouds go by.
If you can’t tell, Wilco is near and dear to me. It’s hard for me to pick just three favorite records; officially they’re all the best and my favorite, but the first ones I reach for are Being There, A Ghost Is Born, and, lately, Sky Blue Sky. Try one that’s new to you. I’m sure you’ll find something you like.
Sarah’s 3 Favorite Wilco Albums of All Time:
1. Being There (1996)
2. A Ghost Is Born (2004)
3. Sky Blue Sky (2007)
VISIT Wilco’s Official Store
LISTEN & WATCH: