I didn't like Springsteen at the height of his 80s popularity. Not enough shredding solos or punk rock aggression for me. He seemed like old people music when I was 18. To me, lyrical depth was exemplified by Roger Waters, not Bruce Springsteen. At some point in the mid 90s, that began to change.
I picked up Nebraska in a bargain bin somewhere and suddenly figured this guy out. I think I had to be older to understand some of the stories and some of the characters. I worked back to The River and Darkness on the Edge of Town and those three remain my favorites although I am a huge fan of his post 2000 work as well. I have a lot of time for The Rising and Magic especially. As I get older, longevity in the business becomes more and more admirable to me. If you're skeptical of The Boss' songwriting prowess, I highly recommend The Promise, a double album set of outtakes from the Darkness sessions. He's got some serious Motown and Tin Pan Alley chops.
If you'd like to hear anything you don't have For The Posterity of it, let me know. I think I've got most all of it save one or two 90s efforts.
Scale: 9/10
8 comments:
Sigur Ros. I said god-dayum! These guys are incredibly creative in my opinion. The sounds he gets out of that guitar are, ahem, epic! I've never heard anything like it. This is not the type of music you listen to in the car or at a party with a bunch of friends, but you gotta absorb this shit. Headphones. not saying any chemicals are required but... Just bought tickets to see them in Nashville in September.
Seriously though, this is atmospheric music at it's best. If there were a soundtrack for general anesthesia, this would be it.
A good starting point would be songs like Svefn-g-englar, Njósnavélin, and Starálfur. Glósóli is just pure genius, and Sæglópur is amazing as well.
Forgot to leave my ratings
Sigur Ros 9/10
Bruce. I just never drank that Kool Aid. There's definitely some gems in there, but I've had a hard time getting past the whole Born in the USA thing. Everyone talks about how good Nebraska is, but I haven't given it a chance yet. Also, the fact that he's been pinned with the moniker "The Boss" is a reduction in style points. Still, it's tough to argue with Born to Run. At this point I've gotta give Bruuuuce 5.5/10 with potential.
Springsteen never did much for me either, Dave. And still doesn't. I read a rather jaded article about him and his long career a few years ago, which spent quite a bit of ink on how his image was manufactured by his manager. (Outrageous claim for showbiz, right?) The whole blue collar, everyman persona is pretty much all bullshit to sell records. Anyway, that was the final nail in the coffin for me. Having said all that, I can appreciate his skill. 6/10.
Springsteen gets a fucking 900 on a 1 to 10 scale. I recognize he's not for everybody, but he has been consistently interesting and he wrote Atlantic City, Racing in the Street, and Because the Night. He's a national fucking treasure.
Because of The River.
Because he wrote Atlantic City.
Because Jon Stewart gives him credit for Stewart's entire career (go to 6:30 of the interview):
Daily Show Springsteen
Because the Night.
Because he loved Roy Orbison.
The first Springsteen I ever heard was "Born in the USA", but I got over it. My college roommate was the first person I knew with a CD player, and he played The River for me. Ear-opening.
I was raised on 1970's A.M. radio and Dave wouldn't let me listen to anything not written by Barry Gibb.. so when I first heard Born to Run it was with fresh ears. Fantastic.
I'm with Joe.
Also great idea Dave with the Artists We Love(?) series.
Can't wait til we get to Pete Townshend and find out that your less-than-enthusiastic response is because he kicked your dog or something.
I'm in the "like but not love" crowd with Springsteen. I was crazy about Nebraska and like much of Born to Run. I'm unconcerned about blue collar phoniness. That's a sensibility in his songs and part of his persona, I don't care whether or not he can change the oil in his John Deere.
In a point of order, I make a motion that the honorable bastard Matt post his Sigur Ros comments as a topic on it's own, so the rest of us can trash them free of the Springsteen topic.
Second!
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