Product Description

When Uncle Tupelo, the band that defined '90s alt-country, split into two camps, Jay Farrar's Son Volt took the relatively arty road while Jeff Tweedy upped the rock & roll grit quotient with Wilco. On Wilco's debut album, the band sounds righteously ragged, charging along behind Tweedy in a mannersuggestive of the rootsier moments of the Stones and/or theReplacements. The occasional appearance of acoustic guitar,banjo or a 2/4 beat serves to remind us of Tweedy's roots. Still, A.M. has the sound of a band already well on their way to the gloriously chaotic rock & roll nirvana they would reach on the follow-up BEING THERE.

Track Listing

1. I Must Be High
2. Casino Queen
3. Box Full Of Letters
4. Shouldn't Be Ashamed
5. Pick Up The Change
6. I Thought I Held You
7. That's Not The Issue
8. It's Just That Simple
9. Should've Been In Love
10. Passenger Side
11. Dash 7
12. Blue Eyed Soul
13. Too Far Apart

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15956 in Music
• Released on: 1995-04-17
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

FM Friendly Debut
Born out of the ashes of alt-country band Uncle Tupelo by departure of co-singer-songwriter Jay Farrar left Jeff Tweedy to continue mining the same seam. Abandoning the name Uncle Tupelo to use a new moniker was a brave step at the time but with the benefit of hindsight was the right decision because although A.M. is fairly derivative of the Americano music peddled by Uncle Tupelo they had pretty soon diversified and exhibited many more aspects to the band.

This album starts off by showing anyone writing them off was way off the mark with the fantastic `I Must be High'. The pace is then stepped up for the rocky country of `Casino Queen' and `Box Full of Letters'. The pace then settles down and although the arrangements do not really step out of the Uncle Tupelo template there are some very strong songs pointing out that Jeff tweedy was still a writing force without his previous partner. An accomplished debut album and perfect statement of intent.

Enjoyable
This was my first listen to Wilco after hearing about them so much and having heard Golden Smog i thought i'd give them a go.

This album is essentially, alt-country rock with catchy melodies and enjoyable little choruses here and there.

The first 3 songs are the best, leaving the rest of the album appearing it is lacking some depth or sbstance - but the closer 'too far apart'manages to be engaging without having the up tempo beat of something like 'Box full of letters'.

this is a worthy addition to anyones collection if you are into the whole Jayhawks, Ryan Adams, type thing.

wilcome home
This is where the Wilco story begins, and what a fine introduction to this superb band this is. This album seems to take over from where Jeff Tweedys songwriting from his later Uncle Tupelo days left off. It seems a natural progression, exploring similar themes with a countryish, almost slightly folky edge all the way throught.
Many Wilco listeners may have boarded the train when it stopped at Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, it may be difficult to jump straight from that to this and expect a seamless link, they are very different on the surface. However, if you start here and work through the albums towards YHF you will see what is happening and this album will begin to shine.
I still believe that this is Wilco's weakest album, but weak on Wilcos terms is Geoff Capes on others bands terms.
My only criticism of AM is that it tails of a bit in the middle.
The quality of the first few songs is very high.
If you have never listened to Wilco before I would recommend AM as the perfect start point, if you take this advice, then enjoy the journey it is one of the most satisfying i have ever been on.