News Pop Music Critic Jeff Miers explores the popularity, success and musical influence of “ The Boss” in a quest for the answer
Who’ll be the next Springsteen?
By Jeff Miers
Updated: 09/30/07 9:27 AM
After Bruce Springsteen signed his first record label deal, he was marketed as 'the next Bob Dylan.' He was horrified by it. More Photos
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'Magic': A stinging commentary on the state of rock ’n’ roll
When Bruce Springsteen signed his first (and only) record deal, with John Hammond at Columbia Records, he was a scruffy bohemian songwriter and a weathered performer who’d been kicking around the New Jersey club scene for years. The kid had no idea he’d be marketed as the “next Bob Dylan,” and it is now a matter of record that he was horrified by the whole idea.
It is the nature of music journalism to do to today’s up-and-coming artists exactly what it did to Springsteen 35 years ago, with the “next Dylan” tag. Who, one wonders, is the “next Springsteen”? Will there be one? Can there be one? Does it even matter anymore?
The Dylan hype almost derailed the Springsteen train before it left the station. His first two albums, “Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.” and “The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle,” were bold, strong and overflowing with both imagination and ambition, but even as Springsteen and his E Street Band were setting new standards for the live performance of rock ’n’ roll on a nightly basis, neither record sold very well.
It was while touring behind “E Street Shuffle” that Springsteen so inspired then-rock critic Jon Landau with his command of the stage that Landau penned his famous “I’ve seen the future of rock ’n’ roll, and its name is Bruce Springsteen” piece, which ran in his “Loose Ends” column in the May 22, 1974, edition of The Real Paper.
Within 18 months of Landau’s review hitting the streets, he was Springsteen’s manager, and the frenzy surrounding the release of “Born To Run” included simultaneous cover stories in both Time and Newsweek.
This kind of hype is not unusual today, but it certainly was then. Naysayers wanted the desperate, heart-on-sleeve songwriter to fall on his face, thereby justifying their cynical belief that this whole “next Dylan” thing was nonsense, a mass-marketing pitch cooked up in a boardroom somewhere. It wasn’t.
Springsteen didn’t so much capture the zeitgeist as suggest a new, alternative one that posited rock ’n’ roll as an agent of salvation. He was both a classicist and a Romantic, his music a unique blend of Roy Orbison, Van Morrison, Phil Spector, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones, primarily, but his widescreen passion and unwavering belief in the transformative powers of that music was unique, and near-religious.
John Lennon told us “a working class hero is something to be,” but his relatively affluent upbringing in the suburbs stood in contrast to Springsteen’s stark lower-class reality. Springsteen seemed like the salt of the earth, but he was also a poet.
As the ’60s faded into memory and their idealism became routinely filed in the “failed experiment” bin, Springsteen represented hope. He manifested possibility for the music’s future. He spoke of rock as a transcendent entity. And his records have delivered on this promise – some fully, a few less so – ever since.
Lennon sang about a working class hero; Springsteen sang in the voice of an authentic one.
Springsteen is an iconic figure whose body of work represents a high standard for any rock artist working in his wake. As a classicist, much of Springsteen’s genius can be located in the way he manipulates the raw materials of his initial inspiration. He never tried to reinvent the wheel in terms of composition.
This rooted his art, made it relatively easy to understand, at least on the surface. (It also encouraged some misunderstandings that plague Springsteen to this day, Ronald Reagan’s being only one of many.)
Part of Springsteen’s importance comes from the fact that he made it, begrudgingly, into the mainstream without sacrificing the integrity of his art.
Plenty of significant artists toil in the underground and alternative worlds. In a sense, it’s safer there, where you’re surrounded by like-minded listeners not likely to misinterpret your artistic intent. But Springsteen believed in rock ’n’ roll’s populist possibilities, believed that there could and should be a mass, shared, meaningful event, a true communion between artist and listener, and a broad discourse with the culture writ large.
When faced with this “next Springsteen” business, I become immediately defensive. Springsteen is the next Springsteen, I sniff.
The record business that allowed him to speak meaningfully to a large group of listeners at once has been dismantled and sold for scrap. How is anyone going to reach a generation with one broad stroke via the Internet, without radio? How can an artist build a reputation based on live performance when live performance is, outside of a few niche pockets, no longer valued? How can an artist say something of meaning if no one ever hears it, and those who do aren’t really listening anyway?
