Here's Looking At You, Kid is just set apart from the rest for me. I can talk about favorite songs by Fallon/TGA/THC, but none of them ever really hold a candle to that one.
American Slang might be my favorite of all of them. But they're all great. I'm in the minority in that I like Elsie the least (still think it's great, just not as ridiculously consistent for me as everything else). Also, Georgia (the song) is magnificent and should've been on Painkillers. So good.
Big fan of their "Anywhere I lay My Head" cover. The way he bellows "Well I don't need anybody, 'cause I learned to be alone." sends chills down my spine every time.
I'm bummed that it appears the response to Get Hurt is what really made Fallon want to put the band on hiatus......because I think the reviewers missed the mark on that one. That's a great fucking album. Only thing negative I'll say about it is there are 2-3 songs on there that aren't as good as the rest (in my mind, Stay Vicious, Stray Paper, maybe Ain't That A Shame).....but so what? 13 great songs out of 16 is a terrific ratio for any band. Selected Poems, Red Violins in particular are SUPER underrated and Dark Places is in the conversation for best Gaslight song, for me. I'm aware others love Stay Vicious, just isn't for me. My least favorite Gaslight song by a large margin.
Stray Paper is a wonderful song and one of the best on the album. I don't get people who are big fans of his and dislike the song. Ain't That a Shame is one of his few missteps. That's why the 59 Sound is number one for me. No bad songs. No Mojo Hand or Desire or Red in the Morning.
Stray Paper is Gaslight-By-Numbers for me, and not in a good way. Feels like Fallon on autopilot somehow. Don't hate it, but it's nothing special. I think Mojo Hand is terrific Agree on Desire, although again, not a BAD song, just not up to par with the rest.
The best thing about this performance is how he smiles. You can really tell that he's proud of the song. Side note: his voice sounds great but also like he's in danger of losing it forever.
God I miss this band. Painkillers is great of course but I really miss them. Get Hurt never really won me over (Have Mercy aside) but everything before that is just fantastic.
Do we expect this band to come back anytime soon? I'd die if we got a 59 Sound tour next year but it's doubtful I think
In that interview posted above he mentions writing his second album so I suspect not. Maybe in a couple of years?
I would guess he does one more solo album/tour then they get back together when he's ready to flex some different muscles.
Their trajectory reminds me of Fall Out Boy....taking a big break at the peak of their popularity, singer does some solo stuff, they'll be back for Gaslight Phase 2 in a couple years with some arena anthems.
eh, the only reason fall out boy got back together was because pat's solo album failed and now fall out boy is basically just a continuation of his solo album
From a sonic perspective, or do we know that the rest of the band doesn't have creative input? Doesn't Pete still write the lyrics?
I don't peg Gaslight as being the type of band to do a 10-year tour or anything like that. Maybe a night or two at Stone Pony/somewhere in NYC, but nothing beyond that.
A lot of bands break up due to estrangement, that COULD be the case here but I'd say it's quite a bit less likely since 2 of the other 4 are playing with BF on tour.........that gives me hope that they'll be back. Having said that, his solo album was so good that I'm pleased with that direction too........I guess selfishly I want both, as he's my favorite songwriter by far.
I dont think estrangement is a problem here. He's got 2 of them on tour and Benny talks fondly of him (and the band/future) when he guests on the Going Off Track podcast. The only I haven't seen an opinion from is Alex Levine, but he's also stayed busy from the looks of it.
Alex was Brian's brother in law, so there could've been some tension there. Probably not but who knows?