Bruce Springsteen

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Also UpForGrabs
PS. What are the flaws of Something In The Night?

It’s a frustrating song and my frustrations in it really highlight my frustrations with Darkness on the Edge of Town. My problem is that I find it so enjoyable while at the same time finding it remarkably flawed. It tries far too hard, spends too long avoiding the sections of the song which make it great.

I feel that about some songs but it is hard to articulate. Parts that really hook you in, get the adrenaline going and other parts that have you biding your time waiting for the next bit to come. In this case I probably think that the intro was too long and the fact that we had no real tempo change for 3 minutes, before leading into a rousing bridge and then back down into a crystal clear haunting vocal with a heartbeat drumbeat, and a big finish. It made me feel like it took a long time to go anywhere. I definitely preferred the back end of the song verses with less accompaniment.

Having said that, I might be completely opposite to the point he was trying to make.

 

[Cruyff14]

I feel that about some songs but it is hard to articulate. Parts that really hook you in, get the adrenaline going and other parts that have you biding your time waiting for the next bit to come. In this case I probably think that the intro was too long and the fact that we had no real tempo change for 3 minutes, before leading into a rousing bridge and then back down into a crystal clear haunting vocal with a heartbeat drumbeat, and a big finish. It made me feel like it took a long time to go anywhere. I definitely preferred the back end of the song verses with less accompaniment.

Having said that, I might be completely opposite to the point he was trying to make.

I think it is a ****ing fantastic song. Came in at number 8 or 9 from memory. From the opening wails, through to Roy's piano, to Max behind the kit, and that killer drum/guitar sequence near the end, just great for me. You can hear the pain in his voice, I think the lyrics are great (not on the level of the upper echelon songs, but they're very good IMO). It's just an all round great song. Oh and the breakdown in that final verse. Wow.

Have you worked out who is going with you yet mate?

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Have you worked out who is going with you yet mate?

No. Looks like daughter is not going and a work mate will buy the ticket. Wife is also thinking about not going but I am sure I can offload the other ticket as well.

 

[Cruyff14]

No. Looks like daughter is not going and a work mate will buy the ticket. Wife is also thinking about not going but I am sure I can offload the other ticket as well.

Sure is an understatement lol.

----
In other news, Bruce is being honoured by Musicares today. There was an auction going for a signed guitar of his. He then took over the auctioneering, threw in a personal guitar lesson, 8 tickets + backstage passes + his mothers lasagna and a ride in his Harley Davidson side car. Went for $250,000. Yes, $250,000. Wow.

 

[UpForGrabs]

Also UpForGrabs, in your countdown I came across something that is rather relevant in this post


It was the bolded part, about The Big Man. Thankfully, your statement turned out to be wrong. I had no idea what was gonna happen when Clarence died, but I am glad Bruce found a replacement, and there wouldn't have been a more fitting one than Jake. I'm happy that the E-Street Band is still kicking on and while it's never going to the same as it was when Clarence was around, I think Jake's doing a damn fine job.

Yeah - was wrong on that to a point. The band has continued on, and even though with the addition of a cast of thousands, it's still the E-Street Band in name and character.

But without Clemons and Danny Federici (we can never forget Federici - he was (to me anyway) almost as integral) it can never be the same. The 'show must go on' as the saying goes, but without those two, it goes on but not in the way that it went before.

I said when Clarence died that my hope was for the E-Street name to be retired, and for Bruce to tour with just Roy, Stevie, Gary and Max as a blistering five-piece band. Would love to the hear the results of that.

PS. What are the flaws of Something In The Night?

It's a great song, don't get me wrong... but it strives for a perfection that it can never reach. It has some moments which are transcendant - the "nothing is forgotten or forgiven" part is probably in the five best soundbites of the man's career, too much of the song is spent in a dirge-like state, and you know it's because it's building to something huge. The problem is that when it gets to the something huge part it then retreats from it and leaves you wanting more.

But the album on a whole is flawed. It's got a production style that I don't care for. Born to Run was operatic and because it was operatic it could afford to be grandiose. Darkness on the Edge of Town doesn't have that operatic side to it, but it still goes for the grandiose. Bruce's vocals on the album aren't honestly recorded that well. He's far too high in the mix, and the band sound like they were sometimes recorded underwater, as though Bruce wanted to remind people that after years of his band being spoken of so highly, that he was still in charge (hence Clarence being relegated big-time on the album).

