In a nutshell, Bored & Dangerous says: “A logical and satisfying step forward from Wilco (The Album).”
As the awesome documentary I Am Trying to Break Your Heart showed, Wilco was a band that never let their record label exert too much control. The entire narrative of that movie is them sticking to their guns and being dropped from their label because of an unwillingness to compromise their vision of what would become their major breakthrough, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. But even with what I assume was plenty of freedom, they did spend a lot of years making music on someone else’s dime. Until The Whole Love, the first Wilco record released on the band’s own label. So, what did that mean for the sounds of a long running, critically praise band with a fervent, faithful fanbase?
With Glenn Kotche’s clockwork drums ushering in some ominous, synth the lush, mysterious soundscape, Art of Almost is like no other Wilco song to have come before. But as soon as Jeff Tweedy’s unmistakable vulnerability comes in with the vocals, The Whole Love is immediately Wilco record. And the first five minutes in no way hint at the awesome, blistering rock that’s to come in the final two or three minutes, courtesy of Nels Cline and his scorching guitar work. (more…)