Painkillers at 10: Brian Fallon’s Quiet Step Out Still Stands Essential — 9.3/10

Brian Fallon steps out on his own with Painkillers, a 12-track album from 2016 that trades the sound of his former band for a quieter, more country direction. The record runs 40 minutes and never strains to prove itself. Fallon is not remaking his voice here — he is polishing it.

Walking the Track List

The album opens strong. A Wonderful Life sets the tone at once, warm and easy, before the title track, Painkillers, follows with a firmer step.

Among Other Foolish Things is one of the record’s clear high points, a song built on plain, honest longing that lands harder than its short length suggests. Smoke, right after, eases the pace and lets Fallon’s phrasing carry the weight.

Steve McQueen brings the pace back up — one of the strongest songs here, full of motion and a strong tune in equal measure. Nobody Wins, shorter still, cuts through in a plain, direct way the rest of the track list does not always match.

Rosemary sits at the heart of the record, patient and carefully made, the kind of song that rewards a second listen. Red Lights, Long Drives and Honey Magnolia form a steady middle run of songs — solid, well made, but they do not reach the same heights as the songs around them.

Mojo Hand and Open All Night close things out with sure hands, bringing the album home without any surprises at the finish.

What Was Said About It

Here is how three reviews weighed in:

There is no wider agreement on record about how this album should be scored. No single number sums up how critics judged it as a group.

We do not need one. The songs that matter most here — A Wonderful Life, Among Other Foolish Things, Nobody Wins, Rosemary, Steve McQueen, Smoke — carry the record into ground we would call essential, on our own judgment alone.

What makes Painkillers work:

• Fallon’s writing sounds set free, not lessened, away from his old band
• The sound gives room to the quieter songs without letting the energy fall away
• The strongest six songs on the record would hold up any album, on his own or with a band
• Nothing here feels like filler dressed up as change

Our Reading of It

This is our own high regard for the record, not any wider view held by others. We are not weighing it against some outside mark. Our judgment stands on its own, not drawn from any count taken from anyone else’s opinion.

This judgment is ours alone.

Painkillers stands as one of the best albums of its year, and we say so without holding back. Fallon did not just come out from under the shadow of his former band — he found a fuller version of his own voice on the way out.

2016 albums · album review · Brian Fallon · country rock · Painkillers