These questions remain unanswered, for me. My default setting of quiet despair is tempered, however, by an optimism, and its the same guarded optimism that, I believe, a quarter century of serious Springsteen listening has planted in me.
So, while on the one hand it seems that you can’t “un-destroy” the record business much as you can’t “un-invade” a country, on the other, one hopes that popular music might in fact right itself over time. There is never a shortage of bold art born of conviction and honed by talent and dedication. It’s going on all the time, in cities just like (and including) Buffalo. We might not ever hear any of it. But then again, we might.
I believe there have already been a few “next Springsteens,” which is not to say that there have been artists who sound like him, or even perhaps display evidence of his influence. They are like him, though, in their conviction, their passion and in their unwavering belief that the music actually means something.
U2. R.E.M. Jeff Buckley. Kurt Cobain had the chance, but blew it. Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam have done it, without a doubt. Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips is a Springsteen- like figure to me, as odd as that might sound. All of these artists have been able to tap into something universal, something that might have real meaning even when applied to massive numbers of listeners.
But who among the crop of artists who’ve emerged since the turn of the century fits the bill? I can think of only one: Arcade Fire.
There isn’t a whole lot of Springsteen in the group’s sound at first listen. But closer study reveals similarities in terms of orchestration, production and emotional intent. Arcade Fire is considered an alternative band, but clearly, the group’s sound is both anthemic and transcendent, the way “Born To Run’s” sound was (and is).
Led by singer and guitarist Win Butler, the Arcade Fire mined transcendent gold in 2005 with “Wake Up,” an emotion-charged anthem that became the introduction music throughout U2’s “Vertigo” tour, and earned the band ecstatic critical plaudits the world over.
Critical devotion and not inconsiderable “hype” aside, what makes the Arcade Fire my “next Springsteen” is the near-religious reaction the band’s music pulls from the listener. It’s a big, bold, transformative sound, one that is redolent of hope.
The band’s recent “Neon Bible” album more than delivered on the promise of the debut, “Funeral.” If “Neon Bible” is the band’s “The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle,” then I, for one, can’t wait to hear what its “Nebraska” sounds like.
The Arcade Fire’s music encourages cautious optimism, the slightly reserved belief that rock music might again be both populist and meaningful.
If the band fails or falls apart, well, we’ve still got the real Springsteen.
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
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i heard 'gypsy biker' on sirius on the way home today...this album seems like it's going to be amazing
5. "Gypsy Biker." Maybe the saddest song he's ever written — and one of the fiercest and hardest rocking. On first listen, you might not catch that the biker of the title is, in fact, a dead soldier whose buddies have gathered to celebrate him. A gleaming bike does show up, which the friends take out into the desert and set on fire, as a sort of funeral pyre. If that isn't "Born to Run" all grown up and gone to hell, I don't know what is. When the guitar solo kicks in, it's wrenchingly elegiac in a deep, primal way, almost like a dog howling to mourn its late master.
on a lighter note,
i received my CD / Lyric Book Bundle thru Backstreets.Com Shop--
i scanned the images, check these out:
<---- What A Band !
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
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For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
Right at this very moment you are my favorite person in the whole world!!!!!!!!!
I could only get one.
Who else is going tomorrow.
I am so excited I am about to pee my panties.
I love BRUCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away
Right at this very moment you are my favorite person in the whole world!!!!!!!!!
I could only get one.
Who else is going tomorrow.
I am so excited I am about to pee my panties.
I love BRUCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
all you need is 1 then !
have a great time ( of course thats a given )
hit us up with a review afterwards !
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
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I will!
I wasn't aware that it was opening night! How cool am I ???? I mean, really?
Out of the loop Trixie.
I can't tell you how thrilled i am. I am like a little kid.
Thanks again B! I never forget a favor.
Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away
Rehearsal Night 2
Asbury Park Convention Hall 25/09/07
RADIO NOWHERE / PROVE IT ALL NIGHT / LONESOME DAY / GYPSY BIKER / MAGIC / NIGHT / SHE'S THE ONE / LIVIN' IN THE FUTURE / THE PROMISED LAND / TOWN CALLED HEARTBREAK (Patti song)/ DARLINGTON COUNTY / BORN IN THE USA / DEVIL'S ARCADE / THE RISING / LAST TO DIE / LONG WALK HOME / BADLANDS / GIRLS IN THEIR SUMMER CLOTHES / THUNDERCRACK / BORN TO RUN / AMERICAN LAND
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
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really hope they release more tickets for the pittsburgh show.
