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Post by muzzleofbees on Apr 4, 2021 13:55:26 GMT -5
This isn't revolutionary in any way, but I've always wanted to a full countdown of the best Hold Steady songs - as many as possible. And not only the ranking itself, but actually write through each song, and treat it a single entity. I've spent so many years with these songs, and in many ways, I feel I owe them something. They've been with me for over a third of my life, from finally discovering them as a 22 year old student, to this very day, when I play Open Door Policy while eating another 6:30 breakfast with my kids, and my 4 year old daughter instantly recognizing Craig's voice during the first few seconds of Unpleasant Breakfast. Now it's time.
On a message board who's active, but where the pages aren't exactly rushing by, I hope there's room for a personalized ranking of the 100 best songs the band have released. Feel free to use this thread for anything you like - your own rankings, your own views on the songs or harsh critcism of either my take on each song, or how I rank them. I'll try to post a writeup of a song every other day or so.
The exact ranking of each song isn't very important. I've not put tons of thought into separating #68 from #72, but I've tried to split all the songs into five tiers, and then rank them internally inside that tier. My own views on these songs is naturally the most important thing here, and I've tried to evaluate them as songs, regardless of how they work in the context of the album, how they sound live or what significance they have in the broader story of the band - but surely, all these things influence how I hear them, and rate them. And I'll try to justify each evaluation.
A final disclaimer: I love to write about music, but I feel a lot more comfortable doing it in my modern tounge (norwegian). I know how to write in english too, but some nuance and ways of expression are bound to be lost in translation. I still think this is a project too fun to be stopped by that, and the market for intricate texts about Hold Steady in norwegian are pretty slim. So take it as it is!
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Post by muzzleofbees on Apr 4, 2021 14:01:19 GMT -5
#100: MODESTO IS NOT THAT SWEET
There’s something BIG about Modesto. It’s not exactly powerful, but it has some sort of emotional grandeur that’s almost a little schmaltzy, and also a little out of character - especially in the Almost Killed Me era. This is a song I’ve not really spent much time with, but when I come back to it, I kinda like more than I thought I would. Mostly because it’s lyrics (and sometimes music too, at least in the way the melody moves) make it clear that this isn’t very romantic at all, it’s about bitterness, revenge and being let down.
I really like how Craig just drops off at the end of the verses, and lets the music carry the rest of the burden. And it might be because I know it’s about Holly, California and everything that comes with it, but I think they’ve nailed a certain type of California-ness here. The warmth, the breeze, but still something slightly claustrophobic.
We’re at #100 here, of a catalog featuring not that many songs, so I would lie if I called this one of my favourites. But it’s a good song, and it’s a nice antidote to the rawer and more racuous stuff of 2004.
Final points:
- I have yet to hear this song being played live, and sort of doubt I'll ever will - Even though I now think I know a fair bit more about how Craig writes lyrics, it's still thrilling to see how seemingly not-that-important lines gets lifted from this throwaway b-side, and re-used in some of the bigger songs the band have made. Both Hot Soft Light and Lord, I'm Discouraged re-use lines from this one - We've heard quite a lot about forty bucks, and on We All Want The Same Things there's a guy in the need of ninety bucks, but I think Modesto is the only Craig Finn lyric who talks about fifty bucks
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Post by muzzleofbees on Apr 4, 2021 14:16:22 GMT -5
#99:: THE ONLY THINGI already feel the need to make some excuses here, cause we’ve arrived at the first of many songs where I know I’m out of sync with the general opinion. There will be bigger hills to climb later on, but I get the sense that quite many out there really like The Only Thing. I do to, obviously, but a lot less than most Hold Steady songs, and even the best part of Teeth Dreams.
To start with what I do like about it: It’s a really tight, well-written, well-executed song. I don’t know much about music theory or even compositions, but I know enough about rock music to aknowledge the craft here. There’s some nice guitar work all over the song, and it sounds bright and clear.
My objections to the song are more abstract and, I don’t know, emotionally founded. It just doesn’t grab me that hard, it feels a bit desolate, colds and distanced. That might be what they were trying to do, but I cant quite get on with that beat. The exception might be the bridge. The dreamy, druggy, sort of outside-look of the entire scene, is beautiful. I have the same way with a lot of other Hold Steady songs pretty far down my personal list (The Smidge, Navy Sheets): Very often the break after about two thirds of the song, where a melodically different theme appears (I call this the bridge, though that might not always be the right term), surprisingly often lift it. And sometimes it even makes the return to the main theme a lot better (I Hope This Whole Thing Didn’t Frighten You a goo example), but here it doesn’t quite do the trick.
