Nonesuch released the album on May 15, 2007; the following week became Wilco's best-ever sales week. The album debuted at number four on the U.S.
Billboard 200, selling 87,000 copies domestically in its first week.
Sky Blue Sky was also an international success, peaking at number 7 in Norway, number 21 in Belgium, number 23 in Australia and Ireland, number 26 in
Sweden, number 32 in New Zealand, number 36 in Germany, and number 39 in the United Kingdom. The album maintains a score of 73 out of 100 from
Metacritic from 38 critics based on "generally favorable reviews" upon its release. Michael Metivier of
PopMatters commented that while the album took a while to understand, it was full of "exquisitely beautiful melodies and performances".
AllMusic writer Mark Deming called the album "Wilco's strongest album as an ensemble to date," and found the return to
roots rock music a fresh new method for the band.
Blender gave it three-and-a-half stars out of five and said that the album "often feels like the Grateful Dead|[Grateful] Dead's
American Beauty if
Jerry Garcia had taken
Paxil instead of acid." Colin Stutz of
Filter gave the album a score of 91% and stated: "Wilco has constructed their most straightforward release in recent memory, which relies heavily on the inspired intricacies of a full-hearted band." Richard Cromelin of
Los Angeles Times gave the album three-and-a-half stars out of four and called it "The most musically direct and down to earth of the band's six-album career." Andrew C. Bradick of
Prefix Magazine gave the album a favorable review and called it "Wilco's first step toward aging well, but it transcends transition and is an album that sounds right in its place and time." Alan Shulman of
No Ripcord gave it a score of eight stars out of ten and said, "Wilco has come up with 50% of a classic album and 50% of a merely decent one. Buy it for the moments you simply won’t hear anywhere else."
Will Hermes of
Spin gave it a score of eight out of ten and called it "A near-perfect album by a band that seems, finally, to have found their identity."
Alternative Press gave it four stars out of five and said, "It's apparent it takes deft skill to sound this simple." Jonathan Keefe of
Slant Magazine likewise gave it four stars out of five and said that "Though it may not fit comfortably alongside any other albums in Wilco's catalogue,
Sky Blue Sky is further confirmation that, even at their most retro, they're among contemporary pop music's most vital acts." Likewise, Graeme Thomson of
The Observer gave it four stars and said, "The closer you listen to the jazzy guitars, Beatles touches and easy, shuffling rhythms ... the more it transpires that Tweedy is simply allowing the songs sufficient room to speak up for themselves." John Pareles of
The New York Times gave the album a positive review and said, "The production is straightforward, but the song structures aren’t; that’s where Wilco’s idiosyncrasies still hide out." Joan Anderman of
The Boston Globe also gave it a positive review and said the band "hasn't forsaken its experimental streak, and the group uses it in the service of darkness -- or rather the threat of darkness." However, not all publications praised the new style of
Sky Blue Sky.
Stylus Magazine editor Ian Cohen criticized the album's disregard for the "
fourth wall", and expressed concern about its dissimilarities to
Kicking Television: Live in Chicago. Dorian Lynskey of
The Guardian gave the album three stars out of five and said, "On its own terms,
Sky Blue Sky succeeds: it's tender, poignant and sumptuously textured, occasionally jolted into fiery life by flaring guitar passages redolent of Neil Young or Television."
Now gave it a positive review and stated: "All those self-consciously avant bits of the two previous albums have been ditched along with Jeff Tweedy's laughable lyrical abstractions in favour of tuneful, direct songs that at least seem to carry some emotional weight."
Pitchfork writer Rob Mitchum also used the "dad-rock" colloquialism, dismissing its straightforwardness and arguing "Tweedy merely ended up with the wrong personnel to articulate his mood here."
Mojo also gave the album three stars out of five, stating that "Many longtime listeners... are sure to be disappointed with the radio-friendly production and sheer innocuousness of [the] lyrics."
Billboard gave it an average review and stated: "On first listen, it might seem too derivative, even dull, but Jeff Tweedy's intricate vocal melodies and Nels Cline's ferocious guitar work keep things interesting." The lyrical content was considered by critics to be somewhat experimental, but more straightforward than previous Wilco albums. The album received a nomination at the 50th Annual
Grammy Awards for
Best Rock Album. It placed 12th in the 2008
Pazz & Jop Poll. This album was #42 on
Rolling Stones list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007, and the song "Impossible Germany" was #71 on
Rolling Stones list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.
WXPN named "Impossible Germany" as the #1 song of 2007 and named the album as a whole the #1 album of 2007.
Sky Blue Sky was named one of the ten best albums of the year by
Billboard,
Paste,
Uncut, and
The A.V. Club. The album was placed at #97 on the Rolling Stone 100 Best Albums Of The 2000s list. In a 2021 article revising a collection of the website's previous reviews, Pitchfork writer Sam Sodomsky called the album "essential" and informally revised its 5.2 score to an 8.5. ==Track listing==