Roygbiv

A.M (Reprise; 1995)

Band Members
* Jeff Tweedy – acoustic guitar, guitar, composer, vocals
* John Stirratt – organ, acoustic guitar, bass, piano, bass guitar, vocals
* Ken Coomer – drums, vocals
* Max Johnston – banjo, dobro, fiddle, mandolin, vocals
* Brian Henneman – guitar, vocals
* Daniel Corrigan – bass, vocals, background vocals
* Lloyd Maines – pedal steel, steel guitar

Listen to the album here (Wilco's official website).

Wilco had not yet shaken off Uncle Tupelo’s alternative country sound when they released A.M in 1995, shortly after the previous band’s break-up. Not much of a break-up, however, for most of the band members of Uncle Tupelo stuck around to create Wilco. Regardless, this is their transition record.

As a Wilco album, it is a stepping-stone and hardly the shape of things to come for the band musically, yet lyrically it is very similar to everything else Tweedy will write. Someone once noted in Wilco’s last.fm shout box that A.M is their Pablo Honey (Radiohead), and they couldn’t be more right. They will soon sound more refined and ambitious on Being There, but more on that later. A.M is arguably their most accessible album, starting pop rocky and catchy with “I Must Be High” and following strong with “Casino Queen.” Soon after that the listener will notice a pattern. Each song is its own contained entity, none really contributing to a sensible flow. Thematically the songs don’t really change, making each succeeding song sound like old ground, although things get slightly mixed up with “That’s Not The Issue,” a banjo driven song. It isn’t a grower like Being There and a Ghost Is Born is, but if there is one Wilco album to listen to during a party, it would be this one.

Although A.M is by no means a bad album, when compared to everything else that comes later it is a relatively unimpressive one. It's just alternative country.

NEXT: Being There, latest by next week.

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