All in all a good song, but also one of the regular studio tracks I like the least. Final points: - Even when it made a rare appearence on a setlist (one of the Massive Nights shows in 2019), I wasn't all that excited. - This was one of the brand new songs they played at that weird show in Oslo (the city, not the venue in 2012. I never fully understood why they did the show in the first place. There wasn't a tour, there were no talks of a new album and they played a small-ish venue without even selling it out. But I was beyond thrilled that they came, of course, and it was nice to get some new material too. They also did Wait A While, snuck in a soon-to-become-rare Hurricane J, and played Ascension Blues close to the ending. Full setlist here: www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-hold-steady/2012/parkteatret-oslo-norway-13dc4199.html- Since I'm already rambling on about that Oslo show, here's a decent video of the encore. It's views 300+ times, so it's a good chance you've never seen it. I'm the guy with the blonde hair right in front of Craig. Yeah, it was a really good night: www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfVrKTJywb8- Lots of talk about airports in the Lifter Puller material, and increasingly more in the newer material (Denver Haircut, Family Farm). But this must have been one of not-that-many songs from this era featuring an airport?
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Post by muzzleofbees on Apr 4, 2021 14:26:53 GMT -5
#98: TEENAGE LIBERATION
The coolest thing about Teenage Liberation is how extremely Franz-heavy it is. I don’t know if it’s a certain sound/production thing on his keyboards, or if he’s playing a different type of keys than what he usually does, but the piano is everything here. And it’s so omnipresent in the sound that it almost sounds a bit foolish, like a joke. But, you know, cool.
The song itself feels a little undercooked to me. You can sort of tell that it’s a really good idea at the core of the song, but the band don’t seem to be fully able to make it blossom. Craig’s lyrics are a little bit like that too. There’s plenty of smartness and vivid imagery here, but I get the feeling he’s just scratching the surface, that he neither fully commited to the idea or spent the time carving out the real deal.
What’s left is the Franz thing. Not only the keys, but the harmonies, the entire melodic shift in the chourses and the way the song shapes up. It’s lots of fun here, but ultimately it’s also one of the most b-sidey songs they’ve ever released (and I mean that in an as neutral way as possible).
Final notes:
- Tracing back lyrics, it seems to me that this is one of the first instances of framing the entire lives of these characters in a movie metaphor. Sure, you got lots of movie stuff in The Swish, the porn thing in Curves And Nerves and probably other refrences. But here, I think we move more towards "we make our own movies" type of writing. - I have a theory that Craig wrote this before he wrote Stuck Between Stations, and used a lot of the raw ideas from this lyric and expanded them to something bigger, more emotional, in Stations.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Apr 4, 2021 14:51:09 GMT -5
#97: SOFT IN THE CENTER
Soft In The Center is a weird one. To start off with what’s most obvious to me: It still sounds like a not very good attempt on writing a classic Hold Steady songs. All the ingredients are right: The banging guitars from the go, the low-key verses where Craig almost sounds like he’s putting on a face, the big and swirling chourses, and then back to the punchy riff. But all the elements seems a little off, a little uninspired. And I think that’s why I for a long time thought this was one of Hold Steadys absolutely worst songs. It’s not a failed experiment, not an attempt to try something new. It’s just a bland and not very exciting knock-off on what they once were able to execute perfectly.
But with time, and especially around the release of the reiusse last fall, I sort of softened a little. It IS a good song. Not thrilling or exciting, but certainly good. And once you remember that even Craig have made excuses about the lyrics being a little to advise-y, you can sort of appreciate some of the finer points about the lyrics a lot more too. Also, I think this is one of the songs who actually benefits from the sparkly, glossy production on Heaven Is Whenever. It’s a bright and shimmering poprock song, simple in every way, and the way it’s produced makes a lot of sense.
So while I’m not yearning to hear Soft in The Center played live, and probably never will put it on actively, I think it’s fine listening to it as track #2 on what actually is a very good rock album.
Final notes: - This winter, I've been ice skating a lot. And I remembered how I sort of nodded in recognition the first time I heard this. I'm also from a place with lots of lakes, and as a norwegian, I think I know a thing or two about how they react to cold weather. This is probably the least rock'n'roll like way of identifying with a rock singer. "You and me, Craig, we know stuff about lakes"
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Post by muzzleofbees on Apr 5, 2021 1:33:01 GMT -5
#96: BIG CIG
Big Cig is a little weird one to me, and I’m always torn between thinking it’s a somewhat goofy and dated jam, like a cliché of the 70s, the flipside of the acts that survived the decade and got critical recognition. At the same time, it’s groovy and slick and cool for real. It’s not a pastiche, it’s something who works on it’s own terms.
