Yeah, I gotta side with @Craig Manning, Neptune doesn’t drag at all. That solo, the pure gaslight bridge. It’s long, but it’s worth it.
Yeah for a 5 minute track it really doesn’t FEEL that long. I do think at points the album does seem long but Neptune isn’t a track that drags.
One of my top 4-5 on the album probably. For a five and a half minute song it flies by. I assume the reason some dislike it is that the chorus isn't the catchy earworm that so many other tracks have, but I still like it. And the verses are of the best on the album. Something about the "flying low down low like the window" part sticks in my head.
Also gotta say having Neptune and Watson at the end of the album is cool. Those tracks are awesome! The chorus of Watson is a top chorus on the album and the lyric: “watching detectives chase the one that got away” brings a huge grin to my face.
Yeah, Watson and Etta James are the clear top 2 for me. It's hard to rank tracks because I looooove Forget Me Not and My Name is the Night, but I heard them both before the others so they're still not fully in context. But Watson and Etta James are the special ones for me.
Neptune is absolutely one of my favorites on the entire album. I love everything about it. Honestly, every time I try to say one of the songs is a favorite, I just think of all of the other ones and how incredible they are. But I have to say I love the combo of Neptune & Watson towards the end of the album. My first few runs through the album, if I had to pick one song that didn't grab me as immediately as all of the others, I would have had to pick Her Majesty's Service. Every single other song had many aspects about them that gripped me right away and had them stuck in my head almost immediately. That one did not quite as much right up front, but I love it now. I really don't think there is a weak track here at all.
The reason "Proof of Life" suffers for me is that every other track kind of "builds" to a big ending. Even the other mellow acoustic track ("See You on the Other Side") throws in the hand claps and backing vocals for the ending. But "Proof of Life" stays level more or less -- it's still a really pretty song though. On Handwritten, Get Hurt and Painkillers, there's at least one song that I just don't return to much at all, but I don't see that happening with Proof of Life. It's really the little things that floor me on this album. Like "Watson" would've been a favorite either way, but that little "hang on Watson, hang on Watson" at the end just stops me dead in my tracks.
I feel like Proof Of Life has a weird spot on the album. I just don’t expect a slower song like that to be placed what 5th? I like it and it gives me a “To Take You Home” by Frank Turner vibe, but it’s spot in the track listing throws me off. Not sure where I’d put it.
Haha, I don't know that I can put up a good fight against it! One of the rare occasions where my (potential) least favorite song is still one I can totally understand as someone else's favorite. The "like a ghost chained to a haunting.....'cause you're all I ever wanted" bit hits me hard. Say, for example, "Desire" is your favorite song on Handwritten and I'm knuckling up.
I can't say it is definitively mine just yet, as it's still too early, but Proof of Life is way up there for me too.
That's fair...I just can't see it as the #1 on that album. It's a fun, catchy track though. And my Handwritten opinions are admittedly against the norm on here. I will say, there's not a single song in the Brian/TGA discography where I listen to it and go "that song sucks" or even "I really really dislike that song." Can't say that for any other artist that I love. There are ones I don't return to often, but it's remarkable how consistently high-quality his output has been. So "least favorite" is very relative.
I can't back you folks up on Desire. Really don't care for that song at all. One of the few misses for me across their/his entire discography, going all the way back to This Charming Man. That's as far back as I go. I am vaguely aware of the existence of something involving Brian called Cincinnati Rail Tie but I've never heard it and don't know if it's an album or a band...
A few of those Cincinnati Rail Tie songs are actually quality! Definitely rough but Brian's ear for good melodies has always been there.
Last week I thought my pre-order had been shipped, but it ended up being something else that I forgot I had ordered. Still haven't received an update on my order. Has anyone else's shipped yet?
I'm actually kinda in the same boat. Which bums me out, because on paper the lyrics are right up my alley as they include all my favorite Brian Fallon tropes (cliches, whatever). But the delivery just doesn't grip me on that song.
Wow, thank you for sharing. Turns out I am an even bigger fan of Brian Fallon's than I realized. Also, he was much cooler than me at that age based on that pic with the song on Youtube. I also am kind of in the same boat with Steve McQueen. I think I appreciate it more than I actually enjoy it. I much prefer Low Love.
This album fucking rules. Just bought tickets to his show at Belly Up. Would not mind if he played this album front to back haha.