Rank the songs on Handwritten

1. Handwritten
2. Mae
3. Here Comes My Man
-------
4. 45
5. Blue Dahlia
6. National Anthem
7. Mulholland Drive
8. Howl
9. Biloxi Parish
-------
10. Desire
11. Too Much Blood
12. Keepsake

Difficult but i'll give it a try!
In fact i would almost rate them all equally, but okay here's my try if i really really do my best:
(Allthoug it changes from day to day, depends in which mood i am.)

1. Blue Dahlia
2. Keepsake
3. Handwritten


4. 45
5. Mulholland Drive
6. Too Much Blood
7. Desire

8. National Anthem
9. Howl
10. Mae
11. Biloxi Parish

1. Mae
2. Howl
3. Biloxi Parish

4. 45
5. Handwritten
6. Here Comes My Man

7. Mulholland Drive

8. National Anthem
9. Keepsake
10. Too Much Blood

11. Desire

Blue Dahlia would probably be it's own tier between Biloxi and 45.

Handwritten
Keepsake
Mae
Too Much Blood
------------------------
Howl
Desire
Blue Dahlia
Mulholland Drive
------------------------
Biloxi Parish
Here Comes My Man
45
National Anthem

1. Handwritten
2. Blue Dahlia
3. 45
4. Here Comes My Man

5. Mulholland Drive
6. Biloxi Parish
7. Mae
8. Keepsake

9. Too Much Blood
10. National Anthem
11. Howl
12. Desire

1. Mae -- Great song, great lyrics. Love the "salty carnival kiss" line
2. Handwritten -- Love the last line...With this pen, I thee Wed....
3. 45-- Turn it up loud, and sing as if no ones' listening
4. Keepsake--Heavy subject, good chorus.
5. Howl--Like everyone else, I want this to be 3 + minutes

6. Here comes my man--Daughter loves the Oh, sha la la....
7. Mulholland Drive--Nice
8. National Anthem--Great closer

9. Biloxi Parish--Much better song live, IMO.
10. Desire--Maybe all the comments here jaded me...I don't mind it, just not my fave.

11. Too Much Blood--Only one I could skip, if my wife didn't like it.

1.Blue Dahlia
2. Mulholland
3. Keepsake
4. Mae
5. Handwritten
6. Biloxi
7. Howl
8. Here Comes My Man
9. Too Much BLood
10. Desire
11. 45
12. National Anthem
13. Teenage Rebellion

Mae
Biloxi
Blue Dahlia
45
------------------
Howl
Handwritten
National Anthem
Keepsake
-----------------
HCMM
Mulholland
Too Much Blood
---------------
Desire

1. Mae
2. Blue Dahlia
3. Howl
4. Desire
5. Keepsake
6. 45
7. Too Much Blood
8. Here comes my Man
9. Mulholland Drive
10. Handwritten
11. Biloxi Parish
12. Teenage Rebellion
13. National Anthem

The only song I'm skipping so far is National Anthem. Not quite my song...
Regarding the others, top3 probably is right the rest keeps switching around!

This is of course for today (with the exception of the first and last tracks) and I chose to do only the 11 track version. If I put in Blue Dahlia it would be number 2 or 3. Song is too freaking good.

1) Handwritten
2) Howl
3) 45
4) Here Comes My man
5) Keepsake
6) Mulholland Drive
7) Desire
Mae
9) Biloxi Parish
10) National Anthem

11) Too Much Blood - This is the only one I skip. Its about 2 minutes too long and its honestly super boring. Replaces Red at Night as my least favorite TGA song.

At the moment:
1- Mae
2- Muholland Drive
3- Howl
4- Blue Dahlia
5- Too Much Blood
6- Handwritten
7- Here Comes My Man
8- National Anthem
9- Keepsake
10- Biloxi Parish
11- Desire
12- "45" just because I wore it out before the album came out

It's actually quite hard to rank them! I think the only one that has a definite spot though is Mae. Quickly became one of my all time favorite Gaslight songs!

I love them al but if I must...

1. Blue Dahlia
2. Mae
3. Handwritten
4. 45
5. Howl (If only it had been about a minute longer)
6. Here Comes My Man
7. Mulholland Drive
8. National Anthem
9. Biloxi Parish
10. Desire
11. Keepsake
12. Too Much Blood (Good song, just went on a bit too long)

There, are you happy now? You made me choose between my babies

1. Handwritten
2. Mulholland Drive
3. Blue Dahlia
4. Biloxi Parish
5. Keepsake
6. 45
7. Too Much Blood
8. Here Comes My Man
9. Desire
10. Howl
11. National Anthem
12. Mae

This is it for now, but usually their slow songs have to grow on me. Probably they (Mae and National Anthem) will be higher in the ranks if I make this list in about a year time.

