Collection of "Handwritten" Reviews

NYYFAN523 wrote:

gtalbott wrote:

From the Toronto Sun, quick hit
"Handwritten
Heartland Rock
4 stars out of 5

There’s a darkness on the edge. And right down the middle, for that matter. The fourth full-length (and major-label debut) from N.J. singer-guitarist Brian Fallon and co. mines a darker and deeper vein, mixing their rousing heartland punk with moodier lyrics and harder-hitting tracks (produced by Brendan O’Brien). He still hasn’t painted his masterpiece, but he’s definitely getting closer.

Download: 45; Here Comes My Man"

Still hasn't painted his masterpiece? Guess the writer has never listened to The '59 Sound.

Idk if I'd call The '59 Sound his masterpiece (Implying that he has 1 masterpiece) but c'mon what does this guy expect? Better than Elsie? Better than Handwritten? Better than all their music? And I thought I had high expectations!

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/handwritten-20120719

Rolling Stone 3.5/5

rubberducky wrote:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/handwritten-20120719

Rolling Stone 3.5/5

Wow that was the worth the wait for this review........

saltandburn1967 wrote:

rubberducky wrote:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/handwritten-20120719

Rolling Stone 3.5/5

Wow that was the worth the wait for this review........

Yeah really... Didn't Brian thank them on Twitter or Facebook?? Not that I consider the Rolling Stones the holy grail when it comes to album reviews but kind of surprised it got a 3.5 from them.

rubberducky wrote:

saltandburn1967 wrote:

rubberducky wrote:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/handwritten-20120719

Rolling Stone 3.5/5

Wow that was the worth the wait for this review........

Yeah really... Didn't Brian thank them on Twitter or Facebook?? Not that I consider the Rolling Stones the holy grail when it comes to album reviews but kind of surprised it got a 3.5 from them.

Yeah not to mention that it is crazy short and the only mentions 2 or 3 songs. That is one of the most uninteresting album reviews I have ever read.

rubberducky wrote:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/handwritten-20120719

Rolling Stone 3.5/5

Really!? This couldn't be what Brian thanked them for in that tweet a couple weeks back could it? This is one of the laziest reviews I've read of the record.

rubberducky wrote:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/handwritten-20120719

Rolling Stone 3.5/5

Maybe this is just the online reivew and the print version will be more in-depth? Still, if it only got 3.5/5 that's not really cover material...Wouldn't they rate it higher if TGA were going to be on the cover? ...Really curious now as to why Brian thanked them.

NYYFAN523 wrote:

rubberducky wrote:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/handwritten-20120719

Rolling Stone 3.5/5

Maybe this is just the online reivew and the print version will be more in-depth? Still, if it only got 3.5/5 that's not really cover material...Wouldn't they rate it higher if TGA were going to be on the cover? ...Really curious now as to why Brian thanked them.

haha on the cover???? why would RS display a talented artist like Brian Fallon on the cover when they can put Justin Bieber on for the second time which is two times too many. Hopefully you're right though maybe they have an article about them in the magazine.

http://globalgrind.com/style/justin-bieber-rolling-stones-cover-2012-photo

He could've thanked RS AU.

Seems we have the first cover. Or did I miss one?
Will be out only on Wednesday ....

http://instagram.com/p/NTAp1Apeyh/

rubberducky wrote:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/handwritten-20120719

Rolling Stone 3.5/5

No hints of Motown?
He must have skipped Here Comes My Man then..

Newsday: A-
"The Gaslight Anthem live in a limited world of "Hey! Hey!" and "oh-sha-la-la" -- a world where Bruce Springsteen is boss, The Clash are kings and everything is filtered through The Replacements.

In other words, a pretty great place.

The Jersey band's fourth album "Handwritten" (Mercury), its first for a major label, reflects that familiar world while still offering a few surprises.

The Gaslight Anthem takes a lot of knocks for that familiarity, with Brian Fallon's Springsteenian phrasing and Alex Rosamilia's slashing guitar work, making the songs (and their influences) instantly recognizable.

However, the band does use those building blocks to create some extraordinary things. On "Mulholland Drive," Fallon attacks the verses like Joe Strummer before settling into a less confrontational rock stance in the chorus, used to set off Rosamilia's stunning solo and a triumphant bridge that hinges on the questions "Who came to wipe your tears away? Who came to bring back your dignity, baby?"

