The Gaslight Anthem Band • Page 25

That's baffling. It sounds like they wanted to appease people who liked Sink or Swim. Sounds nothing like any of the other songs on the album to me.
Too Much Blood and Keepsake though.

 

I actually think it fits perfectly, especially after miles Davis

 

He has two kids. I don't think he's tried to hide that. I remember hearing him talking about how having a second child around the time of Painkillers changed his songwriting.

 

He may not hide it, but he definitely doesn't talk about his personal life very much. I didn't know he had 2 kids.

 

I'll try to find the article I read it in. I remember it being a good read.

 

Thought this was a good read when it came out

 

He just openly talked about his children on a podcast he just did too. He doesn't hide it.

 

Whoa had no idea he had kids

 

I can't remember if I knew he had TWO kids

I remember being so caught off guard at the fact that he had a kid....two kids is crazy to me

 

The kids thing is something that's never been obvious in any song. Brian's a great storyteller from every interview I've seen. I think he just kinda prefers to keep that part of his life a little separate. It's fair.

I personally do find knowing more about person writing the lyrics can help you understand where they come from better perspective wise. Brian tells great stories though in his songs

 

1. 59 Sound
2. Handwritten
3. American Slang
4. Elise
5. Painkillers
6. Sink or Swim
7. Get Hurt

 

Oh why not,

1. 59 Sound
2. American Slang
3. Elsie
4. Handwritten
5. Painkillers
6. Get Hurt
7. Sink Or Swim

 

1. the '59 sound
2. american slang
3. handwritten
4. painkillers
5. elsie
6. get hurt
7. sink or swim

was tempted to put handwritten above american slang cus the highs (handwritten -> here comes my man -> mulholland drive and mae -> national anthem) are so fucking high, but i can't let it straight rip like i can AS. i think it's just a better record overall.

the '59 sound clocks in at number three all time (after transit and august and everything after). listened to it last week the day before my college friends and i splintered on our separate journeys. even after hundreds of listens it still made me feel the same -- like i was dirty and i've been through some shit, but still anything was possible.

 

Almost my exact list!

 

I need to re-listen to American Slang. It's been a while

 

1. 59 Sound (My favorite album of all time)
2. Elsie
3. Handwritten
4. American Slang
5. Painkillers
6. Get Hurt
7. SoS

I could see myself swapping Painkillers and Get Hurt depending on how I feel that day

 

I was reading through this thread the other night and all the mentions of American Slang ended up making me sing a bunch of lines from that album in my head the rest of the night. They were stuck in my head as if I had just listened to the album but I hadn't, I'd just been reading about the album here. I'm not sure that's ever happened to me before. American Slang is a phenomenal album. My biggest complaint is that it ends too soon. (About exactly however long She Loves You runs for too soon haha.)

I got into these guys on my younger brother's recommendation around the time of The '59 Sound being released. So I know I have a nostalgic connection to that album, but even trying to be somewhat objective it's a pretty flawless album. And Sink or Swim is such a fantastic statement of intent where they lay it all on the line and say no, damn it, this is what we are going to do, we're gonna make it. And American Slang is not just a damn good album on its own - which it is that - but also an incredible and pretty ballsy follow-up to an almost universally acclaimed album where they decided to purposely push the songs out of their wheelhouse / comfort zone and not simply churn out '59 Sound 2.0.

I don't think I can straight rank Gaslight / Brian Fallon albums anymore. Mine would look like this:

Tier 1 - Sink or Swim / 59 Sound / American Slang

Tier 2 - Elsie / Painkillers / Handwritten / Get Hurt / Señor and the Queen /

My favorite could really be any of the first three albums at any given time. They're just so amazing. I have minor issues with the rest of the albums - which honestly usually boil down to thinking some b-sides / bonus tracks are superior to some album tracks - but each is pretty great in its own right and they are all certainly loaded with absolutely incredible songs.

 

All this talk the last 2 days made me put it on during the drive home from work. Windows down hot weather is the perfect time to blast this album. Great summer record.

 

I listened after posting this. It's definitely held up well

 

TGA is absolutely one of my favorite artists and Fallon is right there with Dustin Kensrue and Springsteen as far as my favorite song writers that always make me feel something listening to their songs.

That said I would probably rank Fallons albums as:

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

I know AS is just about universally praised but for some reason the production on that album is a little too same same throughout which I feel takes away from it over all. Bring It On is still probably one of my favorite Fallon tracks. Such great vibe on that one.

 

Here I am, Chorus.fm's resident Get Hurt apologist.

That album is still my favorite of theirs. It's Brian at perhaps his most candid lyrically, it's far more thematically and sonically coherent than it gets credit for (in fact, I distinctly remember the "it's not different enough" takes from the AP.net days), and it has 3 of Brian's top 5 songs, more if we're counting B-sides.

Sink or Swim is their weakest album by an *enormous* margin. The jump from SOS to 59 is literally the difference between a New Brunswick basement scene band and one of the greatest rock albums of the 21st century.

 

As far as Brian talking about new material goes, I think he's usually talking about his songwriting process instead of what the final sound resembles. That RS article from before Get Hurt said it was like this huge departure but if you read it closely he just means that he wrote a few songs on piano instead of guitar, listened to different stuff for inspiration, and the recording process was a little different than usual.

 

I can't even humor the notion that Get Hurt has three out of the top five Fallon songs. Certainly not more if we count that mostly weak collection of B-sides.

 

Dark Places
Get Hurt
Underneath the Ground

If we're counting B-sides Have Mercy is his best

 

Would probably round out the top 5 with Miles Davis and '45 if we're not counting B-sides, Blue Dahlia if we are