Bruce Springsteen - Classic or Dud ?

oops, missing a " at the beginning there.

These titles and lyrics: did Springsteen get into a broken transporter with Robbie Robertson?

Anyone hear some "Don't Fear The Reaper" in "Radio Nowhere"?

some really great discussion btween ally, amateurist and 'spittle' upthread

Neither classic nor dud, but certainly overrated. But give him credit for a consistent vision of what he's trying to do.

Never could stand either of his Borns, neither to Run nor in the USA, but have to say I'm an admirer from afar of Nebraska.

And I have no idea whether or not this feeling will be echoed by ANYONE else, but as an American I will always remember him as the artist who led off the concert for 9/11 relief. Hate most of his music or not, for him to have been there in that space at that time makes him emblematic for me in a way that his somewhat overwrought albums never could.

what on earth are you trying to say?

Hmm, thought I was pretty straightforward, but maybe the following will make sense: I dislike his music, not least because it pretends to some working classman's purity, because it is arrogant enough to suggest that if you grew up in some shithole town in New Jersey, you are somehow rendered heroic, or at least you are if transformed into one of the Boss' songs.

But I liked that he chose to appear on that telethon, and am OK with the idea the producers had that he should go first.

Did I do better that time.

Not sure if there's a thread for the new album (Working on a Dream), but I heard it today. Really liked it. His voice sounds just scratched - not as gruff as Dylan or Young or Waits, but obviously starting to go, and it's starting to acquire some flavor (something that I always thought Springsteen was missing).

Anyone else heard this yet?

ctrl+f "jungleland" - 1 result

come on guys

"Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen -- who really enjoys this overproduced crappy glop?

Is the new disc as overproduced and antiseptic-sounding as the last few with his band?

Nah. More raw, more bluesy on some tracks. ("Good Eye" in particular is pretty rocking)

I've only heard the title track, I like it alright.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99173117

The new album is streaming at NPR. Some of it is instrumentally clunky but Bruce is trying to be a little more pop on some of it than in the recent past, while others have a raw, rocking roots feel (a little sound like recent Dylan but more rocking). Plus there's some spaghetti western influence on one cut and various other new things from him.

Huge poster for the record in Easy Street here. The four albums listed additionally include Born to Run and . . . Nebraska.

Super interview with him on BBC radio last night. The new material sounded smashing also.

He's putting the big push on over here, playing the Super Bowl holiday next week.

Sounds better than the last one, but the best songs aren't as good as the best on the last one. The album falls somewhere between "Human Touch" (bad) and "Lucky Town" (good). In other words, average. In other other words: five stars!!!!!!

I think Federici dying was yet another reminder that he can't do this forever, so he's cranking them out and doing everything on his wish list that he'd never done before (Super Bowl, campaigning, etc.). Speaking of which, losing the Oscar nom means he misses the rare promotional four-fecta of Obama, Golden Globes, Oscars and Super Bowl.

Oh, also, the new album is about 95% sax-free, FWIW.

I wish the alleged Beach Boys and Byrds influences I read about in one review were more prominent.

Oh, also, the new album is about 95% sax-free, FWIW.

― Josh in Chicago

FAIL. The big man Clarence Clemens is the most awesome human ever.

I'd sure love to hear a Byrdsy Boss.

I think Magic is super!

I know that in 1992 people said Lucky Town might be better than Human Touch, but on the whole I'm not even sure it is; they really do feel somewhat of a muchness ... don't they? I like both but still you can feel he's historically under par.

The unwritten rule says that the quality of a Springsteen album is directy proportional to the number of sax solos in it. So, mathematically, this album royally sucks Greg Kot OTM

^omtfm

(about the sax solos, that is)

I'm listening to the new LP on spotify; goodness, it's terrific!

Oh man, one of my favorite performances anywhere has made it to YouTube. These versions of "Seeds" and "Born in the U.S.A." are the definitive ones for me, never been better. I think this is one of the first times he played these songs acoustic and live.

