Brian Fallon - Sleepwalkers (February 9, 2018) Album • Page 20

Do you have Stay Vicious somewhere else in the tracklist, or do you axe it altogether...?

 

Oh man. I just listened to this. Oh yes.

 

Handwritten as last overall is the hottest take

 

It hurts me badly. I’m one of those people that puts Handwritten right under 59’ Sound and I stand by that shit.

 

American Slang is last for me sometimes.

 

I knew I was putting myself in the line of fire there haha. In fairness I don't really know how to rank SoS -- I love the songs more but return to it less because of the lack of production.

I don't know what it is with Handwritten -- it just didn't have the lasting power that the other records did for me. The lyrics bother me in a lot of places, and on a few songs where I love the lyrics, the production bothers me (Biloxi Parish). American Slang and Elsie are Brian's most poetic and imagery-driven lyrics IMO, and then Handwritten's lyrics just felt like a step down to me. Not that there aren't plenty of gems -- "Mae" is like, one of my favorite songs ever.

But I don't know. When I'm on a Gaslight binge and get to Handwritten it strikes me as like a big-budget sequel where the themes are there but there's something missing. Keep in mind that they're my favorite band ever (hell, they might be my favorite THING ever lol) so it's not like I hate that album. Just something missing for me.

 

I don't think I can do a straight ranking.
I'd have to do it in tiers like this:

Sink or Swim / The '59 Sound / American Slang / Sleepwalkers

Elsie / Handwritten / Painkillers / (S&TQ, M&TZ, Georgia if I can put EPs on here)

Get Hurt

There isn't a bad album on this list. These albums range from great to flat-out masterpieces. Part of what makes it hard when I feel like a band literally has this many all-time classic albums, just flat-out masterpieces, is not being let down with an album that is 'just' a great album.

 

Well.

This is very good.

 

There’s no way i could ever possibly ra-

59 Sound
Get Hurt
Handwritten
American Slang
Elsie
Sleepwalkers
Painkillers
SOS

 

Every once in a while my brother or I will put on Sink or Swim and listen to it and then whichever one of us did the listening invariably sends text messages to the other one in all caps featuring many expletives the gist of which is always what an amazing album it is.

 

All those songs are awesome, but they have a different vibe thank Break Your Heart.

Also, it really sets up the big finish of Dark Places.

 

I always thought Get Hurt could have started with Get Hurt. That album didn’t have great transitions into the next songs, a bit more of a collection of songs but I love’em and still listen to it all the time.

 

This is also a very bold take.

 

In a perfect life, this would be my Get Hurt tracklist:
Stay Vicious
1000 Years
Get Hurt
Sweet Morphine
Helter Skeleton
Underneath the Ground
Rollin and Tumblin
Selected Poems
Mamas Boys
Ain’t That a Shame
Have Mercy
Dark Places

(I know I can make that tracklist on Spotify, but Spotify doesn’t include Have Mercy)

 

These great Sleepwalkers reviews have me so hyped

 

The backing vocals on this are really making each listen better and better for me. Keep picking up on new things -- like in the last "Little Nightmare" chorus after the "I get this nightmare where you leave me on my own", he throws in a "if you find betterrrrr babyyyy" in the background and ahhhh so good.

 

The 59 Sound
American Slang
Handwritten
Elsie
Sleepwalkers
Painkillers
Get Hurt
Sink or Swim

There are days where the first two switch, and days when the second two switch. I could see this breaking into the top four with more time.

 

I agree with @eagles1139 100% on handwritten. American slang is one of my all time favs and handwritten just felt like a step down

 

Right now my tracklist for Get Hurt is:

1. Have Mercy
2. Get Hurt
3. Rollin' and Tumblin'
4. Stray Paper
5. Underneath the Ground
6. Selected Poems
7. Halloween
8. Sweet Morphine
9. 1,000 Years
10. Dark Places

Pretty similar! The above for me is just a lean album that gets across the intended themes without sacrificing too much. I don't think Get Hurt is a bad album, it just needs to be trimmed down. Really interested to hear what songs Brian doesn't consider finished, though.

To not stray too far off topic: love that Brian keeps that 'four corners' trend for the tracklist going with Sleepwalkers. "Proof of Life" and "See You On the Other Side" were just what I expected after noticing where they fell on the album, haha.

 

Definitely noticed this -- and actually made me appreciate "Proof of Life" more. As a whole this album is just expertly sequenced. "Little Nightmares" is like a jolt of energy after the stretch of more low-key tracks.

 

"And I get up in the morning like a ghost chained to a haunting,
and I come home in the evening 'cause you're all I ever wanted."

feeeeeeeeeels

 

He mentioned it a lot during his interview with Dan Ozzi on No Plus Ones. Really, really good interview.

I like Ian Cohen as a writer a lot but his Get Hurt review is the second or third worst piece of music criticism I’ve ever read from a professional critic. It’s basically just a series of personal attacks on Brian.

Excited to hear this tonight!

 

The title track is so amazing. I love it.

 

God, I hadn't thought about these quotes in years and now I'm pissed off all over again. Seriously one of the five worst pieces of music writing I've ever read, and I usually enjoy Cohen's stuff.

 

Have Mercy
Rollin' and Tumblin'
Stay Vicious
1,000 Years
Stray Paper
Helter Skeleton
Underneath The Ground
Selected Poems
Break Your Heart
Get Hurt
Dark Places

That's probably what I'd do now.