haha...that was BY FAR my favorite song on that album

That keyboard line is the soundtrack to my nightmares

Their previous three always had at least two rockers that drew me right in, but Heaven... is more of of a grower. I'm appreciating more each listen, but it's a lot more work than I'm used to with these guys.

<--- afraid they peaked at "Southtown Girls"

One listen in, the new one is pretty meh. My expectations were lowered by Rolling Stone's 4-star review.

the lyrics are the worst part

This is just nonsense.

Explain yourself.

hhahhaa

I think they get maybe a bit more attention than they would otherwise because there's just not a slew of solid straight ahead rock bands these days that aren't retro or rehashing something to death or trying way too hard to look cool, so people looking for pretty basic rock stuff gravitate toward these guys. I like that stuff and I like the new album OK although Separation Sunday really is the only one of theirs I've ever really loved.

This poster is the only reason I still listen to them (kidding). The new one is growing on me...slowly.

definitely sorrier bands, but yeah...this is one band that i just don't share the obner love with....

They will never be one of my favorite bands, but I enjoy putting them on every now and then. At the very least, its something a little different simply because of Finn and his lyrics.

I like "The Weekenders" better every time I hear it.

My take on this album is there are a lot of good songs on it, but maybe not good "Hold Steady" songs, per se - if that makes any sense.

Yeah. It sounds a lot different than it did with Franz, but I'm kinda liking the direction they're going in. It's a lot better than Stay Positive, that's for sure.

agreed on all counts

At this point, I disagree that it's better than Stay Positive. Where did all the Stay Positive hate come from all of a sudden?

I don't hate Stay Positive at all, but it does have a couple of their weakest songs.

I'm not hating on Stay Positive, it's just one of their weaker albums in my opinion, especially after Separation Sunday and Boys and Girls in America. Stay Positive didn't really change their sound in any way and by that point it had gotten a bit stale. It still has a ton of good stuff on it, just nowhere near as consistent as Heaven is Whenever or Boys and Girls.

I still disagree.

Apologies if this has been posted, but I only quickly scanned this thread and saw no mention of it. Just figured I'd share since people seem to care about this band.

You can watch and/or listen to the Hold Steady live tonight at 10pm: http://beta.wnyc.org/thegreenespace/

Yup. "Stay Positive" has maybe three of my six or seven fave songs by this band. Liked it a lot just as a recording; adored after seeing them played live.

A "yes" in the schema laid out in The National thread.