slymer

Any Hold Steady fans out there? I plan on picking up the new album - Stay Positive, today ($9.99 at Best Buy). I've had it on my ipod for about a month and listen to it almost daily. It's a phenomenal album. Finn's lyrics are as good as ever, and the songs might be the catchiest they've ever written.



My favorits tracks so far are - Stay Positive, Slapped Actress, and Magazines

JPRaup

[Rudd] great record [/Rudd]

auto

Question: To those that pick this up at Best Buy, where are they 3 bonus tracks that they reference on the shrink wrap? There was nothing inside the package. Are they tacked on the end of the album? I haven't had a chance to spin it yet.

sb5

There's a single 11 minute track at the end of the CD that contains all three songs.



I've only had a chance to listen to the album once so far, but it sounded great.

mh4268

Kind of lame that the the three tracks aren't separated as single tracks, and I am not a digi-pak fan. Enjoying the cd, looking forward to drinking at the pool listening to this tonight.

auto

Lame, lame, lame, lame, lame

Why would they do that?

Liver&Onions

This was available on itunes for a couple weeks now, grabbed it back then and have been liking it so far.

DonTHX1378

Best album of the year so far. Picked it up on vinyl today after having the Itunes version for about a month. Sucks that the vinyl version only has one of the extra songs *Ask Her For Adderall*. I can't say enough that The Hold Steady are one of the greatest and hard working american bands right now. Every album these guys have made have been great and there at the top of the game *Boys and Girls in American is one of the best albums of the decade*.

slymer

Picked up the CD, still waiting for the Vinyl, and I will be seeing them at the Casbah here in San Diego on Aug 1. Can't wait!

Giles

I think one of the Travis albums did that with some hidden bonus tracks.

my fave song off of 'Stay Positive' is the third bonus song.

Hiro11

Awesome album. It seems even better at exploring the themes of desperation, nostalgia and fear of being an adult that Finn already mined on "Boys and Girls in America". The album seems inspired by a summer day Finn must have spent in 1981 hanging out with a bunch of slightly suspect guys in tight t-shirts and sporting thin mustaches in a parking lot drinkin' Bud, smashing bottles, blastin Bruce, Boston and Deep Purple out of the deck speakers of his brother's Trans Am with the Eagle on the hood.

Has anyone else noticed that this seems to be almost a concept album? He keeps refering to a particularly nasty crime (a double murder) in many of the songs, but dances around the issue. Are the stories all interrelated?

The album is also insanely catchy, if there's any justice in this world it will go platinum and they'll be selling out stadiums.

Favorite track: "One for the Cutters" which I (obviously) think has great lyrics... However, I don't think there's a bad track on it.

Gdrlv

I criticized this disc as by far the Hold Steady's weakest album in another thread a while back. I would like to retract that statement. I love this disc, and may end up liking it even more than Boys and Girls in America. I don't think I could pick a favorite track. The songs that grab me the most are "Sequestered in Memphis," "One for the Cutters," "Lord, I'm Discouraged," "Slapped Actress," "Ask Her for Adderall," and "Two Handed Handshake." Every Hold Steady album seems to have one song I can't stand though. Last time it was "Some Kooks." This time it's "Navy Sheets."

The Hold Steady just announced a co-headlining tour with the Drive By Truckers. The "Rock & Roll Means Well" Tour. I'm not sure many venues will be equipped to handle that much rock...

I'm hitting the closing night in LA.

THE ROCK AND ROLL MEANS WELL TOUR FALL 2008
10.30 Louisville KY COYOTE'S @ CITY BLOCK (HS Closes)
10.31 Nashville TN RYMAN AUDITORIUM (DBT Closes)
11.01 Atlanta GA TABERNACLE (DBT Closes)
11.02 Tallahassee FL THE MOON @ FSU (HS Closes)
11.03 Raleigh NC LINCOLN THEATRE (DBT Closes)
11.05 State College PA THE STATE THEATRE (HS Closes)
11.06 New York, NY TERMINAL 5 (DBT Closes)
11.07 New York, NY TERMINAL 5 (HS Closes)
11.08 Philadelphia, PA ELECTRIC FACTORY (DBT Closes)
11.09 Boston MA ORPHEUM THEATRE (HS Closes)
11.11 Toronto ONT PHOENIX THEATRE (DBT Closes)
11.12 Pittsburgh PA CARNEGIE MUSIC HALL (HS Closes)
11.13 Bloomington IN BLUEBIRD (DBT Closes)
11.14 Chicago IL RIVIERA (HS Closes)
11.15 Minneapolis MN FIRST AVENUE MAINROOM (DBT Closes)
11.16 Minneapolis MN FIRST AVENUE MAINROOM (HS Closes)
11.19 Boise ID THE BIG EASY (DBT Closes)
11.20 Seattle WA THE SHOWBOX (HS Closes)
11.21 Seattle WA THE SHOWBOX (DBT Closes)
11.22 Portland OR CRYSTAL BALLROOM (HS Closes)
11.23 San Francisco CA THE FILLMORE (DBT Closes)
11.24 San Francisco CA THE FILLMORE (HS Closes)
11.25 Los Angeles CA THE WILTERN (HS Closes)

The Antipodean

I think this just might be my favorite album of 2008. Fantastic stuff.

Hiro11

Hold Steady / Drive-By Truckers is a pretty damned good show. I may try to catch that.

slymer

I think tickets for this show go on sale today for the LA show. I can't miss it!

I agree about Navy Sheets being a dud. Don't like that song at all, and they played it live last month.

Rocketdog2000

The Hold Steady is one of those bands I want to like - the music and songs are good, but I just can't get past the Craig Finn's crappy vocals. They just kill it for me. Same reason I didn't like Bob Dylan for the longest time.

mh4268

I'm going to try and make that Philly show.

cungar

I came here to say the same thing. It did nothing for me the first few listens but since then I went back and listened and I'm ready to call this the best album of the year so far.