Send "The Hold " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Ew |
 From the opening Dobro to the closing nature sounds, the Hold Steady's fifth album Heaven is Whenever is full of mature serenity. Don't freak out — America's greatest bar band still rocks. But Craig Finn is singing now, not just spitting literate slam poetry, and Tad Kubler's massive arena riffs command attention instead of giggling at their own audacity. If 2008's Stay Positive was a haunted wastoid cautionary tale, Heaven is a survivor's celebration of staying alive. A–...full text |
| Absolutepunk |
| If the scene were a church, then The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn would be the pastor. We live vicariously through his intricately woven tales of girls, booze, and drugs. And now we the congregation have another book of sing-along psalms and positive jams courtesy of Finn and company. The Hold Steady’s fifth studio album, Heaven is Whenever, may seem like a throwback of sorts to fans. Out is keyboardist Franz Nicolay (he and his mustache left the band in early 2010 to pursue a solo career) and in is producer Dean Baltulonis, who produced the first two Hold Steady albums. Finn stated that without the piano and keys “there’s a sense of space in it that I don’t think we’ve had since Separation Sunday.” And without Nicolay’s grand piano flourishes, it’s up to the guitarists to deliver the goods, and man do they ever. It’s not out of the question to say that this is Tad Kubler’s best work. His riffs and guitar solos in tracks like “Soft In The Center” and “The Weekenders” will get your fist pumping, while his compositions on the eerie finale “A Slight Discomfort” and the sentimental “We Can Get Together” are brilliant. The opening track is a change of pace as well. While past albums have begun with an anthem, Heaven is Whenever starts with the bluegrass musings of “The Sweet Part Of The City.”...full text |
| Prefixmag |
| The Hold Steady's fifth studio album flips the beaten-but-not-broken optimism of 2007's Stay Positive for a more reflective Zen trip. Or, in vocalist/guitarist Craig Finn's words, "embracing suffering and understanding its place in a joyful life." Though there is no one theme to the record, one constant is a weary narrative voice sharing sage observations and advice. Sure, the stories are still painful and the riffs still bruising. But contrary to the band's neo-Bukowski reputation for bloozy bar-cum-arena rawk, Heaven Is Whenever demonstrates a more deliberate approach by constantly looking back without anger. The opening "The Sweet Part Of The City" quickly marks this change with its well of slide and acoustic guitars. Over a slow-mo beat, the 38-year-old Finn paints a seemingly distant scene of small-town youth searching for meaning and fun. The band quickly bares its teeth again on the following track, "Soft In The Center," as the guitars punch through the opening. Soon after they strip enough of the amped-up fat to make room for Finn's fatherly wisdom: "You can't get every girl/ You get the ones you love the best." Similarly, "Hurricane J" starts at a pop-punk clip, then clears its guitars for the singer's paternal narrator to draw out dramatic pleas like, "You know I never ask you to change, I only ask you to try."...full text |
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