Quietly lurking in the shadows of The Beatles' "Revolver" box is a massive, multi-disc set commemorating the 20th-sorta anniversary of Wilco's "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot." I think it's fair to say that "YHF" was the record where some Wilco fans got off the bus and new ones got on.
I don't want to go into the troubled history of this record. Many of you already know the issues surrounding its release, but if you don't, it's the usual record label crap and inner band feuding. When it did get released, just one week after 9/11, it was misunderstood by some as a response to the attacks, with songs like "War On War," "Ashes Of American Flags," and "Jesus, Etc." and a cover depicting the two towers of Marina City in Chicago. It apparently didn't matter to those people that the record was written and recorded before the attacks.
"YHF" came after "Summerteeth," the album that sealed the deal for me as a Wilco fan. It remains my favorite Wilco album, and one of my favorite albums of the last 25 years. But, "YHF" is right there up its ass. It is a masterpiece in its own right, even if my initial reaction to it was unfavorable. This is a demanding record that deserves your attention, and attention, along with patience, were non-existent in my life in September of 2001.
This box, in addition to the album proper (2 LPs) and a full live set from 2002 (3LPs), offers almost 60 unreleased tracks in the form of alternates, b-sides, demos and mixes, and they are all brilliantly sequenced over either 4 CDs or 6 LPs.
Each of the LPs has a subtitle and no LP has more than 10 tracks, making the listening experience close to having six new Wilco records.
I was thrilled to find out as I listened to each LP that these outtakes were not throwaways. Some of the unused mixes are actually better than what was released. The same can be said for the tracks that didn't make the final cut. At no time did I feel bored. Each version of "I'm The Man Who Loves You" or "Heavy Metal Drummer" played fresh. I give credit to the minds who decided not to place all of the versions of one song one after the other. You can pull out any one of the 6 LPs and listen to "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" six different ways.
If you are streaming or if you opted for the more affordable CD version, I suggest creating playlists based on the LP configurations for maximum listening pleasure.
This box seems overwhelming from the outside, but once inside, it's just about perfect.
4 comments:
I've been enjoying this collection since it came out. I haven't gotten to the live stuff yet since there is already plenty of live Wilco material available and I've seen them several times, including on the YHF tour. The different versions are a lot of fun and having it sequenced as alternative albums instead of a series of mistakes leading to final versions is a real treat.
- Paul in DK
I've been waiting years for them to finally officially release Venus Stop The Train, an outtake of utterly sublime beauty in my opinion, and now it's finally here.
The whole box is phenomenal.
Thanks for the review and advice on how to tackle it. Happily, the streaming version on Amazon includes the subtitles for the bonus tracks. Unhappily, they don't always seem to be in order. Argh! More work just to hear it.
Same preference with Summer Teeth (at times, it sounds like a late 60s Beach Boys' album). Looks like I'll have 2 big ticket items on my holiday wish list between YHF and Revolver boxed sets.
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