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.
