Stay Positive [CD]

This cd is good but not The Hold Steady's best. Stay positive is a great song

The Hold Steady on "Stay Positive" does a fine job at writing intelligent lyrics, yet the music for me never hits enough high points for it to be above average. The musical sound, vocals and overall ambiance and texture that The Hold Steady delivers is bona fide grass roots Rock & Roll, real blue collar to me. This is not a terrible thing, it is just this album never seems to get revved up to a level where I can say it rocks. What I do hear from The Hold Steady, is an amazing influence from Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, I am most entertained by the horns and horn arrangements than anything else here. The vocals throughout sound like R.E.M. being held back, while the few riffs that do exist fool me into thinking something is about to rock musically. The musicianship is evident while I listen to "Stay Positive", I can appreciate the talents and effort for sure. I would refer "Stay Positive" to an older school Rock & Roll fan who appreciates well founded lyrics. Fans of The Georgia Satellites, very early Bruce Springsteen and early 1970's easy listening should benefit from The Hold Steady "Stay Positive", more than I did. The liner notes are well done, with 16 pages of extended artwork and graphics, complete lyrics and credits.

I have this album, It has many very good songs, and some that aint so good. Overall it is worth having this album in your collection.

The Hold Steady are an awesome band and this new album further builds on their previous effort, the amazing "Boys and Girls in America". Songs like "Constructive Summer" "Sequestered in Memphis" and "Magazines" show the Hold Steady growing into a more melody laced song structure, as opposed to Craig Finn's spoken/singing on previous albums. The melodies can get a little repetitive at times, but this album is such a breathe of fresh rock 'n roll air in the current music scene that you can't help but listen to it over and over again. PLUS...on this D version you get 3 extra bonus tracks!!