What is your favorite song on Candy From A Stranger?

Post by **Homesick** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 2:22 pm

You probably know the procedure by now: make your selection, agonize over the horror of choosing a favorite on any SA album, and see what everyone else has to say.

This week's album is Candy From A Stranger. A good effort, if you ask me, but perhaps more "asymmetrical" than anything else they've done; the album breaks off into something wholly different after No Time For Waiting. I recall something about Dave jokingly pointing out that they were trying to make an album "that no one would like", or something to that effect, and my impression is that it was indeed kind of a disappointment for many. Maybe this mix of styles had something to do with it?

Either way, I enjoy the album a lot. I Will Still Be Laughing got me into it, while No Time For Waiting was my favorite for quite some time, followed by New York Blackout and then Blood Into Wine. Most recently, however, I've been listening to Cradle Chain a lot, so that one gets my vote.

By the way, it's now possible to change your vote, so don't fret too much about which one you chooseâ€”but do try to maintain some consistency so that the results don't get shuffled around every single day.

Yaz McBoo · Post by **Yaz McBoo** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 3:12 pm

I really don't hear a standout song here, and I don't mean that in a bad way, but I went with Laughing - and consider Cretaures of Habit, NY Blackout, Close, See Ya Later and Cradle Chain as favorites. This is one of the few SA albums that I don't actually skip over any songs. Although I find the album to be consistently good, I think it'd have been even better with the "original tracklisting" (I'm not sure if there ever was such a thing, but seemingly songs like Black Star, Losing It, Lucky One, Lonely For You, and maybe even the title track!,- would have been on the album if SA had their way in the first place, and not the label. Now that would have been a killer record.)

Although I got into SA with GDU and Dim Light, this one probably appeals to me the most for sentimental reasons as it was when I really got into SA, going to concerts and meeting other fans. The album came out something like May 12, 1998, and I came home from college May 15 (from almost the other end of New York State)- just in time to see SA play that night in NYC. Strangely, another guy from my dorm was there too. The 98/99 shows are also special to me for some other reasons as well.

-Rob

sayeeda · Post by **sayeeda** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 7:13 pm

Although I Will Still Be Laughing was the first one off Candy I'd ever heard, I always liked Creature, No Time, New York Blackout, and Cradle Chain. Close was a well-listened self-confidence booster but I voted for my sentimental favorite, Cradle Chain.

philipgar · Post by **philipgar** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 9:32 pm

This was a tough one, but I had to go with Cradle chain. I love the lyrics in there. I think my second choice has to go to Draggin' the Lake, and thats mostly due to the opening line, which I absolutely love. This was the first SA album I bought the day it came out (despite having a copy weeks earlier). I remember waiting what seems like forever for this album. The countless delays on it were pure torture. Of course, compared to the delays for TSL, they seem like nothing now, but back then I was a lot younger, and a year seemed a lot longer than they do now. Maybe it's because I'm now so much busier.

The MB20 tour for this album had my first of many SA concerts. I remember it like yesterday. I was 16, it was summer, and I was on vacation with my family up in Harrisburg PA. SA was playing maryland the day we were supposed to drive back, and I convinced my dad to extend the vacation by a day and go with me to see the show. We spent the afternoon in DC and then went to the show at the Meriwether pavillion. I was so excited to finally get a chance to see the band, it was incredible after so many years. Their set was short, but afterward I had managed to get to hang out backstage and meet the band. I actually missed MB20's entire set, but that didn't bother me in the least. I remember talking with everyone, and Dan was just sitting around strumming his acoustic guitar for a while. It was really the only time I had an extended conversation with Dan, as normally he was always off doing his own thing.

Anyhow, this album has special meaning to me because it was at the time when I was really getting into the band more than ever. Sure I liked them before, and was running the tape tree at the time, but there was so much excitement surround this particular album, and finally seeing them.

Phil

Post by **Monolith Maniac** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 11:27 pm

Wow, I'm surprised Cradle Chain has so many votes already. I'm going to have to go with it as my favorite as well; great lyrics, chorus, and definitely a good song to end the album with. Creatures of Habit, See You Later, and New York Blackout arern't far behind (so a choice for second favorite would be tough). Candy holds a special meaning to me too. It was the first album I had ever really anticipated by any artist (I had just got into SA the year before). I remember going to pick up the tickets to go see them perform here in Chicago with Matchbox 20 and Semisonic. Waiting for that concert seemed like an eternity. Once that day came, it was the best concert I had ever been to. The next best one didn't occur until I saw SA perform about a year and a half later playing as the main act with a full setlist.