The strutting "Biloxi Parish" offers more searing guitar solos and more promises of faithfulness, while the hard-hitting first single, "45," promises a Replacements-fueled ride of a relationship told through a seven-inch slice of vinyl.

And the Gaslight Anthem does slip outside its comfort zone occasionally, as "Here Comes My Man" shows, using '60s-pop backing vocals and harmonies from Rosamilia and bassist Alex Levine. The Soundgarden-ish "Too Much Blood," complete with Fallon approximating some Chris Cornell-like howls, is an even bigger surprise.

"Handwritten" shows Fallon and friends can stretch without shifting their artistic visions. "

gtalbott wrote:

Newsday: A-
"The Gaslight Anthem live in a limited world of "Hey! Hey!" and "oh-sha-la-la" -- a world where Bruce Springsteen is boss, The Clash are kings and everything is filtered through The Replacements. "

Wow, this

NJ Star-Ledger: Positive
"There’s blood all over the new Gaslight Anthem album. Brian Fallon, who sang about blood on prior Gaslight sets and on his Horrible Crowes side project, returns to the subject with the regularity of a heartbeat. There’s the blood of the blue-collar characters he writes, working their fingers into dust as they take solace in a radio song. There’s the hot blood that runs through lovers on the backstreets, and the blood that links absent fathers to wayward sons. Then there’s the blood he’s pouring out on the page — and since the words on the record are, he tells us, handwritten, the suggestion is clear: This is Fallon’s essence we’re listening to, scribbled in crimson, and given life by a tight rock band that plays with complete conviction.

Recorded with former Springsteen producer Brendan O’Brien, “Handwritten” — Gaslight’s fourth album and first for Mercury Records — is the band’s most aggressive reach for a mass audience. They play up the anthemic quality of their sound, which no longer bears much resemblance to basement punk. Gone are the modest departures from expectation that distinguished 2010’s “American Slang”: shuffle beats, dub and reggae overtones, atmospheric arrangements. Instead, the band returns to the right-angle song construction of 2008’s “The ’59 Sound”; only this time, Fallon is presenting his gutter stories with major-label polish. This is a clean, bright and propulsive album — a Turnpike ride with very few twists and turns.

Since Fallon’s working-class storytelling rarely shifts its thematic focus, there’s a limit to how much the Gaslight Anthem can grow between albums. “Handwritten” songs display an ever-so-slightly broadened range, drawing from ’70s power ballads, Southern rock and grunge — “Too Much Blood,” which may be the heaviest thing the band ever has recorded, was written after Fallon attended a Chris Cornell concert. Acoustic ballad “National Anthem” bathes its second verse in Hollywood strings.

The flourishes work. But “Handwritten” is at its best when the band is at its least imaginative, which was definitely not true of “American Slang”: “Here Comes My Man,” “Howl” and lead single “45” take the basic architecture of the Gaslight Anthem, streamline it, and blow it up to arena size.

Fallon isn’t turning pithy phrases with the same effortlessness that characterized his writing on “The ’59 Sound.” But he makes up for it by raising the emotional intensity and venturing a bit (but just a bit) beyond the rock ’n’ roll shorthand that lubricates his engine: cars, records, fear of aging, doomed relationships, the radio.

“Keepsake,” a song that’s going to draw attention, is a missive to an absentee dad; “Biloxi Parish” is a homesick road song and a love letter to a girl who may be Asbury Park. Fallon isn’t getting any better at drawing female characters — he seems more interested in their dresses than their personalities — and for a Jersey guy, he’s oddly humorless. But “Handwritten” is going to buy him plenty of time to work on his craft, in front of a much bigger crowd than Gaslight ever has attracted before."

RedEye Chicago: 3.5/4...GLOWING
"Is there any band right now that so consistently delivers impassioned, moving rock records that make you wish the albums would come to life so you could get a beer with them?

Outside of the likewise stellar Japandroids, the Gaslight Anthem currently carries the torch for music fans who want to pump their fists and sing along with choruses and feel the blood of rock ‘n’ roll pulsing through their veins. Following 2010’s great “American Slang,” the New Jersey quartet teams up with producer Brendan O’Brien (Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, AC/DC) for its fourth full-length, perhaps to escalate its barroom tales to stadium-sized grandeur. Fortunately, “Handwritten” still boasts a constant stream of catchiness against singer/guitarist Brian Fallon’s sincere, gravelly vocals. From killer first single “45” to the stomping “Mulholland Drive,” these big songs bridge the gap between arena scale and intimacy, the sort of tunes that bond you to the thousands of other people rocking nearby. Moving closer “National Anthem,” however, may turn you all into weeping wrecks.

