It should come as no surprise that if Jeff Tweedy is going to title an album Ode To Joy, it's not going to sound much like it. His road to get there has been way too rocky, and he has too fine a sense of irony. Even on the most positive-sounding song, "Love Is Everywhere," he has to add the parenthetical warning, "Beware." If you're looking for joy, there's a lot of bleak and ton of confusion you have to get past.
Considering Wilco is one of the most explosive groups around, Tweedy sure likes to keep that under control, and this one may be the least adorned of the last half-dozen or so. Uptempo offering "Everyone Hides" bounces along on an acoustic guitar groove, only the drums allowed to pound a little. And when guitar whiz Nels Cline is unleashed, his contribution is abruptly ended, leaving the impression there's another half of the song left out, containing his freak-out.
So it's left for us to explore the album through its subtleties, and to that end, it delivers. The inventiveness is in how the instruments sound, and how they mix with Tweedy's vocals and melodies. Listening to all the contributions in the cut "Citizens" is a great pleasure, a painstaking production. Then comes "We Were Lucky," and this time Cline is allowed to fill the spaces and go off the rails, while the rest deliver a White Album-worthy moodiness. Joy, it turns out, isn't delivered on a plate here, you have to put in some close listening first. You will be rewarded soon though.
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