Bruce Springsteen

Pancho said:
I looked up this thread as I was just wondering how you'd got on and realised I'd missed your reply.

Pleased you are getting into him as, although I don't know your musical tastes, I wasn't sure you would.

Similar to Neil Young, Springsteen tends to divide opinion and I always thought when you first hear their stuff you either 'get it' or you don't.

Enjoy.
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Really enjoying it. It's kind of panning out how I would hope it would, getting the pleasure of experiencing something class for the first time that you've basically been ignorant of for years.

Born to Run, what a tremendous album. I wasn't sure if they were serious when they said every track is gold.
 


First listened to Bruce in 1982 when I just started high school. Loved him ever since and he has been the only artist from my youth that I still regularly listen to. No matter what mood I am in, he has an album for me. Tunnel of Love was an album I struggled with - until my marriage broke up and my word it eased my pain.

Seen Bruce live a few times and made it down to SOL with my 2 year old son in tow. He loved it and got to see Bruce again the following year on his third birthday.

Born To Run is one of the all time classic albums. From start to end there isnt a weak song. Darkness is probably my favourite album as it is such a raw sound with so many great songs.
BITUSA is hit after hit - and even the songs that others say are weak links I would disagree with as when you hear them live, they sound awesome.

The River - what can I add to what has already been said other than it was the first Bruce album I bought (won a record token in a competition at school).

The Rising is a very much under rated album and Bruce dealt with 9/11 and the aftermath with a lot of compassion.

I could say something about all of his albums but I will not bore you - I will add, as has been said, Youtube has loads of full gigs on it and my MP3 has a few on it for when I am working in the garden.

I hope Bruce and the band do another UK tour but they arent getting any younger and I fear that we may have seen the last of him in the UK.
 
bagger said:
First listened to Bruce in 1982 when I just started high school. Loved him ever since and he has been the only artist from my youth that I still regularly listen to. No matter what mood I am in, he has an album for me. Tunnel of Love was an album I struggled with - until my marriage broke up and my word it eased my pain.

Seen Bruce live a few times and made it down to SOL with my 2 year old son in tow. He loved it and got to see Bruce again the following year on his third birthday.

Born To Run is one of the all time classic albums. From start to end there isnt a weak song. Darkness is probably my favourite album as it is such a raw sound with so many great songs.
BITUSA is hit after hit - and even the songs that others say are weak links I would disagree with as when you hear them live, they sound awesome.

The River - what can I add to what has already been said other than it was the first Bruce album I bought (won a record token in a competition at school).

The Rising is a very much under rated album and Bruce dealt with 9/11 and the aftermath with a lot of compassion.

I could say something about all of his albums but I will not bore you - I will add, as has been said, Youtube has loads of full gigs on it and my MP3 has a few on it for when I am working in the garden.

I hope Bruce and the band do another UK tour but they arent getting any younger and I fear that we may have seen the last of him in the UK.
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Good post.

Fill yer boots if you wish as you're hardly going to bore anyone on a Springsteen thread.
 
bagger said:
First listened to Bruce in 1982 when I just started high school. Loved him ever since and he has been the only artist from my youth that I still regularly listen to. No matter what mood I am in, he has an album for me. Tunnel of Love was an album I struggled with - until my marriage broke up and my word it eased my pain.

Seen Bruce live a few times and made it down to SOL with my 2 year old son in tow. He loved it and got to see Bruce again the following year on his third birthday.

Born To Run is one of the all time classic albums. From start to end there isnt a weak song. Darkness is probably my favourite album as it is such a raw sound with so many great songs.
BITUSA is hit after hit - and even the songs that others say are weak links I would disagree with as when you hear them live, they sound awesome.

The River - what can I add to what has already been said other than it was the first Bruce album I bought (won a record token in a competition at school).

The Rising is a very much under rated album and Bruce dealt with 9/11 and the aftermath with a lot of compassion.

I could say something about all of his albums but I will not bore you - I will add, as has been said, Youtube has loads of full gigs on it and my MP3 has a few on it for when I am working in the garden.

I hope Bruce and the band do another UK tour but they arent getting any younger and I fear that we may have seen the last of him in the UK.
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My favourite artist and I can’t honestly see anybody or any band topping his career. Not only a great singer / songwriter but a great man.
I’ve no doubt that he’ll be in the UK next year touring.
 
bagger said:
First listened to Bruce in 1982 when I just started high school. Loved him ever since and he has been the only artist from my youth that I still regularly listen to. No matter what mood I am in, he has an album for me. Tunnel of Love was an album I struggled with - until my marriage broke up and my word it eased my pain.

Seen Bruce live a few times and made it down to SOL with my 2 year old son in tow. He loved it and got to see Bruce again the following year on his third birthday.

Born To Run is one of the all time classic albums. From start to end there isnt a weak song. Darkness is probably my favourite album as it is such a raw sound with so many great songs.
BITUSA is hit after hit - and even the songs that others say are weak links I would disagree with as when you hear them live, they sound awesome.

The River - what can I add to what has already been said other than it was the first Bruce album I bought (won a record token in a competition at school).

The Rising is a very much under rated album and Bruce dealt with 9/11 and the aftermath with a lot of compassion.