I've been checking every day with no luck
:<
"What’s Orphans? I don’t know. Orphans is a dead end kid driving a coffin with big tires across the Ohio River wearing welding goggles and a wife beater with a lit firecracker in his ear." - Tom Waits
*We CAN bomb the World to pieces, but we CAN'T bomb it into PEACE*...Michael Franti
*MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
.....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti
*The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
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I guess it would be asking too much for him not to play anything from that album.
I know it is foolish...I just can't get over it....:(
i think youll be more then happy with whatever he decides to play, on opening night !
ENJOY the Show !
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
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i think youll be more then happy with whatever he decides to play, on opening night !
ENJOY the Show !
I will!!!!!!!!!!!
I stink at keeping track of what someone plays but I will do my best to give a ggod review.
It's not that I don't like that album. I love it. It has been theraputic for me. I just reserve it for when I am alone because it rips me apart.
Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away
Call it a comeback. On Bruce Springsteen's new CD, "Magic," he rediscovers the rock muse that first fueled him.
After enduring hootenanny Bruce ("The Seeger Sessions"), self-righteous Bruce ("The Rising") and two doses of dreary Bruce ("The Ghost of Tom Joad" and "Devils and Dust"), fans finally have back the guy who can match a rousing pop song to verses of focus and meaning.
In fact, for "Magic" Springsteen has created his catchiest music in 15 years (since "Human Touch"/"Lucky Town") and penned his most convincing words in 20 ("Tunnel of Love").
Things fade away fast in the world of "Magic" - physical beauty, cultural relevance, the bonds of love, the things you recognize and the people you used to know.
While Springsteen's early work had everything to do with racing out to meet a world of possibilities, "Magic" has more to do with watching what you found there receding into the rearview mirror.
In that sense, it's an age-appropriate work. Bruce did just turn 58, after all. So now he can sing with authority about trying to rebalance a life where less lies ahead than behind. Yet "Magic" is far from a grim affair. If it isn't exactly the flat-out, barreling rock record advance word promised - and if it never scales the Olympic heights of Bruce's very best - it contains consistently gripping music and the artist's most well-thought-out, and best proportioned, words in eons.
All of this comes as a special relief after the political piggybacking of his last album with the E Street Band (2002's literal-minded "The Rising") and the rural affectations of "Devils and Dust." Bruce may have gotten some of his groove back with the rousing and wily "Seeger Sessions," but on "Magic" he's writing strong, original songs again, starting with the bracing first single, "Radio Nowhere."
As noted by many online critics these last few weeks, the song does sound sort of like Tommy Tutone's "Jenny." But that hardly rises to a level that would land Bruce in court. Also, Bruce's passion far exceeds that of the reference song, and his subject couldn't be more relevant.
"Radio Nowhere" addresses the death of mass culture in the Internet age, the end of that special connection we formed with each other by listening to the same stations and hearing the same bands.
The theme of loss escalates in "You'll Be Comin' Down," in which time tears away the power of physical beauty, as well as "Girls in Their Summer Clothes," where the young things no longer grant Bruce their gaze.
"Livin' in the Future" imagines the end of a love. A hidden track at the end ("Terry's Song") deals with literal death, saluting Bruce's friend and bodyguard Terry MacGovern, who died this year.
While Bruce has told interviewers he timed this release for an election year, politics lurks as a shadowy subtext rather than an in-your-face commentary - always the preferable route. His most direct comment comes in "Last to Die," which muses on the special tragedy of those who give their lives for a war long acknowledged by most to be a mistake.
Springsteen's new songs aren't just his most exciting in many years, they're better crafted as formal pop pieces, giving them enough joy to exorcise the sadness. There are bits of hope in here, too. Ever the American optimist, Springsteen made sure to stick his brightest sentiments in the enigmatic title track, which balances threat with possibility.
In that sense, "Magic" ends up far more poignant than wan. Better, for a work that's often about things slipping away, it houses music you'll want to hold close.
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
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From Newsday
Review: Springsteen and E Street Band's 'Magic'
Bruce Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt perform on NBC's 'Today Show' at Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. (Photo by Gregorio Binuya / September 28, 2007)
BY GLENN GAMBOA | glenn.gamboa@newsday.com
October 2, 2007
Article tools
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Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Furl Google Newsvine Reddit Spurl Yahoo Print Single page view Reprints Reader feedback Text size: Like so many struggling businesses these days, the music industry is all about outsourcing.