But you can't blame the guy - he had all these fantastic songs and he wasn't allowed to enter the studio for two years, so by the time that he got there he was under pressure to capitalise on Born to Run after a layoff that was far too long for that point in history. You can forgive him for trying too hard that first time out of the gates, it would have been like that long cab ride home after being at the pub all night.... where you can't wait to get home and have the world's biggest piss

I know you don't agree, but I think he steadied the course with The River. It's probably my second or third favourite album of his. All we need now is for him to remaster the damn thing, because the CDs of it sound like shit.

 

[UpForGrabs]

I feel that about some songs but it is hard to articulate. Parts that really hook you in, get the adrenaline going and other parts that have you biding your time waiting for the next bit to come. In this case I probably think that the intro was too long and the fact that we had no real tempo change for 3 minutes, before leading into a rousing bridge and then back down into a crystal clear haunting vocal with a heartbeat drumbeat, and a big finish. It made me feel like it took a long time to go anywhere. I definitely preferred the back end of the song verses with less accompaniment.

Having said that, I might be completely opposite to the point he was trying to make.

Nope - pretty much spot on.

 

[Cruyff14]

Yeah - was wrong on that to a point. The band has continued on, and even though with the addition of a cast of thousands, it's still the E-Street Band in name and character.

But without Clemons and Danny Federici (we can never forget Federici - he was (to me anyway) almost as integral) it can never be the same. The 'show must go on' as the saying goes, but without those two, it goes on but not in the way that it went before.

I said when Clarence died that my hope was for the E-Street name to be retired, and for Bruce to tour with just Roy, Stevie, Gary and Max as a blistering five-piece band. Would love to the hear the results of that.

I get what you mean and I do agree, but I am definitely not complaining in the slightest.

That five piece band would have been cool! Would limit a lot of things though.

It's a great song, don't get me wrong... but it strives for a perfection that it can never reach. It has some moments which are transcendant - the "nothing is forgotten or forgiven" part is probably in the five best soundbites of the man's career, too much of the song is spent in a dirge-like state, and you know it's because it's building to something huge. The problem is that when it gets to the something huge part it then retreats from it and leaves you wanting more.

But the album on a whole is flawed. It's got a production style that I don't care for. Born to Run was operatic and because it was operatic it could afford to be grandiose. Darkness on the Edge of Town doesn't have that operatic side to it, but it still goes for the grandiose. Bruce's vocals on the album aren't honestly recorded that well. He's far too high in the mix, and the band sound like they were sometimes recorded underwater, as though Bruce wanted to remind people that after years of his band being spoken of so highly, that he was still in charge (hence Clarence being relegated big-time on the album).

But you can't blame the guy - he had all these fantastic songs and he wasn't allowed to enter the studio for two years, so by the time that he got there he was under pressure to capitalise on Born to Run after a layoff that was far too long for that point in history. You can forgive him for trying too hard that first time out of the gates, it would have been like that long cab ride home after being at the pub all night.... where you can't wait to get home and have the world's biggest piss

I know you don't agree, but I think he steadied the course with The River. It's probably my second or third favourite album of his. All we need now is for him to remaster the damn thing, because the CDs of it sound like shit.

I think you're the only person I have seen that isn't that big on Darkness! )I listened to BToR again this afternoon and from the opening chords on Thunder Road you can tell it's destined for great things. It is an absolute masterpiece.) By production I assume you mean the sound? It is an angry album and gets me fired up, you listen to songs like Badlands, Adam Raised a Cain, Prove It All Night and Streets of Fire and you can't help but feel the fury Bruce is feeling. It is obviously a completely different sound to BToR, and obviously is not operatic. I don't have that much problem with his vocal he has that what I call "late 70s Bruce sound" he had going on at the time, which pretty much extended into The River too IMO. I have always preferred live Bruce to studio Bruce and most songs I listen to are live versions from this tour or the WOAD tour simply because I prefer his voice as it has gotten older.

