The Finger LP

Yup’, The Finger LP.  Mr. Wilson would have you believe he titled his long awaited (or is it long overdue?) solo album, “free life.”  But it’s not.  It’s The Finger LP.

If you have a copy, pick it up.  Now look at the front cover.  I don’t know if that’s some kind of glacier, cloud formation, or waves crashing, but that frickin’ thing is giving us the finger.  No two ways about it.  Every time we pick up our Dan Wilson CDs so we can take it out and listen, we’re getting flicked off.

This one’s going to take me some time to get used to.  I was a big fan of Trip Shakespeare, and the collaboration of Mr. Wilson with his brother Matt and bass player John Munson.  It was a unique, truly underappreciated band of the “alternative” period.  I further enjoyed Semisonic and the power pop trio that was formed between Wilson, Munson, and Jacob Slichter (whose “So You Wanna be a Rock & Roll Star” everyone should read).

I really got jazzed when I saw Wilson perform at the Women’s Club here in Minneapolis a few years ago, and heard the arrangements of new & old material he put together with Ken Chastain and friends.  It was an awesome live performance.  The Ballroom Sessions CD single, and the Sugar EP; both got me REALLY excited for the coming solo album, as well as made me impatient. 

BUT…

Obviously Mr. Wilson has made a conscious decision that he’s not going to give everyone standard Dan Wilson fare.  That’s cool.  I’m guessing he’s made some good money with his Semisonic royalties, and getting a Grammy with the Dixie Chicks couldn’t have hurt the pocket book either.  So he’s got the freedom to make the album he wants.  Plus there’s the influence of one Rick Rubin to take into account too.

The first time I listened to it, I knew these were not the arrangements I had previously heard and really dug (Free Life, Come Home Angel), and it frustrated me.  As some reviewers have pointed out, there’s some country/folk influence going on here.  This wasn’t the Dan Wilson album I wanted.

But it’s the Dan Wilson album I got, and I must admit, as I sit here giving it another listen, it’s already starting to grow on me.  I didn’t like the first Neil Finn solo album I heard (Big fan.  The album is Try Whistling This.  Pick it up.), but I eventually grew to love it, so I’m open to that happening with this.  I’d like to hear the material live too.

So keep recording and keep exploring Dan, don’t make us wait so long, and don’t forget that power pop sensibility.

… and stop flickin’ me off.