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Bruce Springsteen

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UpForGrabs said:
There's a link at the top to download it in a Word Doc. Maybe that would be better?
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Doesn't work
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UpForGrabs said:
His second-best album. The rockers are necessary. Scratch that - they're essential.

Hungry Heart is the worst song on the album.
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I reckon The River is his equal second best album with Darkness.

Bruce didn't want Hungry Heart on the album. He wanted to give it away like Because the Night and Fire, because he thought it was too light and too pop. But it was John Landau and Stevie who kept at it and kept mixing and tinkering with it.

They needed a hit single. It was their 5th album, Bruce didn't really have any money, the record company hated that he wanted to produce a double album, Bruce said a single album didn't give him enough space to say what he wanted to say, he had racked up a $1+mil recording time expense. The band was in danger of becoming irrelevant if The River didn't produce.

You should read pages 278 to 282 of Bruce by Peter Ames Carlin to get the full picture of Hungry Heart and The River but here is a bit of it...

"Eventually convinced that Hungry Heart did fit the new album and would serve nicely as the project's lead off single, Bruce gave up about the corrosive effect of the Top 10. Then he began to look forward to seeing what a hot single might do for his career - particularly when CBS publicist Paul Rappaport pulled him aside in October to tell him how strong the response from radio programmers and other industry factota had become. "I told Bruce, Hey ka-ching! That songs gonna be a hit!" Bruce beamed, "Great" he said "I've been wanting to get some new tires for my Vette!" Rappaport laughed, "I said, you can probably buy a whole Corvette factory when this is over." he just looked at me like I was crazy and walked away."

Bruce had no idea. Released on October 17, 1980, The River bolted for the top of the Billboard album chart, selling more than 1.5 million copies in the run up to Christmas. Hungry Heart released four days after the album, was ubiquitous on Top 40 radio throughout the fall, climbing to number 5 of the singles chart. None of Bruce's singles had come close to the Top 10. By the time the band got to the Rosemont Horizon arena in northern Illinois on November 20, the chiming sound of the hit song's intro so excited so excited the crowd that Bruce couldn't get the first line verse out his mouth before the fans drowned him out, shouting every word in perfect unison. "Bruce's eyes were popping out, like Holy shit!" Rappaport remembers. "He's always let the crowd do the first verse ever since, but that was the moment. The shock on his face, the pure delight. That was priceless."

(last paragraph of chapter and page 282)
And so even as The River traces human toll of economic and social inequity (particularly the title track, Jackson Cage, and The Price you Pay), the real-life verities of adult romance ( I Wanna Marry You), and the chill of emotional isolation (Stolen Car), the entire journey is geared to end with the richest possible symbolism with the bloodied wreckage and shattered body we find in Wreck on a Highway. "So at the end of the record, that's what gets introduced," Bruce says. 'The highway's closed at a certain point. You have a certain amount of miles that you can make. It's recognition of mortality."

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This confirms for me what UpForGrabs wrote on the other music form about songs from Lucky Town, that even in his happy songs, he's never really 100% happy. That is true about the happy poppy songs on the River as well.
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If you haven't got a copy of Bruce by Peter Carlin, you should because as this review says, Bruce gave him access to stuff he thought should get down on paper.

http://www.booktopia.com.au/bruce-peter-ames-carlin/prod9781471112720.html
Highly acclaimed music critic Peter Carlin tracks the Boss's dazzling ascent to fame, whilst painting a vivid portrait of the real Springsteen: an insistently private man who nevertheless would do anything for his fans.

Recently, in response to his mother's failing health, Springsteen decided he wanted to tell his story, and that he wanted Carlin to tell it. He gave Carlin many hours of interview time, including a trip to his family home, and let him preview his unreleased album. With unprecedented access to Springsteen, his family, friends and management, Carlin presents a riveting and highly personal account of Springsteen's life.
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http://www.booktopia.com.au/bruce-peter-ames-carlin/prod9781471112720.html
 

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UpForGrabs said:
You're all insane.

His second-best album. The rockers are necessary. Scratch that - they're essential.

Hungry Heart is the worst song on the album.
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I wasn't dissing the album at all, it's also one of my favourites. Probably my 4th favourite after Darkness, Wild and BTR. It's just that there are a few songs that I skip.

I was probably a bit harsh on Sherry Darling....it just suffers a bit in comparison with Ties and Jackson Cage.

However, I make no apologies for not being a fan of You Can Look or Wanna Marry You.

Cheers :)​
 
Cruyff14 said:
I'm still perplexed how Incident, NYC Serenade AND Rosie are all on the one album. It's ******* mind blowing.
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On one side even.

