Heaven Is Whenever

Heaven Is Whenever
Studio album by
the Hold Steady
ReleasedMay 4, 2010 (2010-05-04)
Genre
Length41:21
Label
Producer
The Hold Steady chronology
Stay Positive
(2008) 		Heaven Is Whenever
(2010) 		Teeth Dreams
(2014)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
allmusic[1]
AbsolutePunk(91%)[2]
BBC(positive)[3]
Drowned in Sound[4]
NME[5]
Pitchfork Media(6.2/10)[6]
Q[7]
Rolling Stone[8]
The Skinny[9]
Slant Magazine[10]
Spin[11]
Sputnikmusic[12]

Heaven Is Whenever is the fifth studio album by the Hold Steady. It was released May 4, 2010, on Vagrant Records in the U.S. and May 3, 2010, on Rough Trade in Europe.[13] The album's first single, "Hurricane J", premiered on Pitchfork Media on March 22, 2010.[14] Regarding the album's lyrical content, vocalist and guitarist Craig Finn states that: "I kept saying Stay Positive was a record about trying to age gracefully. This record, I think actually was us aging gracefully. Some of the lyrics come from a place of a little more wisdom, being 38 and at this point having a lifetime in rock'n'roll."[15]

Heaven Is Whenever debuted at #26 on the Billboard 200 with 23,000 albums sold in its opening week [16] thus becoming the highest-charting album by The Hold Steady.

  1. ^ "allmusic review". AllMusic.
  2. ^ "AbsolutePunk review". 4 October 2023.
  3. ^ "BBC review".
  4. ^ "Drowned in Sound review". Archived from the original on 2018-07-09. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
  5. ^ "NME review".
  6. ^ "Pitchfork Media review". Pitchfork.
  7. ^ "Q review".
  8. ^ "Rolling Stone review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 12, 2010.
  9. ^ "The Skinny review".
  10. ^ "Slant Magazine review". Slant Magazine. May 2010.
  11. ^ "Spin review".
  12. ^ "Sputnikmusic review".
  13. ^ "Hold Steady Releasing New Album May 4". Buzzgrinder.com. 2010-02-23. Archived from the original on 2010-03-08. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
  14. ^ "Premiere: Hold Steady: "Hurricane J" | News". Pitchfork. 2010-03-22. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
  15. ^ "Interviews: The Hold Steady | Features". Pitchfork. 2010-05-17. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
  16. ^ "Godsmack Score Third #1 Billboard Debut With Oracle - Music, Celebrity, Artist News". MTV. 2010-05-12. Archived from the original on May 13, 2010. Retrieved 2012-02-20.