The Hold Steady

This album is so laters. Such a good band so you gotta stick with them. Call me precious but I feel so heartbroken that I band whose every previous release I'd held so close to my heart and rated 10/10 could write such a collection of uninteresting songs. What is it with new released in 2014. All of the big guns have been so disappointing.

MKULTRA wrote:

DeathoftheCool wrote:

This album is kinda like Tim to me

if you mean a great album in spite of some production issues, i pretty much agree.

the production here... its not like i hate it. there are some places where i like it. generally i don't mind the way Craig's voice was treated. there are some parts where its too muddy; Runner's High comes to mind. the production might bring the album down sometimes, but not enough to make me not like it.

With Tim, the production is quite annoying. still, most of those songs power through it, which is really a great achievement by the band.

i would say Tim has worse production and better songs, while Teeth Dreams moves closer the middle of the spectrum on both.

Completely agree, especially your last sentence   

Man, not a lot of love for Teeth Dreams.

Allow me...

LOVE THIS ALBUM.

I think the production is fine.  I prefer the sound of Separation Sunday, sure, but I don't think it was bad work by any means, which the exception of certain times it does get muddy.

But as the songs themselves go, great, great stuff.  The guitar arrangements blow me away (have you seen the acoustic version with Craig, Tad, and Steve...whew), and I still find Finn's lyrics to be some of the most interesting I've heard.  They don't have that immediate grab to them that have been on past records, where it felt like an entire story was told in just a few lines--almost like an immediate gratification (although there are still some moments like that here and there on Teeth Dreams)--but the overall stories are still moving to me.

Also, for what it's worth, I actually like this album better than Almost Killed Me and Stay Positive (and HiW, obviously).  AKM had better wordplay and more creative guitar parts, but I think it also got cool points for being weird yet still ingestible.  It was scattered and frenzied, which had an emotional effect of it's own.  Objectively, I would give Teeth Dreams an equal rating to AKM in terms of THS albums (even though they're sort of apples and oranges), but it does more for me viscerally.  

And as far as Stay Positive goes...eh, some big hits and big misses.

Yeah, this is way better than I expected based on what people were saying. The thing is…yes, Craig's voice is almost constantly doubled and there's effects galore. But it's not like he has a beautiful voice or anything. No offense, sir haha. But you can still understand all the lyrics and he actually sounds more melodic and nuanced this way. Very pleasant surprise here.

Despite the mixed reviews, I decided to get it anyway and I must say I'm really enjoying it (ok, I've only played it 3 times). Didn't even sound like there were any obvious fillers. Just a solid Hold Steady album. It may take a while for a few songs to really start to really stand out, so I may report back.

steady now steady now wrote:

Despite the mixed reviews, I decided to get it anyway and I must say I'm really enjoying it (ok, I've only played it 3 times).  Didn't even sound like there were any obvious fillers.  Just a solid Hold Steady album. It may take a while for a few songs to really start to really stand out, so I may report back.

Since you're in the UK, did you get the bonus tracks? I finally heard them today. Look Alive and Records and Tapes would've been great for the album (especially replacing Wait a While and Runners High--both solid songs but I think those two b-sides are better). Saddle Shoes is getting a lot of love, but I'm not too sold on it. Great music and story, but there's enough forced western references to make me cringe too much in one song.

I hope they write more songs like Oaks. Lyrically, I really like the more abstract and surreal images, they felt more fresh and natural than the party scene narrative that Craig Finn feels like he still has to write about - maybe he wants to, idk

DeathoftheCool wrote:

I hope they write more songs like Oaks. Lyrically, I really like the more abstract and surreal images, they felt more fresh and natural than the party scene narrative that Craig Finn feels like he still has to write about - maybe he wants to, idk

While I love, love Oaks, I'd be apprehensive if Craig used that level of abstract/surrealism more often. That's what made it so special. I don't think I'd be down with a whole album (or even half an album) of Oaks-esque songs. That, and the fact that he's really good at the characters still.

That being said, I think THS's earlier stuff was the perfect balance in abstract between, say, Spinners or The Only Thing and Oaks. His imagery always had a little bit of a surrealist quality. Lines like "She came into the Easter mass with her hair done up in broken glass", "She said the theme of this party's the industrial age/You came in dressed like a train wreck", or most of Cattle and the Creeping Things: you knew what was going on in the story but it was told with a nice slant. I've always found "They had masks for the gas/And they were sleeping in their bullet proof vests" as one of the most jarring lines in THS's chronology. That, to me, is pretty surreal, even if it's definitively physical. I don't take those lines as wholly literall, although that may be Craig's intention (not to say I take them ironically, either).

http://www.vulture.com/2014/04/hold-steady-craig-finn-tad-kubler-pick-best-songs.html

great article. i wish every band did this. i agree with a lot of tads picks
resurrection, slapped actress, soft in the center and oaks are my picks

i think i get the lyrics at the end of Oaks by themselves. and i think i even get how they relate to the themes from the rest of the song. but i still don't get how they relate to the other mentions of "oaks" and "boats."


anyway, my picks for the best songs from the albums are Killer Parties, Hoodrat, Chips Ahoy, Constructive Summer, Weekenders, and Oaks.

I really love the music on tracks like Oaks and Almost Everything. Sometimes I think their best tracks are the ones that take unexpected musical twists.

