The Gaslight Anthem – History Books (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

The Gaslight Anthem – History Books (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 40:22 minutes | 875 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Rich Mahogany Recordings

Produced by Peter Katis (The National, Kurt Vile), History Books is The Gaslight Anthem’s first new album in nine years.

On The Gaslight Anthem’s first album in nine years, the New Jersey rockers have hit their holy grail: landing a duet with Bruce Springsteen, the patron saint they’ve long been compared to. “There’s definitely a little wink in there,” singer Brian Fallon has said of the title track from History Books. “It’s like ‘Now write this off,’ we’ve got the approval of the guy! What are you going to say? You can’t say anything!” The track, which finds the frontman and Springsteen trading verses, captures the high-bounce joy of the E Street Band but Fallon said it’s “not a friendly song” and was inspired by a lesson he learned in therapy: “The only people who have a problem with boundary setting is the people who are breaking them.” It also seems to be about shedding the past, as Fallon sings, “You just remind me of the/ Nights of smoke and dirty jokes/ Darkened rooms with lonely ghosts/ They were beautiful some time ago/ But time keeps rollin’ us on.” But on “Positive Charge”—a flag-waving track that revisits the band’s punkier roots with fiery guitar—Fallon reveals that, while he may not want relive the past, he does want to find the way he used to feel. “I need a spark/ I need a positive charge/ Plug it into my veins and make me love this life again.” “Spider Bites” adds Jersey-bred grit to the country-folk of bands like Lumineers; “Autumn” is not exactly Americana, but it is retro all-American rock, swinging low and wide with its chugging bass. Its drums rolling like a train, “A Lifetime of Preludes” channels Woody Guthrie. The drums get an echo effect on “Empires” that casts the song in the moody spotlight of a slow-moving ’80s movie soundtrack. Power ballad “I Live in the Room Above Her” flexes muscle, dynamically spanning hushed verses and an overblown chorus. And hard-charging, fist-pumping “Little Fires”—about recognizing that losing a relationship won’t kill you and may even be a saving grace—is bound to be a holler-to-the-rafters live favorite. – Shelly Ridenour

Tracklist:
1-1. The Gaslight Anthem – Spider Bites (04:19)
1-2. The Gaslight Anthem – History Books (feat. Bruce Springsteen) (03:53)
1-3. The Gaslight Anthem – Autumn (04:00)
1-4. The Gaslight Anthem – Positive Charge (04:05)
1-5. The Gaslight Anthem – Michigan, 1975 (04:14)
1-6. The Gaslight Anthem – Little Fires (03:24)
1-7. The Gaslight Anthem – The Weatherman (04:26)
1-8. The Gaslight Anthem – Empires (04:23)
1-9. The Gaslight Anthem – I Live In The Room Above Her (04:16)
1-10. The Gaslight Anthem – A Lifetime Of Preludes (03:17)

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