SOS or 59 Sound?

Which is eveyones fav?

I'm going with SOS..just slightly only because I like all 12 songs, I only like 11 from 59 sound.

I hate you for asking me this question. Live it's SoS definately, but that's because it's 'older' songs abit.
On record I'd probably say 59 Sound as it is actually floorless.

'sink or swim' ill admit, 59 sound is probably more consistant and more together as an album, but its not why i fell in love with the band.

im not saying sink or swim necissarily better than the 59 sound but it had far more of an impact on me.

puh,hard question...i love both really really much...

but i think i like sos a bit more,because it was the album i got in touch with gaslight and simply because of 'we're getting a divorece..'
it's the best song which was ever written in my opinion...

definitely '59. much better songwriting, lyrics hit home to me a lot more. also, the songs are a lot different from each other, and the album flows a lot better. brian's singing improved a lot too. though without the reverb, it could have been even better, but '59 is still my favorite album ever

sos, to me its more energetic

damn thats tough though

Jukebox Romeo wrote:

definitely '59. much better songwriting, lyrics hit home to me a lot more. also, the songs are a lot different from each other, and the album flows a lot better. brian's singing improved a lot too. though without the reverb, it could have been even better, but '59 is still my favorite album ever

It's funny you say that about the lyrics. Because I feel SoS lyrics have a lot more meaning behind them, where 59 Sound lyrics are more tributes to other artists and don't really have the personal feel of SoS lyrics

Stalls_Standing wrote:

Jukebox Romeo wrote:

definitely '59. much better songwriting, lyrics hit home to me a lot more. also, the songs are a lot different from each other, and the album flows a lot better. brian's singing improved a lot too. though without the reverb, it could have been even better, but '59 is still my favorite album ever

It's funny you say that about the lyrics. Because I feel SoS lyrics have a lot more meaning behind them, where 59 Sound lyrics are more tributes to other artists and don't really have the personal feel of SoS lyrics

That's what I thought too. And SoS just has this rockin' sound to it that imo anyway, '59 doesn't have. SoS was the first I heard of Gaslight and I absolutely loved it from the start. 59 is a bit of a slow burner for me, but I thin I'm coming round to it more and more.

They're both great records, but SoS has 1930 on it, so no matter what, it wins.

Stalls_Standing wrote:

Jukebox Romeo wrote:

definitely '59. much better songwriting, lyrics hit home to me a lot more. also, the songs are a lot different from each other, and the album flows a lot better. brian's singing improved a lot too. though without the reverb, it could have been even better, but '59 is still my favorite album ever

It's funny you say that about the lyrics. Because I feel SoS lyrics have a lot more meaning behind them, where 59 Sound lyrics are more tributes to other artists and don't really have the personal feel of SoS lyrics

You have to look at each song as a whole, not it's part. Each and every song tells it's own story. There might be "tributes" in each song, but those are just chapters of that song. The chapters of each song make a story of it's own. I've never been able to relate to songs like I have to songs on The '59 Sound. Each and every song I can sort of say,"yeah, I've been there". I find that the most fantastic thing. These songs take me back 20 years- to my early teens. They made me realize things that I had never thought about before- they're true songs- they're simply amazing. I love Sink or Swim too- tons- I love the fastness of it and 1930 will always hold special with me....but The '59 Sounds is a whole different level. I think that's the direction they'll go in, and I'm happy for that.

Not for me. Lyrics from SoS like

1930
"I love you more than the stars in the sky, but your name escapes me tonight"

Drive
"Tonight for the first time, It felt good to be alive"

Boomboxes
"If you're scared of the future tonight, we'll just take it each hour one at a time"



I don't think anything on 59 Sound touches them.

SatQ > SoS > 59

Love em all though

And I guess that's what is so great about music- it's versatility- I agree those quotes are amazing- especially 1930- as I was there with my Nana through her suffering and there when she passed- can totally relate to those words. I just feel the stories in '59 ring true for me. Maybe because I'm a little older?? Maybe because I spend my summers at the ocean? I don't know. I just relate to them way better. I remember fireworks over the ocean on Saturday nights- riding the ferris wheel with boys and feeling special, getting rocks thrown at my window at night (no cell phones back then), just the silly things boys did to try and get our attention and the crazy things we did to try and get theirs. Getting hurt in relationships and carrying that around. Riding in the back window (yes back window) of my mothers Grand Marquis when we went for a long ride, so that I could stretch my legs out. As a kid going for a 1 hour ride seemed like FOREVER. It's in those songs. The whole going from a teenager to being an adult and "growing up", that whole experience is all over that album. I wasn't trying to discount what you said at all, just was maybe suggesting looking at it from a different approach- I could pull dozens of lines from each album that I love. All that matters is that we love their music and appreciate it, I think that's something awesome. I'm getting the most amazing TGA tattoo this weekend, that's how much this album has touched me.

I get what liveit's saying, cause i kinda feel the same about all their songs really though. I'm 22 and i feel a lot of what's said in the songs and i kinda think thats why most of us in late teen-early 20's dig these guys and relate so much and even for the older crowd, they're reminded of those times and such. yeah. hope that made sense, kinda tired.

