I listened to "The Rising" (the song) off "The Essential Bruce Springsteen" the other day - and damn, that song is good! Gives me hope that his stuff since the dual albums of '92 ("Human Touch" and "Lucky Town") are good. Since the Boss has released only 15 studio albums, I'm gonna to try to get them all and probably the triple CD live album and "Tracks". Oh, and the saxophone part by Clarence Clemons on "Jungleland" is freaking epic! dandorotik - what are your favorite songs of Bruce off "Tracks" and "18 Tracks"?
I've never really enjoyed Springsteen's music, but I enjoyed the song "American Skin (41 shots)." Its quite powerful. <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2kCbXkYbI6o&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2kCbXkYbI6o&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
Part Man Part Monkey, The Fever, The Promise, Brothers Under the Bridge. I know this is completely biased, but I really do like them all. My favorite song that's not on a studio album, by far, is their version of Jimmy Cliff's "Trapped." "Roulette" is awesome, too. The 5 consecutive albums Springsteen released between Born to Run and Nebraska are, in my opinion, among the best in all of rock, easily top 5. Did I already say Born To Run is the perfect album? If I ever make a list of all-time 20 favorite songs, honestly, 4 of them are on that album (Born to Run, Thunder Road, Backstreets, Jungleland). Some people probably say it's too upbeat or "anthemic," but I'll take this any day over doom-and-gloom music. And just think, after taking months and years to make this album, when Springsteen listened to the demo tape they were going to use to make the album, with the songs in order, he hated it so much he threw it out the window. Luckily his manager Jon Landau stepped in, told him to cut the crap (he used a more pointed word), and "just release the damn thing!" Springsteen listened and the rest was, as they say, history.
Rosalita. I saw Bruce and the E Street Band at Liberty Hall in Houston early in his career. Maybe 3-400 people in the club, packed? They played for 3-4 hours and by the time the group launched into Rosalita, your hair was standing on end, the whole place was rockin', everyone dancing. It was great!
You and I have similar tastes. BTR has been on my desert island list lately. And I already know what you think about Cheap Trick. What do you think about Thin Lizzy? Phil Lynott is like a hard rock Springsteen IMO.
<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sNtFBrYciII&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sNtFBrYciII&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
and one more, same song, different version: <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mXGNq2-S06I&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mXGNq2-S06I&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> people, get ready, there's a train a-comin'
Great group. Jailbreak is obviously the classic, but the others are good, too. I have to be honest and say I'm not that well-versed in T.L.'s music- maybe I need to be. Springsteen's music, particularly Born to Run, is what I would call anthemic. Upbeat, builds from a low to high crescendo (Thunder Road, Jungleland), and is generally just very moving, somewhat sentimental but not overly so. Cheap Trick has many songs like this- Surrender, Dream Police, I Can't Take It, Stop This Game, etc. Probably the other groups/artists that are similar would be: The Who (Who's Next) U2 (Achtung Baby) The Kinks (Give The People What They Want) Genesis (particularly Duke) The Clash (London Calling) The Ramones (Ramones Mania) Radiohead (OK Computer) Queen (The Game) The Beatles (Hard Day's Night) I think if you like Born To Run, lyrically, you'll like Thin Lizzy, The Who, Elvis Costello, Billy Joel (pre-The Bridge), and Van Morrison. If BTR is more about the music, then you'll want to really listen to Duke from Genesis, Achtung Baby from U2, Power Windows from Rush, and Who's Next from The Who.
Some great albums there, especially Duke by Genesis. I agree with you on everything you said but wanted to add that Springsteen's music, especially the early stuff reminds me so much of Meat Loaf/Jim Steinman - maybe it is because Steinman used Roy Bittan to play piano on all of his songs. Legend had it that Steinman loved "Born to Run" so much that he sought out Bittan to play on "Bat Out of Hell" and Roy has played on every Jim production since ("Making Love Out of Nothing at All, Total Eclipse of the Heart, etc.).
No Incident on 57th Street? I've been listening to Darkness on the Edge of Town the last few days; it's great.
Yes, except that I just really, really dislike Bat Out of Hell. It does have the Bittan touch, but the lyrics, the music- bleh! I tried very hard to like Meatloaf, but I just can't.
Believe me, a lot of people dislike the groups I like- matter of fact, my best friend can't stand Springsteen: "his voice is horrible," "his melodies are really boring, like Born in the U.S.A. and I'm Going Down," "etc, etc," Doesn't bother me- he's totally wrong, but that's his opinion. His favorite is Pink Floyd, and while I really like their music, they're definitely not in my top 30. Meatloaf? It just always reminds me of showtune music. A lot of artists were influenced by Springsteen's style in terms of both music and lyrics. Bob Seger, for example. He wrote Night Moves as a direct response to that as well as Van Morrison's music. But with Seger, he makes it his own- acoustic guitar, understated piano, etc. Thin Lizzy's Boys are Back in Town also cited- but again, it's uniquely Thin Lizzy, with the duel guitars and Lynott's gruff singing. Whenever I listen to Meatloaf, it's almost like he's trying too hard to filter Bruce Springsteen's music through Billy Joel's style. But I can see why people like his music- anthemic, fast-paced, etc. Just not for me. In conversations over the years with various people, it's amazing the types of opinions you're exposed to "The Rolling Stones are a 2nd-class garage band," "The Beatles were just in the right place at the right time," "Radiohead is the most annoying, whining group of all time," "U2 is overrated," etc. Amazing. This is probably going to get put on Manny's Ignore list, but I've personally never been a big fan of Neil Young. I tried, I bought Decade, After the Gold Rush, Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, Tonight's the Night, etc. Just could never get into him at all- though I do like Tonight's the Night as a personal favorite. Same with The Grateful Dead, Fleetwood Mac, and Santana. I admire their greatness, but just don't listen to them all that much.