I know you're not a Kitty's Back fan - and that's fine (after all, I can't understand your love for some of his recent dreck), but there isn't a single weak moment on the album. The pacing is perfect and yeah... that three-song ending to the album is like nothing else you've ever heard.
 
RussellEbertHandball said:
If you haven't got a copy of Bruce by Peter Carlin, you should because as this review says, Bruce gave him access to stuff he thought should get down on paper.
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Agree. It was a sensational read and made me see a few of his songs in a whole new light. As I've mentioned somewhere before in his thread, I found that a lot of stuff about his father really resonated with me and songs such Walk Like a Man, Independance Day and Adam Raised a Cain mean even more to me now than they ever did.

I read the Marc Dolan book first (Bruce Springsteen and the Promise of Rock'n'Roll) and thought that was okay, but the Peter Carlin book was just superb. I read it before the tour and also made the rest of my family read it too.
 
paddy18 said:
Agree. It was a sensational read and made me see a few of his songs in a whole new light. As I've mentioned somewhere before in his thread, I found that a lot of stuff about his father really resonated with me and songs such Walk Like a Man, Independance Day and Adam Raised a Cain mean even more to me now than they ever did.

I read the Marc Dolan book first (Bruce Springsteen and the Promise of Rock'n'Roll) and thought that was okay, but the Peter Carlin book was just superb. I read it before the tour and also made the rest of my family read it too.
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I'm so slack, still reading the Promise of Rock n Roll one, I got it in July last year or something as well lol. I'm up to the Lucky Town/Human Touch era.
 
UpForGrabs said:
Well that just would be crossing the line.

Greatest album of all time, hands down.
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Gotta agree with this statement. I can't separate Wild and Darkness as my favourite all time albums from any artist (with the Pogues "If I Should Fall from Grace with God" a very, very close third).

If it weren't for Kitty's Back, Wild would also be my clear leader.
 

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Weird setlist. Would have been a good show, but My Hometown in the encore? Snoreeeeee

Intro: O Sole Mio (Nils, Charlie, and Roy on accordion)
1. Long Walk Home
2. My Love Will Not Let You Down
3. Out in the Street
4. Hungry Heart
5. We Take Care of Our Own
6. Wrecking Ball
7. Death to My Hometown
8. Spirit in the Night
9. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
10. The River
11. Prove It All Night (w/1978 intro)
12. Radio Nowhere
13. The Promised Land
14. Pay Me My Money Down
15. Shackled and Drawn
16. Waitin' on a Sunny Day
17. Who'll Stop the Rain
18. The Rising
19. Badlands
20. Land of Hope and Dreams

21. My Hometown
22. Born in the U.S.A.
23. Born to Run
24. Dancing in the Dark
25. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
26. Twist and Shout
27. Thunder Road (solo acoustic)
 
That "Springsteen & I" trailer doing the rounds of social media has me well and truly tearing up....God knows what I'll be like when we get to see the full thing.
 
Cruyff14 said:
This is of course what Paddy is talking about



"During the last verse of the song, the guy next to me puts his arm around me, it didn't seem weird at all."

SO TRUE!!!!!!!!!
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Yeah, sorry. I should've have put the link up myself.

Did anyone on here submit anything? I sold a ticket to RLA2 to the guy (John) who had made the Because the Night sign and proposed to his girlfriend at HR1. I talked to him a bit over the course of that week and he said that he was going to put his story in. Be interesting to see if it made the cut.

Couple of things in that trailer caught my attention:

0:35...."daddy"??...that's kinda creepy.
1:04....the bloke having a weep whilst driving...exactly the same as me in the car when I hear Incident or Backstreets (the kids think it's funny, they know what's coming)
 
I recall reading somewhere late last year that The Promise of Rock n Roll was the better book (possibly back in the depths of this thread) but this review from The Guardian sees them as companion volumes. I have the Promise of Rock n Roll but still haven't started it. Slack.

The Promise of Rock n Roll and Bruce
In America, home of the bacon milkshake and the $5m bra, there is a radio station that plays nothing but Bruce Springsteen. It makes sense when you think about it. E Street Radio caters to a longstanding American addiction ("Everybody's got a hunger, a hunger they can't resist," as the Boss himself says), and it does so with this nation's characteristic thoroughness in matters of appetite. Besides wall-to-wall Springsteen hits, the station offers the commentary of Springsteen experts, guest appearances by Springsteen insiders, and what can only be described as testimonials from Springsteen fans who call in to share the manifold ways in which, through joblessness and bankruptcy, illness and bereavement, they have felt Springsteen's spirit at work in their lives. For such people, and many like them, "Bruce" is less a recording artist than an avatar, a creed, a whole way of life.