Most of my time during this last, very strenuous week I have spent on airplanes. So I took the time to listen to “Handwritten” numerous rounds, contemplating over its lyrics, the tunes and the record’s overall atmosphere.

I feel that it is a great record, and with a few tracks I fell in love all the dirty ways. Here is my personal ranking, which, no doubt, will change over time as the meaning of the sound and the poetry will change with the course of my life. As the perception of art always does. Doesn’t it?

I grouped the songs in three categories but they do not have a ranking within the specific groups.

Exceptional

Too Much Blood
Handwritten
“45”
Mae
Mulholland Drive


Good

Here comes my man
National Anthem
You got lucky
Keepsake
Biloxi Parish
Blue Dahlia

Average

Howl
Silver
Desire


Josef

Has anyone who made their list a month ago, gone back and looked at it and wanted to change it? I just checked what I put and surprisingly I'd rank it exactly the same (maybe switch one or two at the bottom).

Anyone feel way differently now that we've had more time with the album?

I assume that the tracks I labeled ”exceptional“ will remain my favorites over time. It was the same on the other albums, although, I think there is no “average” song on “The 59 Sound”.

I would change mine slightly.

SubconsciousRitual wrote:

Mae
Mulholland Drive
-----------------------
45
National Anthem
Handwritten
Here Comes My Man
-----------------------
Biloxi Parish
Blue Dahlia
-----------------------
Keepsake
Howl
Desire
Too Much Blood

now:

Mae
Mulholland Drive
--------------------------
45/Handwritten/Here Comes My Man
Teenage Rebellion
Blue Dahlia/Biloxi Parish
National Anthem
--------------------------
Howl
Keepsake
Too Much Blood
Desire

Usually my initial favorite song on an album ends up changing over time, but that hasn't happened yet with Mae. The middle tier depends on my mood at the time. I don't like National Anthem any less, but the others have just moved up. In the bottom tier, I really like Howl, and Keepsake has grown on me a bit.

And this might change more after seeing more of the new stuff live!

It always changes, but at the moment:

Handwritten
Mae
Blue Dahlia
“45”
Mulholland Drive
National Anthem
Keepsake
Biloxi Parish
Howl
Here Comes My Man
Sliver
You Got Lucky
Too Much Blood
Desire

CluckyB wrote:

dashed lines are where definitive lines exist in song quality (so Blue Dahlia and Howl are easily the best, white Handwritten and Too Much Blood are the worst). With each bracket order is rougher...

Blue Dahlia
Howl
-----------
Mae
45
Biloxi
----------
National Anthem
Desire
Keepsake
Here Comes My Man
----------
Handwritten
Too Much Blood

been a month. moving Mae to the top of my list. Maybe that's just because its late at night and I'm in the proper mood for the song... but its just so beautiful. Mae Blue Dahlia nd Howl are all top ten Gaslight songs for me though. Also moving Keepsake up because its a grower. Not much change in the rest, just more a rift between the top six and bottom six songs.

tier one (top ten gaslight songs)
Mae
Blue Dahlia
Howl
-----------
tier two (great songs)
45
Biloxi
---------
tier two and a half (not 'great' but still better than anything else due to the subject matter and guitar riff)
Keepsake
--------
tier three (none of these songs are *bad* they just fail to stand out compared to the rest of Gaslight's discography and would all probably be in the bottom 10-15)
National Anthem
Desire
Here Comes My Man
----------
tier three and a half (not as painful as the last two songs on this list but still annoying based on how good some of the verses are compared to how shit the chorus is)
Handwritten
----------
tier four (flawed songs that bring the whole album down and are probably gaslight's worst even if they do have some redeeming qualities)
Muhalland Drive
Too Much Blood

k after a month and a half and like 50 listens...everything's had a chance to grow on me:

Great:

Howl- loved it on first listen, and has only gotten better through the weeks. this type of pacing and sincerity in Brian's writing is exactly what I want from a TGA song. this is the only album on the record to completely hit the nail on the head and I love it to death. will be danced to at my wedding, lolllll


Here Comes My Man- still fails to capture the magic of hearing it on Letterman, but it's unique to the Gaslight catalogue in a good way. will be excited to hear it at shows for years to come.


Biloxi Parish- if we're talking about the live performances from last year, this song is by far #1. to be frank, I skip this all the time on the record because it just has such a vanilla atmosphere about it compared to the raggedness of the live version. but it's an awesome song by default just from the lyrics and the dynamite hook, can't knock that.

Mulholland Drive- my first impression was "OMG BEST SONG ON THE ALBUM, TOP 3 SONG OF THE YEAR", but it's kind of tapered off. still love it though, mainly for Alex's guitar playing. should be a beast live though, I'm excited for that.

45- should probably be a little higher since it really is an unbelievable song, probably just tired of it. truly is a classic and one of the best songs of the album. IMO it could've benefitted from not being the first track, as I feel like it's more of a "showstopper" kind of tune.

