Bruce Springsteen - Classic or Dud ?

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.

He's so angry he lost his verbs. ;_;

Yeah, I words when I angry.

Bruce covers AC/DC!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3rtFfGmH6Q

Now that's just awesome.

Odds that Morello is the only one on stage who owns an AC/DC album?

It's a trifle, but I really like "Frankie Fell In Love" off the new album.

It's a joyous song. I'm in the strange position of liking a Springsteen album more than most dedicated Springsteen fans. 2/3 of High Hopes is great imo. It helps that I like Morello.

Has anyone here seen the Springsteen Selfies?
http://brucespringsteen.net/news/2014/i-get-around-working-for-the-weekend

Greetings from ... (the) State of Florida! ... or as we refer to it up North ... New Jersey’s penal colony! (no offense Floridians!)

offense taken, bruce springsteen

Man, the life that guy must live.

Kids off in college so he's touring and traveling non-stop

this rules:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4octJwjb7LE#t=59

I believe he did a different iconic Aussie song on each of his Aussie stops. I mean, holy shit at this:

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

(even better because they totally fuck up Born to Run after it!)

Damn! Springsteen=the best covers artist working in 2014!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfJvrH7iQ3c

Wonder if he'll do local covers in the US next month. Can't wait until he hits Albany and plays...um...that Albany classic...song...shit, yeah, nothing here.

"I wanna be a part of it - Upstate New York!"

That INXS cover is fucking awesome.

He opened Pittsburgh last night with The Clash's "Clampdown."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuVkCxZL53o

http://imgick.nj.com/home/njo-media/width620/img/springsteen_impact/photo/14759781-mmmain.jpg

What a shame that Morello is still in this band.

truth

Love his playing. Can't fucking stand his awful, awful singing.

Morello's schtick works in Rage Against the Machine. Here, he might as well be Steve Vai.

What I love about Bruce is that he's not above this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeZmz38gkVU

I mean, come on, it takes a certain kind of guy to even bother with this, so good for him for being that guy.

One thing I love about Bruce is that none of this is spoilery; he could (and likely will) do an entirely different set next month (or next week, or the next night).

Or he may not do a song for a decade.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SIvN7ULkNE

Van Halen's "Jump"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoGL2PsPEh8

Now see, that's pretty much the only reason to have Morello in your band, and even then, I'm pretty sure Nils would have done better. He's a secret tapping wiz:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9Wu3maOs44

Lofgren is twice the guitarist Morello is, fo sho

You can do it, too! But patience, grasshopper:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtEbZ-NioIc

Bring your own hat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd6c6z2owak

'Stayin Alive'

holy shit this is good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n1GT-VjjVs&feature=youtu.be

Saw him last night, and he brought out "Stayin' Alive" (by request).

This was my first time seeing him and yeah, I think this kid is goin' places. Holy fucking shit.

There was a lot of audience participation: a woman got up and danced with him for most of a song; a couple of "whaddya call 'em now...tweens?" requested "Seaside Bar Song," and danced onstage with him; and, the point at which I got something in my eye, he danced with a fan's mom (who was also a fan) to "Save The Last Dance For Me" for Mother's Day.

He opened with "Don't Change" (which was great, but I was hoping for "Clampdown"), did a bunch of new stuff I hadn't heard, a bunch of old stuff at the end, and a few things that I think (?) are rarely played -- the aforementioned "Seaside Bar Song," "Mary's Place," "Something in the Night," "Ramrod."

no matter how lukewarm I get about his albums these days, I'll always go see him live

dude puts on a SHOW

Imagine what a bummer it would be if he ever went the Prince route, where some nights it's the best thing you've ever seen, and some nights he just did not give a fuck. Fortunately Bruce currently gives enough fucks to carry all the other acts who do not give a fuck.