1. Misunderstood
2. Company in My Back
3. The Late Greats
4. Hell Is Chrome
5. Handshake Drugs
6. I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
7. Shot in the Arm
8. At Least That?s What You Said
9. Wishful Thinking
10. Jesus, Etc.
11. I?m the Man Who Loves You
12. Kicking Television
13. Via Chicago
14. Hummingbird
15. Muzzle of Bees
16. One by One
17. Airline to Heaven
18. Radio Cure
19. Ashes of American Flags
20. Heavy Metal Drummer
21. Poor Places
22. Spiders (Kidsmoke)
23. Comment
Amazon.com
Recorded over four-nights in front of a sold-out hometown crowd at Chicago's historic Vic Theatre in 2005, Kicking Television: Live In Chicago is the first official live release from Wilco. It's remarkable to think that a band so well known for for its richly varied, inspiring live sets waited so long to get one these things out. At the same time, it's a little foreign hearing songs that once felt like personal treasures, plus a set-closing cover of Charles Wright's "Comment," handed over to the masses - the quietly disturbing "Misunderstood" is transformed into an audience sing-along, "Handshake Drugs" becomes a communal jig, and "Heavy Metal Drummer" a certifiable party anthem. Luckily, the whoops and clinking cocktail glasses can't take away from Jeff Tweedy's compelling laments or the band's full-throttle charge, particularly on a knuckle-gripping reworkings of "A Shot In The Arm" and "Ashes of American Flags." --Aidin Vaziri
Album Description
Kicking Television-Live in Chicago, recorded over four nights in May at The Vic Theatre. "It's really the best it's ever felt," said Jeff Tweedy to the Detroit Free Press earlier this year. "I would say at this point, I don't think I've ever been in a band that's felt this connected and unified with this collective vision." To document that collective vision that band called upon veteran mixing engineer Jim Scott (Tom Petty, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Matthews, Johnny Cash) to capture the energy, excitement, clarity and musicality that has earned Wilco continued praise for their live shows around the world.
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Kicking Television: Live in Chicago
- Audio CD: 0 pages (2005-11-15)
- Publisher: Nonesuch
- Label: Nonesuch
- Format: Live
- Studio: Nonesuch
- Average Customer Review:
 based on 52 reviews
- Sales Rank in Music: #14881
Avg. Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: One of my favourite albums 2008-03-20
Comment: I am an extreme latecomer to Wilco's music; up until a couple of years ago I'd never heard of them. I became interested in so-called "numbers stations", radio stations that broadcast nothing but mysterious voices reciting strings of numbers, and somebody at work told me that a band called Wilco had used numbers stations on one of their recordings, which is how I came to listen to Wilco's 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot'. It quickly became one of my favourite CDs, and it wasn't long before I discovered this sprawling gem of an album.
'Kicking Television' has nearly everything I want from a live album; the songs are in many cases fresher, livelier and more eventful than the original versions, the playing is great, and the mood is palpably upbeat. I could wish that Jeff Tweedy had a more memorable line in stage banter, but he doesn't really seem to be that kind of guy. My favourite bit of the album is the sequence from the bubblingly cheerful rendition of 'Heavy Metal Drummer' via the edgy and nervous 'Poor Places' into a positively epic 'Spiders (Kidsmoke)' - most of the latter song is the same chord over and over and over again, and when the band finally surge into the descending instrumental refrain, the release of tension is exhilarating. This album is also, incidentally, one of the best-recorded examples of what Nels Cline can do with a guitar; although Tweedy is a pretty formidable player himself.
2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: What am I missing? 2008-01-13
Comment: I really can't remember why I picked up this CD. Maybe I read all the great reviews here. Maybe I'm just always searching out GOOD music that I haven't heard before. I do know that in my quest for great CD's (some of which are obscure, some of which are well known), occasionally I pick one up one in which I think to myself, "huh, what was I thinking?". Don't get me wrong, I tried to like this CD. I've listened to it several times, and while its OK in places it just doesn't do anything for me. The sound of the vocals tend to be annoying to me. Hmmm, well, to each his own. I guess those that find this CD "amazing", and it seems there are many, are listening to something different than I am.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Second only to live Wilco, this is their best work, period. 2008-01-05
Comment: I have little to add to the points made by other reviewers here but to emphasize that Wilco is at their best live, and this record is at the top of my list of great live albums. Every track on this double CD is a fresh, and to my mind superior, version of the original studio recordings. "Kicking Television" spent six months in steady rotation on my vehicle's audio system and I still find it great road food. Highly recommended for adventurous rock fans who appreciate an innovative band that isn't afraid to experiment or draw on diverse influences and make them their own.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Live Act 2007-08-13
Comment: I put off buying this cd for a long time. I saw Wilco play at the Aronoff Center in Cincinnati,June07. It was one of the best shows I've seen. I couln't resist buying the cd after the live show experience. It is a great cd. I have listened to this 2 disc live recording many times. No regrets about this purchase.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Burns like a Sparkler! 2007-05-23
Comment: Disc #1 ******
Disc #2 **
There is always pressure on great "live" bands to release that one live album. Loyal fans of course will scream 'till they are blue in the face that they will never be able to capture that feel from actually being there and seeing it live. I think that is generally because the people that have actually seen the band live like to separate themselves from the masses, you know, feel special and all. Well, after listening to the first disc of this album you are ready to tell those prima donnas, hey, they are doing it! The first disc is magic. There are three songs on it that I might not have chosen, but overall, tremendous, shines bright. However, the second disc sees the band go into a lot slower numbers that could cause one to scratch their head. It's not that they are bad songs, just that they are not anywhere close to being rockers, which is kind of what I am looking for at a concert. The Sparkler starts to burn out a bit. Although, "Poor Places" and "Airline to Heaven" really do shine bright. Of course, how a song like "I'm Always in Love" does not make it on this release is a mystery to me, arguably Wilco's biggest crowd pleaser. Overall, the release is solid, showing excellent musicianship, but disc 1 proves quite superior to disc 2. So, if you were to rip a disc for your car stereo, you might want to lean on that more.
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Kicking Television: Live in Chicago
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