Handwritten- it took the amazing music video to get me to truly understand this song, and it gets me every time despite the cheeziness. I think the MVP of this song is Brian's singing, it's just an unbelievable vocal cut on the album that elevates the track tenfold



Good:

National Anthem- beautiful and simple. if HLAYK and Blue Jeans didn't exist I might rank this a lot higher, but alas, it's still a good classy way to end the record.

Desire- initially was "yuck, terrible", until I found myself yelling and dancing in the car. I wouldn't be upset if I never heard this live, but if I do I'll be going crazy like fans should. Fun, fun song.


Average:

Mae- the lyrics music didn't grab me from the start...maybe it was the Grantland article that turned me off to it...but this song just doesn't pull at my heartstrings the way the other love songs do. very run of the mill lyrics, although "with the radio on" always gets me excited lollll

Keepsake: this rocks pretty hard, I just didn't buy into the story of the song- and that turns me off to it. Also find the "heart, heart, HEART" part annoying. skip.

Bad:

Too Much Blood- maybe it was the hype surrounding this song before the album was released, but this was a complete let down. I just don't get the song at all, and seeing it on live webcasts I just don't think it works. Instead of being the "edgy, badass" song it just seems forced and pointless to me, IMO. Brings the whole record down since it's the centerpiece, and kills a lot of energy at a show (again, haven't experienced it in person yet). but Cowboys Get the Blues already does what this song wants to do and 100x better, TMB just falls flat in general IMO.

beholdhurricanej wrote:

k after a month and a half and like 50 listens...everything's had a chance to grow on me:

Great:

Howl- loved it on first listen, and has only gotten better through the weeks. this type of pacing and sincerity in Brian's writing is exactly what I want from a TGA song. this is the only album on the record to completely hit the nail on the head and I love it to death. will be danced to at my wedding, lolllll


Here Comes My Man- still fails to capture the magic of hearing it on Letterman, but it's unique to the Gaslight catalogue in a good way. will be excited to hear it at shows for years to come.


Biloxi Parish- if we're talking about the live performances from last year, this song is by far #1. to be frank, I skip this all the time on the record because it just has such a vanilla atmosphere about it compared to the raggedness of the live version. but it's an awesome song by default just from the lyrics and the dynamite hook, can't knock that.

Mulholland Drive- my first impression was "OMG BEST SONG ON THE ALBUM, TOP 3 SONG OF THE YEAR", but it's kind of tapered off. still love it though, mainly for Alex's guitar playing. should be a beast live though, I'm excited for that.

45- should probably be a little higher since it really is an unbelievable song, probably just tired of it. truly is a classic and one of the best songs of the album. IMO it could've benefitted from not being the first track, as I feel like it's more of a "showstopper" kind of tune.

Handwritten- it took the amazing music video to get me to truly understand this song, and it gets me every time despite the cheeziness. I think the MVP of this song is Brian's singing, it's just an unbelievable vocal cut on the album that elevates the track tenfold



Good:

National Anthem- beautiful and simple. if HLAYK and Blue Jeans didn't exist I might rank this a lot higher, but alas, it's still a good classy way to end the record.

Desire- initially was "yuck, terrible", until I found myself yelling and dancing in the car. I wouldn't be upset if I never heard this live, but if I do I'll be going crazy like fans should. Fun, fun song.


Average:

Mae- the lyrics music didn't grab me from the start...maybe it was the Grantland article that turned me off to it...but this song just doesn't pull at my heartstrings the way the other love songs do. very run of the mill lyrics, although "with the radio on" always gets me excited lollll

Keepsake: this rocks pretty hard, I just didn't buy into the story of the song- and that turns me off to it. Also find the "heart, heart, HEART" part annoying. skip.

Bad:

Too Much Blood- maybe it was the hype surrounding this song before the album was released, but this was a complete let down. I just don't get the song at all, and seeing it on live webcasts I just don't think it works. Instead of being the "edgy, badass" song it just seems forced and pointless to me, IMO. Brings the whole record down since it's the centerpiece, and kills a lot of energy at a show (again, haven't experienced it in person yet). but Cowboys Get the Blues already does what this song wants to do and 100x better, TMB just falls flat in general IMO.

Really interesting to see the progression of your views on the songs. Thanks for sharing! I'm curious though about your thoughts on Keepsake, Too Much Blood, and Handwritten. For Handwritten I found I had to stretch my interpretation of the song a bit to allow the video to fit with it. It felt more like a pre-existing movie using a song that relates in it's soundtrack, rather than a video created for the song.

As for Keepsake, unless Brian's been lying to us (doubt it), that's a true story. Where does it lose you? (in terms of credibility). Also it's "hard, hard, heart". Figured I'd mention that because it's a better lyric than "heart, heart, heart", haha.

