The Hold Steady

JohnnyC wrote:

Asleepontheforestfloor wrote:

Can someone pm me the link?

Also, anyone know if the new national album leaked yet?

Yes and yes. The National album is awesome. I'll work on getting you a link for both.

I though The National's was really bad quality. I haven't bothered looking for it b/c of that. Is it still worth listening?

I've listened to the Hold Steady's on NPR but haven't gotten that one either. However, I figure if it is a rip from vinyl that is circulating it probably is pretty decent quality.

curly wrote:

JohnnyC wrote:

Asleepontheforestfloor wrote:

Can someone pm me the link?

Also, anyone know if the new national album leaked yet?

Yes and yes. The National album is awesome. I'll work on getting you a link for both.

I though The National's was really bad quality. I haven't bothered looking for it b/c of that. Is it still worth listening?

I've listened to the Hold Steady's on NPR but haven't gotten that one either. However, I figure if it is a rip from vinyl that is circulating it probably is pretty decent quality.

The National's isn't great quality, but I really am not one to judge about just how bad/good it is. I have a good ear for chords/melodies/etc. but I definitely don't have an engineer's ear.

stoked to see them at sasquatch w/ the new lineup, the songs are also pretty decent.

they are palying on david letterman tonight (friday 4/30) if any fans out there are interested. probably be on around 12:30am

One of my favorite bands, easily top 10 for me.

This quickly became one of my favorite releases from The Hold Steady. Part of that may have had to do with just how disappointed I was with "Stay Positive", and I was just pumped to have a good THS album again, so I'll have to see how much replay value this will ultimately have, but vocally I think this is some of the best work we've seen from Finn.

why did people not like stay positive?

stephendgaf wrote:

why did people not like stay positive?

I didn't necessarily hate or even dislike "Stay Positive" although I can easily say it's my least favorite release from The Hold Steady. For me it was just the let down of going from "Boys & Girls In America", which still remains one of my favorite releases in recent memory, to what I thought was a major let down. I think a lot of fans just had extremely high expectations for the record given how well "Boys And Girls In America" was received.

I really enjoyed stay positive but that was the first album I heard from them

saw these guys for the first time a few nights ago in Solana Beach, CA and they were AWESOME. the best show i've seen in a LONG while. they closed their encore w/ "southtown girls" and it was amazing. a ridiculously super live band.

that being said, while i do LIKE their new album, i don't like it as much as i did the last two. it IS different, so it's good to see that they're not just giving new lyrics to old songs, but there isn't anything that really stands out to me as much as "your little hoodrat friend" or "constructive summer" did on previous albums. it is still good though, and worth picking up, i'm sure it'll be in my end of the year top 10.

clashrock11 wrote:

saw these guys for the first time a few nights ago
in Solana Beach, CA and they were AWESOME. the best show i've seen in a
LONG while. they closed their encore w/ "southtown girls" and it was
amazing. a ridiculously super live band.

The Hold Steady have to be one of the most energetic and just spot on live acts out there right now. They're one of those rare acts that in my opinion win more people over with their live show, then they do with any of their recordings.

For instance my wife was never really a fan of Finn's vocal style. Yet when we saw them in support of Boys & Girls In America, she was on iTunes the very next morning picking up their first couple of albums.

clashrock11 wrote:

That being said, while i do LIKE their new album, i don't like it as much as i did the last two. it IS different, so it's good to see that they're not just giving new lyrics to old songs, but there isn't anything that really stands out to me as much as "your little hoodrat friend" or "constructive summer" did on previous albums.

I hear what you mean about the album lacking any real standout tracks, although "Soft In The Center" has really grown on me. But yeah, each release to this point has had at least one song that instantly hits you, that might not be the case so much with this newest release.

I think this album is very strong though in the sense that I don't really feel as though there are any filler songs just tossed in, and it plays through extremely well. I can press play and listen from beginning to end without ever really wanting to skip a track.

BostonMike wrote:

stephendgaf wrote:

why did people not like stay positive?

I didn't necessarily hate or even dislike "Stay Positive" although I can easily say it's my least favorite release from The Hold Steady. For me it was just the let down of going from "Boys & Girls In America", which still remains one of my favorite releases in recent memory, to what I thought was a major let down. I think a lot of fans just had extremely high expectations for the record given how well "Boys And Girls In America" was received.

yeah i guess i just like it so much because it was the first album i listened to by them and i usually love the album that gets me into the band more than all other releases.

So I finally got around to listening to the new hold steady album.

Is it just me, or do they sound a ton like Lucero? Like, someone could tell me this is a Lucero album and I would probably believe them.

Watching them tomorrow , should be fun althought i doubt it can beat last night in fact i know it cant.

CluckyB wrote:

So I finally got around to listening to the new hold steady album.

Is it just me, or do they sound a ton like Lucero? Like, someone could tell me this is a Lucero album and I would probably believe them.

Clucky--Good point. I felt the same way--Heaven is whenever is the first hold steady I picked up, and it's ok. But it sounded an awful lot like Lucero's overton park, and candidly, I like Lucero better.

^who was last night? TGA.

You got it ^^^^

Hold steady were actually very good, pretty small venue as it was in academy 2. Jesse Malin as the support was superb , did a cover of Replacements Bastards of Young (slow piano version) which was great. He came out to sing with the Hold Steady wearing a Gaslight t-shirt, cant go wrong.

Any word on who will be opening for The Hold Steady in the fall? They just announced a show here and I'm hoping they bring an awesome band or two with them.

Gonna see these guys this fall because they're the only good show playing in Pittsburgh.

simo wrote:

Any word on who will be opening for The Hold Steady in the fall? They just announced a show here and I'm hoping they bring an awesome band or two with them.

I kno a band called Company of Thieves are opening up for em on couple shows.
They are pretty good band from Chicago with a female vocalist...defiantly worth getting to the show early

Agreed that Company of Thieves is really solid. I did a gig poster for the 11/17 The Hold Steady show in Iowa City where they will be opening. Definitely give them a listen.

Company of Thieves are great. I was excited when I saw they were added to the bill.

Uk tour tickets available from today (19 October) at

http://theholdsteady.net/shows/

The Pittsburgh show was fantastic.

Didn't really know any of the songs that well, despite trying to listen to them a lot in the last month or so, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it (that being said, it was totally the kind of show being able to sing along every line helps). I think there were more people there then when I saw gaslight in the same venue, but that could be because they were more spread out. (There was a small group of people bunched up front (aka the people who knew all the words and stuff), but not the same kind of wave of people pushing forward you get at Gaslight shows, which was honestly nice for a change. No crowd surfers either =) ).

But yeah, definitely the kind of band that is even better live than on disk and I had a total blast.

Also Craig Finn is the least rock band frontman looking rock band front man I've ever seen. He looks like the guy in the cubicle next to you. At least Brian sorta has that rugged old school guy with the tatoos look going. Finn just looks like an ordinary Joe.

Yeah I saw them last Thursday. They were really great. Craig Finn looks like he has more fun on stage than anybody I've seen. I was in the front row for the show...lots of fun.