I dig those swagging verses, laidback and grinning, and I think it’s one of (too) few Teeth Dreams songs who leaves some air in the mix. It’s not stacked or filled up with big guitars all the way through, and that’s a plus. The chourses feels a little underwhelming, and while there’s cool parts in the lyrics, they also feel a little too much tounge-in-cheek.
Final points:
- I vividly remember this being played at what might be my favourite Hold Steady show ever: The Bush Hall (with a capacity of 300-350) show early in May 2014. Teeth Dreams was just a little over a month old, and this show sold out with the presale link to people subscribing to the newsletter. It’s easily the sweatiest, hottest and most intense show I’ve been to. And I met up with four great guys from this message board, who I still bump into when I return to London.
- A short period around the age of 17, I actually smoked big cigs myself, Marlboro 100s. And, yes, it was the almost awakening like discovery that you indeed got more for your money. Like two or three extra puffs is what you want from a cigarette at 17.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Apr 5, 2021 1:40:47 GMT -5
#95: JOKE ABOUT JAMAICA
Another confession: I’m not that big of a fan of Stay Positive. I know it’s the album where many fans jumped along, and that it in most ways were their commercial peak. And while it got some great songs, and I always get suprised of how nice it works as a complete album, I think I actually prefer Heaven Is Whenever and maybe even Thrashing Thru The Passion over it. That makes Stay Positive rank #7 out of #8 for me. Still think it’s a solid 9/10, though.
It would be wrong to say that Joke About Jamaica summarize everything wrong about the album, cause there’s nothing really wrong with it, and the reasons for me not liking it as much as other albums are pretty varied. But while I like big chunks of the song, it feels very much like a song made by a slightly weary and tired band. There’s something about the atmosphere in it, and the way they compensate for internal energy with playing harder, louder, a bit more abrassive. And I sort of feel it has this murkiness and darkness to it, that really don’t hit me - stripped for nuance and bittersweetness and melancholy, who is all replaced with sadness. Sad rock? Could’ve been a genre.
As in many other songs, the bridge is what lifts it, and especially the transition into the chours at the end. I really like that. And when I think of it, I kind of like the rest of the song too - there’s just so much stuff I like even more.
Final points:
- I've been a life long fan of rock, but I've never really tried to get into Led Zeppelin. I own a couple of albums on CD, but have rarely listened to them. And partly inspired by this record, and also something Craig said in some interview, I bought Houses Of The Holy on vinyl. I like it, but I'm not a big fan.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Apr 5, 2021 1:50:45 GMT -5
#94: BOTH CROSSES
I’m a little amazed by how rarely this song is mentioned when people talk about Hold Steady in general or Stay Positive more specifically. It’s such a weird song for Hold Steady to make, dusty and mystical and with J. freaking Mascis on a banjo. It seems to be neither a song people hate (which they easily could have) or a hidden gem people pull out of their bag as a minor favourite. To me it’s just as much an outlier as Navy Sheets or One For The Cutters, even more so, actually. It’s not just a straight rock song with a foregin instrument put into it, it’s at its core a anomaly in the catalog.
This is maybe why I don’t LOVE it. It’s just something else, something I don’t associate with Hold Steady as a band. But I also kinda dig it, when I put it on. Like the solo on Lord I’m Discouraged always make me think of the Riche Sambora solo in Bed Of Roses, the entire intro here remind me of Wanted Dead Or Alive. It never reaches the same radio friendly highs as that song, but it has the same dusty western vibe. Another song that springs to mind, is another celebrity guesting outlier by a rockband: Fade-In Fade-Out by Oasis, which (if I rememeber correctly) feature Johnny Depp on guitar.
Thirteen years on, I mostly go to Both Crosses for the lyrics, which is Craig as his finest, spinning webs between Mary’s visions, lifestyle and religion in a subtle and very much mystical way, making up two new mysteries for everyone he solves.
Final points:
- This is one of suprisingly many songs in the Hold Steady catalog who nods back to Only The Good Die Young by Billy Joel. I've always wondered why that song is such a big reference for Craig.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Apr 5, 2021 2:03:36 GMT -5
#93: GOIN' ON A HIKE
It’s almost hard to imagine, but there was a point in thime where this was a pretty regular occurance in the setlists. All the way from when Heaven Is Whenever songs started to appear in 2009, all the way through 2010 and into the almost-hiatus after 2011, it popped up just as often as any semi-deep cut from Separation Sunday or Almost Killed Me.
