Forgive me if there is another thread on this, I did a search and didn't find anything.

I was wondering if any of you have heard or own any of the Uncle Tupelo records? I have become a really big Wilco fan as of late and I was interested in hearing these records. I have an idea of what their sound was, but I was wondering if the price of the cds would actually be worth it.

I'm in the same situation as you, I love Wilco but haven't heard any Uncle Tupelo, but I'm sure anything that involves Jeff Tweedy is awesome.

It's difficult to find any of their cd's around here anyway.

I haven't heard much, but they're much more in the country vein than Wilco are.

Imagine if the Replacements were an alt-country band...that's pretty much their sound (also known as "cow-punk"). I would highly recommend getting their "89/93: An Anthology" greatest hits set...they're definitely one of the great (and first) alt-country bands out there. Plus Peter Buck produced one of their albums, so they can't be all that bad.

whygodeep

So more AM-like than Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

I have Anodyne, and I like it quite a bit. It's a good listen, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes good music.

Actually, you can't even compare AM's sound to Uncle Tupelo -- they are completely different. With the exception of Gun or We've Been Had, I can't really think of a song from Uncle Tupelo that really sounds like it belongs on a Wilco album. Songs like Graveyard Shift sound more like Son Volt than Wilco.

Like someone else said, if you want a good taste of Uncle Tupelo, I would get the 89/93 Anthology.

By the way, Gun is a great song.

Exactly

That's probably because Jay was the main man in Uncle Tupelo until the later records when Jeff started to do more writing.

Thanks for the help guys. I think I'm going to go for the anthology and see how I fancy it.

I've got all the Uncle Tup albums (the Anthology and all the remastered record with bonus stuff came out on Rhino a couple of years ago.) Really great stuff. Not necessarily a lot like Wilco at all, but you can hear Tweedy's origins and some terrific alt-rock songs.

Worth the pickup for sure.

can't help you on uncle tupelo, but check out a side project that wilco did with a band called the minus five. the album is called 'down with wilco', the band plays on it and tweedy does vocals on a song or two. it's very summerteeth sounding. oh, and peter buck from rem plays on it too

Anodyne or the anthology or something else- what's the best place to start?

Yeah me too...I like the first two records the best. I'd start with No Depression first. Though if you don't like Jay Farrar you probably won't like Uncle Tupelo. He sings most of the stuff. Tweedy only gets a couple songs a record.

depends on what you're after, really. the anthology is a really good introduction.

be sure to get the remasters, they each have 4-5 extra songs, demos, live cuts, etc.

No Depression - i think the band was mostly Farrar at this point, Tweedy was just coming into his own as a songwriter. considered by some to be the founding album of the alt.country movement. i would say this is the most straightforward of their albums.

Still Feel Gone - more of a balance between Tweedy and Farrar at this point. several very good songs including Gun, Looking for a Way Out, Still be Around, Punch Drunk, and Postcard. the last two are very overlooked UT songs imo, they didn't make the anthology but to me kind of define the whole UT sound.

March 16-20 1992 - probably considered by most to be their best album. almost entirely acoustic, produced by Peter Buck. some classics on here including Moonshiner, Black Eye, and Fatal Wound. story goes that Tweedy and Farrar were basically not talking to each other at this point.

Anodyne - the final album. probably my favorite front to back. Acuff-Rose, The Long Cut, Chickamauga, New Madrid, Anodyne, Fifteen Keys - all awesome.

btw this exercise should then necessarily lead you to Son Volt, Farrar's post UT band. Trace was their first album and it's easily imo one of the top 10 albums of the last 15 years.
enjoy!

i concur with this post (most of it anyway).

i started w/anodyne when i got into it, but had been exposed to alot of UT thru the jeff solo shows/bootlegs.

trace is fucking awesome. wide swing tremolo is really good too.

Though the anthology is really good, I think the best place to start album wise would be either Anodyne or March 16-20 1992, which are both excellent.

i agree with this in general although i think starting with March 16-20, being that it's an acoustic album, is not necessarily the best introduction to the "UT sound".

also D. Boon is another good UT era Tweedy song. rockin'.

thanks. i do have one son volt record, but i haven't really listened to it much at all, maybe i should do that first. i'm really going for more of the tweedy sound than the farrar one at this point, though