Albums to watch

The Price of Progress

The Hold Steady

The Price of Progress

Album number nine from the Brooklyn-based indie rock five-piece led by raconteur Craig Finn

ADM rating[?]

7.4

Label
Positive Jams
UK Release date
31/03/2023
US Release date
31/03/2023
  1. 8.0 |   Slant Magazine

    The album abounds in adventurous new tangents seamlessly integrated with rocking, crowd-pleasing thrills
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  2. 8.0 |   Uncut

    These songs fizz as freshly as if the group have only just discovered that combination of the post-punk pugnacity of prime Attractions with the acerbic disquisitions of a spoken-word Springsteen. Print edition only

  3. 8.0 |   All Music

    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
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  4. 8.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    People are fond of underselling the Hold Steady by referring to them as 'America’s greatest bar band’. If they are then it’s a bar clearly entered at your own risk. And one you’ll find yourself crossing over the threshold again and again
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  5. 7.9 |   Paste Magazine

    The fact that Finn fronts a group of musicians who are as keen as he is to rethink and refine what they do seems almost too good to be true, and yet each album reaches a little further than the one before. The Price of Progress is progress indeed
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  6. 7.8 |   Sputnik Music (staff)

    This is an odd one, folks. And like much of Finn’s work, I’ll be racking my brain on its many idiosyncrasies for the foreseeable future
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  7. 7.6 |   Pitchfork

    The Brooklyn band’s ninth album is vivid and weird: a celebration of second winds, unlikely comebacks, and undying rock’n’roll dreams
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  8. 7.5 |   Under The Radar

    After 20 years, The Hold Steady is hardly a restrictive creative framework, while The Price of Progress reminds longtime fans why they continue to look forward to each album
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  9. 7.0 |   PopMatters

    The Price of Progress has all the hallmarks of the Hold Steady but with just enough swerves to keep it interesting. It’s a worthy addition to their catalog
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  10. 6.0 |   Clash

    Ultimately, anyone who has ever heard a Hold Steady song knows exactly what to expect from this record. Craig Finn’s novelistic flair remains the fulcrum, and while it certainly doesn’t allow their light to dim it equally doesn’t catch fire at any point. ‘The Price Of Progress’ is a perfectly functional Hold Steady record, no more and no less
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