Bruce Springsteen – Lucky Town – 1992 That’s better. The songs of Lucky Town are much more stripped down, less “produced” and poignant and sharp.“Better Days” harkens back to “Ain’t Got You”, the themes of which are both what it’s like to be successful and yet that not being the Continue Reading
Bruce Springsteen
Human Touch – Bruce Springsteen in the Reflecting Pool
Bruce Springsteen – Human Touch – 1992 Almost terrible. Not quite but juuuuuuuuust about. The songs all sound kind of the same, imbued with that early 90’s AOR sound. Some are just dumb. “57 Channels and nothing on”, for example. It should come across as some kind of indictment of Continue Reading
Tunnel of Love – Bruce Springsteen in the Reflecting Pool
Bruce Springsteen – Tunnel of Love – 1987 “Ain’t Got You”. Man. If Bruce was confessional here and there on the last record, this song is the real deal. I don’t know who it is he ain’t got, but he’s out there telling us all he’s fucking rich, he’s made Continue Reading
Born in the USA – Bruce Springsteen in the Reflecting Pool
Bruce Springsteen – Born in the USA – 1984 11 years in the making. Ladies and Gentlemen, Bruce Springsteen, megastar. The 80s were a time for musical acts that blew up into the stratosphere. Michael Jackson. Madonna. Bruce. It was the time when Reagan and his ilk tried to commandeer Continue Reading
Nebraska – Bruce Springsteen in the Reflecting Pool
Bruce Springsteen – Nebraska – 1982 If Darkness of the Edge of down was dark, Nebraska is downright suicidal.Death is all over this record, a series of 4 track demos Bruce released years before Rivers Cuomo or anyone else would think to do the same. From the Chicken Man who Continue Reading
The River – Bruce Springsteen in the Reflecting Pool
Bruce Springsteen – The River – 1980 Let’s just get this out of the way: Gary W. Tallent is the unsung hero of the E Street Band. From the opening “Ties that Bind” all the way through the rest of the record, the dude is center stage and on fire. Continue Reading
Darkness on the Edge of Town – Bruce Springsteen in the Reflecting Pool
Bruce Springsteen – Darkness on the Edge of Town – 1978 How do you market Bruce Springsteen? I guess part of the mission is “get that mug on the cover!”It doesn’t seem to matter that he looks like someone just caught him as he is getting over a cold and Continue Reading
Born to Run – Bruce Springsteen in the Reflecting Pool
Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run – 1975 Oh, seriously, what can I say that hasn’t been said before? This album is the culmination of vision, artistry, toil, craft and showmanship. It’s the pinnacle. It’s one of the greatest albums of all time and there’s little more I can say. Continue Reading
The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle – Bruce Springsteen in the Reflecting Pool
Bruce Springsteen – The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle – 1973 The puzzle isn’t complete on WIESS. It’s alllllmost there. It’ll take another album to fulfill the promise made by marketing execs and Jon Landau. But, this is a helluva sophomore record. From the very opening, the Continue Reading
Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ. – Bruce Springsteen in the Reflecting Pool
I didn’t know if I would ever get to the big dog. I’ve been a Bruce fan since 1982, started seeing him in concert the first of 5 times in 2003. Like Rolling Stone I’ve always found myself being more forgiving of The Boss then i probably should be, since Continue Reading