Bruce Springsteen - Classic or Dud ?

I just started watching a screener of the Springsteen neo doc "Springsteen & I," basically video confessionals intercut with concert footage snippets. I was worried it was going to be rough going at first, but it's a touching thing, seeing so much outpouring of positivity in one place.

Kilkenny final night of the European tour. 28/07/2013

This Little Light Of Mine/ My Love Will Not Let You Down/ Badlands /We Take Care of Our Own / Adam Raised a Cain / Death to My Hometown / American Skin (41 Shots) / The Promised Land / Wrecking Ball / Spirit in the Night / The River (Sign Request) / Wild Billy's Circus story/ Man at the Top / Every time you Walk in the Room / Thunder Road / Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out / Night / Backstreets / Born to Run / She’s The One / Meeting Across The River / Jungleland / The Rising / Land of Hope and Dreams / Born in the USA / Bobby Jean / Seven Nights to Rock / Dancing in the Dark / American Land (With Maxes daughter on accordion) / Shout / This Little Light of Mine / This Hard Land.

Phenomenal.

nice

so sad that there's always a new reason to play "American Skin"

This is hilarious/amazing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-Ds-FXGGQg#t=206

That's awesome. Thanks!

Total pro. Havin' a blast.

fantastic. those are some old-school bar-band chops right there. this is a dude who has maintained.

never understood the tie-tucked-away-in-the-shirt thing though. if you're gonna do that, why bother with the tie at all?

It's a bit like rolling up your sleeves. Tuck it away and get to work.

New album due this January, "High Hopes." I have low expectations.

I was working on a record of some of our best unreleased material from the past decade when Tom Morello (sitting in for Steve during the Australian leg of our tour) suggested we ought to add "High Hopes" to our live set. I had cut "High Hopes," a song by Tim Scott McConnell of the LA based Havalinas, in the 90's. We worked it up in our Aussie rehearsals and Tom then proceeded to burn the house down with it. We re-cut it mid tour at Studios 301 in Sydney along with "Just Like Fire Would," a song from one of my favorite early Australian punk bands, The Saints (check out "I'm Stranded"). Tom and his guitar became my muse, pushing the rest of this project to another level. Thanks for the inspiration Tom.

Some of these songs, "American Skin" and "Ghost of Tom Joad," you'll be familiar with from our live versions. I felt they were among the best of my writing and deserved a proper studio recording. "The Wall" is something I'd played on stage a few times and remains very close to my heart. The title and idea were Joe Grushecky's, then the song appeared after Patti and I made a visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington. It was inspired by my memories of Walter Cichon. Walter was one of the great early Jersey Shore rockers, who along with his brother Ray (one of my early guitar mentors) led the "Motifs". The Motifs were a local rock band who were always a head above everybody else. Raw, sexy and rebellious, they were the heroes you aspired to be. But these were heroes you could touch, speak to, and go to with your musical inquiries. Cool, but always accessible, they were an inspiration to me, and many young working musicians in 1960's central New Jersey. Though my character in "The Wall" is a Marine, Walter was actually in the Army, A Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Infantry. He was the first person I ever stood in the presence of who was filled with the mystique of the true rock star. Walter went missing in action in Vietnam in March 1968. He still performs somewhat regularly in my mind, the way he stood, dressed, held the tambourine, the casual cool, the freeness. The man who by his attitude, his walk said "you can defy all this, all of what's here, all of what you've been taught, taught to fear, to love and you'll still be alright." His was a terrible loss to us, his loved ones and the local music scene. I still miss him.

This is music I always felt needed to be released. From the gangsters of "Harry's Place," the ill-prepared roomies on "Frankie Fell In Love" (shades of Steve and I bumming together in our Asbury Park apartment) the travelers in the wasteland of "Hunter Of Invisible Game," to the soldier and his visiting friend in "The Wall", I felt they all deserved a home and a hearing. Hope you enjoy it,

Bruce Springsteen

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/tom-morello-on-bruce-springsteen-tour-it-s-been-a-really-fun-challenge-20130325

Wow, didn't realize he was temporarily taking Miami Steve's slot (while Steve was busy on a show)

I like The Saints "I'm Stranded" beter than "Just Like Fire Would,"

Some of these songs, "American Skin" and "Ghost of Tom Joad," you'll be familiar with from our live versions. I felt they were among the best of my writing and deserved a proper studio recording.

