On the Shelf 166: Brian Fallon
Jun. 28th, 2016 06:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedsitter23One of my favorite bands of the last 20 years is the Gaslight Anthem.
The record that brought them to most of the world's attention was 2008's The 59 Sound.
Comparisons were quickly made to Social Distortion. As time has gone, the comparison seems less appropriate, but both bands are born out of the idea that there is no purer rock than 50's rock.
However, Mike Ness was born into the SoCal punk scene and his albums reflect the sound of his coming of age, and bands that influenced him as a teenager like the Sex Pistols and Clash.
The Gaslight Anthem guys come out of a scene that reveres Bruce Springsteen and hail Born to Run and Nebraska as the foundation of their source of influence, with touchpoints like Petty and Vedder along the way.
The GA has put out five albums, each one looking to be the one that might bring them mainstream success. All bands struggle with growth and the GA did what many would do- making things bigger and heading into arena territory. It seems an obvious direction, but the music has suffered. Their last album Get Hurt drew comparisons to latter-day Bon Jovi- anthems for the masses. It was not a good look.
I was not sure what the next move would be or should be, but now I know, and I think i know both.
I am not sure there is much separation for leader Brian Fallon and band, and so a Fallon solo album seems unnecessary.
However, after this spring's release of Painkillers, it all makes sense.
Fallon has a renewed sense of purpose, and finds his muse again. It seems cliche to call a solo departure like this, stripped down (not really) and intimate (accurate, but misleading). I can't say there's that much difference in Fallon's album and what might be the band's 6th album. Yes, he pares it down a bit, but it is not that far of a stretch.
In any case,by making the slight change, and focusing on the personal as opposed to the arena-belters, he finds what he's best at. Fallon always throws in obvious name drops in his lyrics (which may annoy some) and there's still plenty of that- references to Leonard Cohen, Marianne Faithful, Steve McQueen - to name a few, but if you are a GA fan, you've already come to terms with that. in some cases, that might make you like them even more.
Fallon does not move out of the shadows of classic Boss (and you can throw in some Dylan and Petty), but when you can evoke that sound and pull it off and do consistently over a set of songs, that's a win in my book. It also bodes well for whatever comes next. If you're not a GA fan, I am not sure if this is the disc that will convert you, but you might give it a chance.
I give you my two favorite songs and you can see the Springsteen influence.
The record that brought them to most of the world's attention was 2008's The 59 Sound.
Comparisons were quickly made to Social Distortion. As time has gone, the comparison seems less appropriate, but both bands are born out of the idea that there is no purer rock than 50's rock.
However, Mike Ness was born into the SoCal punk scene and his albums reflect the sound of his coming of age, and bands that influenced him as a teenager like the Sex Pistols and Clash.
The Gaslight Anthem guys come out of a scene that reveres Bruce Springsteen and hail Born to Run and Nebraska as the foundation of their source of influence, with touchpoints like Petty and Vedder along the way.
The GA has put out five albums, each one looking to be the one that might bring them mainstream success. All bands struggle with growth and the GA did what many would do- making things bigger and heading into arena territory. It seems an obvious direction, but the music has suffered. Their last album Get Hurt drew comparisons to latter-day Bon Jovi- anthems for the masses. It was not a good look.
I was not sure what the next move would be or should be, but now I know, and I think i know both.
I am not sure there is much separation for leader Brian Fallon and band, and so a Fallon solo album seems unnecessary.
However, after this spring's release of Painkillers, it all makes sense.
Fallon has a renewed sense of purpose, and finds his muse again. It seems cliche to call a solo departure like this, stripped down (not really) and intimate (accurate, but misleading). I can't say there's that much difference in Fallon's album and what might be the band's 6th album. Yes, he pares it down a bit, but it is not that far of a stretch.
In any case,by making the slight change, and focusing on the personal as opposed to the arena-belters, he finds what he's best at. Fallon always throws in obvious name drops in his lyrics (which may annoy some) and there's still plenty of that- references to Leonard Cohen, Marianne Faithful, Steve McQueen - to name a few, but if you are a GA fan, you've already come to terms with that. in some cases, that might make you like them even more.
Fallon does not move out of the shadows of classic Boss (and you can throw in some Dylan and Petty), but when you can evoke that sound and pull it off and do consistently over a set of songs, that's a win in my book. It also bodes well for whatever comes next. If you're not a GA fan, I am not sure if this is the disc that will convert you, but you might give it a chance.
I give you my two favorite songs and you can see the Springsteen influence.
