On Wagonwheel Blues, the War on Drugs' approach comes across as not only natural, but imminently worthwhile, as if these revered sources needed to be roughed up a bit to sound new.
It is a more hazy album, but with a climate like "Reverse The Charges", which only one man in the world could do - Brian Eno, but the War On Drugs can do it just as well.
It may be a more difficult album, but it is just as worth listening to as the rest albums.
Best songs - "Show Me The Coast" and "Reverse The Charges" are essenitals
Worst - /
I don't know the weak track The War On Drugs.
I've been a fan of The War On Drugs since the release of A Deeper Understanding but I've never heard anything before Lost In The Dream. Turns out that was a mistake. Wagonwheel Blues certainly sounds like it was birthed in a different world from their shoegaze-y late career, but this is wonderfully crafted. The songwriting is messy yet it feels all the more impassioned for it and its breakdowns into reverb filled spaces just feel colossal.
There are obvious allusions to Dylan and Petty but ... read more
Arms Like Boulders - 4/5
Taking The Farm - 3/5
Coast Reprise - 3/5
Buenos Aires Beach - 3/5
There Is No Urgency - 3/5
A Needle In Your Eye #16 - 4/5
Reverse The Charges - 4/5
Show Me The Coast - 3/5
Barrel of Batteries - 4/5
That album was a journey. I can't say it's great, or even that good, but I really understand what they were doing here, especially with tracks like Show Me The Coast. There's just some great guitar work on here, and while some other parts of the production let it down (like the vocals), I can't not be a fan.
Although it has no misses here, I think it's the weakest of them... But I mean, it's their debut so still fire, and the weakest album of The War on Drugs will still always a good album.
Fav tracks:
- Taking The Farm
- A Needle In Your Eye #16
- Arms Like Boulders
- Reverse The Charges
Least fav:
- Barrel Of Batteries
You can tell it's early days, but still a hugely enjoyable record showcasing a massive amount of potential
Favourites: Show Me The Coast, A Needle In Your Eye #16, Arms Like Boulders, Taking The Farm, Buenos Aires Beach
Least Favourites: Reverse The Charges
1 | Arms Like Boulders 5:20 | 80 |
2 | Taking the Farm 4:00 | 83 |
3 | Coast Reprise 3:15 | 74 |
4 | Buenos Aires Beach 3:23 | 73 |
5 | There Is No Urgency 6:19 | 74 |
6 | A Needle In Your Eye #16 4:54 | 76 |
7 | Reverse the Charges 3:19 | 76 |
8 | Show Me the Coast 10:03 | 76 |
9 | Barrel of Batteries 2:29 | 69 |