Bruce Springsteen - Classic or Dud ?

songwriting-wise it feels very close to devils and dust and the arrangements are awesome

It’s sort of Devils & Dust pt. 2, of all things

yeah! huge plus for me, i love that record, "long time comin'" is my favorite springsteen song

yeah it feels better than Magic - more even & more of a consistent mood

I fear Trump may have ruined "Sleepy Joe's Cafe"

i fear the arrangement might have ruined that one. it sounds like it's on the wrong album. the river, maybe? the eddie & the cruisers soundtrack?

man I love this album, to my ears his best full album since Born in the USA.

That's crazy to me, but I'm glad you're enjoying it.

He sat in with Southside Johnny this weekend and played or played on maybe 6 songs, like "Talk to Me," "Kitty's Back" and "The Fever," which is the most he's played live in some time, let alone in electric mode. Implies he's gearing up for maybe a band tour.

He said something recently about him and the E-Street Band going out next year.

He's hinted at it, but he's also said (I think) that he has enough material for an E Street album, so one presumes they have to record a new album first. Next year is still pretty far away, though, especially for old guys.

BTW I have a friend who has interviewed most of these dudes before, and it's amazing how NDA-level cagey they are about plans, album or otherwise.

Next year is still pretty far away, though, especially for old guys

no, wait, that's not how it works for old guys. for old guys, next year is like three hours from now.

A three-hour concert from now...

Also: This revive led me to pull Darkness... from the stacks to spin this afternoon.

Thank You Thread!

Lol at this last bunch of posts

A bit late to this, but just wanted to say that I think the title track on the new album is genuinely very, very good. Not sold on the rest of the album though I like a few of the songs. But "Western Stars," the song, is glorious.

Love the way the strings get more and more dramatic as the speaker drinks himself into maudlin nostalgic fantasy, and the way the word "friend" addressed to the anonymous stranger who's buying him drinks gets more emotionally needy and more sadly ironic at the same time, and the way it all builds to this glorious drunken vision of the riders on Sunset, until his fantasy world finally collapses and we're back where we began, at the start of another empty day. It actually reminds me of "Thunder Road" in the way it builds and builds and then drops down to a final line, except that here there's no time left and nowhere for the speaker to go, except further into his own mind.

I've gotten totally obsessed with Springsteen in the last few months. Before I was just kind of a casual fan, then I listened to "Nebraska" all the way through and now I can't stop. It's a sickness.

The other day I found myself having Deep Thoughts about the meaning of the song "I'm a Rocker," and I was like, "shit, this has gone too far."

If I ever have a kid I will name it Terry and raise it gender-neutral as a token of my love for Bruce.

public service announcement: THIS IS THE ONE TO GET

http://live.brucespringsteen.net/live-music/0,22963/Bruce-Springsteen---The-E-Street-Band-mp3-flac-download-9-19-1978-Capitol-Theatre-Passaic-NJ.html

(and Roxy and Agora too, obviously. Winterland still only available as a bootleg but if they continue upgrading all the legendary ones it's surely still coming)

not even a bruce superfan, but this show is monumental — looking forward to checking it out in non-bootleg form.

This one, Roxy and Winterland are the holy grail recordings of 1978.

Been forever since I actually listened to Passaic (either night). This official release of course sounds great, but it was always a great sounding show. Amazing to hear it really kick in after a few songs with "The Promised Land."

I listened to him again, after seeing a movie about a young British Asian kid who got into Bruce, set in the early 80s. I'm definitely not a fan of big stadium US rock, but Springsteen's live presence makes him an important exception. That 'Woah!' on a D11 chord in Born to Run is a transcendent moment

I liked his stuff until he got all twangy

When was that?

hearing at what point someone stopped liking Springsteen is fascinating
I wish people would do that with the Replacements too

All Shook Down’s their Lucky Town.

I recently got way into Springsteen, but I'm really not interested in anything after of Tunnel of Love. It's not that I think it's all bad, exactly, it's just that something feels off to me even in the better songs. Maybe it feels like he's trying harder to do the things that used to come naturally.