When a veteran hits a rough sales patch or an artistic drought, the fixers pair them up with younger artists or hot producers to modernize the sound and raise the radio-friendliness. After all, it's generally easier to renovate a previous star than to build a whole new one.
Well, Bruce Springsteen is one boss unwilling to outsource his own issues. He and the E Street Band can handle it all internally. On their new album, "Magic" (Columbia), they inject energy into their classic sound by embracing elements of the alternative rock movement - which was, in part, a rebellion launched against Springsteen's domination in the "Dancing in the Dark" '80s. And it certainly seems to agree with them.
Related links
Springsteen performs on 'Today' Photo
Playlist: The Boss' best songs
Vote: Best Springsteen song? Vote
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Photos
Photos: Tribute to The Boss Photos
Not only is "Magic" Springsteen's most accessible album, start to finish, since 1987's "Tunnel of Love," it is closest thematically to "Born in the U.S.A.," a slice of American life and its mix of ups and downs. The first single, the straightforward rocker "Radio Nowhere," is a strong example of Springsteen's game plan for "Magic," with its '80s alternative rock guitar riffs and its search for desire.
It's a switch from his recent work, where Springsteen has had more pressing concerns. "The Rising" was his attempt to make sense of the Sept. 11 attacks and do his part to begin the healing process. "Devils and Dust" was his way of protesting the direction the country was heading, as well as the war in Iraq. And "We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions" was a way to show how history could be applied to the present.
On "Magic," all that is pushed aside. It's about more leisurely pursuits - about "Girls in Their Summer Clothes," working for your love and all that entails.
If the previous albums were about effecting change in the country, "Magic" takes that change as a given. That allows Springsteen the chance to focus on the music again, as well as the lyrics. It lets him experiment with new sounds (well, new-to-him sounds) to update his more classic themes.
"Girls in Their Summer Clothes" sounds like Ray Davies filtered through Morrissey's "Everyday Is Like Sunday," right down to the super-detailed lyrics and dramatic delivery. "Last to Die" - seemingly the only war-related song with its chorus of "The last to die for a mistake" - jangles like "Fables of the Reconstruction"-era R.E.M. And there's a bit of U2, circa "Rattle and Hum," in "Gypsy Biker."
That said, "Magic" sounds like Springsteen and the E Street Band. There are lots of Clarence Clemons sax solos to hammer home emotional points. There are lots of Little Steven Van Zandt garage-rock guitar riffs. And the harmonies of Springsteen, Patti Scialfa, Nils Lofgren and Van Zandt are as gorgeous as ever - especially in the Beach Boys-tinged "Your Own Worst Enemy."
Sonically, "I'll Work For Your Love," with its piano opening and front-and-center harmonica, could have been on "Born to Run." But lyrically, it shows how his point of view has changed. Drenched in religious imagery, "I'll Work for Your Love" is about the quest for salvation, not simply an escape.
These days, it's not enough just to run, but to have something to run to. On his most recent tours with the E Street Band, Springsteen would go into preacher mode, testifying about how rock and roll could save your soul.
The guy singing "Magic" has already been saved and he's coming back for the rest of us.
MAGIC. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band go back to the future. In stores Tuesday. Grade: A.
Springsteen's top-selling albums
"Born in the USA" (1984) -- 15 million
"Live: 1975-85" (1986) -- 13 million
"Born to Run" (1975) -- 6 million
"The River" (1980) -- 5 million
"Greatest Hits" (1995) -- 4 million
"Darkness on the Edge of Town" (1978) -- 3 million
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
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Bathgate, what's your review of the album. I'd love to hear it.
i only just received my CD from backstreets, ( and lyric booklet )
havent even given it a full listen at 100% attentionspan yet.
I will have to get back to the thread after a few listens.
also- my first show is fri night in Phillytown.
decent seats--i'm stoked.
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
HAPPY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN DAY!
With the release of Magic today and the kick-off of the E Street Band tour tonight, it's already a big day for Springsteen fans. But Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell went ahead and made it official, declaring October 2 "Bruce Springsteen Day in Connecticut." I say we all take the day off.
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
HAPPY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN DAY!
With the release of Magic today and the kick-off of the E Street Band tour tonight, it's already a big day for Springsteen fans. But Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell went ahead and made it official, declaring October 2 "Bruce Springsteen Day in Connecticut." I say we all take the day off.
