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Nov 18, 2014What could have been a random collection of odds and ends--or worse, a nostalgia grab--isn't so much a look at Wilco's alternate-history past as it is a glimpse at ground the band still has to cover.
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Nov 18, 2014While the sheer bulk of this set means it's most likely to be heard by hardcore fans, anyone with a genuine interest in Wilco will find a lot of great music that fell between the cracks on this set, as well as a fascinating map of the many roads Wilco did and didn't take.
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Nov 18, 2014Taken together, it's a comprehensive document of a great band with endless secrets to reveal, even now.
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Dec 11, 2014What Alpha Mike Foxtrot lacks is equally significant: meandering guitar solos from recent recordings and zero footholds for "dad-rock" puns. Rather, AMF communicates Wilco's career innovation, maintained while increasing popularity--the rarest of feats.
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Nov 24, 2014A reflection on the band's past achievements and the clearing of the rarities cupboards: cut out a handful of one-laugh oddities tossed aside with punky abandon, and Alpha Mike Foxtrot beats most bands official catalogue.
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Nov 18, 2014The collection offers a glimpse inside the band’s development, and at times has an air of what might have been even as it reinforces Tweedy’s overall artistic vision.
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MojoDec 17, 2014This is an odyssey both emotional and educational. [Jan 2015, p.108]
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The WireDec 16, 2014If Wilco have deliberately stepped back from the brink in recent years, the quality has been maintained, and one feels the door is always open for their return. [Jan 2015, p.80]
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UncutDec 4, 2014It's a culture manifest in Alpha Mike Foxtrot: encyclopaedic. loving, droll, emotionally candid, often adventurous, but never really as alienating or difficult as the legends might suggest. [Jan 2015, p.90]
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Nov 18, 2014A sprawling four-CD set of demos, alternate takes, B-sides, live cuts, promo-only tracks, and other miscellany.
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Nov 18, 2014Even if Wilco is in danger of running out of interesting new places to take their sound, it's only because, as Alpha Mike Foxtrot is a convincing testament to, they've spent the last 20 years taking it to so many places already.
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Nov 18, 2014Alpha Mike Foxtrot is a fascinating, and remarkably consistent, look at how Wilco has refused to define itself.
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Dec 8, 2014All together, Alpha Mike Foxtrotis a lot to take in at once--over five hours of material, and Wilco enthusiasts will have heard much of the contents already.
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Nov 19, 2014Alpha plays like a clearinghouse more than a finely-edited set but, largely thanks to its bevy of well-chosen live tracks, its sidelong view of Wilco is worth a peek.
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Q MagazineDec 8, 2014Completists will be delighted that songs as good as Cars Can't Escape and Kicking Television have been rescued from the dead zone of soundtracks and bonus discs but there's a lot of competent Americana and superfluous concert material to get through. [Jan 2015, p.139]
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Dec 5, 2014It’s disjointed--clumsy, even--with only glimmers of consistency, but the hardcore will appreciate that this is the way the band works: nothing comes easy and rewards are hard-won. Those listening out for singalongs, heartbreak and any solidity are better directed to the best of.