Gosh. That's a tough one. I go back in forth. 59 is a really solid album, but Sos is a little more fun. In a sense, 59 is just an older and more mature album (older in the sense that the band members are older)

They are kind of like kids, you love em both the same, but you love each one for different reasons.

i don't know if i can choose!

its just like that question on the tv advert a couple of years ago - "daddy or chips?!" (that might not make sense to any of you but i hope at least someone knows what i'm on about?!?!)

haha daddy or chips.
TO carry on my lyric point, I think it's only fair I mention the ones to Patient Ferris Wheel are brilliant. The imagery of "I've never felt so strange standing in the jersey rain" is amazing.

yeah, for me, the biggest part of why I love this band is the lyrics and stories in the songs. the lyrics on '59 are just so personal. i can attach some deep feeling or event to each and every song on that album. and i think i'm gonna do that right now:

Great Expectations - The whole letting go of the past, moving on theme really hits home. I'm starting to grow up, I'll be going to college in just 6 months, and I feel like I'm moving on to a new stage of my life. Also, I'm not really friends with anyone that I was friends with 3 years ago, so that "Everybody leaves, so why, why wouldn't you?" line really makes sense to me. It's also one of the saddest lines I've ever heard.

The '59 Sound - Besides being a great, sad song, on homecoming night, which was a Saturday, a kid in the grade above me was killed in a car accident. I didn't find out til school next Monday morning, and I had listened to the album on the way to school that day. Kinda spooky when I heard about it.

Old White Lincoln - The "if I could write" part to me means like "if I could tell you how I really felt, I would", which is how I feel about this girl I know. Also, that "fell right in my arms" line makes sense for the same reason.

High Lonesome - "I always kinda sorta wished I was someone else." 'nuff said. Also, the line "The pounding in the street was your heart in 4/4 time, and the taste of defeat was never too far from your mind" is one of the most beautiful lines I've ever heard.

Film Noir - Again, the theme of letting go of the past makes a lot of sense to me.

Miles Davis & the Cool - Real romantic, perfectly captures the innocence of a young romance. Also, kind of a sad song. "I've never had a good thing and I've always had the blues"

The Patient Ferris Wheel - That last little bit, "Carnival lights, 4th of July" just sums up how great summertime is.

Casanova, Baby! - Just asking a girl for a night on the town together. Same as every night.

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues - "There's a party tonight...I tell your papa you'll be home when the good feeling dies..." Just not wanting the perfect night to end.

Meet Me By the River's Edge - "I was full with fiery wonder, you wore Audrey Hepburn pearls, you were the only one who understood me then, you're the only one who will..." Finding that one person who understands you when you thought no one else did.

Here's Looking At You, Kid - Pretty much this whole song describes me and this girl I know, same girl as above. Especially the line "I spent every night of my youth on the floor bleeding out from all these wounds." The pain and frustration of high school and chicks.

The Backseat - Perfectly captures the desperation and need to escape. I live between Cleveland and Akron, so it's kind of a wasteland all around me. Just driving in the summer, windows down, that's this song. Road trip. Just escaping all your problems, leaving them behind forever. Every kid's dream.

That's why The '59 Sound is my favorite album of all time. It's the songs I would write if I could capture my feelings the way he does.

damn nice breakdown

very good breakdown, certinally view a couple of songs differently now.

i guess the thing about 'sink or swim' for me, is just that it really did represent a part of my life where i started to look at things more positivily, at the time, i felt like i didnt have alot going for me, when in actual fact i did and it was through traveling (i always think of my travels when ever i hear boomboxes) that made me realise i did. hence why ive got 'sink or swim' tattooed on my back. i mean the album which i could relate to before that was 'the devil and god are raging inside of me' by brand new which described the situation i was going through at that time (basically, questioning my belief in god)

For me it's the 59 sound. It's a much smoother, more coherent listen than Sink or Swim I think. SOS is very good but there is some repitition of rhythms and melodies in different songs, which points towards slight immaturity, whereas 59 Sound to me is the sound of a band reaching its amazing full potential. It also has more subtlety which emphasises the emotions it evokes.

Oh yeah! I made it into a poll!

It needed a poll for sure.

good job

I'd say The '59 Sound for sure. Halfway through Great Expectations, I turned to my mom who was in the car with me and said, "I can tell already that I'm going to love this album."

I got it last May (Punknews perks) and I listened to it 4 times on the way up to Asbury Park when I went to interview them. Brian and I talked about the record for a while and he told me I was the first person outside of SideOneDummy to really give them a review (it was May 30 at that point). We talked about how Casanova, Baby! was almost cut from the record because they couldn't figure out how to play it. They sped it up, slowed it down, tinkered with it and then finally it stuck and sounded right.

I love that record so much because with every listen a new song sticks out. First it was Film Noir, High Lonesome and Casanova, Baby!. Then it was Miles Davis & The '59 Sound, then it was Great Expectations and The Backseat, and now it's Old White Lincoln and Meet Me By The River's Edge. I really can't pick a favorite track from the album because they've all hit me differently at different points in the past 10 months.

Since I've had the record I've interviewed them, graduated from high school, delt with a shitty job over the summer, went to college, lived without my girlfriend for 6 months, and got her back. Each song has hit me differently thoughtout that timespan depending on what I was going through.

The '59 Sound to me is a perfect record because each time I listen I can take away something that I didn't see before, whether it's the fifth time through the record or the twenty-fifth, each time a new track his me like it never has before.

Like a few of you have said, the relating to the lyrics idea is totally true for me. To take one from 1930 (a bit out of context in relation to the song, but applicable); 'But Mary, I've found the sound'- that's how I feel about the Gaslight Anthem.

It's like I have discovered the apex of music; all other bands/songs/albums I've listened to in the past have built up to discovering this one band that can touch me on a personal level more than any other. One other band gets close, but these guys... they're something different. I can find at least one line from every song they've ever written that is/has been applicable to my life at one point or another.

I discovered them through the '59 Sound, and if you asked my a couple of months ago I would have said I liked that more than Sink or Swim. But now, having listened to both over and over and over again, I would be hard pushed to choose. The '59 Sound would maybe edge it, but only if my life depended on it- because that was how I discovered the Gaslight Anthem. Either way, to me on a personal level, they are (alongside a couple of others maybe) the best albums ever.