CD of the Day: ‘A.M.,’ Wilco (1995)

On Tuesday, March 30, I’ll be attending “An Evening with Wilco” at the Strathmore in Bethesda (fifth row—whaddup!!!). To prepare myself for what I hope will be a momentous occasion, CD of the Day from now until then will go through the entire Wilco catalog, starting with …

Wilco’s debut album starts off as well as you could possibly hope, with three of the band’s best-ever songs. “Casino Queen” is the high-water mark here, but you can’t go wrong with any of these choices.

The rest of the way isn’t nearly as exciting or dynamic. Taken individually, none of the final 10 tracks are bad, but as a whole they blend together into a mush of plodding, sad-sack country that grows a bit wearisome by the end. Though “A.M.” is a fine start, Wilco had much greater things in store.

Grade: B

Favorite Track: “Casino Queen”

Least Favorite Track: “That’s Not the Issue”