The Gaslight Anthem Band • Page 168

Glad to hear you're doing well now. I hope that continues and you continue to beat that absolutely horrific disease!

PS: Blood Loss absolutely rules.

 

God damn, making a top ten non-GA playlist is so hard.

1. Blood Loss
2. Crush
3. A Wonderful Life
4. Rosemary
5. Smoke
6. Open All Night
7. Georgia
8. Forget Me Not
9. Sleepwalkers
10. Watson

In no particular order. Last Rites, Little Nightmares And Red Lights were hard to knock off.

 

I really, really tried, but this was the best I could do:

1. Open All Night
2. Sugar
3. Watson
4. Etta James
5. Rosemary
6. Low Love
7. Cherry Blossoms
8. Georgia
9. Last Rites / Ladykiller / Blood Loss
10. Sleepwalkers / Neptune

 

Among Other Foolish Things
Red Lights
Honey Magnolia
Rosemary
A Wonderful Life
Little Nightmares
SleepWalkers
Color Me Black
Watson
Prayers or Neptune

In no specific order

 

Damn it - I LOVE "Among Other Foolish Things" and think it should have made my list. I don't know how I overlooked that one.

 

Steve McQueen is a little dull for me personally when comparing it to the other great songs on Painkillers. Long Drives MATZ version was fantastic as it was. I get trying to make it more Americana feel, but it didn’t work as well.

I also wonder if Brian has any more of those MATZ songs existing in demo form somewhere (I know the other songs were recorded live to get around any label business).

 

They could have made it sound more Americana-ish without making it seem like the whole song plays out with the brakes on.

I didn't realize that the whole 'recorded live / Red Bull Session' thing was sort of a workaround to label issues.

 

"Among Other Foolish Things" is actually probably my least favorite on that album. That one or the title track.

 

It was recorded to sound like it was a produced thing, which why it was also delayed I believe.

I think there were a few other songs like 7th and Inion (or something like that) they was never released as a demo, during Red Bull sessions or reworked on Painkillers.

 

I just checked my iPod, and I definitely have MATZ songs called "Sketchy" and "Lucky". No "7th & Union" although that does sound familiar to me...

 

You blaspheme!

 

I do too. Those songs weren’t overwhelming, but I think they were just sort of in a demo/what is Molly and the Zombies and how do I make something different the Gaslight kinda state.

 

Wait what is 7th and Union???

 

A song Brian could have easily done for Painkillers (that was part of a select few songs he played in Molly and The Zombies).

Here is a YouTube link of one version:

 

The moral of the story is that my man Brian writes a lot of great songs.

I just gave those couple MATZ songs a listen for the first time in a while, and I like them all, but I think "Lucky" in particular was really good.

 

Those few songs left a little something to be desired, but I think they were just early versions of songs/experimentation. I would have loved to hear full/completed versions of those last few songs because I think they had potential, and as I said, 7th and Inion sounded really good.

Also, Good Night Irene and No Weather are fantastic. Brian solo had/has a lot of different directions to go and they are all fantastic.

 

After thinking about it, I could have sworn that there was a decent quality version of "7th & Union" on SoundCloud, but I can;t even find a trace or mention of it now.....

 

I wish Sleepwalkers had a couple original b-sides too. The alt versions were nice and the Silence cover, was a surprise. I just enjoyed the album so much I wanted even more songs like that, which is sort of greedy of me, but it is his fault for being so good.

Someone needs to ask him about if all the Painkillers b sides can be put up somewhere for download (even if he really had no control, at least knowing the interest is there may help).

 

I was definitely hoping for some b-sides to show up from the Sleepwalker sessions / era as well. Not that the album was lacking in any way, just that he usually always has a tendency to have absolutely incredible songs as b-sides.

 

I don’t think there was, because if so I think people like you and I would have it. I just assumed Brian may release it on Painkillers, then Georgia, but no. I think it’s history now though.

 

If I’m going with Non-GA Fallon tracks:

1. Sugar
2. Rosemary
3. Blood Loss
4. Smoke
5. Red Lights
6. Etta James
7. Forget Me Not
8. Look on the Brightside
9. There is a Thunder (Out in the Distance)
10. Teras

 

# 9 - I like your style!!!

I don't know #'s 8 & 10 though.

 

Agree on those except Cherry Blossom has always struck me as a weaker version of Blood Loss. Crush was probably my 10th picked out of the 10 but the conclusion of that song is just too good to leave out. See You on the Other Side and Nobody Wins are my wife's two favourites so they have a few more road trip type memories attached to them for me than many of Brian's other tracks. That gave See You on the Other Side the edge over Open All Night as far as closers go.

 

That was the song when I knew for sure Brian had the best voice of this generation (male category)

 

And just finally...

Everyone's lists have made me realise something...

I don't really like Rosemary all that much. Probably in my bottom 3-5 Fallon songs. Had no idea everyone loved it though haha.