This is far from the first time that Wilco have cropped up here. Back in the early 2000s I’d started to get into this revered band from Chicago – picked up a couple of CDs based on enjoyment of the then-new A Ghost Is Born… but then I stopped listening to them. The reasons are lost in the mists of time. It’s unlikely a case that I wasn’t enjoying it, more likely that I was delving deep into a lot of music at the time and they got list in that mix. There’s also the scientifically proven fact that music hits you differently at different points in your life and if you’re not quite in the right zone it’ll bounce off like a space vehicle with misjudged re-entry angles.

Skip forward some years to the modern-ish day. A time before orange-coloured despots got their second term and decided to add a new line to the definition of ‘cluster-fuck’. Something got me listening again – suddenly the compact discs are replaced by wax circles with special editions of Sky Blue Sky and Summerteeth kicking off a real deep dive and gradual accumulation of their back catalogue as I realise I’ve been sleeping on a huge amount of quality music. It’s also a factor that my son seems to share this with me – initially inspired by the obvious Beatle influence.

Adored by critics and fans alike, Wilco have, to quote AllMusic, ” evolved from a rough-and-tumble alt-country act into a mature and eclectic indie rock ensemble, Wilco have become critical favorites and cult heroes on the back of a stylistically diverse body of songs.” Uncut – a magazine I’ll often flick through – regard them as an institution, and the “most artistically consistent and compelling narratives in music.”

Across a remarkable run of great albums, Wilco have continually delivered the good stuff. Each album moves forward, adapts, changes and finds gold in the process. So how on Earth do I whittle a now 31 year (and still going) career into five cuts?

I’m gonna cheat. I’m going to split this into two parts. Because, thankfully, there’s a clear marker in their career where the current line-up fell into place in 2004 in support of fifth album A Ghost Is Born. So, five from the first five….

Passenger Side

Wilco formed just days after the end of Tweedy’s former band Uncle Tupelo and work on AM began just over a month on from that band’s last concert with the same line-up, minus Jay Farrar. It’s fair to say that AM is the only Wilco album that’s close enough to that band’s sound to be truly labelled as ‘alt-country’. It’s a lot of fun, mind, with songs like ‘I Must Be High’ and ‘Casino Queen’ getting things off to a cracking start and ‘Passenger Side’ is a real stand out though

Misunderstood

For a moment it looked like Tweedy’s Wilco would be the weaker of the bands formed by the Uncle Tupelo split as Farrar’s Son Volt had gotten off to better start. Shortly after the recording of AM, though, Jay Bennett joined Wilco. Bennett would become Tweedy’s creative collaborator through the band’s next few albums and his guitar and – more importantly – keyboard work would expand the band’s sound palette. Being There is a monumental album, and it’s a double, that deliberately blows away any ‘alt-country’ tag and is a massive leap forward.

Shot In The Arm

Another evolution, Summerteeth, may not be as strong as Misunderstood – perhaps because of the substance-addiction and tension-related issues swirling around the band during its recording – but it’s a glorious, off-kilter pop-fused album whose Beatles and Brian Wilson style melodies hide a darker centre in the lyrics across another bloody strong album.

Poor Places

Choosing one song from one album is getting trickier and tricker. The band’s ‘Best Of’ gave Summerteeth and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot six songs apiece and yet… YHF is an album that’s another benchmark in the band’s history. A tumultuous period that would see members including Jay Bennett leave and their record label refuse to release the finished product nonetheless bore one of their most well-known records. Oddly enough, those six slots on Wilco: What’s Your 20? ignore, for me, some of the album’s finest, including ‘Poor Places.’

Spiders (Kidsmoke)

I will always love A Ghost Is Born. I love the fact that, whereas all their previous albums are so concisely put together, even when they go off on tangents, A Ghost Is Born is so deliberately unravelled. With a drastic change in personnel and Tweedy battling drug dependancy and mental health issues (he’d check into rehab just as the tour supporting it was due to start), A Ghost Is Born is the Wilco album that rewards more with repeated listenings.