A sprawling new box set full of demos and alternate takes suggests a dazzling array of paths the Chicago group might have taken on their masterpiece.
Wilco's legendary 4th studio album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, was originally released on April 23, 2002. It delivered ten songs that have since become favorites among fans and critics alike. It scored a perfect 10 on Pitchfork, which hailed the album as "complex and dangerously catchy, lyrically sophisticated and provocative, noisy and somehow serene...simply a masterpiece." And as the New York Times put it, Jeff Tweedy's songs "unfold in richly enigmatic arrangements."
This 7LP/5 CD Deluxe Edition of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot features the original eleven songs remastered, plus an alternate version of the album (titled The Unified Theory Of Everything). Additionally, the songs performed on the September 18, 2001 WXRT radio appearance are included, as is the entire July 23, 2002 show from The Pageant in St. Louis, MO. The vinyl is mastered by Bob Ludwig and cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering on black vinyl. The package (designed by Lawrence Azerrad) includes a new essay by music journalist Bob Mehr featuring recent interviews with Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt and Glenn Kotche plus previously unseen live and studio photos.