The Gaslight Anthem Band • Page 191

Get Hurt was so misunderstood/underrated when it came out it breaks my heart. I firmly believe 1,000 years, Get Hurt, Underneath The Ground, Dark Places, and Have Mercy are some of their best material.

 

Being super picky here, and I understand the whole divorce thing happening at the time, but the album art definitely hurts my experience with Get Hurt. Tons of really good songs on it, but dang…all I picture while listening to the album is a giant upside down heart.

 

Absolutely. I get the album came from a negative sounding place than fans are used to do maybe caught people a little off guard, but there are so many great Gaslight songs on there and there is a nice variety to the Get Hurt era.

 

Agree with you guys, I just wish it hadn't been their (likely) final album, much as I still like it.

 

I know I’ve said this a few times before, but parts of Brian’s solo stuff (Wonderful Life, Rosemary, and lots of songs of Sleepwalkers) give me Gaslight Anthem feels in a good way.

I do wish they could have continued on in some way after taking a hiatus while still allowing Brian the opportunity to do some solo stuff. Band just ended with a very different toned album.

I wonder if they have any recorded songs or demos that never got released? It never felt like they were holding anything back, but you never know. ‘59 Sound era had Placeholder, although some of that song morphed into Old White Lincoln.

 

I think it’s pretty clear Brian doesn’t want to do Gaslight. Perhaps that could change again. He talked about being hesitant on the anniversary shows and how he enjoys exploring the softer, more stripped down styles of music. That is clear from Local Honey, the new record, and his livestreams. Based on what Mercy Union and Forgivers are doing, I’m sure those guys would love to do Gaslight again when it makes sense.

 

Weird how “Have Mercy” isn’t on DSPs but the other bonus tracks are.

Painkillers is a great album.

 

Listened to Sleepwalkers last night. Still think it's Brian's best all around work.

 

Maybe this is what you're referring to, but I'm pretty sure he has said that he was miserable doing the reunion shows in 2018 (or whatever year it was)

 

He did a few podcasts talking about his experience and how he initially didn’t want to do it, but ultimately went with it after talking to Dave Hause about his experience doing shows with The Loved Ones again. And then he said he felt a little weird during the shows and would split out pretty quickly after they were done playing each night instead of hanging with friends and such. Didn’t really sound like he enjoyed it beyond being able to give fans a good time and celebrate that record.

 

He definitely talked about it during one of his Sittin Round At Home's last year. I'm almost positive he used the exact term 'miserable' when talking about those shows. Which is a bummer.

 

I feel like just hearing Brian’s interviews and stories and such I can piece together the real story, which isn’t too complicated, but since they collectively decided to take the high road and split up and just blamed it on fatigue and lack of creativity I think they want to keep it at just that.

 

What’s the actual story?

 

Yeah, I actually don’t know the story. To me, it just seems like Brian lost his passion for it and needed to explore and move on from it.

 

It’s nothing scandalous as far as I can gather.

 

I also bet it’s kinda awkward being in a band with your sisters ex husband signing about your sisters divorce…

 

i don't think that that's why the band ended, but certainly it had to play a role.

 

No I don’t think there’s a single why. Just a whole bunch of things that play into the decision.

 

- burnout (5 albums in 7 years … plus touring non stop)
- label pressure
- bad press for Get Hurt
- members of the band starting families
- the divorce

Probably a collection of all of this contributed to it

 

I also think an important piece of that puzzle is that Brian felt they'd kind of exhausted their creative avenues as a band. I don't necessarily agree with that, but here's what he told me when I interviewed him ahead of Painkillers.

 

Some more, to that point:

 

He noted the run of The Replacements as well if I'm not mistaken!

 

Yep. There a lot of quotes out there.

In interviews Alex R said he wanted Dead Swords to be temporary while Gaslight was just on hiatus.

Again, as crushing as this band going on hiatus or ending for us fans, I get it. They took the high road, instead of making drama or juggling members or chasing the money. They just past it off as a creative fatigue thing. Much respect to all of them for putting family, friendship and mental health as a priority. It’s fair to still have a glimmer of hope someday, but I wouldn’t expect anything someday soon if at all based on Brian’s quotes.

 

it's a bit of a bummer. i don't really see why the solo albums couldn't have easily been gaslight albums; it doesn't feel like a creativity thing cos they're pretty much in the same wheelhouse. i absolutely understand just being burnt out by the whole gaslight thing and the freedom that must come from being solo. it seems like it just wasn't fun for him anymore which, fair enough. but i hope eventually he can make peace with it, especially because gaslight would be like, 10 albums or so deep now which would have been pretty fantastic. i really think, above all else, he was badly burned by the reaction to get hurt.

 

I think it's an expectations thing. Recording as The Gaslight Anthem brought more baggage than simply recording as Brian Fallon. I agree that those albums probably could have been Gaslight records -- well, the first two anyway; probably not Local Honey -- but I think he just wanted the freedom to have a little less baggage and to not have to answer to anyone else.