Bruce Springsteen - Classic or Dud ?

Christie? Yeah, that guy can't sing.

Clinton Heylin has a new Springsteen book coming out, will definitely be picking this up.

http://www.amazon.com/Street-Shuffle-Glory-Bruce-Springsteen/dp/067002662X/ref=sr_1_1

cool!

rad. smart dude imo.

Did anyone read the bio that came out, like, a month ago?

Not yet, that Peter Carlin authored Bruce bio got some good reviews I see

was just trying to remember the order of release of asbury---->nebraska and i realized that i had to think of the career-redemption narrative to remember

my friend is at his Oakland show tonight, she just updated her FB status with this

Holy fucking shit. Bruce just crowd surfed on top of me. Yes i grabbed his tight 501 laden thigh. !!

so many emotions. :D and O_O and O_o and u_u and :D

Bruce is playing my hometown!

http://www.limerickleader.ie/lifestyle/entertainment/30-000-to-see-bruce-springsteen-rock-thomond-park-1-4538183

Dud. Never cared much for Brooce's brand of schlock n' roll....Heard "Greetings from.." and "Darkness at the edge of town" and they just sounded like MOR to me. "Nebraska" I do like however but thats even got "Used cars" on it...like used cars are a symbol of poverty...pah!...There isnt too many highways in Ireland and if there was I wouldnt spend time listening to Springsteen...
― Michael Bourke, Sunday, March 4, 2001 1:00 AM (11 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Ive posted A LOT of stupid shit on ilx through the years but this is up there

And you are man enough to admit it. Respect.

haha indeed

michael b otm

I heard Bruce is real big in Ireland. I'd love to see him play there. I'm from New Jersey and it's impossible to overstate just how huge of a presence he is here.

tbh you could easily argue Bruce and moreover the E Street Bands is schlock n' roll and still like him/them

I think it was about 5 years after that post I did a volte-face on Bruce. Got hooked on "Darkness" (then BITUSA, BTR and Tunnel of Love) and there was a lot of late-night drunken singalongs to "Racing In the Street" around then.

Mentioned before that Bruce is actually half-Irish himself, on his dad's side.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/music/news/bruce-springsteens-ancestors-hail-from-ireland-14529170.html

On that appropriate link and note, he's playing the Kings Hall (Tom Joad tour) in July

Tried without avail to get tickets for the Magic tour Odyssey dates, they're release this Thursday and I predict mayhem (and disappointment)

tbh you could easily argue Bruce and moreover the E Street Bands is schlock n' roll and still like him/them

Beyond being OTMFM, this also speaks to John Sinclair's attempted takedown of Dave Marsh when Sinclair claimed, pejoratively, that Born To Run's antecedent was West Side Story. Apparently (and not surprisingly, since he was an anti-popular music snob prior to managing the MC5), Sinclair had never heard nor heard of anything Phil Spector had been involved with.

Why not more love for "Sherry Darling"? So simple, so smart-stupid, so perfect, carried entirely by a fantastic ensemble performance. Also: "All That Heaven Will Allow": all emotion, unlike some of his obviously "great" songs, or ones where he's striving for greatness ("out-Dylaning Dylan", pooping out the words on top of one another) (which can be great too, cf. "Sinaloa Cowboys" et. al.), just a thrust at the heart, via the loins.

i love Sherry Darling

Best thing on "The River" imo (or close enough)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mchLMRlSC9A

^^ this both really sucks & also kinda endears me to shitty garage band covers of popular classics

Has Bruce ever said a word about Leonard Cohen? I know he was a big Dylan stan, but I've never thought about Cohen as an influence.

bruce tracks poll coming soon! gonna be so much fun, hope the real hardcore fans will hip me to some stuff worth voting for

John Hammond discovered/signed both Springsteen and Chen, but I'd never heard any connection between the two either.

omg when is the bruce poll? i will take time off of school for that thing, i swear!

sorry, kids. some things are important.

iirc Bruce poll is on hold til after the year-end polls. I already did all my homework by assembling a megaplaylist in advance of seeing him a few months ago. (Really hope we get at least 30 picks. 20 would be brutal.)

lol horseshoe where you been!

hi al!!! i miss you!

we should hang out and listen to Bruce and argue about each other's ballots

bruce poll is gonna be awes u guys

I love this photo

http://assets.flavorwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/49.-Bruce-Springsteen-and-The-Girls-Red-Bank-NJ-1979-Edit.jpg

http://www.flavorwire.com/340124/david-gahrs-dramatic-black-and-white-photos-of-60s-and-70s-musicians

That is awesome.

I just started reading the Marc Dolan book, and as a result am listening to Steel Mill and Castiles clips all over YouTube. Man, Bruce is really slept on as a guitar player, isn't he?

"Bruce thought that the sheer volume of car parts referenced in that original version of 'Racing in the Streets' was bound to get him some kind of endorsement deal with either an auto parts manufacturer or an auto parts superstore. And then he would save a fortune for the rest of his life on car parts." http://wfmu.org/flashplayer.php?version=1&show=48482&archive=83741

Btw I love old Springsteen pics.

lol shaane I lovelovelove that WFMU bit that Tom and Wurster did about Springsteen. Hilarious

I'm lollling every 30 seconds.

On one hand, I wish Bruce would be a little more liberal with the vaults. On the other, he's pretty lenient with sharing:

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbM_9G1GQg0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIB-o07xDsY

My bro in law was there. Love seeing Morello forced not to be Morello.

Rare airing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V3Z1kL3Sh8

My first Bruce show last night. Cried my eyes out. Doing it again in two weeks time. Thanks BROOOOOCE.

Land of Hope and Dreams / Jackson Cage / Radio Nowhere / Save My Love / Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) / This Hard Land / Lost in the Flood / Wrecking Ball / Death to My Hometown / Hungry Heart / Darkness on the Edge of Town / Badlands / Adam Raised a Cain / Something in the Night / Candy's Room / Racing in the Street / The Promised Land / Factory / Streets of Fire / Prove It All Night / Darkness on the Edge of Town / Shackled and Drawn / Waitin' on a Sunny Day / The Rising / Light of Day / Pay Me My Money Down / Born to Run / Bobby Jean / Dancing in the Dark / Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out / Twist and Shout / Thunder Road (solo acoustic)

FUCK.

oh and realised last night Brendan O'Brien is the worst thing to happen to Bruce's career, perhaps ever. I can't stand the production on those last three records, but last night even the weaker few new tracks sounded fantastic. Wrecking Ball and Land Of Hope And Dreams were just miles better than the awful lp recordings.

insane setlist

Born to Run / Bobby Jean / Dancing in the Dark / Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out

This stretch alone might have made me pass out.

xpost I was on the brink of tears on and off all night. Managed to hold them in. At Hyde Park last year I was weeping within moments of him opening with the piano Thunder Road. Was in the pit last night - incredible. Apart from the v pissed stag party who talked all the way through Racing in the Street.