To me it’s very tightly connected to the show at the End Of The Road festival in southern England, September 2009. It was only my second Hold Steady show, after seeing them in Norway in 2007, and after that 2008 European tour was cancelled due to Tad’s illness. I think it was the last show Franz did in Europe before he left the band, and at the same festival he played a solo set after Hold Steady have finished up their headlining gig.
Before I got on the plane from Copenhagen to London, I spent many hours listening back to bootlegs. I can’t remember the specifics, but a couple of weeks before the show, a recording from a show at the 9.30 Club in Washington (I think, don’t kill me if this doesn’t add up) were made available, and on that bootleg they did songs like Our Whole Lives, Separate Vacations, We Can Get Together and Going On A Hike. So heading to England, I didn’t only know that there would be new songs, I had also did my best memorizing the lyrics. I know it’s a childish thing, but I remembeber feeling a great pleasure screaming along to these songs from the front row, while people around me gave me weird looks (I assumed they were baffled that someone sang along to these songs they’d never heard before, but in hindsight, they probably just thought I was an irritating clown, spoling the experience). This was a festival were you were allowed to bring cans into the festival area, and I had loaded up on beers in my pockets to be able to enjoy the show all the way through, while maintaining my high. And it worked out nicely. Neko Case watched the entire show from the side of the stage, she had played right before Hold Steady. I’ve tried to find out if she and Tad were dating at this point, or if this is where they met, but I guess it’s not that important.
The song itself isn’t among my favourites, though. But the buildup to this show in England, and the way it felt when they played it, warrants a place on this list. I think the studio version, which finally appeared on the HIW reissue, is a little flat and cold, but I would stille like to hear it live again sometime.
No final points, I think this should cover it.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Apr 5, 2021 2:14:11 GMT -5
#92: TWO-HANDED HANDSHAKE
Another song with Franz’ fingerprints all over it, and if I remember correctly, it’s credited to Finn/Nicolay only (fun fact: So is Magazines, which always suprises me). I think both this and 40 Bucks has a lightness to it that I sort of miss on the album proper, and they both have these drips of sentimentality or bittersweetness that makes Hold Steady so great.
This is not a huge song, and it make more sense as an extra track and b-side than a centerpiece on an album. But it’s a nice tune, with some decent twists and turns, and in the end, it rocks out pretty good.
I’ve always tought that the goofy guy with the earring is the same guys giving handshakes with the doorman in T-Shirt Tux - a character a little out of place, who thinks he’s a lot cooler than he really is.
The entire girls vs boys wisdom at the end have been executed more gracefully in other songs, but it serves as a sweet little snapshot of a scene (or THE scene), and the darkness lurking just beneath the surface is intriguing.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Apr 5, 2021 2:29:18 GMT -5
#91: HANOVER CAMERAI know it’s not possible to get a final answer, like a percentage or a nubmer, but I’m still very curious of how much of the sound of Open Door Policy who can be attributed to the Finn/Kaufman partnership, and how much who’s really about the band as a whole moving in a different direction. When listening back to the Hold Steady catalog up until Teeth Dreams , then listen through We All Want The Same Things and I Need A New War, and then putting on Thrashing, or especially ODP, it’s pretty clear that some of the inspiration, sounds and style from those Craig albums, have bled over to Hold Steady. Then again, it doesn’t have to mean that either Craig or Kaufman have a stronger say than Craig/producers did before, it could just as well be a general movement towards another sound.
Hanover Camera might not be the best example, but to me it’s the song furthest away from anything Hold Steady have done before ODP. It’s just so different, the loungy shuffle, the entire atmosphere of the song, they way it never transcends or moves into more classic territory. And as a stand alone song, I still have a little trouble really loving it. Or to be more precise: I like it a lot, my head just have a hard time actullay recognizing it as a Hold Steady song.
But as an album closer, as the final point of an album who have expanded the bands’ sound in a magnificent way, pushed them into new territory in a way I never dreamt they would do, it’s actually quite fitting. The eerie combination of something really bad going down, and the narrator’s calm, detached, response to it, is almost as creepy as it gets. Final points: - I still try to work out why there's so much about cameras on this record, and what it really means - This is what a Hanover camera really is: camera-wiki.org/wiki/Hanover
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Post by muzzleofbees on Apr 5, 2021 3:13:19 GMT -5
#90: RUNNER'S HIGH
Teeth Dreams is a good album, but it’s pretty clear to me that it’s the band’s weakest, by some distance too. It’s mostly about the sum of the parts. There’s too many songs who in itself isn’t good enough, but they don't get much help from the general sound of the record either. To me, Teeth Dreams isn’t too loud or rocky, I can live with a lot of guitars. It’s just that it lacks air or room, some variation.
