Being There

Orginally released in 1996, Wilco's 'Being There' is a double album of melodic alt-country delights, featuring irresistable, highly lyrical songs such as "Red-Eyed and Blue", "What's the World Got in Store", "Someone Else's Song", "Sunken Treasure", and "Dreamer in My Dreams".

"While Wilco's debut, 'A.M.', spread its wings in an expectedly country-rock fashion, their sophomore effort, 'Being There', is the group's great leap forward, a masterful, wildly eclectic collection shot through with ambitions and ideas. Although a few songs remain rooted in their signature sound, here Jeff Tweedy and band are as fascinated by their music's possibilities as its origins, and they push the songs which make up this sprawling two-disc set down consistently surprising paths and byways."
- All Music Guide

"The 19 tracks on 'Being There' are spread across two CDs - a sound aesthetic decision. Each disc functions as a self-contained entity digestible in a single 40-minute sitting. Together, both halves aspire to the nervy sprawl of such double-album predecessors as 'London Calling' and 'Exile on Main Street', records that forged unified personal statements out of a bewildering variety of styles. Being There is a product of ambitious versatility, particularly in the string-band textures conjured by multi-instrumentalist Max Johnston and the pliant rhythms of bassist John Stirratt and drummer Ken Coomer...

'Being There' is named after the 1979 movie with Peter Sellers, and like Sellers' memorable character, the gardener Chance, Jeff Tweedy and Wilco venture out into an anxiety-ridden world sure of only one thing. For Chance, it was the feeling of security he left behind in the garden. For Wilco, it is the solace they continue to find in rock & roll."
- Greg Kot, Rolling Stone Magazine

"Displayers of affection and all good intentions, why don't you just send me the bill. Don't forget the flowers someday, I know you will."
- Wilco