The words don’t always earn the attention of the music. The music’s too good to really care. The band has never sounded more confident--honest and still inspired by rock trailblazers but no longer necessitating a nod to the Boss. Fallon calls the record “Tom Petty songs [being] played by Pearl Jam,” and I won’t argue with that. The Gaslight Anthem still recognizes bruises but become survivors to admire. And when the lyrics hit, they burn their way into your soul, as when Fallon bellows on “Biloxi Parish,” “I’ve found that nothing truly matters that you cannot find for free/I love you more than I can tell you, and when you pass through from this world/I hope you ask to take me with you that I will not have to wait too long.”

“Handwritten” is a genre-lover’s record to savor—Fallon’s voice even approaches Chris Cornell-like rawness on standout “Too Much Blood”—pensively toasting strength without feeling grounded by its bittersweet edges. With any luck, these guys will soar to the level they deserve."

gtalbott wrote:

NJ Star-Ledger: Positive
"There’s blood all over the new Gaslight Anthem album. Brian Fallon, who sang about blood on prior Gaslight sets and on his Horrible Crowes side project, returns to the subject with the regularity of a heartbeat. There’s the blood of the blue-collar characters he writes, working their fingers into dust as they take solace in a radio song. There’s the hot blood that runs through lovers on the backstreets, and the blood that links absent fathers to wayward sons. Then there’s the blood he’s pouring out on the page — and since the words on the record are, he tells us, handwritten, the suggestion is clear: This is Fallon’s essence we’re listening to, scribbled in crimson, and given life by a tight rock band that plays with complete conviction.

Recorded with former Springsteen producer Brendan O’Brien, “Handwritten” — Gaslight’s fourth album and first for Mercury Records — is the band’s most aggressive reach for a mass audience. They play up the anthemic quality of their sound, which no longer bears much resemblance to basement punk. Gone are the modest departures from expectation that distinguished 2010’s “American Slang”: shuffle beats, dub and reggae overtones, atmospheric arrangements. Instead, the band returns to the right-angle song construction of 2008’s “The ’59 Sound”; only this time, Fallon is presenting his gutter stories with major-label polish. This is a clean, bright and propulsive album — a Turnpike ride with very few twists and turns.

Since Fallon’s working-class storytelling rarely shifts its thematic focus, there’s a limit to how much the Gaslight Anthem can grow between albums. “Handwritten” songs display an ever-so-slightly broadened range, drawing from ’70s power ballads, Southern rock and grunge — “Too Much Blood,” which may be the heaviest thing the band ever has recorded, was written after Fallon attended a Chris Cornell concert. Acoustic ballad “National Anthem” bathes its second verse in Hollywood strings.

The flourishes work. But “Handwritten” is at its best when the band is at its least imaginative, which was definitely not true of “American Slang”: “Here Comes My Man,” “Howl” and lead single “45” take the basic architecture of the Gaslight Anthem, streamline it, and blow it up to arena size.

Fallon isn’t turning pithy phrases with the same effortlessness that characterized his writing on “The ’59 Sound.” But he makes up for it by raising the emotional intensity and venturing a bit (but just a bit) beyond the rock ’n’ roll shorthand that lubricates his engine: cars, records, fear of aging, doomed relationships, the radio.

“Keepsake,” a song that’s going to draw attention, is a missive to an absentee dad; “Biloxi Parish” is a homesick road song and a love letter to a girl who may be Asbury Park. Fallon isn’t getting any better at drawing female characters — he seems more interested in their dresses than their personalities — and for a Jersey guy, he’s oddly humorless. But “Handwritten” is going to buy him plenty of time to work on his craft, in front of a much bigger crowd than Gaslight ever has attracted before."

I really don't like this review. They're right about bringing up similar/the same subjects, that's fair but they make it sound like Brian barely gets away with it, whereas I think it's amazing how well he takes the same subjects and makes them sound new.