Runner’s High is a part of this problem, when I think about the album as a whole, but it’s also among the fresher and funnier songs on side 2. Listening back to it know, it reminds me of Oasis, which isn’t surprising given Tad’s love for them. It’s more of surprise that this is a Steve written song, and the only song on the album where Tad doesn’t have any writing credits. The riff wouldn’t have been out of place on (What’s The Story) Morning Glory, or even Definitely Maybe.
What it lacks, though, is some sharpness.
This is the worst example of how deep in the mix Crag’s vocals can be hidden, and it makes me think what Josh Kaufman could have done with this batch of songs. On latter albums, they’ve shown that every single instrumentalist gets plenty of room to shine, even when the soundscape is lighter and Craig is very much in the foreground.
Final points:
- How uncool is it to write a rock song about the highs of running? Thankfully, there's plenty of double meanings around here, but at the surface, and as an idea, it's pretty damn lame, haha - I know setlist.fm isn't fully updated, but since 2016 they got every show, and I think most of the shows from 2013 and 2014 are on there too. Runner's High have only been played twice since Teeth Dreams was released, and six times in total. That makes it one of the rarer Hold Steady songs in a live setting. Even Records And Tapes and Look Alive have been played more frequently.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Apr 5, 2021 3:21:33 GMT -5
#89: BLACKOUT SAM
In many ways, Blackout Sam is a sign on what was about to come on Open Door Policy. There’s other precursors from the Thrashing era too, but this is to me the first crystal clear glimpse of Hold Steady as a very grown up, mature and more at-ease band. I still have a hard time accepting the jazzy and loungy intro to the song, it’s a nod to music I don’t really like at all. But when the band comes in, and they build this laidback midtempo juggernaut, I kinda dig it.
Just listen to how they incorporate the harmonies here, how casual but professional it sound. Or how the entity of Tad, Galen and Bobby, who’s been doing their thing for fifteen years straight, suddenly plays in a tastefull, musically acomplished way. I’ve never doubted their qualities as musicians, don’t get me wrong, I just hadn’t really envisioned them making something so slick and still quite thrilling.
There’s plenty of single songs I’d rather put on from this record, but as an album track, it works so damn well. Live too. Just a really good song, showing what Hold Steady suddenly is capable of doing.
Final points:
- It's interesting how Craig's been introducing new names these past few years. Jesse's probably been around for ever, but she was first named on Heaven Is Whenever. Teeth Dreams gave us Sarah, and on and around Thrashing we get Esther, Dolores and Sam. I'm pretty sure they just refer to characters we already know by other names, but it's an interesting twist nontheless.
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Post by skepticatfirst on Apr 5, 2021 8:51:02 GMT -5
I can't believe you actually managed to rank 100 of them! (though the five-bucket strategy is a pretty promising way of going about it, actually.) I feel like I'd be totally paralyzed looking at the whole catalog.
Two quick things from the beginning of the thread and then I'll have to catch up tonight:
- #100 MINTS
Fun little fact, Secret Santa Cruz also has a $50 :-)
he keeps it in his mouth in those crazy chipmunk cheeks i gave him fifty and he kissed me, spit a little treat between my teeth [SSC]
- #99 TOT
The lines
She's sleeping at a storage space by the airport. The only thing she talks about's TV [TOT]
and
Last night her teeth were in my dreams [TOT]
are, for me, the most memorable on the Teeth Dreams album (and do more for me to carry the emotional weight of that particular story than Lord, I'm Discouraged, for example). Purely personal taste, of course, but that's what these lists are all about.
Looking forward to see how you rank the rest, especially ODP tracks versus the first three albums!
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Post by muzzleofbees on Apr 5, 2021 10:30:07 GMT -5
I sort of did the groundwork before the Brooklyn trip in 2017. A couple of months before we left, I started a countdown for the rest of the group going over. It ended up with 64 songs ranked, and I ran through them each day. So while I started all anew this time around, I had some sense of which songs to place where. But since then, two new songs have snuck into the top tier.
Ah, of course. I instantly remembered the line when I saw Secret Santa Cruz.