Hostile Mass, How a Resurrection Really Feels, Stuck Between Stations, Lord, I'm Discouraged, We Can Get Together, Oaks

Thought some of you might like to see my review of the album...as you should be able to tell,I loved it!

http://thesoulofaclown.com/2014/05/03/the-hold-steady-teeth-dreams-album-review/

Would be cool if you could all follow my site as well

steady now steady now wrote:

Despite the mixed reviews, I decided to get it anyway and I must say I'm really enjoying it (ok, I've only played it 3 times).  Didn't even sound like there were any obvious fillers.  Just a solid Hold Steady album. It may take a while for a few songs to really start to really stand out, so I may report back.

three months down the line, this is the album I probably play most often; really great record  (incl. the bonus tracks)

Against Me's new album is a great record from start to finish, The Hold Steady's new one I like maybe 3 songs total, Spinners is one of my favorites. Jesse Malin is recording a new record for release some time this fall. Jesse Malin is an amazing songwriter his solo albums are great. I actually upset that I didn't find out about Jesse Malin sooner I remember he did some song with Green Day in the studio that has never been properly released, so one day this past December I looked him up and clicked on his debut album and previewed his songs on Amazon, the first song I listened to was Wendy and I immediately liked it. I have almost all of his solo studio albums. I can't wait to see what his new album is like.

is anyone here going? cus i sure as heck am

i was refering to the gig in dublin on saturday, i don't know why that can't be it's own thread once it's in the right forum?

I'm a pretty big fan of The Hold Steady alright, love the storytelling. I actually got into Sep Sunday first through 'Your Little Hoodrat Friend' being on the THP8 soundtrack ^^

I think I just got into different songs through youtube after that, then started listening to the albums in order, properly. And as has been mentioned before, there really doesn't seem to be a lot of love for Teeth Dreams, both here and with the THS crowd itself...

I dunno, took me a while to get into as with pretty much all their albums, but I like it fine now, and it definitely has a few standout songs (Spinners, The Only Thing, Oaks, I Hope This Whole Thing...)

I think my least favourite album is still Heaven is Whenever, and even that has The Weekenders and Hurricane J...

For those that have seen them live (they don't seem to play in Belgium all that often exactly >.>), are they as good as they seem live?

If We can get together isn't one of your favorite songs of all time then get outta my face

It's good, but it never hit me as hard as some other songs. It never had the sort of emotional impact on me 'Lord, I'm Discouraged' had, or 'Certain Songs' or 'The Only Thing', even.

One thing I have found about Teeth Dreams is that's it's recently become one of my favourite albums to paint or draw to, especially in art classes. Just kinda clicks me into the right mood for it.

Harbortown wrote:

If We can get together isn't one of your favorite songs of all time then get outta my face

Haha. Nicely put. I had a hard time with that one at first...until I heard it acoustic. In fact, outside a few tracks, I think THS really missed an opportunity to put out one of the best acoustic-based records of all time. If they had stripped away a lot of the nonsense on the album, I would have really loved it. First noticed this when I heard Ascension Blues acoustic. Holy shit. Granted, it's hard to imagine Rock Problems acoustic, and Hurricane J is better plugged in, but there was so much on that record that either didn't add anything or just outright took away from it, every time I hear an acoustic version of one of those songs I want to weep.

We Can Get Together is probably one of my least favorite THS songs. They have much better ballads than that one.

[quote="jzancan"]

Harbortown wrote:

I think THS really missed an opportunity to put out one of the best acoustic-based records of all time. If they had stripped away a lot of the nonsense on the album, I would have really loved it.

Have you had a chance to listen to Craig Finn's solo album yet, by any chance? It's not really acoustic, but it's generally a lot calmer than most of the THS stuff.
I kinda like it myself. Balcony's a definite stand-out for me, as are Jackson, Apollo Bay, Rent Room, and No Future.
There's a good KEXP session with CF and his supporting band on youtube, too.

Hombie wrote:

I'm a pretty big fan of The Hold Steady alright, love the storytelling. I actually got into Sep Sunday first through 'Your Little Hoodrat Friend' being on the THP8 soundtrack ^^

I think I just got into different songs through youtube after that, then started listening to the albums in order, properly. And as has been mentioned before, there really doesn't seem to be a lot of love for Teeth Dreams, both here and with the THS crowd itself...

I dunno, took me a while to get into as with pretty much all their albums, but I like it fine now, and it definitely has a few standout songs (Spinners, The Only Thing, Oaks, I Hope This Whole Thing...)

I think my least favourite album is still Heaven is Whenever, and even that has The Weekenders and Hurricane J...

For those that have seen them live (they don't seem to play in Belgium all that often exactly >.>), are they as good as they seem live?

No matter how many times I listen to it, I can't get into HIW. At all. Made me lose interest for years.

But Teeth Dreams. Holy fuck. I love this album.

Hombie wrote:

jzancan wrote:

Harbortown wrote:

I think THS really missed an opportunity to put out one of the best acoustic-based records of all time. If they had stripped away a lot of the nonsense on the album, I would have really loved it.

Have you had a chance to listen to Craig Finn's solo album yet, by any chance? It's not really acoustic, but it's generally a lot calmer than most of the THS stuff.
I kinda like it myself. Balcony's a definite stand-out for me, as are Jackson, Apollo Bay, Rent Room, and No Future.
There's a good KEXP session with CF and his supporting band on youtube, too.

Not only have I heard it, I also ripped every B-side I could find from YouTube (he played a few on radio spots, and there's at least one good live recording from a show). I love it. Balcony was also a big one for me, as well as Jackson and Western Pier. But the b sides are where it really shines. I understand why they didn't make the album, in terms of how well they fit with some of other stuff, but damn. Some Guns. All. Day. Long.