???

does he play it loud with Morello now the way RATM covered it?

Sort of in between. I've seen him a few times with Morello (who is from the Chicago area), and it does get pretty loud/shreddy. I was curious how Morello fared on tour, though, whether Bruce kept his sci fi stuff in check and just made him play most of the stuff normal.

Every year I look forward to Christmas time because it means more public airings of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjfcGK_aogM

It will take me a while to determine if the new one is good or terrible, but no question between Morello and the horns, it's his most ... different sounding album since the '90s solo misfires. "Harry's Place" could be an '80s Glenn Frey/Don Henley tune, lyrics aside.

ouch

The rest isn't that glaring, as it plays.

I like The Saints "I'm Stranded" beter than "Just Like Fire Would,"

lol, who doesn't

http://www.musictimes.com/articles/3140/20140102/bruce-springsteen-debut-high-hopes-songs-tv-show-good-wife.htm

Following the accidental release of High Hopes on Amazon, CBS has decided to stream Bruce Springsteen's new LP on their official website. According to Rolling Stone, all of this is part of a promotional tie-in with The Good Wife, which will feature the new tracks "High Hopes," "Hunter of Invisible Game" and "The Ghost of Tom Joad" on its January 12 episode called "We, the Juries." The website will begin streaming the full album at 7 p.m. on January 5 before a preview of the episode is shown.

Ah, crap. I actually like that show.

Man, "High Hopes" sounds elderly.

http://www.cbs.com/shows/the_good_wife/springsteen

album streaming here for now

It's pretty uneven. Whose idea was the bad 80s tv soundtrack production for "Harry's Place"?

Said I: ""Harry's Place" could be an '80s Glenn Frey/Don Henley tune."

The album is a hodgepodge of leftovers. I have a theory that Tom Morello is sick or something, and Bruce feels bad, like Make a Wish Foundation bad.

Tom: Hey Bruce, can I sit in for a few songs?
Bruce: Sure, let's do Tom Joad.

(song ends)

Bruce: Good job, Tommy!
Tom: Yeah, that was awesome. Hey, can I go on tour with you?"
Bruce: Um, sure.

(calls Steve) Hey, Steve, sit this one out, Tommy is sick and we want him to feel better.

(tour ends)

Tom: Wow, Bruce, that was a blast!
Bruce: Sure was, Tommy! Have a good flight back to ...
Tom: Hey, you know what we should do? We should record an album!
Bruce: Um, I'm not really sure we have many songs to ...
Tom: Sure you do! There's that one "High Hopes," and "Tom Joad," and "American Skin" ... that's practically an album right there! C'mon, it'll be fun!
Bruce: OK.
Tom: Awesome! Let me buy some fresh 9-volts for all my shred effects!

(Morello leaves)

Bruce: Wow, Tommy must really be sick. Anyway, break out the porta studio, we're making an album.
Jon Landau: For release?
Bruce: Nah, just for Tommy, to make him feel better.
Jon Landau: What if he asks to release it?
Bruce: Oh, I'm sure he'll be fine once he gets this out of his system.

hahaha

yes!

This Sunday, January 26, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will begin their first ever tour in South Africa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aopKk56jM-I

That video is such a trip that I have to post a better version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlMdYpnVOGQ

I'll happily cross-post this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltpP6anAVVI

Don't think this was discussed upthread.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2014/01/14/262485987/a-long-road-to-high-hopes-an-interview-with-bruce-springsteen

Long Ann Powers NPR interview with him. He sure loves his producer Brendan... Too bad imho. It's interesting reading about him talking about current country music that he heard via taking his daughter to school (cuz she is a fan). Plus his his take on Kanye and other stuff like the NY Dolls

I haven't heard all the O'Brien Springsteen records, but is it going too far to say he's the worst producer Springsteen's had? I mean, even the relatively muddy sound of the first two records was preferable to the used-car-salesman-hectoring production style on O'Brien's records.

Tbf, I don't think any of the Springsteen albums are terribly well produced. The only one I may have no problem with at all is the pretty raw "Seeger Sessions." The rest ... dunno. Obviously they were right for him at their respective times, and "Born to Run," "Darkness" and "The River" have a solid neo-wall of sound thing working in their favor, but aside from "Born to Run" (the song), it's just variations of fussy muddy that never quite did his stage show justice.