See! We are a cool state.
Yes, a few too many BMW's and Mercedes. But other than that our ***cringe*** Republican governor kicks butt.
I love her.
This just seals the deal.
Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away
got Magic at luchtime and have listened to it. i have to say i like Magic a whole lot more at the first listen then i liked the Rising at first listen. i really like the second half of the record. "Magic", "Last To Die", "Long Walk Home", "Devil's Arcade" and "Terry's Song".
i am not feeling "You'll Be Comin' Down" at all, and i was sort of disappointed with "Gypsy Biker" after all the positive things i heard about it.
"Livin' In The Future" is a great song i can't wait to hear live on Saturday (i'm gonna miss the Phillies game though and that REALLY SUCKS).
"Girls In Their Summer Clothes" and "I'll Work For Your Love" are both good songs no matter what people say over at Greasylake.org or Backstreets.com
good record. i'll be listening to this alot. along w/ Down III.
HAPPY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN DAY!
With the release of Magic today and the kick-off of the E Street Band tour tonight, it's already a big day for Springsteen fans. But Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell went ahead and made it official, declaring October 2 "Bruce Springsteen Day in Connecticut." I say we all take the day off.
I love the new record! Does anyone know what the uncredited song at the end is?
I love the new record! Does anyone know what the uncredited song at the end is?
It's Terry's Song, Bruce wrote it for and sang it at the funeral of his long-time friend Terry McGovern who passed away at the end of July. There is a tribute page at http://brucespringsteen.net/news/terrymagovern.html which includes some very touching words from Bruce and a rather cool remembrance from the guys in Marah.
It's uncredited because Bruce added it to the album after the covers were printed.
It's Terry's Song, Bruce wrote it for and sang it at the funeral of his long-time friend Terry McGovern who passed away at the end of July. There is a tribute page at http://brucespringsteen.net/news/terrymagovern.html which includes some very touching words from Bruce and a rather cool remembrance from the guys in Marah.
It's uncredited because Bruce added it to the album after the covers were printed.
Yeah thanks, my dad just pointed out that the caption on the last page quotes from it.
Comments
(Buffalo News)
http://www.buffalonews.com/entertainment/story/173599.html
News Pop Music Critic Jeff Miers explores the popularity, success and musical influence of “ The Boss” in a quest for the answer
Who’ll be the next Springsteen?
By Jeff Miers
Updated: 09/30/07 9:27 AM
After Bruce Springsteen signed his first record label deal, he was marketed as 'the next Bob Dylan.' He was horrified by it. More Photos
Related Content
BLOG: Add your comments here
Related Stories
'Magic': A stinging commentary on the state of rock ’n’ roll
When Bruce Springsteen signed his first (and only) record deal, with John Hammond at Columbia Records, he was a scruffy bohemian songwriter and a weathered performer who’d been kicking around the New Jersey club scene for years. The kid had no idea he’d be marketed as the “next Bob Dylan,” and it is now a matter of record that he was horrified by the whole idea.
It is the nature of music journalism to do to today’s up-and-coming artists exactly what it did to Springsteen 35 years ago, with the “next Dylan” tag. Who, one wonders, is the “next Springsteen”? Will there be one? Can there be one? Does it even matter anymore?
The Dylan hype almost derailed the Springsteen train before it left the station. His first two albums, “Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.” and “The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle,” were bold, strong and overflowing with both imagination and ambition, but even as Springsteen and his E Street Band were setting new standards for the live performance of rock ’n’ roll on a nightly basis, neither record sold very well.
It was while touring behind “E Street Shuffle” that Springsteen so inspired then-rock critic Jon Landau with his command of the stage that Landau penned his famous “I’ve seen the future of rock ’n’ roll, and its name is Bruce Springsteen” piece, which ran in his “Loose Ends” column in the May 22, 1974, edition of The Real Paper.
Within 18 months of Landau’s review hitting the streets, he was Springsteen’s manager, and the frenzy surrounding the release of “Born To Run” included simultaneous cover stories in both Time and Newsweek.
This kind of hype is not unusual today, but it certainly was then. Naysayers wanted the desperate, heart-on-sleeve songwriter to fall on his face, thereby justifying their cynical belief that this whole “next Dylan” thing was nonsense, a mass-marketing pitch cooked up in a boardroom somewhere. It wasn’t.