I guess you're right about Clarence too. Didn't really notice that but he isn't as integral on Darkness as he is on BToR for instance. But I guess that's just due to the sound of the album.

The River is an album I have never sat through, it is a bit of mixed bag of an album as far as emotion goes. You have your upbeat songs like Hungry Heart, Out In The Street, Two Hearts, Ties That Bind, but on the other hand you have things like Independence Day, The River, Point Blank and so on. It has some good songs (for me), but they aren't great. Drive All Night, while it may not be my favourite Bruce song, it is for me the best song and album and definitely one of his best.

I suppose it is grandiose in a way, not on BToR level but as far as sound goes, it is kind of "big", for lack of a better word.

 

[UpForGrabs]

Don't get me wrong - Darkness is a sold 8 out of 10 (at most), but the album is dwarved by the tour that followed. I'd rather listen to my bootlegs from the tour than the album.

You're right about it being his 'angry' album. I just don't think his vocals had reached the point where they could correctly convey that anger.

 

[Cruyff14]

Don't get me wrong - Darkness is a sold 8 out of 10 (at most), but the album is dwarved by the tour that followed. I'd rather listen to my bootlegs from the tour than the album.

You're right about it being his 'angry' album. I just don't think his vocals had reached the point where they could correctly convey that anger.

What are your thoughts on the Paramount Theatre performances? I don't mind some of the album performances - Streets of Fire in particular is amazing. He burns through it, and in a good way.

River Bruce = peak Bruce?

 

[UpForGrabs]

What are your thoughts on the Paramount Theatre performances? I don't mind some of the album performances - Streets of Fire in particular is amazing. He burns through it, and in a good way.

Funnily enough - for a song that I think is probably one of the 'weaker' on the album, 'Streets of Fire' is actually one which comes across well.

Again, everything needs to be taken into context, because being the weakest song on Darkness on the Edge of Town is akin to complaining that you hooked up with the 'weaker' Playboy centrefold.

As for the Paramount Theatre performances, are you talking about the live recording done for the Darkness box set? If so, they're not bad at all. I've mentioned it before but I've got a problem with Bruce getting lazy on his vocal work, just coasting through sections of songs with a twang and a drawl. He doesn't do it all the time, but it bugs me when he does it on my favourite songs, like 'Racing in the Street':



Again, not saying it's bad (because how could that song ever be bad??), but it makes me wish that he put as much into at as he does 'Badlands'. Having said that, I think it's plainly obvious that 'Badlands' holds a bigger piece of Bruce's heart than 'Racing in the Street' does.

River Bruce = peak Bruce?

To me, peak Bruce starts with the Darkness tour and finishes with the release of Nebraska... 1978-1982.

That Darkness tour was really something else. Just months of balls-to-the-wall rock and roll. I don't even think an acoustic guitar came out on stage that whole tour. Then he went straight into the sessions for The River pretty much and was just oozing great song after another. By the time The River tour came around his voice was at its peak. Never better than 1980 and 1981. He'd got an edge that he didn't have a few years earlier. Then he goes and turns thing completely on its head with Nebraska.

Born in the USA is a fine album, and those sessions produced countless great songs, but the album is definitely a product of its time, and you can't really say that about any of his albums before that. The Born in the USA tour is unlistenable to me, unfortunately, because I'm pretty sure the band were on another level. Bruce gave Max Weinberg's drums and 80s synth sound the whole tour and ugghh. At least Bruce had the drums re-recorded for the Live 1975-85 box set, getting rid of that drum machine-esque sound.

 

[Cruyff14]

Funnily enough - for a song that I think is probably one of the 'weaker' on the album, 'Streets of Fire' is actually one which comes across well.

Again, everything needs to be taken into context, because being the weakest song on Darkness on the Edge of Town is akin to complaining that you hooked up with the 'weaker' Playboy centrefold.

As for the Paramount Theatre performances, are you talking about the live recording done for the Darkness box set? If so, they're not bad at all. I've mentioned it before but I've got a problem with Bruce getting lazy on his vocal work, just coasting through sections of songs with a twang and a drawl. He doesn't do it all the time, but it bugs me when he does it on my favourite songs, like 'Racing in the Street':



Again, not saying it's bad (because how could that song ever be bad??), but it makes me wish that he put as much into at as he does 'Badlands'. Having said that, I think it's plainly obvious that 'Badlands' holds a bigger piece of Bruce's heart than 'Racing in the Street' does.

