Almost Killed Me

Rolling Stone - 3 stars out of 5 - "[I]t's bizarrely touching and insanely original." Rolling Stone - Included in Rolling Stone's Top 50 Records Of 2004 - "[P]sychotically funny bar-band tales..." Magnet - "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..." Uncut - 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..."

"The '80s almost killed me," admits the Hold Steady's Craig Finn on "Positive Jam," one of ten rock & roll confessionals on the band's debut. That sets the tone for the rest of Almost Killed Me, as Finn reveals a lifestyle that included a "skater phase," a "raver phase," and a "razor blade phase." His lamentations are the appropriate voice for the band's debut, which sets out to recapture the glory of classic American rock and early indie rock. With rugged guitar riffs and solos and Finn's half-sung, scratchy voice, the Hold Steady mostly succeed, easily recalling the classic rock of early Bruce Springsteen or the sincerity of latter-day Husker Du. When he's not remembering the parties and acting like "a Twin Cities trash bin," he reacts to the corruption of today's youth. Finn may seem like a fish out of water at this point, but having survived a self-indulgent life, his lyrics, as well as the Hold Steady's back-to-basics rock, are ironically welcoming. ~ Kenyon Hopkin|