Album of the day (#5565): A Ghost Is Born by Wilco
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- Posted: 03/15/2026 20:00
- Post subject: Album of the day (#5565): A Ghost Is Born by Wilco
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Today's album of the day
A Ghost Is Born by Wilco (View album | Buy this album)
Year: 2004.
Country: 
Wilco discography rank: 3 (out of 23 listed on BEA)
2004 rank: 15
2000s rank: 131
Overall rank: 811
Average rating: 80/100 (from 506 votes).
Tracks:
1. At Least That's What You Said 
2. Hell Is Chrome
3. Spiders (Kidsmoke)
4. Muzzle Of Bees
5. Hummingbird
6. Handshake Drugs
7. Wishful Thinking
8. Company In My Back
9. I'm A Wheel
10. Theologians
11. Less Than You Think
12. The Late Greats
indicates a top-rated track.
Top voted comments:
""A Ghost is Born" is an album that gives as little as it can to new listeners. The contrast dynamics, the slow building guitar hums and distorted fuzz, the muted vocals all serve to alienate any casual listener right off the bat in a way that could leave a bad taste in your mouth. This experience could lead any listener to fore-go the album altogether for easier Wilco albums like "Summerteeth", "The Whole Love", or "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot." However, this record has been the most rewarding listening experience of my life. The album is written ambiguously to replicate the different shades of grey that exist inside of the human experience instead of hammering itself out in black and white. If you allow them, the songs on "A Ghost is Born" will grow and expand with each repeated listen."
- jbray (Rating: 100/100)
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""a ghost is born" flourishes in spreading out its pop/rock sound, experimenting in rock aesthetics. They start out quiet and plaintive on "at least that's what you said". The lyrics are short and bare ("When I sat down on the bed next to you / You started to cry / I said, maybe if I leave, you'll want me / To come back home ") and when Tweedy's case is made to his ex/lover, the band performs the relationship's denouement for the next 3+ minutes, uneasy and tense and at times calamitous. (Check out that guitar & drum-work!) From there, the piano based "hell is chrome" softly sings the song's premise "When the devil came / He was not red / He was chrome, and he said / Come with me ". It's another plaintive number, almost happy in his descent, closing "come with me" with repeated longing. "spiders (kidsmoke)" is one of two songs (over 10 min each) on the album with extended guitar play, "less than you think" (the other) comes with about 12 minutes of slowly-building guitar *feedback*. Inherently, along with the lack of any major hooky songs like previous albums, that makes for more of a "grower" of an album, one which requires a little patience, which could be a turn off for a lot of people. But i think there are a lot of payoffs if you wait for them. Leroy Bach's guitar work is quite minutely-technical and arty often in the same song, like on "spiders". In a way, "a ghost is born" is wilco's "kid a" -- there's an anxiety of a new age that permeates across the album. In "spiders" it's the trailing guitar licks (see -5:35) and lyrics like "Why can't they just say what they mean / Come clean, listen and talk / Hello private callers, IDs blocked ". The love story in "muzzle of bees" reaches a point where Tweedy's "assuming you got my message / On your machine / I'm assuming you love me / And you know what that means " romantically recalling sharing sunny days and warm breezes. "hummingbird", one of the better tracks on the album, claims "His goal in life was to be an echo / The type of sound that floats around and then back down / Like a feather " only wanting to be remembered. "handshake drugs" ("i was chewing gum for something to do" and its own fuzzed-out ending), rollicking "i'm a wheel" ("1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9 / Once in Germany someone said, 'Nein' " ha ha), "theologians" ("Inlitterati lumen fidei / God is with us everyday / That illiterate light / Is with us every night") and (the possibly self-referential?) "the late greats" ("The greatest singer in rock and roll / Would have to be Romeo / His vocal chords are made of gold / He just looks a little too old "), are the other highlights. i love the delivery of the chorus of "company in my back" and its "Holy shit there's a company in my back ". Assuming i can always "skip" to the next song once the feedback of "less than you think" kicks in, this is a very good album."
- paladisiac (Rating: 85/100)
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About album of the day: The BestEverAlbums.com album of the day is the album appearing most prominently in member charts in the previous 24 hours. If an album, or artist, has previously been selected within a x day period, the next highest album is picked instead (and so on) to ensure a bit of variety. A full history of album of the day can be viewed here.
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