12 '00s Hard Rock Albums All Fans Should Own

A band that gets better the more you listen to them, Hold Steady rewards long time listeners with recurring characters brought back from old records by the narrative-focused lyricist and singer Craig Finn. He’s at his best on this album, with stories of nights gone wrong, run ins with the law, and a slew of disappointments and setbacks, all couched in the titular overriding theme.

For those more interested in the music, this album is no less rewarding. Hold Steady often adopt the performer of a particularly slick bar band, with rabble rousing songs played to drinkers. This is particularly apparent on “Sequestered In Memphis”, certainly one of their best sonically speaking, with a saloon piano and a sing/clap along final chorus to tie off the song’s themes of alcohol-tinged regret.

“One For The Cutters” amps up the regret further with a masterful arrangement bringing in a harpsichord to compliment an almost gothic sound, and they go country on the great “Lord, I’m Discouraged”.

It’s a downbeat album, with even the title track, perhaps the hardest rocking on the record, sounding simultaneously sincere and cynical. It’s a wallowing record, then, but that’s often what we need the most from our music.