. These collections felt like a crash, not a comedown, leaving their fans with no new singalong songs to become their scriptures.
When Franz returned in 2016, so did the bandâs cleverness and immediacy. Frontman Craig Finn had rediscovered what the Hold Steady do so wellâsoaring anthems, pocked with hilarious, devastating lyricsâwhile pursuing his increasingly excellent solo career, and the group became a sextet for 2019âs thrilling
Open Door Policy, an ornate record that incorporates Nicolayâs ambitious compositions as an integral part of the bandâs songwriting.
Passion had them recognizing, to quote a lyric, âIt doesnât have to be perfect/Just sort of has to be worth it.â On
WHRO - Out of the Box Album of the Week--The Hold Steady--Open Door Policy
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It s Business As Usual for the Hold Steady on Open Door Policy
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Why This Album Matters:
The Hold Steady is a throwback to the days when loud, guitar-driven melodic rock n roll ruled FM radio. They conjure up memories of local bar bands telling their beer-soaked stories about neighborhood couples falling in love; nights strewn with the scattered remnants of broken relationships; the home town high school hero longing for a brighter future in a better place; and the inevitable descent on to hard times. Inspired by Bruce Springsteen-style narratives, the Hold Steady paint vivid portraits of lovers, local heroes, drug addicts, working stiffs, seedy characters, and misfits looking for an easy dime.
The Best Live Band In Rock Is No Longer Live, But Still Holding Steady Esquire 2/19/2021 Dave Holmes © Elaine Chung The Hold Steady s Craig Finn discusses life in quarantine, the power of streaming concerts, and their new album Open Door Policy.
“I fantasize about it,” Craig Finn says of his first post-Covid gig with The Hold Steady, still unscheduled, like all gigs and all things.“There’s a celebratory but also a physical aspect of the shows we play,” he continues, and he is both absolutely correct and vastly understating the point. Finn, 49, is a tornado of bliss and poetry onstage, a guy who begins each show looking like the creative writing professor he once was and ends each one an unlikely rock god. In every last encore, Finn tells the crowd,“There is so much joy in what we do up here,” and while from someone else it could come off self-serving, at the end of a Hold Steady show, it is just a fact. A Hold Steady show is cathartic and ecs