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Track Listings
| Disc: 1 |
|---|
| 1. Misunderstood |
| 2. Far, Far Away |
| 3. Monday |
| 4. Outtasite (Outta Mind) |
| 5. Forget The Flowers |
| 6. Red-Eyed And Blue |
| 7. I Got You (At The End Of The Century) |
| 8. What's The World Got In Store |
| 9. Hotel Arizona |
| 10. Say You Miss Me |
| Disc: 2 |
| 1. Sunken Treasure |
| 2. Someday Soon |
| 3. Outta Mind (Outta Sight) |
| 4. Someone Else's Song |
| 5. Kingpin |
| 6. (Was I) In Your Dreams |
| 7. Why Would You Wanna Live |
| 8. The Lonely 1 |
| 9. Dreamer In My Dreams |
Product Description
Amazon.ca
Wilco's follow-up to A.M. impresses first with its size: 19 tunes fill the double-album package, and the packaging unfolds like a larger-than-life 1970s-era gatefold album cover. But the love affair with the artwork is short-lived, fading as the music takes center stage, making plain the band's overwhelming stretch into innumerable styles. Jeff Tweedy's love of pop and the mechanics of making pop albums is clear almost immediately, as he and his cohort utilize the studio to create and manipulate undertows and snaky recorded elements throughout many of their tunes (a keyboard touch, a guitar's flair, a cymbal's unexpected crash). There are the plainspoken acoustic numbers, recalling Tweedy's tenure in Uncle Tupelo, and there are also unwinding swoops of tinted, guitar-heavy rock--one of which collapses into chromatic jabs at a piano only to resolve in silence on "Sunken Treasure." Oodles of influences fill Wilco's collective mind, and they're perfectly content to pile the trace elements atop each other and make scrambled pop perfection. --Andrew Bartlett
Product Description
1995 two CD release from the American Roots/Pop band led by Jeff Tweedy.
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
By T. Bigney
Format:Audio CD
Jeff Tweedy's first post-Uncle Tupelo venture began as all-around underwhelming substitute for hungry, belt-buckled alt-country fans: Wilco's humble debut, the twang-heavy country-pop offering A.M., contained virtually no hints of the band's potential for subtle sound-sketching. It wasn't until 1996's double-disc, the 19-track Being There, that Tweedy and company began tapping into the skittish, textured atmospherics that would-- nearly six years later-- secure them a fixed spot in the American canon. Being There is a notoriously inconsistent effort. Deeply ambitious, its missteps (see the overstated, Stones-lite faux-boogie of "Monday") were ultimately incapable of sullying the transcendence of its epic successes. Among those, opener "Misunderstood" pit 60s psychedelia (pinging strings, studio fuzz and unexpected splats of sound) against a sweet, spare piano melody, while "The Lonely 1" cemented the band's ability to eschew sentimentality without sacrificing warmth. Being There was Wilco's original coming-of-age, an occasionally awkward, ultimately profound transformation into something altogether new and beautiful.
By K
Format:Audio CD
Like most double albums, this epic of ambient roots-rock has difficulty justifying its own self conscious hyperperbole (beyond, of coarse, the common excuse of "We wrote alotta stuff"). Detail production aside, Wilco connect here only when they pick up their electric instruments and go for broke; "Outta Sight (Outta Mind)", "Monday", and "At the End of the Century" set ambitions aside by basking in their own revelry. Being There is, otherwise, too padded to function as a wholely satisfying listen. Opener "Misunderstood" does happen upon a nicely lilting melody, but the remaining down-tempo material ("Hotel in Arizona", "Sunken Treasure", etc.) sacrifices hooks for light experimentation or genre integrity.
Format:Audio CD
This was a fairly staggering conception, warts and all, and it wouldn't be until the next release that Wilco truly become masters of the artform, but it's quite a worthy, powerful ride for what it is. The record, for the first place, should have been on one CD and trimmed a bit. There are some half-songs ("Red Eyed and Blue," "I've Got You," which while peppy has some pretty dumb lyrics, and "Kingpin") and it gets a bit mired in its own moroseness towards the end (though "(Was I) In Your Dreams," Why Would You Want to Live," and "The Lonely 1" are all lovely songs in their own respects, it's a bit punishing to have them back to back to back), but there are such dizzying moments of transcendence on this record that you can mostly forgive it for its faults.
The two focal points of the record, "Misunderstood" and "Sunken Treasure," are powerful, emotionally geared epics that set the course for the whole record- themes of loss, betrayal, and distance. The whole record throbs with an organic closeness- the songs feel like they're no more than a few inches from reach. "Far Far Away" sounds like the band's encircling you in the studio, Jeff Tweedy in front of you strumming an aching melody. "Dreamer In My Dreams" is like a racous live take (hoe-down, even?), with some frenetic violin playing and an improvised feel with Tweedy's hoarse vocal.
One could say the record throbs with pain, as well- the sonic equivalent of pain and trying to be ambivalent about it. It's the band's most intimate recorded performance, and though they will aim for and achieve higher, this will hold a special place in any fan's heart too.
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4.5 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant- an amazing effort
This CD is just stupendous. Its awe inspiring almost. The 2nd CD by this amazing Chicago-based band leaves a fresh taste in your mouth. Read more
Published on Jan 4 2004 by Goods
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Beginning
Being a longtime fan of Wilco, I love introducing people to the group. While I was first introduced to 'AM', I think they really moved to another level with 'Being There'. Read more
Published on Nov 26 2003 by Dano M
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Disc
No one is playing and writing better music than Jeff Tweedy and Wilco these days. The guy has talent. Every song is diverse, yet still retains a style that is his own. Read more
Published on Oct 25 2003 by Train
4.0 out of 5 stars
For the Kids...
I wasn't a big fan of "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" nor was I impressed with Wilco until I was dragged to their concert, which was astonishing. Read more
Published on Oct 22 2003 by Dark Lord
5.0 out of 5 stars
ENDLESSLY PLEASING
I bought this one at a Wilco concert last year thinking I knew Wilco (I'd already owned SUMMERTEETH & had just purchased YHF a few days before the show) BEING THERE taught me... Read more
Published on Oct 13 2003 by Scott C Elliott
1.0 out of 5 stars
Obnoxious Cowboy Syrup
Granted, this is not your everyday top-40 formula-driven pop drivel, but it's not very good alternative either. Read more
Published on Mar 11 2003
5.0 out of 5 stars
The last great country album.
The addition of studio and musical talent Jay Bennett makes the hidden force of Wilco become apparent. Read more
Published on Feb 25 2003 by Ryan trask
4.0 out of 5 stars
(3.5 stars) Would be better as a single album
The two CDs of "Being There" contain many great songs, the best of which include "Far, Far Away," a sweet and wistful cowboy ballad, "Outtasite (Outta... Read more
Published on Aug 10 2002 by commontone
5.0 out of 5 stars
still their best
This is one of the masterpieces of the last decade, a rowdy, wounded, beautiful beast of an album. Jeff Tweedy was writing rings around any of his contemporaries: "Far Far... Read more
Published on July 29 2002 by glubak
4.0 out of 5 stars
Experimental Alt-Country
"Being There" is often called Wilco's masterpiece, but in many ways it is merely a precursor of things to come. Read more
Published on July 16 2002 by Steven R. Seim
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