In one sense, two new biographies – Peter Ames Carlin's Bruce (Simon & Schuster) and Marc Dolan's Bruce Springsteen and the Promise of Rock 'n' Roll (Norton) – are caller testimonials, stretched out to a combined total of more than a thousand pages. Both are the work of fans, and both bring home, with an occasionally numbing force, the etymology of that word: "abbr of fanatic" as my OED has it.

Your interest in them will likely depend on how you feel about sentences such as: "In Wisconsin, however, in one of only two known live airings of the song, 'Man at the Top' started out with Bruce on unaccompanied acoustic guitar but then added answering harmony vocals on the later choruses, with the 'all rights' and 'oh yeahs' providing a gentle comfort for which the song's narrator may not even be looking." This is from Dolan (who has no time for the other known airing of "Man at the Top", a forgettable outtake from the Born in the U.S.A. sessions), but the tone of torrid pedantry is representative of both books. Nevertheless, for those who can summon the patience, or – like this reader – simply can't help themselves, Carlin and Dolan will usefully complicate your understanding of Saint Bruce.
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The Promise of Rock n Roll and Bruce
 

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And I thought the Aussie setlists were good...

1. Who,ll Stop The Rain
2. Long Walk Home
3. My Love Will Not Let You Down
4. Out In The Street
5. Seaside Bar Song
6. Rosalita
7. Wrecking Ball
8. Death To My Hometown
9. Spirit In The Night
Born In The USA Full Album
10. Born In The Usa
11. Cover Me
12. Darlington County
13. Working On The Highway
14. Downbound Train
15. I'm On Fire
16. No Surrender
17. Bobby Jean
18. I'm Going Down
19. Glory Days
20. Dancing In The Dark
21. My Hometown
22. Waitin On A Sunny Day
23. The Rising
24. Badlands
25. Pay Me My Money Down
26. Born To Run
27. Tenth Avenue Freeze Out
28. Rockin All Over The World
29. Twist & shout
 
78) Valentine’s Day
Album: Tunnel Of Love (1986)
*New entry*

“They say if you die in your dreams, you die in your bed”

Another track off the Tunnel of Love and another track that doesn’t get enough recognition.

Imagery is at the fore front of this song. With terms like ‘one hand tremblin’ over my heart’, ‘spooky old highway’, ‘my eyes rolled straight back in my head’, you get the picture of a man who is scared, but, the song, to me, seems to be about a guy who is scared of losing a girl he loves.

In the second verse he talks about his friend having a child, it seems that after this event, it has made him realize how much he likes this girl and doesn’t want to lose her.

When Bruce does it live it seems like a much more dark song. In the recorded version, you met with a bassline which seems to just carry you along for the ride. But, in the solo versions he did on the D&D Tour, you can’t help but feel sad and lonely listening to the heartache in Bruce’s voice.

It's so peaceful -

 
Cruyff14 said:
And I thought the Aussie setlists were good...

1. Who,ll Stop The Rain
2. Long Walk Home
3. My Love Will Not Let You Down
4. Out In The Street
5. Seaside Bar Song
6. Rosalita
7. Wrecking Ball
8. Death To My Hometown
9. Spirit In The Night
Born In The USA Full Album
10. Born In The Usa
11. Cover Me
12. Darlington County
13. Working On The Highway
14. Downbound Train
15. I'm On Fire
16. No Surrender
17. Bobby Jean
18. I'm Going Down
19. Glory Days
20. Dancing In The Dark
21. My Hometown
22. Waitin On A Sunny Day
23. The Rising
24. Badlands
25. Pay Me My Money Down
26. Born To Run
27. Tenth Avenue Freeze Out
28. Rockin All Over The World
29. Twist & shout
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I dare say that this would have been the perfect setlist for the crowd at HR1, where there seemed to be a whole heap of punters bemoaning the lack of recognisable "hits" in the setlist. The BITUSA songs along with the 3 covers that everybody knows should have satisfied the casual fan.

Great set, pity the poor buggers had to stand in the pouring rain to hear it. We should be thankful that we were so fortunate with the weather at the two Hanging Rock shows.
 
paddy18 said:
I dare say that this would have been the perfect setlist for the crowd at HR1, where there seemed to be a whole heap of punters bemoaning the lack of recognisable "hits" in the setlist. The BITUSA songs along with the 3 covers that everybody knows should have satisfied the casual fan.

Great set, pity the poor buggers had to stand in the pouring rain to hear it. We should be thankful that we were so fortunate with the weather at the two Hanging Rock shows.
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I thought HR was pretty good for the casual fan, but BIT USA would have given them more satisfaction I guess. HR2 > HR1.

Pouring rain you get Who'll Stop The Rain. I love Bruce's version.
 

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Bruce Springsteen

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