After seeing my first SA concert, owning 3 of their albums (GDU, LYDLS, Candy) at the time (1998), all which I could listen to the whole way through, I definitely knew I found my new favorite band.

devall2000 · Post by **devall2000** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 11:37 pm

I'm torn between "Lies of Hate"(why isn't it listed as a choice?) and 'Creatures of Habit.
-Jamie

Post by **Monolith Maniac** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 11:47 pm

devall2000 wrote:"Lies of Hate"(why isn't it listed as a choice?)
-Jamie

Thanks, I thought the tracklisting looked a little short. I'll add it to the list.

Update: Unfortunately when editing polls in phpBB3 the votes get reset back to zero (this wasn't the case with the other version). The count at the time of reset was:

I Will Still Be Laughing: 2
Cradle Chain: 5

Post by **Homesick** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 12:59 am

devall2000 wrote:I'm torn between "Lies of Hate"(why isn't it listed as a choice?) and 'Creatures of Habit.
-Jamie

I am terribly sorry about that; forgetting a brilliant song like Lies of Hate and not even double-checking the tracklist is almost unforgivable.

~~I'll rummage around in the database for a little while and make sure that all the votes are restored properly.~~ On second thought, it's probably best to let everyone vote again instead; I don't know for sure which votes were cast.

mystic_spiral_3 · Post by **mystic_spiral_3** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 1:27 am

I also chose Cradle Chain, largely due to the lyrics. "Please don't ask me how I am, a little tired, a little scared." I can think of many times I've felt that way...when discussing my concerns about something would just open a whole can of worms and make me feel worse about whatever is upsetting me. Second favorite song would be New York Blackout. I like the imagery.

This was an interesting time for me in SA fandom. A few months before CFAS was out, I had found the SA chat room and message board on AOL. I felt like I had found my people; I was so excited to meet fellow fans of the band, if only online. I looked forward to the weekly chat room and started talking to my new online friends outside of chat night. I didn't know at the time I'd meet some of these people in person or that some of them would become my good friends. Now, if Phil doesn't hear from me online for several days, he knows something's wrong!

I was lucky to hear some of the CFAS songs off a solo Dave bootleg in early 1998. I vented to Phil about evil organic chemistry tests and he'd send me bootlegs to cheer me up. I loved New York Blackout and Close from the Dave solo bootleg, and I'd heard a few other songs from other bootlegs. I was so used to the live performances that when I finally bought the CFAS cd, I was like, "Oh. That's it, then. Huh." The cd did grow on me, but I felt it lost some of the "magic" that the bootleg songs had.

1998 was also the first time I got to see SA in First Avenue. My family was going on summer vacation and part of the time would be spent in the Minneapolis area to go to Mall of America. There was a 21+ show the day before I would be in Minneapolis. I was 20. But then, one night, I came to the chatroom where everyone excitedly told me that there would be an all ages show the day my family would arrive in Minneapolis. I ran down the stairs and jumped up and down in front of my parents and begged them to let me go to the show. (Did I mention I was 20? I'm sure I looked like a 3 year old!) Luckily they said yes and I (1) was the best Sarah I could be at home to stay in good graces until the trip and (2) made damn sure we left on time so I would not be late to the show. It was alot of fun, and I was lucky to meet the band briefly. I can't believe all this is almost 10 years ago!

sheryl · Post by **sheryl** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 2:27 am

i waited for "candy",and then when it came out i didn't like it one bit. i tried to like it. i played it and played it and played it,to no avail. i didn't like it, and i got mad at the band, and honestly, "candy" marked a huge split between myself and soul asylum. i ignored them completely, live albums and compilations, everything, until "Silver Linging" came out. i. held.a grudge.

however, now that i've reached a greater maturity, and have gotten over my outrage at whatever it was they were doing with this record, it's grown on me a little. not a lot.

but i like 'blood into wine' an lot, and i LOVE cradle chain. so that got my vote.