Brian Fallon - Painkillers (March 11, 2016) Album

Music video premiere over at NME.

 

I got a copy of this yesterday. Can't wait to listen

 

I ended up liking this, but not being crazy for it like I hoped/expected. This thing ends very strongly though

 

That's the feeling I currently have with it as well. It's good. I like it. But it's not my favorite.

 

Very few of Fallon's albums have been love at first listen for me. American Slang took probably six to eight months to really grow on me. I think this is one that I'll only continue to enjoy more and more as the year goes on. Specifically, I think this needs a late spring night drive.

Interviewing Fallon on Thursday. Looking forward to that.

 

Aaaaand since I got locked out of my stream, I guess I won't be able to change my thoughts til an official stream comes out. Hahaha

 

Haha. Too many opens?! I hate so much about these systems. They're truly hostile.

 

This is why I always rip streams as soon as I can. It just drives me crazy to have to continuously go back into their stupid little players to listen to an album. How long until that stops being the model? I got an advance today that was just a straight mp3 download and it was such a welcome change of pace.

 

I'm not sure haha. I think it's because my computer died with the tab open

 

If you trust me with a stream, you should trust me with the mp3s. That's been my mantra for a while. If something can be streamed, it can be ripped anyway, and if someone was the kind of asshole that's going to leak an advance they got, there's a good chance the "just streaming" mode isn't going to prevent that. The better idea is to cull the advance lists to people you trust, don't send advances to magazines that claim to need long lead times if you don't trust their writers, and send watermarked mp3s.

 

Pretty much what I've been thinking lately. They're taking shots in the dark and hoping for the best either way. Might as well try to provide a decent listening experience while they're at it.

 

Really like "Steve McQueen" that was just released. Liked each one that has been released so far.

 

"Painkillers" is really good. Wasn't expecting another release before the album next week.

 

I feel like I've had this album for years at this point. Hahaha

 

I forgot this was coming out. I'm sure I'll be into it, just haven't felt hype for it.

 

Everything I've heard from this record sounds very "Spring" to me. I'm excited to finally give it a listen this week as we've got high 50's in the forecast - feels right.

 

This is probably going to make me intensely nostalgic for home/NJ and I can't wait

 

Can't wait to hear the studio version of Red Lights. I really like the Zombies' version and the live solo one too.

 

Broke this out tonight for the first time in a while. It's good. It just doesn't have that one thing or song on it that takes it to a next level for me.

 

Not sure the best way to word this, but does it fit within the context of his career? Thinking about someone like Andrew McMahon, you can really draw a line through LTTW all the way to AMITW and it all makes sense as a greater story.

 

My review of this is going live tomorrow. I ended up really loving it. At first, I was sort of where Jason is with it. Now, I think it could be top three in his catalog for me.

@iplaydrums: To answer your question, it actually sort of reminds me of the Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness record. What I wrote in the review is that it feels like he's surveying his life/career so far from an older, wiser place.

 

I'm glad that question made sense! It's been something I've been thinking about a lot lately. You can put on any of Andrew's records and get a pretty good understanding of where he was at that point in his life. I'm not super familiar with Get Hurt and/or Handwritten to be able to say I feel that way about those records, but I could see Brian becoming one of those types of artists.

 

I don't expect this to be an all-time favorite album of mine - I don't expect it to floor me. I just want an easy-to-listen-to Brian Fallon record with some catchy choruses, some nice lyrics, and some pretty melodies. I know it won't be some masterpiece of a record like I got from The 1975. That record is something serious - I'd introduce it to my parents. I just want something casual out of Painkillers.

Edit: With that being said, I'd love to love this more than I bargained for.

 

Yeah, I'd say Brian is that kind of artist. Like Get Hurt for instance was about his divorce. There's definitely some residual heartbreak from that on this album, too.