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Wilco's back from the edge

Mark Brown, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 15, 2007 at midnight

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Wilco

Sky Blue Sky, Nonesuch Records.

Grade: A-

For Wilco fans, 2002's Yankee Foxtrot Hotel was either a brilliant experimental statement or indulgent noodling.

Fans of the band's earlier sound will probably rejoice over Sky Blue Sky, which brings the band back from the even more inaccessible edge it approached with 2004's A Ghost Is Born. Frontman Jeff Tweedy sticks to tasteful guitar rock, indulging a recent penchant for Neil Young-influenced guitar solos, especially the slashing runs in Side With the Seeds.

If anything, Sky Blue Sky may be a little too safe. Many of the songs build slowly, with the band fiercely kicking in halfway through the song.

Hate It Here finds a man who keeps busy with menial chores while grappling with the notion that someone (a lover or a deceased parent?) will never come back again.

The title cut is wistful alt-country recalling the band's early days (with Tweedy singing, "I survived - that's good enough for now"), while Walken rocks harder than anything the band has done in years. It's hard to imagine that a fan of any of Wilco's different eras could be disappointed with this.

Rufus Wainwright

Release the Stars, Geffen Records.

Grade: A-

If Rufus Wainwright couldn't burst through as a star with 2001's Poses (a brilliant party-stopper of an album), what makes anyone think this one will do the trick?

Lush, melodic, pointed and real, it continues the brilliant singer-songwriter's arc naturally. Yet people, including Wainwright himself, seem to think this is the one that will take off (he reportedly has a Red Rocks date penciled in for this summer).

For one thing, he's more topical this time around. The first single, Going to a Town, laments what Wainwright sees as the demise of the good things about the United States, addressing the war and gay rights with lines such as "I'm so tired of America" and "Tell me - do you really think you'll go to hell for having love?"

Maybe the fifth time will be the charm for Wainwright.

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Next week:

• Maroon 5: It Won't Be Soon Before Long

• Ozzy Osbourne: Black Rain

• The Used: Lies for the Liars