Ranking Every Hold Steady Song

[parock]

There was a recent Springsteen ranking of every song that admittedly made me ponder the idea of this undertaking. That said, its not a new idea, one that is bound to make zero people happy, quite a few mad to the point of spewing vitriol and ultimately accomplish nothing because music is subjective to every person, no matter how much we believe it to be objective. It's not, just because you believe it's so. That said I started this back in early September maybe? I wanted to sit on it. Then I had some health issues. I would move song around after I kept going back to relisten. Some I was too hard on. Some not hard enough. Some nostalgia creeped in (okay maybe a lot). That said 3 of the newer songs crack the top 20. I think that's huge. It's not even about a top spot or top 10. I think this band's top echelon is probably in the top 40 range. I think I hit all the songs. I tried to double and triple check. Go through my external harddrive, b sides, live shows, websites that list songs, etc. If I missed one, then oh well.

Figured I'd post it here. I'm prepared for people to call for my banishment from the board for my bottom picks. It's all in fun. I will say I personally believe this is a very conservative list. I honestly don't feel like there are hot takes here. I love a good hot take but I'm not in the business of putting one in just to stir things up. I actually suprised myself with how conservative I felt like I was. That said, I tried to take in account a couple main attributes to use as some sort of value/scoring system: Translation/Importance to live show, importance to catalog/band history, lyrics, fun/interesting music...I think that's it? Maybe one other one that I'm forgetting.

Anyway, tell me how wrong I am (or right!)




1. Stuck Between Stations
2. How A Resurrection Really Feels
3. Hoodrat
4. Constructive Summer
5. Killer Parties
6. Positive Jam
7. Banging Camp
8. Stevie Nix
9. Entitlement Crew
10. Chips Ahoy!
11. Ask Her For Some Adderall
12. Most People Are DJs
13. The Weekenders
14. First Night
15. Lord, I’m Discouraged
16. Denver Haircut
17. Hot Soft Light
18. Stove and The Toaster
19. Hornets
20. Multitude of Casualties
21. Confusion In The Marketplace
22. The Only Thing
23. The Swish
24. Certain Songs
25. Barfruit Blues
26. Party Pit
27. Blackout Sam
28. Star 18
29. Cattle Creeping Things
30. Yeah Sapphire
31. Slapped Actress
32. Ballad of The Midnight Hauler
33. Sequestered In Memphis
34. Sweet Part of The City
35. Girls Like Status
36. You Gotta Dance
37. Massive Nights
38. Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night
39. Spinners
40. You Can Make Him Like You
41. Citrus
42. The Ambassador
43. Charlemagne In Sweatpants
44. On With The Business
45. Magazines
46. Both Crosses
47. Sweet Payne
48. Cheyenne Sunrise
49. Eureka
50. Arms and Hearts
51. 212 Margarita
52. Don’t Let Me Explode
53. Modesto’s Not That Sweet
54. Milkcrate Mosh
55. Curves and Nerves
56. Separate Vacations
57. A Slight Discomfort
58. You Tremble
59. Almost Everything
60. Oaks
61. T Shirt Tux
62. Traditional Village
63. I Hope This Whole Thing Didn’t Frighten You
64. Two Handed Handshake
65. Crucifixion Cruise
66. For Boston
67. Esther
68. Southtown Girls
69. Chillout Tent
70. One For The Cutters
71. Hostile Mass
72. 40 Bucks
73. Soft In The Center
74. We Can Get Togeher
75. Hurricane J
76. Our Whole Lives
77. The Most Important Thing
78. Joke About Jamaica
79. Sketchy Metal
80. Teenage Liberation
81. Snake In The Shower
82. Criminal Fingers
83. Stay Positive
84. Epaulets
85. The Last Time She Talked To Me
86. Wait A While
87. Touchless
88. Ascension Blues
89. Specters
90. This Isn’t Enough
91. You Did Good Kid
92. Same Kooks
92. Big Cig
93. Record and Tapes
94. Saddle Shoes
95. Look Alive
96. Rock Problems
97. Barely Breathing
98. Runners High
99. Hot Fries
100. Knuckles
101. Just Saying
102. Navy Sheets
103. The Smidge

[tbob]

I like the endeavour but the idea of ranking songs is fraught with peril. I’d put Touchless and Blackout Sam higher but why bother?
All that matters is the albums. I know I put Almost Killed Me lower than other members but that’s the craic. AKM, SS and BaGiA are astounding works that deserve to be listened to in full.
In fairness your top two are solid. Stuck Between Stations was the first song I ever heard them play live back in 2007 and your number two is my number one. Resurrection has everything that makes them so great. Religion, drugs, hope, alcohol, self-harm, solidarity, joy. Always joy!

[tbob]

Ps Barely Breathing and Records and Tapes should be way higher if this thread persists!!

[bmegroove]

The Smidge being last is so funny to me.

I saw some threads on the National's subReddit where people would rank songs by album round by round, like a survivor type thing where one or a few get eliminated each round. That would be cool to do for THS. Not that I'll do it but...