Springsteen didn’t so much capture the zeitgeist as suggest a new, alternative one that posited rock ’n’ roll as an agent of salvation. He was both a classicist and a Romantic, his music a unique blend of Roy Orbison, Van Morrison, Phil Spector, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones, primarily, but his widescreen passion and unwavering belief in the transformative powers of that music was unique, and near-religious.
John Lennon told us “a working class hero is something to be,” but his relatively affluent upbringing in the suburbs stood in contrast to Springsteen’s stark lower-class reality. Springsteen seemed like the salt of the earth, but he was also a poet.
As the ’60s faded into memory and their idealism became routinely filed in the “failed experiment” bin, Springsteen represented hope. He manifested possibility for the music’s future. He spoke of rock as a transcendent entity. And his records have delivered on this promise – some fully, a few less so – ever since.
Lennon sang about a working class hero; Springsteen sang in the voice of an authentic one.
Springsteen is an iconic figure whose body of work represents a high standard for any rock artist working in his wake. As a classicist, much of Springsteen’s genius can be located in the way he manipulates the raw materials of his initial inspiration. He never tried to reinvent the wheel in terms of composition.
This rooted his art, made it relatively easy to understand, at least on the surface. (It also encouraged some misunderstandings that plague Springsteen to this day, Ronald Reagan’s being only one of many.)
Part of Springsteen’s importance comes from the fact that he made it, begrudgingly, into the mainstream without sacrificing the integrity of his art.
Plenty of significant artists toil in the underground and alternative worlds. In a sense, it’s safer there, where you’re surrounded by like-minded listeners not likely to misinterpret your artistic intent. But Springsteen believed in rock ’n’ roll’s populist possibilities, believed that there could and should be a mass, shared, meaningful event, a true communion between artist and listener, and a broad discourse with the culture writ large.
When faced with this “next Springsteen” business, I become immediately defensive. Springsteen is the next Springsteen, I sniff.
The record business that allowed him to speak meaningfully to a large group of listeners at once has been dismantled and sold for scrap. How is anyone going to reach a generation with one broad stroke via the Internet, without radio? How can an artist build a reputation based on live performance when live performance is, outside of a few niche pockets, no longer valued? How can an artist say something of meaning if no one ever hears it, and those who do aren’t really listening anyway?
These questions remain unanswered, for me. My default setting of quiet despair is tempered, however, by an optimism, and its the same guarded optimism that, I believe, a quarter century of serious Springsteen listening has planted in me.
So, while on the one hand it seems that you can’t “un-destroy” the record business much as you can’t “un-invade” a country, on the other, one hopes that popular music might in fact right itself over time. There is never a shortage of bold art born of conviction and honed by talent and dedication. It’s going on all the time, in cities just like (and including) Buffalo. We might not ever hear any of it. But then again, we might.
I believe there have already been a few “next Springsteens,” which is not to say that there have been artists who sound like him, or even perhaps display evidence of his influence. They are like him, though, in their conviction, their passion and in their unwavering belief that the music actually means something.
U2. R.E.M. Jeff Buckley. Kurt Cobain had the chance, but blew it. Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam have done it, without a doubt. Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips is a Springsteen- like figure to me, as odd as that might sound. All of these artists have been able to tap into something universal, something that might have real meaning even when applied to massive numbers of listeners.
But who among the crop of artists who’ve emerged since the turn of the century fits the bill? I can think of only one: Arcade Fire.
There isn’t a whole lot of Springsteen in the group’s sound at first listen. But closer study reveals similarities in terms of orchestration, production and emotional intent. Arcade Fire is considered an alternative band, but clearly, the group’s sound is both anthemic and transcendent, the way “Born To Run’s” sound was (and is).
Led by singer and guitarist Win Butler, the Arcade Fire mined transcendent gold in 2005 with “Wake Up,” an emotion-charged anthem that became the introduction music throughout U2’s “Vertigo” tour, and earned the band ecstatic critical plaudits the world over.
Critical devotion and not inconsiderable “hype” aside, what makes the Arcade Fire my “next Springsteen” is the near-religious reaction the band’s music pulls from the listener. It’s a big, bold, transformative sound, one that is redolent of hope.
The band’s recent “Neon Bible” album more than delivered on the promise of the debut, “Funeral.” If “Neon Bible” is the band’s “The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle,” then I, for one, can’t wait to hear what its “Nebraska” sounds like.
