"The Hold Steady is a Brooklyn-based rock band comprising Craig Finn (vocals, guitar), Tad Kubler (lead guitar), Franz Nicolay (keyboards, vocals, harmonica, accordion), Galen Polivka (bass) and Bobby Drake (drums). The band's style has been described as a "riff-heavy mixture of classic rock," notable for its "lyrically dense storytelling."[1] To date, the band has released four studio albums: Almost Killed Me (2004), Separation Sunday (2005), Boys and Girls in America (2006), and Stay Positive (2008)."
Stay Positive is the fourth studio album by The Hold Steady, released on July 15, 2008. Vocalist/guitarist Craig Finn notes that the album is about "the idea of ageing gracefully, keeping going, perseverance, and how to stay true to the ideals and ideas you had when you were younger."
As a new fan of the Hold Steady I was plesantly suprised with this group. The band sometimes comes off as springsteen, tragiclly hip like and the songs on this album are quite catchy but dense at the same time. My favorite tracks, one for sure would have to be "Lord, I'm Discouraged" The Ballad track with a Slash worthy solo thrown in for good measure. I love the solo in this track and wish the band would invest alittle more time into racking up the guitar, but the only other solo to be had on the album comes on the track "Joke About Jamacia" with a Framptonesque talk box. Nevertheless the album as a hole is great. The other stand out to check out is the closing track "Slapped Actress" which just drags you in with its churning guitar and simple piano which complement each other nicely and make it a track you will come back to over and over. There is also a bonus track which actualy turns out to be three songs in one, and are included on the LE digipak version of the album.
Lord I'm Discouraged
Slapped Actress
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