"there’s a limit to how much the Gaslight Anthem can grow between albums"
-I think this is crazy, because TGA very clearly grows about as much as you can without completely changing who you are as a band imo.

"Fallon isn’t getting any better at drawing female characters — he seems more interested in their dresses than their personalities — and for a Jersey guy, he’s oddly humorless"
-Springsteen has gotten this flack too. Can I say as a girl that I think this is ridiculous. This makes him sound sexist which is insane. Also, what makes him humorless? this person is drawing all kinds of conclusions based off nothing.

Finally, "“Handwritten” is going to buy him plenty of time to work on his craft"
-now I know everyone can improve and nothings perfect and stuff but come on. Can you step back and look at the music industry today as a whole and tell me Brian Fallon isn't one of (if not the) best songwriter out there right now?

I wouldn't read too much into the Star Ledger review. The music critic there likes to make grand pronouncements without backing them up.

Evening Standard (David Smyth). 3/5 stars.

"Being from the Boss's home state of New Jersey, The Gaslight Anthem have long enjoyed the enthusiastic endorsement of Bruce Springsteen - they appeared during each other's sets at Glastonbury in 2009. So it's no surprise that on their fourth album and major label debut, the blue-collar anthems have got even bigger and bolder. Desire and the title track are both propelled by gruff "woah"s from ragged-voiced singer Brian Fallon. When operating at speed, as on Howl and the pounding Here Comes My Man, they barrel along nicely. Slowed down on Too Much Blood they're guilty of too much bluster, while the acoustic closer, National Anthem, the Springsteen aping is too obvious. Bruce fans will clearly love it, others may be tougher to convince."

StitchesOnTheRadio wrote:

gtalbott wrote:

NJ Star-Ledger: Positive
"There’s blood all over the new Gaslight Anthem album. Brian Fallon, who sang about blood on prior Gaslight sets and on his Horrible Crowes side project, returns to the subject with the regularity of a heartbeat. There’s the blood of the blue-collar characters he writes, working their fingers into dust as they take solace in a radio song. There’s the hot blood that runs through lovers on the backstreets, and the blood that links absent fathers to wayward sons. Then there’s the blood he’s pouring out on the page — and since the words on the record are, he tells us, handwritten, the suggestion is clear: This is Fallon’s essence we’re listening to, scribbled in crimson, and given life by a tight rock band that plays with complete conviction.

Recorded with former Springsteen producer Brendan O’Brien, “Handwritten” — Gaslight’s fourth album and first for Mercury Records — is the band’s most aggressive reach for a mass audience. They play up the anthemic quality of their sound, which no longer bears much resemblance to basement punk. Gone are the modest departures from expectation that distinguished 2010’s “American Slang”: shuffle beats, dub and reggae overtones, atmospheric arrangements. Instead, the band returns to the right-angle song construction of 2008’s “The ’59 Sound”; only this time, Fallon is presenting his gutter stories with major-label polish. This is a clean, bright and propulsive album — a Turnpike ride with very few twists and turns.

Since Fallon’s working-class storytelling rarely shifts its thematic focus, there’s a limit to how much the Gaslight Anthem can grow between albums. “Handwritten” songs display an ever-so-slightly broadened range, drawing from ’70s power ballads, Southern rock and grunge — “Too Much Blood,” which may be the heaviest thing the band ever has recorded, was written after Fallon attended a Chris Cornell concert. Acoustic ballad “National Anthem” bathes its second verse in Hollywood strings.

The flourishes work. But “Handwritten” is at its best when the band is at its least imaginative, which was definitely not true of “American Slang”: “Here Comes My Man,” “Howl” and lead single “45” take the basic architecture of the Gaslight Anthem, streamline it, and blow it up to arena size.

Fallon isn’t turning pithy phrases with the same effortlessness that characterized his writing on “The ’59 Sound.” But he makes up for it by raising the emotional intensity and venturing a bit (but just a bit) beyond the rock ’n’ roll shorthand that lubricates his engine: cars, records, fear of aging, doomed relationships, the radio.

“Keepsake,” a song that’s going to draw attention, is a missive to an absentee dad; “Biloxi Parish” is a homesick road song and a love letter to a girl who may be Asbury Park. Fallon isn’t getting any better at drawing female characters — he seems more interested in their dresses than their personalities — and for a Jersey guy, he’s oddly humorless. But “Handwritten” is going to buy him plenty of time to work on his craft, in front of a much bigger crowd than Gaslight ever has attracted before."