Yeah, I know, those are pretty heavy. And they keep getting heavier the more I read of your stuff. As standalone lines they definitely feel both bittersweet, melancholid and straight up sad, but I think the music beat every nuance to death in the song as a whole. I guess it goes without saying that I like all these songs, and some of them have small parts (musical or lyrical) that really hit me hard. Sometimes these parts are so good that they elevate the entire song, but other times - like in The Only Thing - the overall impression prompts a lower rank.
This has been one of the tougher task: To actually rank songs I've known for a couple of months up against songs that's been a integral part of my life for almost fifteen years. But I think I've managed to place them in the right section of the ranking, at least. And some of them are bound to rise or fall with time - we'll see in a couple of years.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Apr 5, 2021 10:37:55 GMT -5
#88: EUREKA
Eureka have some similarties with Soft In The Center, in the way that it sounds like a pitch perfect Hold Steady song, the kind of song you would get if you plotted everything the band was and still are into a computer, and get a song out in the other end. That sounds more condescending than it really is. It’s nothing wrong in developing a sound and a style who’s both reproducable and instantly recognizable. And at the time Eureka arrived, I think it was more pleasing that they actually were able to knock off these quite light, poprock-y and bright tunes, there weren’t that many of them on Teeth Dreams.
The reason it doesn’t reach higher up, is that it sounds a tad little less inspired or intense or something like that. I love Craig’s delivery here, and he sounds as fresh as ever, but the riff and the melody is a little forgetable, and I think the sound and production is somewhat muddier or less punchy than on similar tracks. Both Star 18 and Stove And The Toaster sounds both clearer and beefier to me, and Eureka neither manages to get that poppy lightness of, say, Magazines. It’s a little in between.
Still, upon arrival, this felt as fresh as anything since Heaven Is Whenever, and that’s not a small achievement.
Final points:
- For quite some time, the californian Eureka was unknown to me. I was thinking more in terms of Archimedes - Love the "No god, no kings, let freedom ring", followed by the sad and simple "she just wanted to see some things". This last thing makes me think of one of the many things who make Craig so unique as a writer: His ability to add several layers of meaning to a quote, when retold by a third person. Like, there's obviously a she-person saying "I just want to see some things", which phrased by a narrator gives a simple statement like that a whole new depth. There's plenty of better examples in Craig's body of work, but I thought about it now, and could just as well mention it.
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Post by star18 on Apr 5, 2021 10:38:45 GMT -5
Very excited to see this thread, bud! Reminds me of the thoughtful full-catalog rankings that Bill Wyman (not that one) has done over at Vulture for Billy Joel, the Stones, et. al.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Apr 5, 2021 10:44:33 GMT -5
#87: AT LEAST NOT TONIGHT
When putting together this list, I had to think twice about a few songs on the recent reissues. I can barely remember how some of the bonus tracks from Stay Positive sound like, and while I probably should spent more time with them, it also says something about their relative unimportantness. But the Heaven Is Whenver bonus tracks isn’t just more fresh in memory, I think they’re miles better. Some of them I’ve heard plenty of times before, either live or on bootlegs. But a few of them were brand new when I first put the reissue on in November.
At Least Not Tonight was one of those songs, and I loved it. Such a bright, sparkly and easy-going song, with energy and purpose. I can see why it was discarded, and Our Whole Lives sort of occupy that spot on the album. But I don’t think the album would have sufferet if this had replaced The Smidge or Soft In The Center. And it should at least have been available as a bonus track back then, the same way Touchless and Ascension Blues were.
I really don’t have much to add about it, other than it desveres a place on a list like this, and that everyone who haven’t spent a lot of time with it, should put it on and scream along to the harmonies.
Final points:
- I still wonder if this was actively discarded cause they later on made Our Whole Lives. It's not just that they seem to carry the same vibe musically, but the whole concept of "at least not tonight" sort of mirrors the Our Whole Lives vibe about going to heaven someday, but not this particular evening.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Apr 5, 2021 10:56:05 GMT -5
#86: SNAKE IN THE SHOWER
Another tricky one. I have mixed feelings about Snake In The Shower. To start on the negative end: This belong to a category of Hold Steady songs who have a musical thing/attitude/sound who really rubs me the wrong way. I don’t know if I’m able to explain it, and certainly not in theoretical terms, but there’s a group of songs with a tough, abrassive, very rock-y sound. Maybe built on chords more often used in metal or hardcore, and not that often in straight rock. Stay Positive is in this group of songs, Joke About Jamaica too, even Hot Fries. And I like a lot of these songs, it’s just one step away from the Hold Steady I love the most.
