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The Hold Steady
by Butler Bad in Musician Reviews
The Hold Steady is the Brooklyn based bar band that formed in 2003. Their musical styling is more narrative and conceptual than most current bands. Lyrically intense, crunchy, riffing guitars paired with cigarette and whiskey vocals are the calling cards of The Hold Steady.
Their debut album, Almost Killed Me, was released in 2004 and was the shot across the bow that made the critics musical pants go crazy. In 2005 they released their sophomore album Separation Sunday. The Hold Steady made the cover of the Village Voice and began to draw comparisons to Bruce Springsteen and Husker-Du.
The Hold Steady Discography:
- Almost Killed Me (2004)
- The Virgin Digital Session EP (2005)
- Separation Sunday (2005)
- Boys and Girls in America (2006)
- Live At Lollapalooza (2006)
- Stuck Between Stations EP (2007)
- Live at Fingerprints (2007)
- Stay Positive (2008)
- A Positive Rage (Live 2009)
- Heaven Is Whenever (2010)
2006 saw the release of Boys and Girls in America and more critical success as they were named Band of the Year by Blender and Rolling Stone ranked the album #8 on their Best albums of 2006.
The band has been fortunate to open and tour with a diverse line up of bands such as The Dave Matthews Band, The Rolling Stones, Kings of Leon, Counting Crows, and Drive-By Truckers. The band released Stay Positive in 2008 which saw a slight departure from their previous efforts and had some guest appearances by J. Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.), Ben Nichols (Lucero), Emilyn Brodsky and Doug Gillard (Guided By Voices).
Top 5 The Hold Steady Songs:
- Stuck Between Stations (Boys and Girls In America)
- Lord, I’m Discouraged (Stay Positive)
- Sequestered in Memphis (Stay Positive)
- The Swish (Almost Killed Me)
- Stevie Nix (Separation Sunday)
Recently they released Heaven is Whenever which is their fifth studio album. I’ve only had it a few days and have been impressed with what I have heard thus far.
Check out The Hold Steady at www.theholdstedy.com.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfrPQUSzVHY
www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3GXOcy2mcs&feature=related
Great music awaits!
2 Responses to “The Hold Steady”
Leave a Reply
September 2nd, 2010 at 7:51 am
Appreciate the spotlight on these guys and quick insight on Heaven is Whenever…I have a little research to conduct now. =)
SirIndie
SirIndie.com
September 9th, 2010 at 8:28 am
They are well worth checking out. The seem to stay on the fringe of the music scene, playing small venues and a few recent festivals.