For me Factory is the weakest song on Darkness. The best is Racing and by quite some margin. Absolutely love Streets, the wails (again), the organs filling during the first verse, and boom, that guitar is a ripper. And his solo, woweeeee oh boy.

The Paramount Theatre performances are among the greatest things Bruce has done IMO. Loved that he could draw all of that passion in front of an empty theatre and still give it his all. Racing is a highlight for me on that, brilliant. That outro is amazing, my dad loves it. Passaic version is kickass, and I guess he does put more into it than the Paramount version, but I still think it's amazing.

Hmmm interesting, never thought about that. I'm not actually sure what his favourite song his (I know Steve for instance loves Cynthia and Loose Ends), but I guess some songs do mean more to him than others, but, after all, they're all his babies.

To me, peak Bruce starts with the Darkness tour and finishes with the release of Nebraska... 1978-1982.

That Darkness tour was really something else. Just months of balls-to-the-wall rock and roll. I don't even think an acoustic guitar came out on stage that whole tour. Then he went straight into the sessions for The River pretty much and was just oozing great song after another. By the time The River tour came around his voice was at its peak. Never better than 1980 and 1981. He'd got an edge that he didn't have a few years earlier. Then he goes and turns thing completely on its head with Nebraska.

Born in the USA is a fine album, and those sessions produced countless great songs, but the album is definitely a product of its time, and you can't really say that about any of his albums before that. The Born in the USA tour is unlistenable to me, unfortunately, because I'm pretty sure the band were on another level. Bruce gave Max Weinberg's drums and 80s synth sound the whole tour and ugghh. At least Bruce had the drums re-recorded for the Live 1975-85 box set, getting rid of that drum machine-esque sound.

His studio sound for me I guess peaked around the same time I'd say, but as contradictory as it's gonna sound, I prefer his voice as he's gotten older (except that terrible twang he employed on the Tom Joad tour - although the version of Saint from that tour sounds great!), ugh. I like it when he can hit those high ooooh's and aaaaah's which I refer to as 70s Bruce. It is seen here in Streets of Fire at 3.48 till about 4.10. I'm not sure why he doesn't do it more often? Do you have any idea as to why? I absolutely love it when he rips it out.



Yeah The River, I don't know. I don't see the fuss

Yes, not that big on the Born In The USA tour as far as sound goes, it's definitely when Bruce peaked physically, he's a rig on that tour. But the drums are very loud and the snare gives off too much of a boom, I've never really warmed to it that much. That tour version of Atlantic City is pretty brutal though.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Just reminding myself of the setlist for the only show I have seen Springsteen live. So many songs I enjoy and this show is probably the reason I am partial to them.

Born in the U.S.A.
Darlington County
Out in the Street
Working on the Highway
Johnny 99
Nebraska
Reason to Believe
The River
Johnny Bye-Bye
Glory Days
The Promised Land
Badlands
Thunder Road
Cover Me
Dancing in the Dark
Hungry Heart
Cadillac Ranch
I'm Goin' Down
I'm on Fire
Pink Cadillac
Bobby Jean
Racing in the Street
Can't Help Falling in Love (Elvis Presley cover)
Born to Run
Who'll Stop the Rain? (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)
Ramrod
Rockin' All Over the World
(John Fogerty cover)
Twist and Shout (The Top Notes cover)

 

[Cruyff14]

What on Earth happened to your post?

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

What on Earth happened to your post?

Cut and paste job picks up the video formatting tags. Fixed

 

[Cruyff14]

They don't work, need a username and PW.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

They don't work, need a username and PW.

Yeah, forget the links, they just came with the cut and paste.

The original page is here:
http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/bruce...beth-stadium-brisbane-australia-23d7b023.html

I digress, or rather you digress. The list is what is important! Rained for the second half of the concert. Somehow we were able to leave our seats in the stands and work our way into the crowd in front of the stage. What a night!

