- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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MojoA masterpiece, exactly the sort of record that your average sentient pop genius should make in 2002. [May 2002, p.99]
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This disc's rich, exotic flavor gets more intense the longer you chew on it.
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The sheer scope of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is so utterly breathtaking that repeat airings only reinforce its stunning songcraft and otherworldly sonic splendor.
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Complex and dangerously catchy, lyrically sophisticated and provocative, noisy and somehow serene, Wilco's aging new album is simply a masterpiece; it is equally magnificent in headphones, cars and parties.... No one is too good for this album; it is better than all of us.
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''Yankee Hotel Foxtrot'' is a subliminal album. Spin it once and it barely registers. Play it five or six times and its vaporous, insinuating, rusty-carousel melodies start to carve out a permanent orbit in your skull.
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I'm not sure if it's the work by O'Rourke or the progression of the group (or a little of both), but this disc is so multi-layered that it's easy to hear new things many many times after the first listen.
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Yankee confirms what fans have long suspected: Wilco was right, the label was wrong, and the album could be the best of the band's career.
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Rarely has a record balanced such quality lyrics with such pretty music; it is also a rare occasion when a record can be both deeply sad and uplifting at the same time.
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You'll be hard-pressed to find a more adventurous and rewarding release this year.
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ResonanceWilco's most rewarding work yet. [#34, p.60]
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YHF is a fierce record.
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A stark, mostly beautiful but sometimes mind-numbing disc.
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A carefully layered, multifaceted album in terms of its sound, music, lyrics, and thematic cohesion -- in short, a great musical achievement.
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After a while -- a familiarity period if you will -- it becomes clear that these songs are not only fully realized, they're damn near brilliant.
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While their songs still maintain the loose intimacy that was apparent on their debut AM, the music has matured to reveal a complexity that is rare in pop music, yet showcased perfectly on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.
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The most worth-the-wait long-awaited album in the world... ever? Could be...
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Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is basically a good album, even a great album if you're in the mood, though if you listen to a lot of hip-hop (or house music or basement bhangra or any other genre not dominated by white people), it probably won't be the most extraordinary album you'll hear all month.
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UncutThe most common description of this much-discussed album over the past few months is that YHF is Americana's Kid A. In truth, it's more successful than that. [May 2002, p.112]
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Like so many great fuzzy rock albums, from the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street to R.E.M.'s Murmur, it takes a few listens to seep into your bloodstream.
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It's a gripping darkness that doesn't often lift. It's hard going, but it's worth it, and that is undoubtedly their point.
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Tweedy takes conventional songforms birthed on his acoustic guitar and scrambles them completely, reassembled into fractured, dissonant epics with the help of the reliably brilliant Jim O'Rourke.
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Q MagazineBattered, bonkers and bewitching in equal parts, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot at last finds Wilco's "interesting" phase becoming downright fascinating. [May 2002, p.121]
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BlenderTweedy whittles down the arrangements and drops in enough experimental nuances to make the whole thing sound refreshingly lo-fi. [Jun/Jul 2002, p.116]
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An earthy, moving psychedelia, eleven iridescent-country songs about surviving a blown mind and a broken heart.
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More time spent in the songwriting lab might have yielded material more suitable to the evident studio effort invested and brought Wilco closer to making a truly great album.
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The WireYankee Hotel Foxtrot's faceless, airbrushed production takes you back to the dead days of 1970s AOR radio. [#220, p.66]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 224 out of 249
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Mixed: 8 out of 249
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Negative: 17 out of 249
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Oct 1, 2010
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Jan 3, 2011
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Sep 8, 2010