I could say something about all of his albums but I will not bore you - I will add, as has been said, Youtube has loads of full gigs on it and my MP3 has a few on it for when I am working in the garden.

I hope Bruce and the band do another UK tour but they arent getting any younger and I fear that we may have seen the last of him in the UK.
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Hope you’re wrong...but fear you might be right

If anyone or any band can defy the years however Bruce and E Street band can...

Bruce, Max, Steve, Nils , Prof Bitten, Gary...let alone the bairn ( Jake) still seem to have a while yet...whether Uk remains to be seen
 
That’s the one he did in London ( Camden I recall ) in the run up to his Wembley show a couple of years back. He was here for the full week as his daughter was doing showjumping here.
I saw him at Wembley that week and he played darkness in its entirety. So lucky to have heard live, racing in the street, Adam raised a cain, factory etc.

Great video by the way.
 
mad cyril said:
That’s the one he did in London ( Camden I recall ) in the run up to his Wembley show a couple of years back. He was here for the full week as his daughter was doing showjumping here.
I saw him at Wembley that week and he played darkness in its entirety. So lucky to have heard live, racing in the street, Adam raised a cain, factory etc.

Great video by the way.
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Aye, I was at the same show.

Yes, the video’s from Camden. I’ve wandered around there loads. Imagine strolling about and seeing Bruce sitting with his acoustic :cool:
 
mad cyril said:
That’s the one he did in London ( Camden I recall ) in the run up to his Wembley show a couple of years back. He was here for the full week as his daughter was doing showjumping here.
I saw him at Wembley that week and he played darkness in its entirety. So lucky to have heard live, racing in the street, Adam raised a cain, factory etc.

Great video by the way.
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Same here. I am probably one of those in the camp that took years before I got into Bruce. But once I did I made sure I got the back catalogue and love that album so was class to hear it all at Wembley.

Certainly hope to get to see him and the E Street band at least one more time. Would love to see him on this Broadway run mind.

Oh and totally agree with your post on what order the initiated should stat with. Born to Run is always what a newbie should start with really. Before exploring.
 
PinzaC55 said:
Springsteen is one of a number of artists whom I have never "got". I hear other people rave about him and understand what they saying his great qualities are, but I just don't hear it in his music.
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His great qualities aren’t in his music, they’re in his lyrics, subject matter, attitude and world view. His music is yer basic meat n potatoes dad rock shouty white boy guitar music.

mad cyril said:
It’s just the perfect opening track for an album or gig.
The opening drum roll and guitar slide gets me every time. Even now after literally thousands of listens, it makes the old hairs on neck stand up and lump develop in throat. Just a classic, classic song.



The River is such a fun, rock n roll album. Darkness though is my number one. I cannot imagine any artist ever topping it ( in my humble opinion ).
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Imho Darkness was/is his first “grown up” album. The previous ones were the musings of a young spunker trying to impress and make his way in the a world where everything was gonna turn out fine. His management split, court cases, recording embargo etc helped put paid to that plus he may of had a bit of private life trouble around then anarl which contributed to the general darkening of his mood.

Bought Darkness on cassette the week it came out after Peel played a couple of songs consecutively. He didn’t seem ower keen iirc but I liked it. Went on holiday to Germany a few weeks later with it in my little cassette player alongside a box of mix tapes. Lost the mixtape box and had nowt else but DOTEOT to listen too for two weeks. Loved it.
My marras German marras marra was a recording studio engineer ower there and when I mentioned I’d lost my tapes inc Bowie n Iggys Berlin one’s he knocked copies up for me in exchange for a copied DOTEOT and hoyed in a half dozen German bands anarl. I’d nivver heard of em tbh Can, Kraftwerk, Neu, Cluster, Tangerine Dream, Popol Vew etc. Later found out they were known as Krautrock and were the leaders in the field but even now most do nowt for me........I’m a lyrics man and they weren’t cutting it. Which is why I still buy Bruce’s stuff even 40 yrs later.
 
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riffraff said:
His great qualities aren’t in his music, they’re in his lyrics, subject matter, attitude and world view. His music is yer basic meat n potatoes dad rock shouty white boy guitar music.
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I'm sorry but I just don't agree with that.

If the listener isn't initially attracted to or can't connect with the music then he/she is never going to get to his lyrics, subject matter or world view.

Whilst I agree that there are some elements of meat and taties rock, I think you do him a disservice. Springsteen's canon contains so much more than that.
 
chriswallace85 said:
Born To Run is his 3rd album, and Tunnel of Love would be a crap place to start.
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The first two gan on so much I must’ve thought they were three;)

chriswallace85 said:
Can't agree. Listened to it again yesterday and it's still pretty naff.


It's absolutely class if you just skip Mary Queen of Arkansas.
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Ower synthy but great songwriting.

Pancho said:
I'm sorry but I just don't agree with that.

If the listener isn't initially attracted to or can't connect with the music then he/she is never going to get to his lyrics, subject matter or world view.

Whilst I agree that there are some elements of meat and taties rock, I think you do him a disservice. Springsteen's canon contains so much more than that.
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What I meant was he’s not a musical innovator. It’s very rock n roll-r&b-soul-country trad rock influenced stuff.
 
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