Few things can weigh as heavily on a band as expectations. This is something that Wilco undoubtedly understands all too well. Thanks to the overwhelming critical success of 2002's "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot," the band is now in the unenviable position of having to consistently live up to its own genius.
It is into this difficult environment that Wilco releases "A Ghost is Born" -- an album that represents a significant departure from its predecessor in both style and substance. "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" was built on tight, catchy songs surrounded by a rich background of deftly orchestrated ambient noise. The album was at turns beautiful and odd, but always engaging.
"A Ghost is Born" finds Wilco's frontman and creative force, Jeff Tweedy, in a more experimental and less listener-friendly phase. The band's sound is far less polished and many of the songs lack the careful, consistent craftsmanship that defined "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot." In many ways, "A Ghost is Born" is an album that feels incomplete.
The album's deficiencies begin to manifest themselves even before the end of the first track, "At Last That's What You Said." The song begins promisingly enough with Tweedy singing softly over an effective piano line, but before long it morphs into a protracted and uninteresting guitar break -- a pattern that is repeated several times throughout the album. Good songs end abruptly and are transformed into half-hearted instrumentals that lack any meaningful energy.
But nowhere is this problem made more evident than on the album's third track, "Spiders (Kidsmoke.)" The song is built on an engaging groove that flows underneath an unassuming but well-paired verse. Unfortunately, interspersed among these verses is a series of eccentric guitar solos and flourishes that tend to exasperate more than entertain.
However, despite some significant missteps, the album is not without its share of well-made songs. The album begins to hit its stride with "Muzzle of Bees," a beautifully understated song driven by a finger-picked guitar. The piece is tighter and less indulgent than the preceding tracks and it begins the string of solid songs that compose the redemptive middle of "A Ghost is Born."
The next track, "Hummingbird," possesses an Abbey Road-era, Beatlesesque sound, and features an effective viola part courtesy of Karen Waltuch. Both musically and lyrically, the song is perhaps the strongest on the album. "Hummingbird" is one of the few times on "A Ghost is Born" that Tweedy fully demonstrates the depth of his abilities as a songwriter.
After several more enjoyable tracks such as "Handshake Drugs" and "Company in My Back," the listener is treated to "I'm a Wheel," the most energetic song on the album. The song marks the first time on "A Ghost is Born" that Wilco seems to be playing with an actual sense of enjoyment. Even with lyrics like: "Once in Germany someone said nein; one two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine," that border the nonsensical, they are almost besides the point in a song with such visceral musical energy. The track possesses a liveliness that is refreshing for an album so dominated by serious songs.
However the momentum built by the middle section of "A Ghost is Born" is quickly squandered by the ludicrously excessive second half of "Less Than You Think." The song itself is beautiful and solemn -- a credit to Tweedy's ability to capture emotion -- but after it ends there still remains twelve minutes of droning feedback. Many a musician has crafted an indulgent outro, but few test the patience so brazenly.
The album then fades out with the forgettable "The Late Greats," a song that serves as a dissatisfying end to a maddeningly inconsistent album.
The brilliance of "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" set the bar high for Wilco, and a work as uneven as "A Ghost is Born" cannot help but fail to meet these lofty expectations.
Were this album made by a lesser band, its few strong tracks might allow it to be considered a promising step in the direction of musical maturity, rather than a passable effort from an exceptional musician. "A Ghost is Born" is like 'C' work from an 'A' student -- it isn't so much bad as it is just disappointing.
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