Sacrifice me to whatever gods you deem fit but I find this the most enjoyable Wilco record. I really liked what Jay Bennett brought into the band on this album and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. I think I just prefer the bounciness of this record. I can't get into the albums as much since Jay Bennett left. I saw Wilco live between Summer Teeth and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and Jay provided so much energy it got me really jazzed to hear thier next record. By the time it came out (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot) he wasn't in the band anymore and I think I was just bummed that who I felt was the lightning rod of the band was gone. It took me listening to Jay Bennett's solo stuff to get me to realize that what I really thought was special was how Jay Bennett and Jeff Tweedy worked and created music together. I listen to all the recordings after this team was gone and I don't feel a cooperation and a dynamic. I hear a solo project. Maybe it is a solo project just named Wilco that Jeff Tweedy fronts now. I suppose thats ok. Just seems so different to me. Somewhere there is somebody reading this saying "Yeah but Nels Cline is in the band now and its so awesome". To that dude/chick: I don't know who Nels Cline is. I understand that he is a well respected guitarist and he is immensely talented. I just don't like him as in Wilco as much as I did Mr. Bennett. To me the albums feel like Jeff Tweedy doesn't have to work and produce with a co hort and can just have Nels Cline be a guitar player. There's no shame in that and it has its value. I just don't value it as much as the thing I was first enjoying. Old Wilco to me felt dirty guys playing rock and roll mixed with country, current wilco feels like dress up and "laa dee da" and "look how arty we can be. I feel like I'm supposed to like newer wilco but just for the reason that its supposed to be good. It reminds of me of a bbq forum I was reading one time. A person had perfected his brisket and was just looking for the right bun to serve it on. He started with just a plain white bun and everyone said it was fabulous and not to change a thing. Thinking he could fancy things up and make it something more special he tried a bunch of different gourmet bread buns. He spent alot of time and money experimenting and sampling. After trying 12-15 different artisan breads he finally gave up that the perfect delievery system for the brisket was the original cheap white bun. Yeah, I get it Jeff Tweedy the cheap white bun was a basketcase neurotic that got to be impossible to work with. I understand. Sometime things are better sloppy and beautiful instead of perfect and technical.Sometimes the flaw in the system is what makes the whole show interesting to watch or listen to. It's not supposed to work but yet it does. That's fascinating to me.