The Arcade Fire’s music encourages cautious optimism, the slightly reserved belief that rock music might again be both populist and meaningful.
If the band fails or falls apart, well, we’ve still got the real Springsteen.
jmiers@buffnews.com
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
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i heard 'gypsy biker' on sirius on the way home today...this album seems like it's going to be amazing
Some die just to live.
5. "Gypsy Biker." Maybe the saddest song he's ever written — and one of the fiercest and hardest rocking. On first listen, you might not catch that the biker of the title is, in fact, a dead soldier whose buddies have gathered to celebrate him. A gleaming bike does show up, which the friends take out into the desert and set on fire, as a sort of funeral pyre. If that isn't "Born to Run" all grown up and gone to hell, I don't know what is. When the guitar solo kicks in, it's wrenchingly elegiac in a deep, primal way, almost like a dog howling to mourn its late master.
on a lighter note,
i received my CD / Lyric Book Bundle thru Backstreets.Com Shop--
i scanned the images, check these out:
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http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1D003F1DD829AEF2?artistid=860453&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=1
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I could only get one.
Who else is going tomorrow.
I am so excited I am about to pee my panties.
I love BRUCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And I don't feel right when you're gone away
all you need is 1 then !
have a great time ( of course thats a given )
hit us up with a review afterwards !
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I wasn't aware that it was opening night! How cool am I ???? I mean, really?
Out of the loop Trixie.
I can't tell you how thrilled i am. I am like a little kid.
Thanks again B!
And I don't feel right when you're gone away
Asbury Park Convention Hall 25/09/07
RADIO NOWHERE / PROVE IT ALL NIGHT / LONESOME DAY / GYPSY BIKER / MAGIC / NIGHT / SHE'S THE ONE / LIVIN' IN THE FUTURE / THE PROMISED LAND / TOWN CALLED HEARTBREAK (Patti song)/ DARLINGTON COUNTY / BORN IN THE USA / DEVIL'S ARCADE / THE RISING / LAST TO DIE / LONG WALK HOME / BADLANDS / GIRLS IN THEIR SUMMER CLOTHES / THUNDERCRACK / BORN TO RUN / AMERICAN LAND
Audience tape - Scheduled benefit rehearsal show.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WYH8X2WW
Remaster 25.9.07!!
sound upgraded and cleaned up significantly! sounds a lot better!
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LSM1N04G
Here´s the 2nd rehearsal show for those who can´t download from Megaupload...
disc 1:
http://www.mediafire.com/?ami22ejaxzc
disc 2:
http://www.mediafire.com/?4lqbzxjmnnf
Artwork:
http://www.bruceboots.com/MAGIC/Artwork/20070925-Livemusicman/20070925-Livemusicman-Booklet1.jpg
http://www.bruceboots.com/MAGIC/Artwork/20070925-Livemusicman/20070925-Livemusicman-Back.jpg
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I've been checking every day with no luck
:<
And I don't feel right when you're gone away
Also listen to the entire album here Bruce Springsteen's "MAJIC"
Peace, Out of Many We're One
*MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
.....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti
*The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)
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I know it is foolish...I just can't get over it....:(
And I don't feel right when you're gone away
i think youll be more then happy with whatever he decides to play, on opening night !
ENJOY the Show !
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I stink at keeping track of what someone plays but I will do my best to give a ggod review.
It's not that I don't like that album. I love it. It has been theraputic for me. I just reserve it for when I am alone because it rips me apart.
And I don't feel right when you're gone away
It's my first time seeing Bruce with the E street band... waaaaah
same here! I'm so pumped, first time seeing Bruce period, should be awesome!!
Call it a comeback. On Bruce Springsteen's new CD, "Magic," he rediscovers the rock muse that first fueled him.
After enduring hootenanny Bruce ("The Seeger Sessions"), self-righteous Bruce ("The Rising") and two doses of dreary Bruce ("The Ghost of Tom Joad" and "Devils and Dust"), fans finally have back the guy who can match a rousing pop song to verses of focus and meaning.
In fact, for "Magic" Springsteen has created his catchiest music in 15 years (since "Human Touch"/"Lucky Town") and penned his most convincing words in 20 ("Tunnel of Love").
Things fade away fast in the world of "Magic" - physical beauty, cultural relevance, the bonds of love, the things you recognize and the people you used to know.
While Springsteen's early work had everything to do with racing out to meet a world of possibilities, "Magic" has more to do with watching what you found there receding into the rearview mirror.
