The general consensus where Chicago alt.rockers WILCO is concerned is that their previous album "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" was the one where they deliberately went all the way and shrugged off all the shackles of their Alt.Country/ Americana-laced sound, mostly due to the production skills of the influential Jim O'Rourke.
Your reviewer has a bit of a problem with that line of thinking. Sure, it was touched by the hand of Jim, it DID undoubtedly push Wilco's sound into deeper, previously uncharted waters and - hell, it was this writer's favourite album of 2002 - but personally it seems obvious that, at least since 1997's classic double album "Being There" (which, lest we forget, opened with the feedback-drenched sprawl of "Misunderstood") that Jeff Tweedy and co have been looking to give the sonic envelope a hefty shove. So that they should embrace a more experimental route shouldn't really give rise to shock.
In my humble opinion, the fact that both "YHF" and now "A Ghost Is Born" were birthed in emotionally difficult situations may be more relevant. "YHF" took what seemed an aeon to deliver as Wilco suffered from personnel putsches (not least the loss of mutli-instrumentalist Jay Bennett) and label changes, whereas this time "A Ghost..." comes on the back of Jeff Tweedy's stint in rehab owing to a problem with painkiller addiction.
Whatever, the results are again troubled, melancholic and veer from ultra tuneful to heavily discordant, sometimes within the space of a single song. Owing a heavy debt to early Neil Young, "At Least That's What You Said" isn't entirely successful as an opener, developing from a whispered piano ballad to Crazy Horse-style histrionics with too much of the 'experimental' guitar soloing Tweedy tried on the previous album's "I'm The Man Who Loves You."
The alt.rock textures make more sense as the album progresses, however, with tracks like "Muzzle Of Bees" - where a folksy, piano-based premise lets in keening feeback to great effect - and the downbeat, reflective double-whammy of "Wishful Thinking" and "Company In My Back". Both are fine examples of the resigned maturity that has crept into Tweedy's songwriting and both fit the new Wilco template like a glove. In a different way, "Spiders (Kidsmoke)" is equally progressive and challenging, though it has more in common with Can's "Mother Sky" than anything the likes of Ryan Adams have recorded. It's stunning, actually, with Glen Kotche's nervous heartbeat, Jaki Leibezeit-style drums setting up a sinewy ride that finally bursts into crunching stadiumtastic riffing towards the fade. It's over ten minutes long and proud of it.
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"A Ghost Is Born" is a little light on the poppier moments that tempered "Yankee..." at crucial moments.Indeed, only the snappy euphoria of "I'm A Wheel" really gets within touching distance of the previous album's deliriously brilliant "Heavy Metal Drummer", but there is a distinct advance in terms of the Beatloid-style melodies showcased on "Ashes Of American Flags" thanks to great new tunes like "Hell Is Chrome", "Hummingbird" and the tongue-in-cheek bounce of "Theologians."
You do zone out in places. "Less Than You Think" and "The Late Greats" forge a disappointing conclusion, with "Less Than You Think" presenting the obligatory ambient/noise conclusion the way "Poor Places" succumbed to Conar radio signals on "YHF" (yawn). However, Wilco also have great stuff like the sublime "Handshake Drugs" in reserve, which showcases perhaps Tweedy's most plaintive vocals to date. This tune ultimately lets O'Rourke's ambienta free rein, but melodically plays itself out first. Avant-pop with the emphasis on the latter.
Superficially, it would be easy to write "A Ghost Is Born" off as "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" part two and certainly there are similarities in approach. However, for all the textures and angles at work here, Jeff Tweedy is careful to mind the health of Wilco's pop heart as they continue to push onwards and upwards. "A Ghost Is Born" may have been a troubled conception, but it's a newborn blessed with spectral brilliance.
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