(xp) i'm not a big fan of the bruce/brendan pairing, but "worst producer" is relative. he's basically had three in 40-plus years.

True. I love the production on The River and Born To Run, can take-or-leave BITUSA, find Darkness deeply frustrating if ultimately effective. But O'Brien's one of those producers where you know he only has the best of intentions, but doesn't seem to know what to do with those intentions, so he adds reverb.

There's a really telling observation in the making of Darkness doc, where they point out how you can make the drums loud, or the guitars loud, but you can't have each equally loud. That's perhaps one mistake O'Brien makes, thanks to our friend compression and her studio buddies. Of course, the new one was also worked on by Ron Aniello, who did the last one, so he's not helping.

O'Brien makes Pearl Jam sound exactly how they should sound, and I love Pearl Jam, but a Springsteen record should not sound like a Pearl Jam record. this is a pretty common dilemma, though -- how does an artist who made their mark in the '70s move forward after the way things were recorded back then becomes practically extinct? even the producers from back then that are still working, by and large, they don't have the same mics and mixing boards they had 40 years ago, they aren't trying to hang back. maybe Jack White or Rick Rubin could work with Bruce and turn out something more spare and naturalistic, if we stay in the plausible lane of big name producers, but it's not like ANYBODY would be able to give him the Darkness On The Edge of Town sound now. i mean, we may love the sound of Bruce's 80s records, but back then a lot his '70s fans hated how trendy and modern that stuff sounded, it's all relative.

that said, it would totally be a dream job for me to be able to sit in the studio with Springsteen and produce an actual great Bruce album in 2014 and somehow get out of the rut he's in.

actually, screw Jack White, Bruce should work with Jimmy Page, he seems able enough to retain '70s sounds and methods, and Bruce would be revisiting someone else's '70s heyday instead of his own (but still blues-based and not that far out of his comfort zone).

There's a really telling observation in the making of Darkness doc, where they point out how you can make the drums loud, or the guitars loud, but you can't have each equally loud.

so how do they explain the eightites?

speaking of Jimmy Page, he made a similar observation, that you can't have the drums and guitars all the way loud, and he let the drums dominate the mix in Zep. i feel like there's a similar principle at work in AC/DC, you think of them as a guitar band, but there's so little distortion in their guitar tone and the drums being mixed up front are really what make their sound rock so hard.

on a serious note: if the rhythm section is strong, there's no need to mix it LOUD; you should be able to hear it if you're any kind of discerning listener. For the purpose of the Roxy-Ferry poll thread, I listened to their work and was struck by how upfront late Roxy's bass tracks were and recoiled because the bassists weren't playing anything memorable; the engineers thought mixing those tracks loud signified "funk" or something.

i feel like there's a similar principle at work in AC/DC, you think of them as a guitar band, but there's so little distortion in their guitar tone and the drums being mixed up front are really what make their sound rock so hard.

This is otm. But man, O'Brien managed to make the most unlistenable AC/DC record of the last 25 years (which, granted, is only like 4 AC/DC records, but still).

You know who should produce Bruce? Bob Dylan! Those last few self-produced Dylan records sound better than 70% of his other stuff. There's also, what, Ethan Johns? Maybe Tony Visconti. who has done OK with the past couple of Alejandro Escovedo albums. T Bone Burnett or Lanois would be totally wrong. Joe Henry would probably be a good Bruce producer.

oh god a lanois record would be a nightmare

i wouldn't mind hearing a good nashville producer take on bruce. luke laird, say.

So really when Brendan stepped in, he had an idea about the way that the E Street Band should sound in the studio in 2000.

No Bruce no...I wish Jon Landau or someone else close to Bruce could convince him there are others he should try.

There are other interesting bits in the piece. Bruce discovering Yo La Tengo, his kids telling him about the Eric Church "Springsteen" song, and his love for Slim Dunlap (the guy who joined the Replacements) albums...

John Agnello

From Cyndi Lauper To Dinosaur Jr. To Kurt Vile.

Somebody please just fucking the compression knob away from Brendan O'Brien already.