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the Hold Steady - Stay Positive


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I'd agree that too much is being made of the Springsteen influence, but it's quite a bit more than piano+keyboards+sax. CF's vocals, particularly on the last two CDs, would make him the ideal choice to do a full-on cover of Greetings From AP NJ. As someone has already pointed out, the biggest tie is the recurring characters he's created for his chosen setting. Again, that brings to mind the first Springsteen album.

 

With that said, I think CF has taken that idea to a much broader level, and there are plenty more things to love about this band. As for the new CD, some really great songs on there.

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  • 1 month later...
After 1/2 dozen listens I'm just lukewarm on this. I'm reserving final judgment until I see where it ends

up in Solace's top 100 list. :monkey

 

Does anyone else this the production slightly sucks on this album? Too much compression and I don't hear all the layers of the instruments that well. But some really good songs and I have a feeling my opinion will change after I hear a lot of the songs live in November.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Does anyone else this the production slightly sucks on this album? Too much compression and I don't hear all the layers of the instruments that well. But some really good songs and I have a feeling my opinion will change after I hear a lot of the songs live in November.

Yeah, I was going to write a note to amazon.com saying their mp3s are lame. Good album, though.

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  • 3 months later...

>I'll be seeing these guys open for Sonic Youth next Friday. They're one of those bands I've been hearing a lot about and have been meaning to check out, so I guess this will be a good introduction.

 

That's what I mistakenly thought before I caught their show with the Drive By Truckers.

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>I'll be seeing these guys open for Sonic Youth next Friday. They're one of those bands I've been hearing a lot about and have been meaning to check out, so I guess this will be a good introduction.

 

That's what I mistakenly thought before I caught their show with the Drive By Truckers.

What does that mean?

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QUOTE (dmait @ Dec 3 2008, 10:44 AM)

>I'll be seeing these guys open for Sonic Youth next Friday. They're one of those bands I've been hearing a lot about and have been meaning to check out, so I guess this will be a good introduction.

 

That's what I mistakenly thought before I caught their show with the Drive By Truckers.

 

>What does that mean?

 

Before I saw the show, I'd heard a lot about both HS and DBTs, I'd been meaning to check them out, and I thought it would be a good intoduction to their music. As it turned out, I didn't enjoy either band.

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QUOTE (dmait @ Dec 3 2008, 10:44 AM)

>I'll be seeing these guys open for Sonic Youth next Friday. They're one of those bands I've been hearing a lot about and have been meaning to check out, so I guess this will be a good introduction.

 

That's what I mistakenly thought before I caught their show with the Drive By Truckers.

 

>What does that mean?

 

Before I saw the show, I'd heard a lot about both HS and DBTs, I'd been meaning to check them out, and I thought it would be a good intoduction to their music. As it turned out, I didn't enjoy either band.

Yeah, I didn't know if you meant it was a bad introduction, but you liked them or they're bad live or whatever. To each his own. I saw DBT recently for the first time and it was just ok. Seem like they would be alright on CD but a little boring for a live show. I'd really like to see The Hold Steady. I had Boys and Girls and wasn't that into it, but something clicked when I picked up their new one. It's one of my favorites this year.

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>I saw DBT recently for the first time and it was just ok. Seem like they would be alright on CD but a little boring for a live show.

 

I completely agree. The first song was good, but they lost me by the second and it never recovered. The drummer played the same beat for the entire show.

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A few years ago this statement would have been unthinkable, but these days I tend to agree.

 

I haven't seen them live real recently. Have they fallen off that much? A great DBT show used to be guaranteed. What happened? Is it the material?

 

I saw The Hold Steady in Dallas a few months ago and it was a great show, just like every other one of theirs I have been to.

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For me, it's the mellow material they've been producing lately. The last time I saw them I was actually bored until the second half of the set when they kicked it into gear with the older songs. Plus I'm extremely bitter about them kicking Jason out of the band. Just ask CortezTheKiller. :P You don't get that "wall of sound" effect without 3 guitars. I loved the back-and-forth with Jason and Cooley too....the dueling guitars and Jason's harmonizing vocals on Cooley's songs. I really missed that the last time I saw them.

