Rolling Stone (1/22/04, p.72) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "Just one year after their stunning three-decades-in-the-making comeback album, [the Flatlanders are] still riding high....the group's trad-country is crisp and decorous..."
Spin (4/04, p.94) - "[T]he tender, playful longing of 'Wishin' For You' is so sublime it hurts..." - Grade: A
Entertainment Weekly (1/23/04, pp.100-1) - "WHEELS is near perfection....With jarringly good songs from three different pens, this is country at its elemental best, equals parts whimsy, passion, and revelation." - Rating: A-
Q (3/04, p.102) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[T]he old magic is still there on the sublime 'Neon of Nashville' and a reworking of Hancock's 'I Keep Wishin' For You'."
Mojo (Publisher) (2/04, p.94) - 4 stars out of 5 - "Guitars glow, characters shine, egos dim. It's Buena Vista Social Club with banjos (and a musical saw)."
The Flatlanders: Joe Ely (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, 12-string guitar, keyboards, percussion); Butch Hancock (vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica); Jimmie Dale Gilmore (vocals, acoustic guitar).
Additional personnel: Rob Gjersoe (acoustic & electric guitars, Resonator guitar, slide guitar, dobro); Mitch Watkins (electric guitar, 12-string guitar); Lloyd Maines (steel guitar, dobro); Joel Guzman (accordion); Gary Herman (bass guitar); Chris Searles (drums, percussion); Steve Wesson (musical saw); Tony Pearson (background vocals).
Recorded at Spur Studios, Austin, Texas.