I really don't like this review. They're right about bringing up similar/the same subjects, that's fair but they make it sound like Brian barely gets away with it, whereas I think it's amazing how well he takes the same subjects and makes them sound new.

"there’s a limit to how much the Gaslight Anthem can grow between albums"
-I think this is crazy, because TGA very clearly grows about as much as you can without completely changing who you are as a band imo.

"Fallon isn’t getting any better at drawing female characters — he seems more interested in their dresses than their personalities — and for a Jersey guy, he’s oddly humorless"
-Springsteen has gotten this flack too. Can I say as a girl that I think this is ridiculous. This makes him sound sexist which is insane. Also, what makes him humorless? this person is drawing all kinds of conclusions based off nothing.

Finally, "“Handwritten” is going to buy him plenty of time to work on his craft"
-now I know everyone can improve and nothings perfect and stuff but come on. Can you step back and look at the music industry today as a whole and tell me Brian Fallon isn't one of (if not the) best songwriter out there right now?

I get what the person is saying and to some extent I agree although I don't think he phrased it right or put Handwritten into the correct context. It's their first album on a major label which isn't the time to begin experimenting with something new.
To their credit they've managed to stay fresh by evolving their sound from one album to the next even if thematically they've stayed the same.

I guess the thing going forward to keep in mind is that TGA aren't the most technically advanced players (Alex R. maybe?) and there's only so far a band can go by using standard throwback guitar rock. I feel like eventually they're going to have to move beyond the standard formula of "romantic" lyrics with classic rock inspirations. I don't think they need to re-invent themselves at all but it's going to be tough to remain relevant when there are other rock bands who are very versatile with their sound and lyrics.

Gaslight are doing just fine they are on the right track. They are evolving as a band as none of their four albums sound the same. I don't think you need to attempt to reinvent yourself to stay relevant. Just keep making great music and that's exactly what Gaslight are doing

The Star Ledger review sort of pisses me off about Fallon being humorless. One reason I love The Gaslight Anthem's music is because their music is so serious. A band doesn't have to be goofy every now and then. Maybe the reviewer should go listen to Telephone by Lady Gaga or any Katy Perry song. I also guess the reviewer has never seen them live cause Brian Fallon is one funny dude.

saltandburn1967 wrote:

The Star Ledger review sort of pisses me off about Fallon being humorless. One reason I love The Gaslight Anthem's music is because their music is so serious. A band doesn't have to be goofy every now and then. Maybe the reviewer should go listen to Telephone by Lady Gaga or any Katy Perry song. I also guess the reviewer has never seen them live cause Brian Fallon is one funny dude.

Exactly.

saltandburn1967 wrote:

The Star Ledger review sort of pisses me off about Fallon being humorless. One reason I love The Gaslight Anthem's music is because their music is so serious. A band doesn't have to be goofy every now and then. Maybe the reviewer should go listen to Telephone by Lady Gaga or any Katy Perry song. I also guess the reviewer has never seen them live cause Brian Fallon is one funny dude.

I could be wrong but I think he was going for a veiled Springsteen comparison. Despite taking his music very serious and dealing with heavy themes even Bruce has managed to infuse humor into some songs along the way like Sherry Darling, I'm a Rocker, Part Man Part Monkey. Like you said though, a comment like that shouldn't even be mentioned since if you see him live you would see he's pretty funny on stage.

Christophe wrote:

saltandburn1967 wrote:

The Star Ledger review sort of pisses me off about Fallon being humorless. One reason I love The Gaslight Anthem's music is because their music is so serious. A band doesn't have to be goofy every now and then. Maybe the reviewer should go listen to Telephone by Lady Gaga or any Katy Perry song. I also guess the reviewer has never seen them live cause Brian Fallon is one funny dude.

Exactly.

THIS!

gtalbott wrote:

Fallon isn’t getting any better at drawing female characters — he seems more interested in their dresses than their personalities

...really? They're going to use this as a slight against Brian? Really? When 70% of other artists' lyrics are at the sophisticated level of "booty down on me", we're going to make a thinly-veiled joke about Brian being a skirt-chaser? And it's obvious he didn't miss Here Comes My Man! So how can this even be suggested?