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For me, it's the mellow material they've been producing lately. The last time I saw them I was actually bored until the second half of the set when they kicked it into gear with the older songs. Plus I'm extremely bitter about them kicking Jason out of the band. Just ask CortezTheKiller. :P

 

Was there ever an unofficial or official reason for that? I heard everything from the divorce, to Jason allegedly withholding his best songs, to an amicable separation.

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For me, it's the mellow material they've been producing lately. The last time I saw them I was actually bored until the second half of the set when they kicked it into gear with the older songs. Plus I'm extremely bitter about them kicking Jason out of the band. Just ask CortezTheKiller. :P You don't get that "wall of sound" effect without 3 guitars. I loved the back-and-forth with Jason and Cooley too....the dueling guitars and Jason's harmonizing vocals on Cooley's songs. I really missed that the last time I saw them.

 

What about Neff? He's been shredding it up quite a bit lately, and not just on the pedal steel. He had some scorching solos the last few times I saw them.

 

I dunno, I've seen them about ten times this year (wish I were kidding) and I don't think the quality's fallen off one bit. Some shows are better than others, of course, but it's always a solid product.

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I haven't seen them live real recently. Have they fallen off that much? A great DBT show used to be guaranteed. What happened? Is it the material?

 

I saw The Hold Steady in Dallas a few months ago and it was a great show, just like every other one of theirs I have been to.

I have seen DBT a couple of times in the last year and they have been stellar. This last time, opening for THS, they were blown off the stage. Doesn't make them a bad show live, THS were just unreal.

 

For me, it's the mellow material they've been producing lately. The last time I saw them I was actually bored until the second half of the set when they kicked it into gear with the older songs. Plus I'm extremely bitter about them kicking Jason out of the band. Just ask CortezTheKiller. :P You don't get that "wall of sound" effect without 3 guitars. I loved the back-and-forth with Jason and Cooley too....the dueling guitars and Jason's harmonizing vocals on Cooley's songs. I really missed that the last time I saw them.

I wish that Patterson would send most of his spoken word songs*, and all of Shonna's songs, right back to the album that they are on. I don't want to see them live. That said, they still kick much ass live. I miss Jason as well but love having him solo.

 

* Let There Be Rock may be an exception. Plus, I like some of the others but not live for some reason.

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What about Neff? He's been shredding it up quite a bit lately, and not just on the pedal steel. He had some scorching solos the last few times I saw them.

 

He's really good, I just didn't think he was Jason. Besides, I really missed Jason's songs as part of the live sets. Seeing the Truckers and not hearing Decoration Day is terrible. Add to it that I'm not a big fan of the last album and that's the bulk of what I saw them perform.

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i still think their latest blows away Blessed at least...

 

but yeah, while it's still a very good show these days, it's not the same or nearly as enjoyable for me w/o Jason, since he was my fave singer, guitar player, and songwriter.

 

and yeah, ixnay the spoken word shiz

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hah, yeah, apparently i've forgotten that much about it i can't even recall the name right ;)

 

4-5 great songs on that one, about it. i actually quite like this new one a lot save for 3 songs, but it doesn't touch Dirty South, Decoration, or SRO

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DBT definitely hasn't fallen off in quality. It's just that last time I saw them they were too mellow for me. I was really into it from soundcheck through through about 6 songs into their set, but after that I mostly hung out at the bar and talked to friends (which I never really do at shows). It didn't help that it was an outdoor show with no seating and a large distance between the bar and stage.

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He's really good, I just didn't think he was Jason. Besides, I really missed Jason's songs as part of the live sets. Seeing the Truckers and not hearing Decoration Day is terrible. Add to it that I'm not a big fan of the last album and that's the bulk of what I saw them perform.

 

 

Ah. Well, if you're a Jason devotee, then you're obviously not going to enjoy the show as much without his contributions. Personally, I prefer my DBT with Isbell on the side.

 

Brighterisn't my favorite DBT record either (they REALLY could have edited), but I think there are a lot of really solid tunes on it. Three Dimes Down has become a live favorite over the past year, along with The Opening Act.

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