With TMB I took that song to be him talking about revealing too much of himself to the world and how if he puts it all into his songs, what's left for only him to know about himself or only his wife to know about who he is. Does that explanation help any?

Disclaimer: none of this is meant to sound condescending, I'm just curious

^ lol no offense taken, it's all in fun

I agree that the video for Handwritten didn't exactly match the song---it was moreso the emotional, nostalgic aura of the music video ("music brings us all together!") that made me associate the song with a happier connotation. It made me really feel the lyrics a lot more. To be honest, it's probably purely psychological. Video makes me happy > song was in the video > song makes me happy But hey, whatever works.

Didn't know Keepsake was a true story, assuming he's speaking in his dad's perspective? Either way, it's probably not the disconnect between the speaker in real life and the person he's singing as that turns me off, it's probably just the subject matter I'm not a fan of, personal as it may be. I'm not used to Brian being THAT honest (my fault, I know). Like you said about TMB, he may be spilling a little too much...too dark for a Gaslight song personally. Even then, it's not as subtly brilliant as say "1930" is (still dark and family related, but beautifully covert about it). Still not a fan of the chorus, but thanks a bunch for clearing up the lyrics though, haha.

That explanation definitely helps, good to know The lyrics are definitely alright with me, I was speaking about TMB from more of a musical perspective. I feel like they went a different, harder route without really doing anything interesting or fun. While Brian gets to show off his voice I don't think the music or melody lives up to it. I feel like it tries to be that one unique standout song that turns the album up to 11 and wows everyone in concert, but I'm pretty much bored by it hehe

Love every song on the album but I guess this would be my order.

1. Howl
2. Handwritten
3. "45"
4. Keepsake
5. Here Comes My Man
6. Desire
7. Mulholland Drive
8. Mae
9. Too Much Blood
10. National Anthem
11. Biloxi Parish

Bonus Tracks:
1. Blue Dahlia
2. You Got Lucky
3. Sliver

beholdhurricanej wrote:

^ lol no offense taken, it's all in fun

I agree that the video for Handwritten didn't exactly match the song---it was moreso the emotional, nostalgic aura of the music video ("music brings us all together!") that made me associate the song with a happier connotation. It made me really feel the lyrics a lot more. To be honest, it's probably purely psychological. Video makes me happy > song was in the video > song makes me happy But hey, whatever works.

Didn't know Keepsake was a true story, assuming he's speaking in his dad's perspective? Either way, it's probably not the disconnect between the speaker in real life and the person he's singing as that turns me off, it's probably just the subject matter I'm not a fan of, personal as it may be. I'm not used to Brian being THAT honest (my fault, I know). Like you said about TMB, he may be spilling a little too much...too dark for a Gaslight song personally. Even then, it's not as subtly brilliant as say "1930" is (still dark and family related, but beautifully covert about it). Still not a fan of the chorus, but thanks a bunch for clearing up the lyrics though, haha.

That explanation definitely helps, good to know The lyrics are definitely alright with me, I was speaking about TMB from more of a musical perspective. I feel like they went a different, harder route without really doing anything interesting or fun. While Brian gets to show off his voice I don't think the music or melody lives up to it. I feel like it tries to be that one unique standout song that turns the album up to 11 and wows everyone in concert, but I'm pretty much bored by it hehe

Hey, I messaged you so we don't derail the thread, haha.

StitchesOnTheRadio wrote:

beholdhurricanej wrote:

^ lol no offense taken, it's all in fun

I agree that the video for Handwritten didn't exactly match the song---it was moreso the emotional, nostalgic aura of the music video ("music brings us all together!") that made me associate the song with a happier connotation. It made me really feel the lyrics a lot more. To be honest, it's probably purely psychological. Video makes me happy > song was in the video > song makes me happy But hey, whatever works.

Didn't know Keepsake was a true story, assuming he's speaking in his dad's perspective? Either way, it's probably not the disconnect between the speaker in real life and the person he's singing as that turns me off, it's probably just the subject matter I'm not a fan of, personal as it may be. I'm not used to Brian being THAT honest (my fault, I know). Like you said about TMB, he may be spilling a little too much...too dark for a Gaslight song personally. Even then, it's not as subtly brilliant as say "1930" is (still dark and family related, but beautifully covert about it). Still not a fan of the chorus, but thanks a bunch for clearing up the lyrics though, haha.

That explanation definitely helps, good to know The lyrics are definitely alright with me, I was speaking about TMB from more of a musical perspective. I feel like they went a different, harder route without really doing anything interesting or fun. While Brian gets to show off his voice I don't think the music or melody lives up to it. I feel like it tries to be that one unique standout song that turns the album up to 11 and wows everyone in concert, but I'm pretty much bored by it hehe

Hey, I messaged you so we don't derail the thread, haha.

Bummer . The discussion was interesting to read..