On the other hand, Snake In The Shower is cool as fuck, and it benefits a lot from being recorded by the Hold Steady who was in 2017 rather than in 2004 or 2007. There’s a certain class to every element here which I’m able to appreciate intellectually, even if it doesn’t hit me as hard emotionally.
And last, it has this doubleness of being released as as b/w with Entitlement Crew, the first new music to emerge from Hold Steady in over three years. That adds excitement to the mix, but the comparison with Entitlement Crew lessen the appeal somewhat.
All in all: A great rock song by a band who finally was making music again. I love to hear it now and then, but don’t have an urge to see it frequently in the setlists.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Apr 5, 2021 11:10:00 GMT -5
#85: SEPARATE VACATIONSI actually was a little underwhelmed when a studio version of this finally emerged last fall. I had heard the recording from some iTunes session (I think, at least some acoustic show I bought back in the day), and even heard it live at least one time. I just imagined it would feel, I don’t know, more emotionally heavy, that it would carry more of a release in some way. Cause the live versions have carried the promise of a song deeply personal, a bit resignated, but still with something burning inside it. I’m gonna repeat myself a lot here, but the bridge in particular, is so damn heartbreaking. And I think the studio version sounds a little flat compared to…well, my expectations.
So, I have more of a issue with the sound and production, rather than the song itself - which i really, really like. Final points: - Easy pleasures, but that "Hey Mr. Minnesota/ he stuck her between stations" gets me every time - Apparently, there's a movie with the same title. It looks... interesting: www.imdb.com/title/tt0091923/
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Post by muzzleofbees on Apr 5, 2021 11:28:34 GMT -5
#84: MAGAZINES
I get that it might be controversial to put 83 songs ahead of Magazines, and it might even look a bit contrary for the sake of it, but I really mean it. There’s so many songs I enjoy a lot more than Magazines. That said, it’s a damn fine pop song. It’s well crafted, really well executed and rounded off in a perfect way. From the ringing riff that starts it, to the way the band are introduced, with Franz the unsung hero, it just flows perfectly. It’s just a really good song, perfect for radio, breaking into new markets and bridge the gap between the talky and rough-edged band Hold Steady used to be, and the arena aspiring rock band they actually once were about to become.
But it feels a little TOO perfect to me. I’m not crying “sellout!” here, I think there’s plenty of feeling in the song, and even if this was a pure attempt at the mainstream, I fully accept and respect the band’s right and urge to actually try that. But I don’t have to dig the song itself.
I’ve been to 24 shows after Stay Positive was released, and I think this has been played on 23 of them. It doesn’t bother me at all, and I’ll happily sing along for the 24th, 25th and 26th time too. But I’d rather hear something a little bit more obscure by now.
Final points:
- I'm not sure if it would have worked out, but I would've liked even more piano in the mix. The melody Franz plays throughout the song grips me more than the guitar stuff, and it could've given the song a touch of C&W. Listen closely, and see if you get what I mean - Might be another hot take, but I'm not that big fan of the backing vocals by Ben Nichols. It's even worse on the reissue version of Constructive Summer, where his "we're gonna build something this summer!" sky high in the mix made my jaw drop the first time I heard it. It's not as bad here, but his voice feels unfamiliar and strange in the Hold Steady sound, and I would rather hear more of Tad and Franz.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Apr 5, 2021 11:49:50 GMT -5
#83: CHILLOUT TENT
Remember what I said about the rock-y songs earlier on? The verses on Chillout Tent is a little bit of the same to me. They just don’t do the trick for me. And I think the chourses are a little flat too.
But then I remember how I loved this when the record first came out. I think it was quite important for my love of Hold Steady, along with Stations and Party Pit. A lot of it stems from the sheer attitude. The title, the lyrics, how they cast these characters with their own voices - like a short rock opera of druggy teenage lust. It’s a thrilling idea, and it really works. I’ve never once though that it sound cheesy or nothing but cool. But over time, the music have fallen a bit flat on me.
And while writing that, I think about another (controversial?) point: Boys And Girls In America is sometimes a mess, production wise. It sounds crowded and compressed digitally, and the vinyl versions (and I have like nine of them) is equally crappy. It’s not bad-bad, unlistenable or anything, but over time, and after really getting to know the other records, I think it’s general sound is dragging the album down. Chillout Tent isn’t the worst of the batch, but try to listen closely to Party Pit in headphones, and tell me that it wouldn’t have sounded better if something had been let off, or even if everything was mixed a little more dynamic.
