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Every good rock band needs a live album. The album A Positive Rage by The Hold Steady shows that every bad rock band needs one, too. Recorded Halloween 2007 at the Metro in Chicago, Illinois, the album also includes two previously unreleased tracks from this Brooklyn-based band, “Spectres” and “40 Bucks.” The second disc — a documentary DVD — includes interviews, live concert footage and fan commentary. To top off the high school yearbook feel, a bonus booklet insert packs in pictures and memories from band members throughout the six years they have been together.
For dedicated fans, A Positive Rage provides a sentimental peek under The Hold Steady’s metallic outer shell — a rare, if brief, display of emotional depth. That said, it also provides a peek under the band’s studio-laundered shell into its utter lack of raw talent. First-time listeners should take some time to acclimate themselves to The Hold Steady’s disheveled, occasionally grating sound before they run out and buy the new album.
The one strong point in favor of The Hold Steady is its lyric-writing ability. Each song tells a mini-story about getting high, girl troubles or hating life. Four out of five of the band members are from the Minneapolis area, a location which is very much reflected in their lyrics, granting them moderate sentimental value on the local level.
The entertainment value of storytelling lyrics, however, simply can’t buy back the ground lost with lackluster singing, crashing piano, repetitive guitar riffs and insufficient musical direction. Even when recording in a controlled studio environment, the band has a rather rocky sound. On a live album, this jaggedness is amplified to the point where it becomes downright nasty to listen to. The vocals have almost no musicality in them at all and often border on simply shouting.
Lead singer Craig Finn falls short of adopting a rugged, don’t-take-crap-from-anybody persona, coming across instead as a drunk who likes to yell. In the middle of “Your Little Hoodrat Friend” he seems about to reveal some deep, personal reflection about touring, but after a pause he slurs, “Chicago … there was one night you seemed tired, but not since. Not even close since. Good job, Chicago.” The half-hearted cheers of the audience that follow this insipid, irrelevant comment show they are just as lost as we are.
To top it off, the audience itself lacks enthusiasm. Its obligatory cheers are not the all-encompassing screams that serve to energize the atmosphere before the next song begins. Rather, they are characterized by broken-off yells and echoing claps that make it sound as though the performance took place in a local high school gym rather than a rock amphitheater like the Metro.
While A Positive Rage was probably meant to provide the audience with a nostalgic, penetrating look into The Hold Steady as a band, it acts as more of an expos� that reveals both its lack of talent and emotional depth. Perhaps six years together is not sufficient time to acquire the musical coherence and memories needed to produce the type of album for which they were striving. Whatever the case, The Hold Steady has hit a wrong chord with this one, and the average music collection would be better off without it.
1 1/2 out of 5 stars.
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Craig’s comment in Hoodrat is a reference to their tune “Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night” from 2005’s Separation Sunday. Harsh review dude.
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Admittedly, this is coming from a Hold Steady fan, but this review was not even close. I can completely understand being turned off by the lead vocals. Some people find them grating and I can see why people may feel that way. I don’t care that the author didn’t like the album. However, the author could not be more wrong about the lack of musical talent in the band, especially concerning the lead guitarist. Musically, the Hold Steady is a very strong band, especially when comparing them to most rock bands today.
Maybe the Badger Herald should consider a music reviewer who is a musician or actually has an ear for music rather than a casual listener. The fact that the author did not like the CD does not bother me at all, but the fact that she cannot recognize an obviously talented band, musically, is the reason I usually don’t read music reviews at the Herald.
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You’re not so much reviewing the album as you are reviewing the band. Clearly, you don’t like the band. But that doesn’t mean they lack “raw talent” or “emotional depth.”
It’s interesting that you praise the band for it’s lyrics, and then disregard that and complain how Craig Finn is a “drunk who likes to yell,” calling his stage presence “insipid” and commenting how the band’s music “lacks…emotional depth.”
Your unfamiliarity with the band is evident:
“In the middle of ‘Your Little Hoodrat Friend’ he seems about to reveal some deep, personal reflection about touring, but after a pause he slurs, ‘Chicago � there was one night you seemed tired, but not since. Not even close since. Good job, Chicago.’ The half-hearted cheers of the audience that follow this insipid, irrelevant comment show they are just as lost as we are.”
I’m not exactly sure how a band referencing one of their songs (“Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night”) is irrelevant, but to each his own. I’m also unsure on how you can criticize audience reaction on a soundboard recording, which is obviously not going to pick up audience noise as clearly as a recording that was taken from, say, within the audience.
This review reads as though it was written by someone who has never listened to the Hold Steady before and doesn’t particularly enjoy the band’s type of rock. It’s okay not to like them, but a good reviewer should be able to recognize at least some kind of musical merit regardless of personal preference.
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Its not very fair to judge a live album, without being at least somewhat aquainted with the studio albums.
With that being said, I love the hold steady and would jump on the chance to see them live again, but the music on the studio albums are far superior.
However, there is more to going to a THS show than just as the music.
As Craig says “We are, but more importantly you are, we are all, The Hold Steady”.
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From this review, its clear that the author had little if any previous exposure to the hold steady’s music, which doesnt make for a very fair evaluation when youre dealing with a live album.
With that being said, as a big fan of the hold steady and as someone who has attended one of their live shows, the musicality at a live show just isnt the same as a studio album, obviously.
However, there is more to the unified scene (im sure the author is not familiar with this, as she didnt recognize the obvious song reference) than just the music. Thus, as craig says at every show “we are all the hold steady”.
I would urge anyone who reads this article to check out one of THS studio albums before passing judgment on them, live albums have always been more geared toward the iniated.