No, you're not wrong. There's some good stuff, but after Tunnel you can sort of hear the thought put into it, when before it seemed more effortless (despite all the effort he was putting in).

Ghost of Tom Joad has held up better than I thought it would

xpost That's partly why stuff from Tom Joad or even The Rising worked so much better live.

wouldn't blame anyone for stoping at tunnel. regardless i love almost all of magic and devils and dust and we shall overcome is better than either and one of his best records etc.

I haven't been able to listen to Western Stars more than once. I regard Devils and Dust really high, and The Rising, Magic and Wrecking Ball all were good-to-very good, with many great songs that get somewhat unfairly overlooked. It's not like he's on a post-New Adventures In Hi Fi rut or anything like it.

On the other hand I find "Working on a Dream" barely listenable, and I can't believe High Hopes made it to #2 in the RS albums of the year list.

I only got to see him live once, but it was by far the best experience I've ever had on a stadium and I won't die happy if I don't get to do it at least one more time. Everything's been written about it everywhere, it's all cliche but it's also true.

Really, Springsteen's output of the last 20 years is way better than it needs to be.

Actually, I do love the Seeger album as much as any of his stuff.

well, that could be hyperbole, but I like it a lot.

Oh, that one's great, yeah.

And Springsteen produced it himself! Just like Dylan produces himself. I wonder if Springsteen produced all of his later albums himself if they would be better. Brendan O'Brien might be right for Pearl Jam, but really did Bruce no favors.

It's actually him and Landau, just like all the classics.

I bet he finds self-producing to be a shitload of work and he, Scialfa and the kids are better off outsourcing it.

I'm a big Glen Campbell fan so I love love love Western Stars.

yeah i like it a lot

I like a lot of it but find it really depressing.

I only listened to it once ...

I like the title track, Tucson Train, Hello Sunshine and Stones, don't mind the rest. But he sounds even more depressed than usual on it, and it bums me out.

The Rising was my first Springsteen album, just out of university, so it has a special place for me, even the bad tracks. “let’s be friends” still makes me grin like an idiot. “nothing man” is one of my favourites in the “Bruce does lonely synth ballad” genre

But I could give or take everything he’s released since except the Seeger album and a couple tracks on Magic.

I love him though, obviously

More importantly, having seen him lots and lots, there are very few, if any, blatant beer line songs (Waiting on a Sunny Day, maybe, though I liked that one when Rising came out), even when the set is heavy on new stuff. Even the Working on a Dream tour was pretty good, even if it was packed with his weakest material that I don't want to see performed again.

I would love to see him live. Up until a few months ago, I liked his music but hadn't really paid that much attention - hadn't listened to half his classic albums, had no idea that his concerts were supposed to be something special. Then, under the pressure of first-year teaching burnout, I listened to Nebraska and immediately had to immerse myself in all things Bruce. I'm kicking myself now for not even trying to see him when he was touring.

He hasn't announced any sort of slowdown has he? I'd think the next studio project has to be E-street?

Glad I got to catch the Magic tour. I'll probably travel to catch the band once more.

Liking Western Stars a lot in the meantime

Yeah, he's saying he wants to make another record with the E-Street Band and then tour, but as far as I know he hasn't finished writing the songs for it, so it could be a while.

if you are a fan & haven’t seen him live, i highly recommend it if you ever get the chance. one of the best performers around.

Of all time, really.

I predict, based on a few factors, that he and the E Street band will tour sometime in late 2020, 2021 at the absolute latest, but I would wager 2020 and also that it could be among the last of his band barnstormers. They're all getting older, and to be honest the last couple of times I saw Springsteen live were the first couple of times he remotely showed his age. Singing was rougher, stage demeanor slightly more subdued. Great shows, though!

Tbf the Stones are a few years older, but they have been sticking to pretty safe 2 hour sets. I'm not sure if Springsteen would do that.