The words "country music" do not inspire excitement in most college students. While the genre maintains a strong following in older generations, the popular progression of rock 'n roll has rendered the oldest genre of American music practically obsolete. Instead, us students tend to gravitate towards hip hop, R&B, punk and rock. So when I tell you that Wilco has strong roots in country, please don't go running the other way. When Yankee Hotel Foxtrot-Wilco's most famous album-was released in 2002, it was an instant hit. The album features melodies boosted by lush backgrounds of found sounds, multi-tracked instrumental parts, ethereal effects and frothy connecting threads between songs. Lyrically, it is honest and open but still somewhat obtuse; lead singer Jeff Tweedy writes tales of broken hearts and blown minds as if you are in the head of the narrator. Praise from the press was heaped upon it from all angles. Pitchfork, an independent music Webzine, gave it a 10 on a 10-point scale, calling the album "...complex and dangerously catchy, lyrically sophisticated and provocative, noisy and somehow serene, Wilco's aging new album is simply a masterpiece; it is equally magnificent in headphones, cars and parties."

The band has been compared to R.E.M. and Soul Asylum, but while their use of acoustic guitars and melody is similar, Wilco has continued to separate itself from many of its peers. They have a solid understanding of pop music-and understanding that is reflected in the infections melodies they incorporate-but they choose to pull from country more than rock, and explore far more than their mainstream counterparts ever have.

In 1995, Wilco released its first album entitled A.M., a largely predictable effort in alt-country, a genre Tweedy helped pioneer in his first band, Uncle Tupelo. The following year the band released the double album Being There. It turned out songs that were hummable and stuck with the listener, but for every good song there was a bad song.

Their next release, Summerteeth, featured a more lush sound and increasingly intricate songs. Despite critical success, it generated only lukewarm sales, and initiated tension between the band and their record label, Reprise Records, for the first time.

This tension would eventually build to legendary proportions in the years between the release of Summerteeth and their fourth album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Generally accepted as Wilco's magnum opus, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot came out of the most tumultuous time Wilco had experienced. Tweedy, the band's primary songwriter, had begun following the experimental instincts he had discovered of the course of Wilco's previous three albums. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot establishes itself immediately as a sonically daring and complex venture that speaks to the full genius of the band.

Reprise didn't agree. When it was completed, parent label Warner Bros. refused to release the album, calling it "career-ending." At the same time, internally, the band was starting to fall apart. Guitarist Jay Bennett was growing continually frustrated with the amount of writing Tweedy was doing, causing the band to ignore his own work. Tweedy, plagued with chronic migraines his whole life, found the stress aggravated his headaches and began to ignore Bennett. In turn, tensions boiled over and Bennett left the band.

Reprise decided that they weren't willing to invest any more time in an album they are convinced will not sell, and dropped Wilco from their roster. In the meantime, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot leaked on the Internet. The band seized the opportunity and put the album up in its entirety on their Web site. Fans of the band immediately began downloading, and buzz for the album began to build. Word of mouth brought more listeners to the site and it was released in 2002.

But under the surface of musical success, Tweedy's personal life was suffering. The migraines that had plagued him his entire life were getting worse. During the recording process for their fifth album, Tweedy's painkiller abuse escalated, and after the album was completed he checked himself into a rehab clinic. His treatment was completed in May of 2004.

Wilco's much-anticipated fifth album, A Ghost Is Born was released in June. It further explored the experimental territory the band had wandered into, to mixed reviews. Found sounds played a larger role on this album, and the meandering song structure featured on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot has been expanded for A Ghost Is Born. Atmosphere is emphasized, and three-minute pop songs are in the minority.

So who is Wilco? They are a band that began in humble Americana and country beginnings, and have continued to evolve musically and lyrically into a more elusive genre. They are stunningly talented musicians (the band currently tours as a 6-piece set) who are lively and funny and intelligent on stage. They are quiet, normal men who don't really lead rock star lives (Tweedy has said that going to rehab is the most rock star thing he's ever done). But, above all, Wilco is a group of guys who love to listen to music, and love to play it even more.