"Being There" is Wilco's 2nd album. Released in 1996, it shows that band still making some "alt-country" rock on a handful of tunes but more moving in different directions, though nothing as experimental as "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot." It's a great double album, a great driving album, even if, as is the case with many bands' earlier material, it would all end up sounding better live.

They just did a deluxe version which is very nicely priced; I think mine was 24 bucks through Amazon. Not bad for a 5-CD set! The first 2 CDs are just the regular album remastered. I haven't listened to those yet because I didn't think it really needed remastering. HOWEVER...

you then get 2 CDs of live stuff (one full concert plus other live goodies) and 1 CD of outtakes and alternate versions. Those 3 discs are the real treasure, and I would've paid twice as much for them.

The double live disc contains a show from The Troubador in 1996, and it's a great crunchy show. Jay Bennett was a very cool guitar player. Wilco had a more raw sound live then, but Jay could really serve up some smoking lead guitar. I have a number of live Wilco shows from 1996-1999, and this is a really cool one. They play a few Uncle Tupelo songs as well as plenty of "A.M" and "Being There" material.

The outtakes are great too. Wilco spends a lot of thought on their songs, so they try songs out in various formats - acoustic versus electric, horns versus no horns, turning ballads into rockers or vice versa. Fascinating stuff, and good enough that you might even argue that the outtake or alt version should have made the album!!

[Edited on 12/15/2017 by JimSheridan]