Slight digression aside: Chillout Tent is a perfect song for the theme and style of Boys And Girls, but over time I’ve lost a little interest in it, musically. It was absolutely amazing hearing it with Ezra Furman in 2019, though.
Final points:
- Izzy Stradlin is such a perfect reference, in every way imagineable - "Been to jail, but never prison" is pure art (and another, and better, example of what I wrote about "she just wanted to see some things" in Eureka) - It's almost a little over the top, but I dig the buildup in the latter part of the bridge
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Post by muzzleofbees on Apr 5, 2021 12:01:58 GMT -5
#82: SAME KOOKS
I keep coming back to this when we talk about Boys And Girls songs: A lot of them fits the grander narrative or story of the album very well, but are pretty far off from being among the bands best tracks, taken as single songs. Same Kooks also suffers a little from the aforementioned sound issues. It so raw and raucous, and would benefited from a little warmth and dynamics in the sound departement.
Then again, it is a damn cool stomper.
The hectic and hasty feeling drips from every pore of the song, and even when it’s taken down a notch in the bridge, the organ threats to rip everything apart as soon as it’s given an opportunity. I’ve never understod why Tad’s solo sounds so out of key. It’s intentional, I assume? Why does it sound that way? Cool jam, anyway.
Final point(s):
- The first six or seven times I heard Boys And Girls, it was while working in a record store. My boss liked Separation Sunday (which I had bought and heard the previous summer, but not paid much attention to), and the store I got a job in opened the week Boys And Girls was released. It was played over and over at the stereo system in the store, all the way up til Christmas. I still remember how intense Same Kooks sounded, irritatingly even, and how First Night always came as a relief. Now I’m able to appreciate it more, but it’s still among the weaker tracks on the album.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Apr 5, 2021 13:25:44 GMT -5
#81: 212-MARGARITA
When the Separation Sunday reissue came out, we also got to hear a studio version of 212-Margarita. I had sort of forgot it didn’t already exist in the world somewhere, I think I somewhere in the back of my mind thought it was a b-side from Almost Killed Me. And the live version from Virgin Digital Sessions felt like the official version anyway. So this entry is to me mostly based on that.
Not that it make much difference. Both the recorded version and the live version are the sound of a really simple, sweet song, which builds heavily on Craig’s vocal and whatever instrument Franz is playing over the guitar chords. I think it’s a really beautiful song, so - yes - simple and sweet, but with lots of feeling(s) packed into it. A meeting between two people with a undecided relationship, built on common knowledge, and probably being fucked over in the same way by the same people. There’s an empowerment and strength in the chours, with the comical relief of the comparisons between the narrator (Mary) and drinks.
In many ways, this could have ranked even higher, but after all it’s mostly an afterthought, a thoughtful epilogue, a paranthesis. A beatiful one, though.
Final points:
- In 2014 I went to Cologne to see Hold Steady. The show was on a Thursday, and we spent most of the Friday and Saturday drinking. One member of the travelling party had signed me and a third member of the group up for a performance at an open might night on the other side of the town (we did Hoodrat, there's a recording of it, and I'm not sure if anyone can tell exactly how drunk I am). In the taxi on our way to the club, I remember singing 212-Margarita, and in some ways, the song remind me of that taxi trip. - It still baffle me how Craig are able to connect sex, religion and drugs/alcohol sooo many times, in sooo many ways, without coming off as a clown
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Post by muzzleofbees on Apr 5, 2021 13:49:02 GMT -5
#80: LORD I'M DISCOURAGED
Let’s not forget that Hold Steady, on the top of their game, wrote and recorded a true power ballad, and that Tad still plays it with his double neck guitar. Let’s just start off there: The guitar sound on this track is absolutely amazing. They way it rings and echoes in the intro and the little interlude after the solo. And how the solo is 100% Bon Jovi (I think I might have mentioned that before).
But it’s also a song packed with Important Emotions, and it’s almost a little too obvious to me. It might not be a nice thing to say about a song who’s explicitly personal, and I think there’s certain parts who’s genuinely moving (“Bought back the jewlery she sold”), but as a whole, I tend to like both Craig’s lyrics and the musical backdrop a lot more when there’s something more subtle and ambiguous going on.
It tend to impress me live, though. From the bridge, and into the final parts of the song, it’s HUGE, and it makes more of an impact on me than hearing the studio version for the 150th time.
Finalt points:
- The bridge is once again interesting, the change of pace and rythm. There's probably an obvious theoretical way to describe this, but I'm not that skilled - The fifth track on each album is supposed to be a big slow jam. I can't quite understand why they left that formula on Teeth Dreams.
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