''Star Wars'' is the ninth studio album by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

group

Wilco Wilco is an American alternative rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup changed frequently dur ...

. It was self-released for free on July 16, 2015, through wilcoworld.net. It is the second Wilco album that was released on their own label dBpm. A CD version of the album was released on August 21 and a vinyl version was released on October 13. The album emerged from Wilco recording sessions at The Loft that also resulted in their 2016 album ''

Schmilco ''Schmilco'' is the tenth studio album by Chicago-based alternative rock band Wilco and was released on September 9, 2016. Wilco announced the album on July 19, 2016, and released two songs, "Locator" and "If I Ever Was a Child". The album's anno ...

''.

Cover art

In an interview with ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'', Wilco lead singer Jeff Tweedy explained the cover art and album title.

It's kind of an extension of the thought process behind, I don't know, staying in touch with some sort of wild energy as much as possible and some sort of an irreverence. But that painting of that cat hangs in the kitchen at the ilcoloft, and every day I'd look at it and go, "You know, that should just be the album cover." Then I started thinking about the phrase "Star Wars" recontextualized against that painting—it was beautiful and jarring. The album has nothing to do with ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
''. It just makes me feel good. It makes me feel limitless and like there's still possibilities and still surprise in the world, you know?

In a November 2018 interview on ''

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American late-night news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Spartina Productions and CBS Studios, it is the second it ...

'' Jeff Tweedy stated that they were prepared to rename and redistribute the album as 'Cease and Desist' as they assumed they would be sued by

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairm ...

. They allegedly also prepared album artwork featuring McDonald's

Golden Arches The Golden Arches are the symbol of McDonald's, the global fast food restaurant chain. Originally, real arches were part of the restaurant design. They were incorporated into the chain's logo in 1962, which resembled a stylized restaurant, and i ...

upside-down as the W in Wilco.

Accolades

Commercial performance

The album debuted at No. 105 on ''Billboard'' 200, and No. 18 on Top Rock Albums for charts dated September 12, 2015, selling 6,000 copies in the first week. The album has sold 21,000 copies in the United States as of August 2016.

Track listing

All songs written by Jeff Tweedy, except for "You Satellite" co-written by Tweedy,

Glenn Kotche Glenn Kotche (born December 31, 1970 in Roselle, Illinois, United States) is an American drummer and composer, best known for his involvement in the band Wilco. He was named the 40th greatest drummer of all time by Gigwise in 2008. Prior to w ...

and

Nels Cline Nels Courtney Cline (born January 4, 1956) is an American guitarist and composer. He has been the guitarist for the band Wilco since 2004. In the 1980s he played jazz, often in collaboration with his twin brother Alex Cline, Alex, a percussionis ...

, "Taste the Ceiling" by Tweedy and

Scott McCaughey Scott Lewis McCaughey is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter and the leader of the Seattle and Portland-based bands The Young Fresh Fellows and The Minus 5. He was also an auxiliary member of the American rock band R.E.M. from 199 ...

, and "Magnetized" by Tweedy and

Mikael Jorgensen Mikael Jorgensen (born June 4, 1972) is an American musician known as the pianist and keyboardist for the band Wilco as well as a member of the bands Pronto and Quindar. Career Prior to his days in Chicago and with Wilco, Mikael honed his musical ...

Personnel

Wilco * Jeff Tweedy – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vocals *

John Stirratt John Chadwick Stirratt is an American bassist and multi-instrumentalist for Wilco and The Autumn Defense. Early career Stirratt grew up in Mandeville, Louisiana. He attended Mandeville High School and the University of Mississippi, and is a ...

– bass, acoustic guitar, vocals *

– drums, percussion *

– keyboards *

– electric guitar, loops *

Patrick Sansone Patrick may refer to: * Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People * Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

– electric guitar, keyboards, vocals Additional musicians *Spencer Tweedy – additional percussion *

– Mellotron and piano on "Taste the Ceiling"

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2015 albums Albums free for download by copyright owner Albums produced by Jeff Tweedy DBpm Records albums Space rock albums Wilco albums