1. ArchieS

   10

   Wow what an album!!! This has to be one of the best albums i've ever heard. Consistently good, no amazing! No duds, serious. If you like good old fashion rock n roll you'll like this. If you like music lyrically dense and quality, you'll like this. If you love music, you'll love this!!!… Expand

   • Helpful? 0 of 0 users said Yes.
2. Vampire25

   8

   This is rock and roll. The Hold Steady remind me a lot of Bruce Springsteen and The Rolling Stones and you can really understand those comparisons once you listen to this album. Starts off with a bang with "Constructive Summer" and then goes to "Sequestered In Memphis" which is easily the stand out track. Craig Finn doesn't really sing, but talks rhythmically and sometimes yells but he tells a story in each track. He, nevertheless, has a great voice and the back up vocals come perfectly at times. The guitar solos in this album feel like Led Zeppelin guitar solos. All In All, Stay Positive mixes old rock and roll with modern garage punk rock and it sounds really great. B+… Collapse

   • Helpful? 0 of 0 users said Yes.
3. SteveO

   7

   It's listenable, but i agree... we've all heard this stuff before! Same old power chords, same old, same old. Try something new please!

   • Helpful? 0 of 0 users said Yes.
4. PJB

   4

   I can't believe 4 publications gave this album a perfect score. Entertainment Weekly i can understand only because they know nothing and are run by the industry, but I am sick and tired of the British music press. They are always childish and quick to praise nearly any band as the greatest thing ever, but it seems this year they have really pulled out all the stops. If you look at almost any album in the best of 2008 list on metacritic, i would bet that one of the higher ratings is from a British mag (Uncut, Mojo, Q, The Guardian, the Observer). Welcome to Mali, London Zoo, Fed, Dear Science, For Emma Forever Ago, Fleet Foxes, and Dig Lazurus Dig ALL have perfect scores from one of these publications. How often do you see a perfect score from allmusic? Almost NEVER, and yet these sources have multiple perfect scores every year. I think metacritic should weigh these scores lower, because a perfect score obviously means less across the pond. Oh, and yeah, this Hold Steady album is a raging disappointment. Worse than their all three of their previous albums.… Expand

   • Helpful? 0 of 0 users said Yes.

See all 56 User Reviews