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Wilco - Kicking Television: Live in Chicago Audio CD

A fair review of the Wilco "Kicking Television: Live in Chicago" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Wilco reviews here, or go back to the Wilco tabs.

Wilco Band: Wilco
Title: Kicking Television: Live in Chicago
Rating:
Release Date: 2005-11-15
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Misunderstood 2: Company in My Back 3: The Late Greats 4: Hell Is Chrome 5: Handshake Drugs 6: I Am Trying to Break Your Heart 7: Shot in the Arm 8: At Least That’s What You Said 9: Wishful Thinking 10: Jesus, Etc. 11: I’m the Man Who Loves You 12: Kicking Television 13: Via Chicago 14: Hummingbird 15: Muzzle of Bees 16: One by One 17: Airline to Heaven 18: Radio Cure 19: Ashes of American Flags 20: Heavy Metal Drummer 21: Poor Places 22: Spiders (Kidsmoke) 23: Comment

Okay album, but the closing track must be a joke...
I like this album, though it's a pretty standard live recording - kind of a snapshot of their stage show of that time. I like Wilco - I have most of their earlier stuff, have seen them in concert many times. I've just gotta say this, though: the last track, "Comment," is unlistenable. A lousy, preachy song that is completely wrong for Jeff Tweedy's voice, which is an acquired taste to begin with. They must have included it as a joke. When I play the album, I have to jump up and eject it as that last song comes on, or I'm afraid I'll have a seizure, or my eardrums will explode, or the earth will start spinning in the wrong direction. . .

If you want a truly great album that sounds as close to live as you'll ever get in a studio recording, buy "Being There. " Loose, raw, spirited. I saw them perform about three days after that album came out, and it was one of the very best concerts I have attended in thirty years. Jay Bennett, RIP, pushed that band to its best heights.


One of my favourite albums
I became interested in so-called "numbers stations", radio stations that broadcast nothing but mysterious voices reciting strings of numbers, and somebody at work told me that a band called Wilco had used numbers stations on one of their recordings, which is how I came to listen to Wilco's 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot'. I am an extreme latecomer to Wilco's music; up until a couple of years ago I'd never heard of them. It quickly became one of my favourite CDs, and it wasn't long before I discovered this sprawling gem of an album.

'Kicking Television' has nearly everything I want from a live album; the songs are in many cases fresher, livelier and more eventful than the original versions, the playing is great, and the mood is palpably upbeat. I could wish that Jeff Tweedy had a more memorable line in stage banter, but he doesn't really seem to be that kind of guy. My favourite bit of the album is the sequence from the bubblingly cheerful rendition of 'Heavy Metal Drummer' via the edgy and nervous 'Poor Places' into a positively epic 'Spiders (Kidsmoke)' - most of the latter song is the same chord over and over and over again, and when the band finally surge into the descending instrumental refrain, the release of tension is exhilarating. This album is also, incidentally, one of the best-recorded examples of what Nels Cline can do with a guitar; although Tweedy is a pretty formidable player himself.

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What am I missing?
Maybe I read all the great reviews here. I really can't remember why I picked up this CD. Maybe I'm just always searching out GOOD music that I haven't heard before. I do know that in my quest for great CD's (some of which are obscure, some of which are well known), occasionally I pick one up one in which I think to myself, "huh, what was I thinking?". Don't get me wrong, I tried to like this CD. I've listened to it several times, and while its OK in places it just doesn't do anything for me. The sound of the vocals tend to be annoying to me. Hmmm, well, to each his own. I guess those that find this CD "amazing", and it seems there are many, are listening to something different than I am.


Second only to live Wilco, this is their best work, period.
Every track on this double CD is a fresh, and to my mind superior, version of the original studio recordings. I have little to add to the points made by other reviewers here but to emphasize that Wilco is at their best live, and this record is at the top of my list of great live albums. "Kicking Television" spent six months in steady rotation on my vehicle's audio system and I still find it great road food. Highly recommended for adventurous rock fans who appreciate an innovative band that isn't afraid to experiment or draw on diverse influences and make them their own. .


Great Live Act
I saw Wilco play at the Aronoff Center in Cincinnati,June07. I put off buying this cd for a long time. It was one of the best shows I've seen. I couln't resist buying the cd after the live show experience. It is a great cd. I have listened to this 2 disc live recording many times. No regrets about this purchase.


You can see a complete list of all Wilco discography, or go back to the Wilco tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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