I was just listening to the solo Peacekeeper on my way to work, and it strikes me that version far outshines the SYW cut. There's so much more life to it. Which brought me to another thought: The production on SYW is OK, but not brilliant by any stretch. There are some sequencing problems too, and, yes, the album is way too long. I would have pared it to 14 songs. When Wilco released a double CD, they put 10 songs on each disk. That makes more sense. When you go above, say, 55 minutes of music, it's too much.
I have no doubt Lindsey believes his best work is his latest work. And in some ways it is. Lyrically he has never been better, though as far back as I'm So Afraid he could strike a profound emotional chord with very simple, anguish-laden words. From a guitar-playing point of view, he has never been better. But from a production point of view, something is lacking. Yes, I said it. SYW is unacceptably uneven from a production standpoint. There's no excuse for forcing me to fiddle with EQ buttons from song to song. None.
Out of the Cradle had a cohesion of sound that is not evident in SYW. From the first note, there was a sense of being pulled away to experience something. When Lindsey shouts "Don't Look Down," he surprises you, throws you a curve ball. You smile and delight in the musical journey that you know is going to be something special. Not until Doing What I Can does the album lose a little steam. But then it ends on a brilliant note.
SYW? Well, I question his song choices: Drop Come, Steal Your Heart Away and Bleed to Love Her. Add Down On Rodeo, Someone's Gotta Change Your Mind and Gift of Screws and Twist of Fate. It would be more exciting, both musically and from a perspective of freshness. I could even understand including Steal Your Heart Away, but Bleed to Lover Her simply makes no sense, great song though that it is. Come, well, I just don't like it.
My choices:
Say Goodbye
Save Me a Place
Go Your Own Way
Eyes of the World
I'm So Afraid
Don't Look Down (with intro)
You Do or You Don't
Surrender the Rain
Down on Rodeo
Big Love (acoustic)
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