The Price of Progress

by The Hold Steady

Overview

The Hold Steady began work on 2023's The Price of Progress only a few months after 2021's Open Door Policy was delivered to their fans, so it's no great surprise that, in many respects, it feels like a continuation of the earlier album's themes. Then again, both albums follow a blueprint the band has worked with from its inception, anthemic tunes married to dense, character-driven lyrics, and if the Hold Steady sound a lot more polished and accomplished in 2023 than on 2004's Almost Killed Me, they've gained far more than they've lost in the course of their evolution. The Price of Progress finds them writing and performing at the top of their game. The album offers ten songs about people whose lives are in flux in one way or another -- the guy who stopped going to work but hasn't told his live-in girlfriend ("Carlos Is Crying"), the casual friends who might or might not become lovers ("Sixers"), the gambler hoping a last big bet will bring him into the black ("City at Eleven"), the washed-up rock & rollers telling tall tales about past and future accomplishments ("Sideways Skull"), and the jacked-up football fan who invades the field ("Flyover Halftime"). Craig Finn has matured into the best short story writer in rock & roll, penning compact tales that are powerfully evocative as his characters wrestle with the circumstances life has dropped them in, and the band matches him brilliantly at every turn, full of nuance on numbers like "Distortions of Faith" or turning up the guitars and letting rip on "Flyover Halftime." The subtle addition of strings, horns, and additional backing vocalists never feels intrusive -- this band has always thought big, but they know how to do so without excess, and even at their most operatic, Tad Kubler and Steve Selvidge's guitars and Franz Nicolay's keyboards can reach for the grand gesture without straining, and Galen Polivka's bass and Bobby Drake's drumming keep this firmly rooted at all times. At a time when it's easy to feel alienated, the Hold Steady understand, and are smart enough to know they can't fix the world. But they're good-hearted enough to commiserate and talented enough to make the stories well worth hearing, and that's just what they do on The Price of Progress. ~ Mark Deming

Product Details

Release Date:	03/31/2023
Label:	Positive Jams
UPC:	0793888107076
Rank:	66833

Tracks

1. Grand Junction
2. Sideways Skull
3. Carlos is Crying
4. Understudies
5. Sixers
6. The Birdwatchers
7. City At Eleven
8. Perdido
9. Distortions of Faith
10. Flyover Halftime

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Hold Steady   Primary Artist
Molly Sharp   Viola
Matt Moran   Vibraphone
Stuart Bogie   Horn
Jordan McLean   Horn
Kimberly Ryan   Viola
Annie Nero   Vocals (Background)
Cassandra Jenkins   Vocals (Background)
Trey Pollard   Conductor
Treesa Gold   Violin,String Conductor
Anna Bishop   Violin
Stacy Matthews   Violin
Hyojoo Uh   Viola
Peter Greydanus   Cello
Ellen Riccio   Violin
Delaney Turner   Violin
Quinn Price   Violin

Technical Credits

Bobby Drake   Group Member
Steve Selvidge   Group Member
D. James Goodwin   Mixing,Engineer
Curtis Fye   Engineer
Dave Gardner   Mastering
Galen Polivka   Group Member
Craig Finn   Group Member
Franz Nicolay   Group Member
Tad Kubler   Group Member
David Gottlieb   Management
Alec Soth   Photography
Trey Pollard   String Arrangements
Jeff Citron   Engineer
Josh Kaufman   Producer
Vance Wellenstein   Design
Shubham Mondal   Assistant Engineer