THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)
Fun Stuff => BAND => Topic started by: pat101 on 25 May 2008, 21:27
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Alright, it's been briefly discussed in the mediafire thread a few times but I'm ofthe opinion the new Hold Steady album is "oh-my-dear-lord" amazing
your thoughts?
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ROCKS
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Is that a fucking harpsichord on "One For The Cutters" or what? It sounds like a harpsichord. Is it a harpsichord?
Over all it's pretty awesome. But that's typically what The Hold Steady do.
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I quite like it on first listen, on to the second. Although, I could go for less backing vocals.
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I am quite loving it.
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2/10.
Not that I've actually listened to it; but this is an indie rock band we're talking about.
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Oh Caspian, you scamp!
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I dunno. I haven't gotten it yet, but with all this hype, I have a feeling I might be let down.
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Still no Separation Sunday, but better than Boys & Girls In America so it's pretty close. "Both Crosses" = WTF
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"Both Crosses" is one of the best songs on the album. :?
I listened to it pretty nonstop for a couple days. Earlier tonight I listened again and realised it's not quite as good as I had been thinking. In particular I got a better understanding of people who have been saying some of the lyrics are dodgy, especially the opening of the title track. Whether it's intentionally like that or not, I don't know, but boy, those are some really effort-less lines.
8/10
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I don't know, Johnny. Maybe Separation Sunday has to grow on me or something, but I think I like Boys and Girls In America best. Stay Positive is pretty sweet as far as I can tell, but some of the songs are kind of quirky and there isn't as much awesome licks as there were on previous albums. Of course, I've only listened to it once, and that was a couple of days ago, so I may not be remembering correctly.
I will say, Separation Sunday had some really sweet tracks on it.
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Separation Sunday is the apex of Hold Steady albums. That said, this album is still really great.
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"Both Crosses" is one of the best songs on the album. :?
Oh yeah, it just came out of nowhere for me.
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No guys, this is seriously THE best...
The sixteen or seventeen listens I've given it these past few days have confirmed this theory in my mind.
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I really really really like it. Not as much as I loved Boys and Girls in America though, maybe it hasn't hit me yet.
Oh and I'm really sick of the "There's gonna come a time when she's gonna have to go with whoever's gonna get her the highest" line.
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Is it weird that, despite being pretty into the whole "indie rock" thing, I really do not enjoy, and never have enjoyed, anything THS has done?
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If one were to try and claim there's any unifying aesthetic to indie rock, THS wouldn't be it. It's basically what everyone's said about them: they're a bar band with really clever lyrics. Maybe you should try listening to 'em drunk.
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I like his voice. Even if he does slur drunkenly
on the first couple of albums.
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Yeah I wouldn't really even put this band in the indie rock category. They're a rock band, that's all. They draw more from Bruce Springsteen than anything else. Especially now that the keyboard player is a full time member of the band.
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Do you know if that means he dropped out from the World Inferno/Friendship society too?
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No, he still plays with them when he can, I think.
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I didn't know they'd finished the album. When's it out?
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July I think.
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I think the file has been removed from the internet on mediafire. :-(
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I kind of always get kind of bummed out when Lord, I'm Discouraged sounds like it's going to end.
But then it keeps going for a bit and it's awesome.
I think this is a reasonable reason to revive an old topic such as this.
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Hm, perhaps I should have devoted an entire thread to a single thought.
:police:
Next time!
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Or, you could just not post it!
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If you really needed to type that thought up there is a great place to do it. I believe it's called Microsoft Word.
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Fair enough, you guys are harshing my mellow.
STAY NEGATIVE, M'RITE.
:cry:
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No.
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Man, I can never understand why you people don't just ignore a thread instead of getting all pissy about it.
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That's OK I wanted to talk about Stay Positive as well.
I listened to it this morning, and I listened to it a couple of weeks ago when I was driving down to the Southbound festival. The first two tracks of this album are amazing psyche-up music. I got so much shit done today because of it.
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Any love for the three bonus tracks? "Two-Handed Handshake" is a great great song.
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I haven't listened to Stay Positive in ages, but I'm pretty sure "Two-Handed Handshake" is my favourite song on the whole disc. And it's not even meant to be there.
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I don't like it. *hides*
The lead singers voice just seems to grate on me, and the songs just seem pretty generic. Like nothing that hasn't been done before.
I hear they are good lyricaly, but to pay more attention to the lyrics would be to pay more attention to the vocals, and urgh. As I've already said, his voice is just really grating. Don't know what it is, but there really is something I don't like about them.
So... in short, *hides from the onslaught and protects his music badge from being taken away from him*
--- Luke
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I fuckin' love the Hold Steady and was listening to this one for the first time in months this morning. I always think I like it less than the preceeding three but I actually like it just as much.
I adore Craig's voice and lyrics both and I guess you could dismiss the music as generic throwback rock but really, that'd be silly. There's lots of really great guitarwork and yes, awesome awesome lyrics that would make them worth listening to even if it sounded like Conor Oberst singing over a child beating up a ukelele.
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I totally agree with Dovey. "Constructive Summer" gets me so pumped. It also reminds me of That 70's Show. "We're gonna lean this ladder up against the water tower / climb up to the top and drink and talk." Also the gang vocals. SO AWESOME.
Also, the solo on "Lord, I'm Discouraged" fucking slays.
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Also, the solo on "Lord, I'm Discouraged" fucking slays.
