Wilco, Forever In Competition With Its Own Best Work, Tries Shifting The Stakes
The new Ode to Joy couldn't sound less like the ambitious clatter of Wilco's classic era — but Jeff Tweedy and crew sound at home in its skeletal frame, driven by something cozier than ambition.
was announced as 's 11th album, but it really depends who you ask. Factor in the two records the band recorded with , or the three albums that songwriter has released under his own name, or a steady stream of official live recordings, and the numbers start to matter less. If you've followed Wilco all the way to 2019, you're likely one of two main types of listener: the casual fan who dips in and out but mostly focuses on the breakthrough trilogy of classics (, , ), or the diehard who keeps up with everything in a catalog that keeps sprawling outwards. And if you hate this band, you probably don't make