[Rattlesnake Gospel]

These lists always manage to simultaneously delight and outrage... which I suppose is the point.

Your top 20 is exactly what I'd expect a THS top 20 to look like: largely classics and live favorites, with a few new tunes slipped in there. Almost like a beginner's guide. Your last 20 though, man... Stay Positive, Ascension Blues, Records & Tapes, Saddle Shoes, HOT FRIES?!

It's funny how many I'd move down the list not because they're not solid tunes but because of how much I've heard them. Hoodrat, Chips Ahoy, YCMHLY, Sequestered... I love them all but especially in a live setting, I'd gladly trade any of them for some lesser played gems. But then that's live and not on record.

Like you said though, all in good fun.

[parock]

Oct 25, 2019 21:39:55 GMT -5 Rattlesnake Gospel said:

These lists always manage to simultaneously delight and outrage... which I suppose is the point.

Your top 20 is exactly what I'd expect a THS top 20 to look like: largely classics and live favorites, with a few new tunes slipped in there. Almost like a beginner's guide. Your last 20 though, man... Stay Positive, Ascension Blues, Records & Tapes, Saddle Shoes, HOT FRIES?!

It's funny how many I'd move down the list not because they're not solid tunes but because of how much I've heard them. Hoodrat, Chips Ahoy, YCMHLY, Sequestered... I love them all but especially in a live setting, I'd gladly trade any of them for some lesser played gems. But then that's live and not on record.

Like you said though, all in good fun.

Totally! Yeah I didn't want to ding songs on their ranking just because I've heard them dozens of time live. I didn't want this to be a list of songs I want to hear live gaining more ground on a strong "classic" - whatever that phrase means. Hoodrat is not a song I really put on anymore, but the weight of what that song means to the band, the history, the live setting, the lyrics, etc, - power it to end up very high on the list.

But yeah this is all in fun, I was couped up during the last couple weeks with a health issue so lots of time at home for music, netflix and dumb list making.

[charlie]

Last place is a fifteen-way or so tie between songs including You Did Good Kid, We Can Get Together, Wait a While, Navy Sheets, Just Saying, Look Alive, and Southtown Girls.

First place is a 25-way or so tie that includes Constructive, Stuck, Hoodrat, Hornets, Entitlement, Slapped, Cattle, Barfruit, Resurrection, Parties, Spinners, and Our Whole Lives.

Second place is everything else.

I love this band.

[muzzleofbees]

I did a ranking of the 64 best songs before Brooklyn '17. The random and uneven number of songs because that was the day I started a countdown towards the trip, presenting one new song for my friends who went along with me each day. I think they enjoyed it. But it was harder than what I'd thought it would be.

[muzzleofbees]

For what it's worth, this was my top 50 back then. Plenty of the new ones could compete here, and I would probably list Entitlement Crew somewhere inside top 20.

It's always hard to decide what constitutes The Best Song, or even how to rank two separate tracks against each other. For the most part, I went with a pure feeling of how enjoyable I think the song was at that particular point. That means You Can Make Him Like You fell out of the top 50 - it just doesn't move me as much after 200 spins. But since this wasn't just a isolated ranking, but also a way to present the band to friends who was not that into them, I tried to balance out the albums a bit, and to mix up fast rockers with big ballads. I also had to gaze a little bit towards what you might call personal historical importance. I would rather hear Hot Fries live than hearing Hoodrat for the 20th time, but Hoodrat IS a great song, and also so important in how I discovered and fell in love with the band.

In hindsight I would push some songs 8-10 places up or down, but for the most part, I think this represent quite well how I feel about their catalog.

1. Stuck BetweenStations
2. Your Little Hoodrat Friend
3. Banging Camp
4. The Swish
5. Sweet Payne
6. How A Resurrection Really Feels
7. Our Whole Lives
8. Positive Jam
9. Constructive Summer
10. Stevie Nix
11. Party Pit
12. Most People Are DJs
13. The Ambassador
14. Hornets! Hornets!
15. Spinners
16. Barfruit Blues
17. Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night
18. Charlemagne In Sweatpants
19. Girls Like Status
20. Southtown Girls
21. Hostile Mass
22. Chips Ahoy!
23. Yeah Sapphire
24. Certain Songs
25. Cattle And The Creeping Things
26. Hot Soft Light
27. Ask Her For Adderall
28. Massive Nights
29. First Night
30. Arms And Hearts
31. Multitude Of Causalities
32. Slapped Actress
33. Curves And Nerves
34. I Hope This Whole Thing Didn’t Frighten You
35. Stay Positive
36. Rock Problems
37. Killer Parties
38. Sweet Part Of The City
39. Knuckles
40. Records & Tapes
41. Touchless
42. Same Kooks
43. Hot Fries
44. 40 Bucks
45. The Weekenders
46. Almost Everything
47. The Bear And The Maiden Fair
48. Citrus
49. Milkcrate Mosh
50. We Can Get Together