 

[Cruyff14]

If it rains at any concert here he will play Who'll Stop The Rain. It's a certainty.

 

[Zuma]

Bruce was honored as Musicares person of the year last night and a great tribute from Musicare regulars and a rousing set to finish by the man himself

 

[DrVanNostrand]

Just reminding myself of the setlist for the only show I have seen Springsteen live. So many songs I enjoy and this show is probably the reason I am partial to them.

'85 Aussie tour I'm guessing?

 

[DrVanNostrand]

Thread needs more mindless 90s pop.

I'll be your gypsy joker, your shotgun riderrrrrrr
Baaaaaaaaaaby let me be your soul driverrrrrrrrrrrr

 

[Cruyff14]

Bruce was honored as Musicares person of the year last night and a great tribute from Musicare regulars and a rousing set to finish by the man himself

Yes. Was following this on Facebook over various Bruce pages. The band with Neil Young are good, phrasing is weird though.

BToR from that concert



Would love to hear Jackson Browne's version of American Skin.

There was an auction going for a signed guitar of his. He then took over the auctioneering, threw in a personal guitar lesson, 8 tickets + backstage passes + his mothers lasagna and a ride in his Harley Davidson side car. Went for $250,000. Yes, $250,000. Wow.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

'85 Aussie tour I'm guessing?

QEII Brisbane. Really stretching my memory but I think the tickets were about $25. I remember lining up outside the gates, the line stretching for miles. By far the best outdoor concert I have been to, and I went to the Jailhouse Rock concert at Boggo Road in 1993 with Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, Dininyls, Rose Tattoo, Powderfinger and a host of others in an all day concert that went until late at night.

The thing was I had only recently been introduced to Springsteen and had only been exposed to the Born In The USA album through the mainstream success of Dancing In The Dark. He was still a virtual unknown to me at that time. So rather than being a passionate fan who got to watch an idol in action, I was just an everyday music lover dabbling in mainly top 40 DJing work at parties and events, dragged along by a work supervisor, who was converted to being a fan by virtue of an awesome concert. I had never seen anything that exciting. It was the irresistable charisma, the way the ensemble interracted and had fun, the crowd engagement and the story telling that made me go out and buy all of his albums after the fact.

 

[Zuma]

QEII Brisbane. Really stretching my memory but I think the tickets were about $25. I remember lining up outside the gates, the line stretching for miles. By far the best outdoor concert I have been to, and I went to the Jailhouse Rock concert at Boggo Road in 1993 with Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, Dininyls, Rose Tattoo, Powderfinger and a host of others in an all day concert that went until late at night.

The thing was I had only recently been introduced to Springsteen and had only been exposed to the Born In The USA album through the mainstream success of Dancing In The Dark. He was still a virtual unknown to me at that time. So rather than being a passionate fan who got to watch an idol in action, I was just an everyday music lover dabbling in mainly top 40 DJing work at parties and events, dragged along by a work supervisor, who was converted to being a fan by virtue of an awesome concert. I had never seen anything that exciting. It was the irresistable charisma, the way the ensemble interracted and had fun, the crowd engagement and the story telling that made me go out and buy all of his albums after the fact.

I have Divinyls and Rose Tattoo's sets on DVD from Boggo 1993. The guitar playing of Perth based Mark McEntee is very much undersung in this country. Bruce himself is on the record of saying in the later 80's that Divinyls were one of his fave bands, so said Chrissy in her book.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

I have Divinyls and Rose Tattoo's sets on DVD from Boggo 1993. The guitar playing of Perth based Mark McEntee is very much undersung in this country. Bruce himself is on the record of saying in the later 80's that Divinyls were one of his fave bands, so said Chrissy in her book.

I never knew Bruce said that. I'm a huge Divinyls fan as well. In my top 3 with Bruce and Blondie. It is the Divinyls I want to compile a top 50 for. Well I have already done it, but have no write ups and just need to add youtube vids for.

I have the Boggo Road DVD, crap quality video, but better than nothing. Saw the Divinyls that night, once at Calamvale Hotel in Brisbane (with Frank Infante of Blondie in the band coincidentally) and again at Gold Coast Convention Centre early 2008.

