Wilco's Sky Blue Sky Is An American Classic

The most divisive art often turns out to be the art that forces those consuming it to use their imagination - if you want proof, just take a moment to examine the public reaction to HBO's The Sopranos. Weeks after David Chase ended the Sopranos saga with nothing but a cut to black, people are still debating about what ultimately became of Tony Soprano.

Wilco's magnificent sixth studio album, Sky Blue Sky, is not exactly the sonic equivalent to a cut to black, but it has gotten longtime fans of the band debating its merits in a similar fashion. In contrast to the band's prior two albums, A Ghost Is Born and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, founder/songwriter/vocalist Jeff Tweedy has settled into a more peaceful, organic groove this latest batch of songs. Nowhere to be found are the freakish loops and white noise found on Yankee, nor the schizophrenic mood swings and noodling that so often cluttered Ghost. In their place are a soothing, smooth sound, punctuated in nearly every track by peaks and valleys of two-guitar interplay by Tweedy and the very talented multi-instrumentalist Nels Cline.

In counterpoint to the album's cohesiveness, and often soothing sonic tones, Tweedy's poetic lyrics create nearly all of the tension out of which the guitar segues are launched. Where Tweedy's lines in the past were all direct and self-assured (even the most depressing among them), Sky Blue Sky is filled with uncertainty. "Maybe you still love me/maybe you don't/either you will/or you won't", he sings on "Either Way", a building tone-setter of an opening track that questions the devotion of a loved one. The uncertainty continues on "You Are My Face", perhaps the album's strongest track. "I have no idea how this happens," Tweedy rasps as the song launches into a McCartney-esque piano shuffle, "all of my maps have been overthrown/happenstance has changed my plans".

Aside from the sea change in lyrical tone, what really stands out about Tweedy's performance on Sky is the quality of his voice. Soothing in all the right places ("Impossible Germany", "What Light"), raspy and even strained in others (the impeccable "Side With The Seeds"), and sometimes all at the same time ("Hate It Here", "Shake it Off").

But even though, as is always the case with Wilco's albums, the songs on Sky Blue Sky center around its beloved founder, perhaps the most striking thing about the album is the prominent part that the band plays. This is not an album filled with obvious overdubs and a "Jeff Tweedy & The Wilcos" feel - this album rings with the vitality that only comes from a band playing live music in the same room, face to face, inspiring and pushing each other to create and explore. Sonic exploration here rivals that of even Wilco's acclaimed live shows, with multi-instrumentalist Nels Cline providing a mix of kickass lead guitar, pedal steel, with Tweedy and the band's other multi-instrumentalist, Pat Sansone, often providing guitar interplay that would make most jam bands envious.

As a whole, all of these things add up to make Sky Blue Sky an American classic, and easily Wilco's best, most cohesive effort since 1999's Summerteeth.

Happy Fourth Of July.