Brian Fallon - Sleepwalkers (February 9, 2018) Album • Page 55

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

 

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

 

That would be mine as well if you switched Get Hurt with 59 Sound

 

I revisited 59 Sound this summer with all the anniversary hype so I’m still pretty high on that record right now.

Ask me in the dead of Wisconsin February and Elsie & Get Hurt are at the top of that list.

 

You guys, I'm shuddering at the thought of ranking The '59 Sound fourth or fifth.

 

There's no possible way it can ever rank higher than 3rd, so 4th or 5th seems fine.

 

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

I love them all, but Brian solo doesn't touch any Gaslight Albums except Get Hurt. The first 4 Gaslight albums are probably in my top 10 all time favorite records though.

 

This is a crazy take to me.

 

Yeah I have no idea how 59 Sound can be anything but #1

 

Ever-changing but currently:

'59 Sound
American Slang (closer to #1 than you'd think)
Handwritten
Sleepwalkers
Painkillers (baaaarely behind Sleepwalkers)
Sink or Swim
Get Hurt (kills me to have it this low)
Elsie

 

This thread would be infinitely more interesting if the people ranking things said even one sentence about why they were putting things where they are.

Elsie, American Slang, and 59 Sound are top three to me. The songs are all flawless and perfectly sequenced, they alone out of the discography sustain both a theme and mood throughout, and most of Brian’s best known lyrics can be found on them.

 

Currently:
59 Sound
Handwritten
American Slang
Sleepwalkers
Sink or Swim
Get Hurt
Painkillers
Elsie.

 

Unless you are ranking the greatest albums of all time, I agree.

 

I think the thing about The 59 Sound is...
I've listened to it 10 times more than his/their other records. And I've listened to the others a LOT.
And yet still when I listen through the discography it's The 59 Sound that reveals another special something to me, something I hadn't noticed before, or a lyric that finally hits me just right.
The others are good to great to amazing. But they can't do that. Almost no records can.

 

Just wanna say, if anyone can catch Brian and Craig Finn on this "Songs for the Hymnal" Tour, I strongly recommend it.

The Boston show last night was one of my favorites ever. He played a solid mix of Gaslight songs and solo songs, including She Loves You and Handwritten on the piano. But what made it special for me was the stories he told in between songs. First off, he had the crowd laughing harder than many comedy shows I've been to. And he told some really interesting, personal stories about a lot of the songs that gave them new meaning to me.

As someone who seen him/the band live many times, this show felt like a truly unique experience.

 

It was an awesome show. I loved the stories. Wish the drunk couple who showed up 3/4 the way through the show stayed home lol

 

The first Boston-Brian/Gaslight show I've skipped since 2013, and it does not feel good today.

 

Really wish that tour was coming anywhere near me, ugh

 

I was standing in the second row towards the right, and Jesus I had a tough crowd behind me. Drunk girl talking throughout songs, some bros screaming lyrics during some songs and talking through others.

I love singing along at shows, but man--when it's a solo acoustic show, nobody wants to hear you belting off-key in their ear and then talking during the songs you don't know. Every time I go to a show it amazes me how some people can have a complete disregard for how they impact the experience of the people around them.

Anyway, didn't ruin what was a very solid show. Some genuine surprises: Brian was telling a story about writing a song on a gross floor while everyone else partied because they had to finish a record before recording in LA. So I knew it would be something from 59 Sound, but did NOT expect to get "Film Noir" acoustic.

 

Any info on the song stories you can share? I was at a small KevinDevine acoustic show last year where he talked about his song inspirations and such, and it just added that extra something speacial.

 

A few off the top of my head--

Before playing "Red Lights" he talked about being in a shitty apartment following his divorce, buying a bunch of IKEA furniture and just wanted to be alone and not date for a while. He described it as "modern song" because the title actually comes from him not liking to text while he drives, so he'd only text the girl he eventually started seeing (now his wife) at red lights. Ended on a heartwarming note because he said that texting "red lights" to her was kinda like their little inside joke way to say "I love you".

Before "My Name is the Night" he talked about how a few years back one of his friends drank himself to death (was unclear if he committed suicide or if he meant "killed himself" through drinking/substance abuse). It was very emotional, Brian basically said he missed his friend but he also was very angry at him because it was such a waste of a good life. Very raw and honest way of putting it. Anyway he was too mad to write a song about that person but he knew someone else who had lost someone and was going through a tough time, and he kinda related the two stories and the result was "My Name is the Night".

He told little stories before basically every song though, talked about how "She Loves You" came from his weird relationship with New York when he lived there. He also talked about reading the book Great Expectations and how he sometimes feels like a few different characters from the book. And Rosemary came from a friend of his who was having a tough time and she gave him her blessing for him to write about it.

EDIT: You can hear the "My Name is the Night" story in this video:

 

I love these kind of song inspiration stories.

Kevin Devine shared this great story about how Ballgame and I Was Alive Back Then we’re connected like book ends.

 

I loved all his talk about his coffee time.

Also, when he played She Loves You, it re-affirmed my hottest take. I'm glad it's not on American Slang. Not because it's bad, i think it's phenomenal, but there's no song i'd take off for it and idk where i'd slot it if i'm just adding it.

 

Best song on that album.

 

You could slot it at the very end and remove we did it when we were young. That's how my album sequence is. We were young is a pretty forgettable song.