Are those performances available officially on DVD anywhere?

For any skeptics out there, please let this video answer the question for you.

I've seen it a hundred times and it still gives me chills.

Prove It All Night - Passaic, NJ 1978
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3vUKBOJ5sU

I came in here to post this picture but after reading all the hate, I had to post what converted me. Anyway, here he is with some other guys:

http://www.brucespringsteen.net/photos/miscphotos/gallery-whitehousedec16.jpg

ok so

i'm watching bruce's "storytellers" right now and like

he's breaking his own songs down like an english professor it's weird and cool

he like sings a line and then does exegesis

"la la laaa la la la la la laaaa....once again, there is an unspoken subtext about the power of rock n roll here. what do the la la las say? they say 'sing with me,' they also say 'stand by me and we will stand together in this'"

^^^^^ actual quote

"did i think of all this before i wrote it? no, of course not, but i felt it as i wrote it. after years of storytelling you internalize the mechanics of your craft and the song itself becomes a second language, and communicating through it becomes second nature"

^^^^^^^ as concise an explanation of how that kinda thing works as anything i've ever heard

Yeah, Springsteen puts a heck of a lot more thought into what he does than many give him credit for. He's a real craftsman. That "Songs" coffee table book is full of illuminating self-analysis.

Haha ok in the credits it just listed after like DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY and shit

INSPIRATION
Ray Davies

brooce probably saw the ray davies storyteller episode, which is worth yr time as well.

i don't actually know any kinks songs tbh

Springsteen puts a heck of a lot more thought into what he does than many give him credit for. He's a real craftsman.

YEP. those who reflexively assume otherwise are not paying nearly enough attention to his interviews, or to the work itself, for that matter.

i bet you would dig 'em hoos

Yeah, Springsteen puts a heck of a lot more thought into what he does than many give him credit for. He's a real craftsman. That "Songs" coffee table book is full of illuminating self-analysis.

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, October 7, 2010 1:39 PM (18 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

really cuz i see him as almost too much of a studied guy really, he seems like he really came out packaged as a concept...i really loved bruce but now i almost see the "wires" too much...as compared to like van morrison who i really can't even comphrehend as a human being or artist...

or maybe a better way to put it is that the whole thing can seem overly labored over

(not that i don't love some of his albums and songs still, tho more and more the ones i love most are the earlier less "mature" ones cuz they seem messier and with more of a real spark of life to them)

yeah, the "craft" element of bruce kind of bugs me too, on occasion. it's like, each song has a "point" and once you get that point, the song loses something. (don't get me wrong, i love the guy, but i don't put him up there with dylan/young, etc.).

and yeah hoos, you should check the kinks out, they are a true joy. here's a suggestion: http://rootstrata.com/rootblog/?p=3524

Haha ok in the credits it just listed after like DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY and shit

INSPIRATION
Ray Davies

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Thursday, October 7, 2010 2:53 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark

Davies was the inspiration for the whole "Storytellers" series. He did a tour in 1995/96 called, oddly enough, "Ray Davies: Storyteller," and I *think* one such show was shown on VH1.

huh interesting

thx for the link tyler, lookin now

oh, right. so is davies listed on every storytellers episode?
i guess that "making of darkness on the edge of town" doc is on hbo tonight? wish i had hbo.

oh shit is it

I saw that Ray Davies "Storyteller" tour. It was fascinating I thought(I didn't know alot about him)--his tales of growing up and making music with his brother and the solo material he sang.

yeah tonight at 8 central

kind of a terrible poster but
http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l9xo1kzEKT1qzjvwlo1_400.jpg

Didn't someone suggest that Springsteen never did all this self-analysis of his songs before he met Jon Landau and Dave Marsh? I read that somewhere.

I like that poster. One Bruce goes one way, the other Bruce goes the other way, and this guy's sayin', Whaddya want from me?

xpost i'm sure that having those rock crits whispering in his ear made him think differently about his songwriting.