Wilco – Kicking Television: Live In Chicago Review


Link: Wilco

The Inside Pulse:

Nearly a year ago, I listed Wilco’s A Ghost is Born as one of my top ten albums for 2004 on the premise that there was a collection of really great songs underneath all of that shine and studio chicanery. This set proves that theory and more.

Amazingly, it does so despite the fact that front man Jeff Tweedy seems to occasionally be thinking of something else through the first seven songs and during the obligatory Mermaid Avenue interlude. 26 shouted iterations of the word “nothing” in “Misunderstood” to kick things off doesn’t seem get him involved (and frankly, I’ve seen that bit enough times that it doesn’t grab me either) — but by the time the pounding bridge of “At Least That’s What You Said” rolls around, he’s fully engaged and we’re on a ride.

This is what a live album should do. Sure it’s a release that catches the holiday buying season when there’s no fresh product to market, but it also recasts old songs and provides a better legacy for tunes that missed something on previous releases. “At Least That’s What You Said” feels confessional rather than defensive. “Via Chicago” is more biting. Even “Spiders (Kidsmoke)” trades the ghost for a soul. Elsewhere, this version of Wilco shows it is more than up to the challenge of making landmark songs like “Ashes of the American Flag” or “Shot in the Arm” sound as fresh as ever.

It’s a “check in” too, and a welcome one at that. It restores faith that there is life in this band yet. An album falling short of sales and critical expectations followed by a live album might be seen as the beginning of the end in some cases. But the new song, “Kicking Television,” and the cover, “Comment” (from — are you kidding me? — Charles White and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band), are more than worthy additions to the Wilco corpus. They show that this band is ready to have fun and show a softer side, too. The future’s looking pretty bright for Wilco fans.

Positives:

A more honest reading of songs that deserved better than their treatment on previous studio albums

A great band that sounds like they’ve been playing together forever

Fantastic sound for a live show — the crowd noise is just present enough to remind you of the context without interfering with the music

Negatives: (A.K.A.: nits)

Over the course of three days, they couldn’t find one Mermaid Avenue track Tweedy sounds like he cares for, and yet they felt the need to include two here

Nothing from AM (don’t even mention Uncle Tupelo) and one track from Being There — the aforementioned “Misunderstood,” which has lost much of it’s fire. There is room in this set for a sparse “Too Far Apart,” for example, but a point is being made: if you haven’t moved on, you’re out of luck. That’s fine, but my question is why include any Mermaid Avenue if the goal is to stop playing stuff that’s grown wearisome?

I’ll say it. The band is better than the master on several tracks (and thank god for that). Some judicious editing and perspective regarding some sacred cows would have helped this become the truly spellbinding, weakness-free single disk that it could have been.

Cross-breed:
The Name of This Band is Talking Heads with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Reason to buy:
Live albums tend to be bought by fans and those looking for an overview where a hits collection is missing. Both sets should be more than happy with this offering, and others should consider a purchase as well.