Being There (CD)

Wilco return with an extraordinary new double album (available on 2 CDs or one cassette for the price of a single album) that represents an explosion for a band who've already earned raves for their roughed-up, rootsy sound. Featuring 19 new tracks from songwriter Jeff Tweedy, Being There is the sound of a great American band expanding it's horizons brilliantly. quot;Mondayquot; is slated to be the first single; the band will be headlining on their own as well as playing some dates with Neil Young.

While Wilco's debut, A.M., spread its wings in an expectedly country-rock fashion, their sophomore effort, Being There, is the group's great leap forward, a masterful, wildly eclectic collection shot through with ambitions and ideas. Although a few songs remain rooted in their signature sound, here Jeff Tweedy and band are as fascinated by their music's possibilities as its origins, and they push the songs which make up this sprawling two-disc set down consistently surprising paths and byways. For starters, the opening "Misunderstood" is majestic psychedelia, built on studio trickery and string flourishes, while "I Got You (At the End of the Century)" is virtual power pop, right down to the handclaps. The lovely "Someone Else's Song" borrows heavily from the Beatles' "Norwegian Wood," while the R&B-influenced boogie of "Monday" wouldn't sound at all out of place on Exile on Main Street; and on and on. The remarkable thing is how fresh all of these seeming cliches sound when reimagined with so much love and conviction; even the most traditional songs take unexpected twists and turns, never once sinking into mere imitation. "Music is my savior/I was named by rock & roll/I was maimed by rock & roll/I was tamed by rock & roll/I got my name from rock & roll," Tweedy sings on "Sunken Treasure," the opener of the second disc, and throughout the course of these 19 songs he explores rock as though he were tracing his family genealogy, fervently seeking to discover not only where he came from but also where he's going. With Being There, he finds what he's been looking for. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Performer	Wilco
Music genre	Rock
Music subgenre	Rock
Music release type	Release
Media format	CD
Original release date	1996
Edition	Standard
Language	English
Number of tracks	19
Has parental advisory label	N
Number of discs	2
Series title	Wilco - Being There [CD]
Track listing	Misunderstood,Far Far Away,Monday,Outtasite (Outta Mind),Forget the Flowers,Red-Eyed and Blue,I Got You (At the End of the Century),What's the World Got in Store,Hotel Arizona,Say You Miss Me,Sunken Treasure,Someday Soon,Outta Mind (Outta Sight),Someone Else's Song,Kingpin,(Was I) in Your Dreams,Why Would You Wanna Live,The Lonely 1,Dreamer in My Dreams
Record label	Reprise / WEA
Songwriter	Jeff Tweedy
Track name	Monday
Duration	73 min
Music media format	CD
Is edited	N
Is enhanced	N