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| Stay Positive | 
 enlarge | Artist: The Hold Steady
Label: Vagrant Records
Category: Music
List Price: $13.98
Buy New: $10.99
You Save: $2.99 (21%)
New (14) Used (4) from $10.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  28 reviews
Sales Rank: 9871
Format: Extra Tracks
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.5 x 4.9 x 0.4
MPN: 501
UPC: 601091050129
EAN: 6010910501294
ASIN: B0019T9F9S
Release Date: July 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new Item. CD, DVD, Book, VHS more than 400 000 titles to choose from. ALL days Low Price !
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| Customer Reviews:
 Still Holding Steady July 24, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The Hold Steady are continuing to play lots of great music with this follow-up to their fantastic 2006 album, Boys and Girls in America. The sound has stayed quite the same from the previous record, so fans of Boys and Girls in America will not be disappointed. This record has a little more of a positive vibe (hence the name) and the fact that this album came out in the middle of the summer is no accident, as the opening track especially works as a great summer anthem. The band has done a little to alter the texture of their sound, most notably and most talked about are the use of a banjo on "Both Crosses" and the harpsichord sound on "One for the Cutters" (at a time when I started wondering why more bands didn't throw a little harpsichord in the mix). There are little things too like strumming the strings inside the piano, little vibraphone accents and the choral vocals on the closing track, "Slapped Actress." Also, we hear more lead work from guitarist, Tad Kubler, including some great solos including the sandpapery Wah-Wah in "Magazines" and among other things Van Halen esque tapping in the ballad "Lord, I'm Discouraged" which may be the album's strongest track. It's also nice to hear Craig Finn's lyrics in a more melodic way without sacrificing his signature spoken word delivery. The album really works nicely, just enough consistency with earlier material to keep people from whining about how their old stuff was better, but enough new stuff to keep this one from being Boys and Girls in America rev. 2. So, this summer, Stay Cool, Stay Classy, and Stay Positive.
No Need To Try The Jump, Fonzie July 29, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Amazon reviewers are very keen to note when a band "jumps the shark" or loses the magical touch that initially drew in their fans. And I am glad to say that is not the case with "Stay Positive." The Hold Steady has done a fairly amazing thing. They managed to keep their roots, sound, edge, and lovable oddball lyrics intact while also maturing up the songwriting and instrumentation. You just don't see many bands who can do that. I try to characterize their sound for people who have never heard of them as "Old Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band with a more youthful, tragic, poetic version of Randy Newman singing but mildly influenced by the truly good post-punk bands of the 90's." And then they look at me befuddled. In essence, it's just truly good rock and roll (which seems to be going the way of the dodo). Even the three bonus cd songs are great and could make the grade as album cuts.
I Knew I'd Like It July 28, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
when near the end of "Constructive Summer" we're asked to "raise a toast to St. Joe Strummer" Indeed, many of the cultural landmarks will be familiar to those of us who experienced the late seventies and early eighties-- Led Zeppelin ("Joke About Jamaica" referencing "D'yer Maker"), Billy Joel ("Catholic Girls" in "Both Crosses"), and even the movie "Breaking Away" ("One For The Cutters"). Despite this the songs are rooted in the present with the references helping us to identify the characters, as in "Joke About Jamaica" the pretty girl who mispronounced the title of the Zeppelin song, but always had plenty of company back when "we were all invincible". Now she's a bit older but still hanging out, competing with the "new girls coming up like some white unopened flowers". The stories are told in a realistic fashion, sometimes hilariously as in "Sequestered In Memphis" where a businessman gets questioned by a lawyer about a one night stand, or tragically in "Lord, I'm Discouraged" about a friend in an abusive relationship. The title track "Stay Positive" is a nice tribute to the band's early fans. "Slapped Actresses" is my favorite track and seems to tie everything together and end on a strong note. In the end I think they have given us some good advice for negotiating these times: Hold Steady. Stay Positive.
 Not what I thought it would be September 17, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
"Sequestered in Memphis" is such a great song, and the album got such big hype, that I was expecting much more. The production of the album is poor from a sound quality standpoint. You can't really hear all the instruments, the sound is garbled, and the vocals are not easily understood. Pretty much a disappointment.
NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS COPY.... September 29, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
C'mon!!!!!! its a lyric music voice imitation of the bad seeds and Mr. Nick Cave! i hear a lot about this group the best album of the year stuff and all of that but... it was shocking! i buy the cd and i hear nick cave, i mean its a good album beacuse is a copy of a great band, im a nick cave fan for many years, i knew lyrics music and voice to the perfection and i already hear this in many albums of the seeds... well shame... sad nobody in this reviews know The bad seeds...
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