Almost Killed Me [Deluxe Edition]

Rating

Album: Almost Killed Me [Deluxe Edition]
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Positive Jam	More Info...
2)	The Swish	More Info...
3)	Barfruit Blues	More Info...
4)	Most People Are DJ's	More Info...
5)	Certain Songs	More Info...
6)	Knuckles	More Info...
7)	Hostile, Mass	More Info...
8)	Sketchy Metal	More Info...
9)	Sweet Payne	More Info...
10)	Killer Parties	More Info...
11)	Milkcrate Mosh	More Info...
12)	Hot Fires	More Info...
13)	Curves and Nerves	More Info...
14)	You Gotta Dance	More Info...
15)	Modesto Is Not That Sweet	More Info...

Album: Almost Killed Me [Deluxe Edition]
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Positive Jam	More Info...
2)	The Swish	More Info...
3)	Barfruit Blues	More Info...
4)	Most People Are DJ's	More Info...
5)	Certain Songs	More Info...
6)	Knuckles	More Info...
7)	Hostile, Mass	More Info...
8)	Sketchy Metal	More Info...
9)	Sweet Payne	More Info...
10)	Killer Parties	More Info...
11)	Milkcrate Mosh	More Info...
12)	Hot Fires	More Info...
13)	Curves and Nerves	More Info...
14)	You Gotta Dance	More Info...
15)	Modesto Is Not That Sweet	More Info...

Performer Notes

The Hold Steady: Craig Finn (vocals); Tad Kubler (guitar); Galen Polivka (bass); Judd Counsell (drums).
Personnel: Franz Nicolai (saxophone, piano).
Audio Remasterer: Dave Gardner .
Photographer: Tad Kubler.
The Hold Steady's songs evoke the smell of an old dive bar, where the alcohol has seeped into the very atmosphere of the place. Their debut, 2004's ALMOST KILLED ME, finds the drinks already spilling into the cracks. Over a crushing blues-rock tumult, Craig Finn spits and spins vivid stories of his sordid past, from Minneapolis ("I was a Twin Cities trash bin") to Brooklyn ("Everyone's a critic and most people are DJs"). It's apparent that Finn has led a colorful life and lived to tell about it. And it's his candidness and poeticism about his experience that carries his group way beyond a typical bar band.

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone (p.86) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[I]t's bizarrely touching and insanely original."

Rolling Stone (p.146) - Included in Rolling Stone's Top 50 Records Of 2004 - "[P]sychotically funny bar-band tales..."

Uncut (p.110) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "They come blessed with an innate sense of beery dynamics, and make the altered states of Finn's lyrics sound like the best times, ever..."

Magnet (p.100) - "The workmanlike, quasi-metal foundation serves Finn's Springsteen-meets-that-guy-in-Girls Against Boys delivery nicely, and ALMOST KILLED ME isn't without charm to burn..."