 

[Cruyff14]

Had a dream last night I was at the concert. Don't remember much, but I think he played Backstreets. Excitement is building more and more each day. Really considering trying to get a ticket for the first show if I can get one at cost price.

-----

Again I have UpForGrabs to thank. I have been playing 'Real World' a lot lately. It is an absolutely mangificent song. A very beautiful one at that too. The vocal is amazing. (I would argue this could be considered near his peak too).

This is from UFG's countdown -

The common consensus among the music lovin' folk is that Bruce Springsteen, instead of releasing Human Touch and Lucky Town on the same day in 1992, should have instead taken the title track off the former and placed on the latter to make one, solid album. Human Touch is generally thought of as his worst album, and now that Mr. Hindsight has come into play, we can see that it's the right opinion. Coming off the back of a stretch of great albums from 1973, listening to Human Touch for the first time would have been jumping from a sauna to an ice bath. Which makes Rolling Stone's initial four-and-a-half star review by Anthony DeCurtis all the more jarring. Who can't see that the album is completely terrible? It’s far too long, and it's filled with songs such as 'Pony Boy', 'Man's Job' and '57 Channels (and Nothin' On)'. If it were a lesser artist, it would be unforgivable. With someone like Springsteen, it's just something you pretend didn't happen.

You could hope once upon a time that the years would ease the scorn placed upon this album, but that isn't so. Time hasn't been kind to the album at all, but it has allowed us to gain insight into the man. We've learned a few things:

1) The man wrote the most of Human Touch while in the aftermath of personal upheavel. He'd divorced his first wife and hooked up with Patti Scialfa.
2) He'd jettisoned the E Street Band, taking only Roy Bittan with him in the next step of his journey. He then hired studio musicians such as Randy Jackson to record.
3) He had, for the first time in his life, writer's block. Although the lyrics were there, the music wasn't.

'Real World' is one of the Springsteen/Bittan compositions. On Human Touch, it's horrible. There's bells and a band behind the song and it's just a mess. It certainly belongs on the songs which didn't need to be kept on the imaginary merging of Human Touch and Lucky Town. See you later, give me my five minutes back.

But that's not the full story. In November of 1990, Bruce made his first live appearances for the Christic Institute along with Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt. It was just him up on the stage with guitar and piano and a voice which has probably never been better. There was something in his voice... I'm not sure whether it was fear or trepidation, but it rang out live never before, and certainly never since. He debuted a few new songs at these gigs, and 'Real World' was one of them. The November 16 performance ranks right up there with my favourite Springsteen moments. Sure, the piano playing is clunky (to say the best), but the words ring out so clear and alive that you can't help but be lifted up.

Comparing it to the studio version isn't necessary. This (the Christic version) is the version to have. It's a completely different song almost, and if judging the song purely on its studio incarnation was a rule of this thread, then it would rank somewhere near the bottom. If basing solely on the Christic version, it would rank higher, but I've include all I know so it's here at #87. Considering the reputation of the album it came from and the songs which will miss out on my list, it's a somewhat surprising achievement. But I love this version to death and I'll defend it until my last breath.

"Well I run that hard road outta heartbreak city
Built a roadside carnival out of hurt and self-pity
It was all wrong well now I'm moving on"

It's the song of a man who doesn't want to be feeling the way he feels any more. He wants out, and he knows who he wants to pull him out of the mess he's in. Springsteen's thankful for what he's got, for all that's around him and he knows the bad days are soon to be behind him.

Listening to 'Real World' from that November 1990 night, he sings as though he finally believes what he wrote.

The best bit: Bruce's voice is magical throughout, bellowing as though he's exorcising long-held demons, but it's very early on the piece when he sings "Year gone by feels like one long day, But I'm alive and I'm feelin' all right" that gets me smiling. It's the "I'm alive" which isn't a bellow at all, rather a sigh of relief almost as though he needed to sing it to himself to finally make it so.

I implore all of you guys to listen to this if you haven't heard it. Just wow. DrVanNostrand pjcrows jpkennedy RussellEbertHandball NitroFan Gasometer JuddyBuddy Ford Fairlane The Old Dark Navy's Black Thunder