It's such a big dumb solo and yet done so earnestly that you can't help but love it. [Also good for silly solo-ness: Joke About Jamaica]
This album just came to and end I remembred again how much I love the the backing vocals staying up over the fadeout. WOOOOAH OH, WOOAHOH etc.
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I think that one bonus track ("Ask Her for Some Adderol"? it doesn't say on the CD case) is really awesome.
More awesome than a couple songs on the album proper.
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I think all three of the bonus tracks are as good as the main record, espescially Two-Handed Handshake.
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ITT: Hold Steady express their opinions on downloading leaked albums by intentionally leaving 3 songs that they absolutely knew should have been on there off until the physical release.
See also: Dear Science, "deluxe edition".
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Well, the difference being those TVOTR tracks weren't... Actually the one I've heard WAS good enough to be on the album. Damn, yr right. I've only heard Dogs of Light I think of the bonus tracks. [Good work, various digital stores on mislabelling the bonus tracks there]
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I actually hate it when tracks that are tacked on to albums (and aren't even their own proper tracks for that matter) so I opted for the version without the special tracks.
Give me a separate disc if there's any bonus stuff.
I BELIEVE IN THE PURITY OF THE ALBUM.
Seriously though, I tend to listen to CDs in my car and it bugs me when there's no gap track or anything (hell the liner notes don't even acknowledge them).
:-D
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For the longest time I thought that Cat Power's Moon Pix album actually had 14 tracks rather than 11, despite being subtitled "11 songs Australia 1998", because the C.D. I bought contained three bonus tracks that were completely unlisted and unmentioned anywhere. And because I was young and inexperienced in the ways of bonus tracking.
Even to this day I have difficulty stopping the C.D. after "Peking Saint" has finished.
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I totally agree with Dovey. "Constructive Summer" gets me so pumped. It also reminds me of That 70's Show. "We're gonna lean this ladder up against the water tower / climb up to the top and drink and talk." Also the gang vocals. SO AWESOME.
Also, the solo on "Lord, I'm Discouraged" fucking slays.
OH GANG VOCALS HOW I LOVE THEE, LET ME COUNT THE WAYS.
and re: the solo on "Lord, I'm Discouraged," I think that song sums up what draws me to the Hold Steady, and it ties into what someone said earlier in the thread: The Hold Steady are not an "indie rock" band, they are just a rock band. And rock music should include gigantic crotch-grabbing finger-tapping solos whenever appropriate.
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Just make sure that the fingers that are doing the tapping are not on the same hand that is doing the crotch-grabbing.
Either that, or tap very gently.
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Unless you are into that kind of thing
Who are we to judge
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I don't like it. *hides*
The lead singers voice just seems to grate on me, and the songs just seem pretty generic. Like nothing that hasn't been done before.
I hear they are good lyricaly, but to pay more attention to the lyrics would be to pay more attention to the vocals, and urgh. As I've already said, his voice is just really grating. Don't know what it is, but there really is something I don't like about them.
So... in short, *hides from the onslaught and protects his music badge from being taken away from him*
--- Luke
Don't worry, we could use some alternative opinions on this forum. Please listen to Neutral Milk Hotel and tell us you hate them as well?
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You know, I've never really gotten into this album as much as I did Boys and Girls which has been my favorite album THS has done so far. I tried listening to it again today, but THS is, like Springsteen's early work, the very definition of "summer music" for me. It doesn't feel right listening to it when it's 10 degrees and there's more than a foot of snow on the ground.
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Related: Are there any Lifter Puller fans in the house?
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I actually was looking to see what Lifter Puller stuff was available on the market.
And apparently all of their albums are out of print (?)
Bummer.
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I actually was looking to see what Lifter Puller stuff was available on the market.
And apparently all of their albums are out of print (?)
Bummer.
the mediafire thread had a relatively complete collection (soft rock) posted a while back... maybe it's still up? if not, emusic.com has soft rock up for d/l.
lftrpllr = perfect for people who want to do drugs but who are too vain to take the nasty side affects like tooth loss... and addiction.
oh, how i love them.
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Lifter Puller is essentially The Hold Steady as an ACTUAL indie rock band. I love both, to be clear. (Though my Lifter Puller mp3 collection was decimated in The Great External Hard Drive Crash of October 08)
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I actually was looking to see what Lifter Puller stuff was available on the market.
And apparently all of their albums are out of print (?)
Bummer.
http://www.punknews.org/article/32036 <------- you'll like this news then
also, for my two cents on stay positive - it's my first experience of the hold steady, and although i don't think it's the shit-hot slab of amazingness that most seem to deem, i think it's pretty solid, a bit of a grower, and i'll probably get round to checking out their older stuff too. his voice is a bit weird, but not bad. i'd give the album 7/10.
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I really want to get into the Hold Steady, I just can't do it. Maybe I need to give them a few more listens. I've heard Separation Sunday, Boys & Girls in America, and Stay Postive. I like a few songs, i like the music, and i know the lyrics are pretty interesting, I just can't really dig them, you know? And I don't think i can't get in to them because of Finn's voice, although it IS pretty hard to digest. I was also let down a little bit when I read somewhere that he had taken vocal lessons before/while recording Stay Positive. I definitely don't think his voice was better on this album.
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I think it's pretty good. I only listened to it about 4-5 times before this because a friend insisted...and i enjoyed it, but i am listening to it now and all the tracks are coming back to me, and i'm having a really good time listening to it.