In that sense, it's an age-appropriate work. Bruce did just turn 58, after all. So now he can sing with authority about trying to rebalance a life where less lies ahead than behind. Yet "Magic" is far from a grim affair. If it isn't exactly the flat-out, barreling rock record advance word promised - and if it never scales the Olympic heights of Bruce's very best - it contains consistently gripping music and the artist's most well-thought-out, and best proportioned, words in eons.
All of this comes as a special relief after the political piggybacking of his last album with the E Street Band (2002's literal-minded "The Rising") and the rural affectations of "Devils and Dust." Bruce may have gotten some of his groove back with the rousing and wily "Seeger Sessions," but on "Magic" he's writing strong, original songs again, starting with the bracing first single, "Radio Nowhere."
As noted by many online critics these last few weeks, the song does sound sort of like Tommy Tutone's "Jenny." But that hardly rises to a level that would land Bruce in court. Also, Bruce's passion far exceeds that of the reference song, and his subject couldn't be more relevant.
"Radio Nowhere" addresses the death of mass culture in the Internet age, the end of that special connection we formed with each other by listening to the same stations and hearing the same bands.
The theme of loss escalates in "You'll Be Comin' Down," in which time tears away the power of physical beauty, as well as "Girls in Their Summer Clothes," where the young things no longer grant Bruce their gaze.
"Livin' in the Future" imagines the end of a love. A hidden track at the end ("Terry's Song") deals with literal death, saluting Bruce's friend and bodyguard Terry MacGovern, who died this year.
While Bruce has told interviewers he timed this release for an election year, politics lurks as a shadowy subtext rather than an in-your-face commentary - always the preferable route. His most direct comment comes in "Last to Die," which muses on the special tragedy of those who give their lives for a war long acknowledged by most to be a mistake.
Springsteen's new songs aren't just his most exciting in many years, they're better crafted as formal pop pieces, giving them enough joy to exorcise the sadness. There are bits of hope in here, too. Ever the American optimist, Springsteen made sure to stick his brightest sentiments in the enigmatic title track, which balances threat with possibility.
In that sense, "Magic" ends up far more poignant than wan. Better, for a work that's often about things slipping away, it houses music you'll want to hold close.
jfarber@nydailynews.com
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From Newsday
Review: Springsteen and E Street Band's 'Magic'
Bruce Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt perform on NBC's 'Today Show' at Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. (Photo by Gregorio Binuya / September 28, 2007)
BY GLENN GAMBOA | glenn.gamboa@newsday.com
October 2, 2007
Article tools
E-mail Share
Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Furl Google Newsvine Reddit Spurl Yahoo Print Single page view Reprints Reader feedback Text size: Like so many struggling businesses these days, the music industry is all about outsourcing.
When a veteran hits a rough sales patch or an artistic drought, the fixers pair them up with younger artists or hot producers to modernize the sound and raise the radio-friendliness. After all, it's generally easier to renovate a previous star than to build a whole new one.
Well, Bruce Springsteen is one boss unwilling to outsource his own issues. He and the E Street Band can handle it all internally. On their new album, "Magic" (Columbia), they inject energy into their classic sound by embracing elements of the alternative rock movement - which was, in part, a rebellion launched against Springsteen's domination in the "Dancing in the Dark" '80s. And it certainly seems to agree with them.
Related links
Springsteen performs on 'Today' Photo
Playlist: The Boss' best songs
Vote: Best Springsteen song? Vote
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Photos
Photos: Tribute to The Boss Photos
Not only is "Magic" Springsteen's most accessible album, start to finish, since 1987's "Tunnel of Love," it is closest thematically to "Born in the U.S.A.," a slice of American life and its mix of ups and downs. The first single, the straightforward rocker "Radio Nowhere," is a strong example of Springsteen's game plan for "Magic," with its '80s alternative rock guitar riffs and its search for desire.
It's a switch from his recent work, where Springsteen has had more pressing concerns. "The Rising" was his attempt to make sense of the Sept. 11 attacks and do his part to begin the healing process. "Devils and Dust" was his way of protesting the direction the country was heading, as well as the war in Iraq. And "We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions" was a way to show how history could be applied to the present.
On "Magic," all that is pushed aside. It's about more leisurely pursuits - about "Girls in Their Summer Clothes," working for your love and all that entails.
If the previous albums were about effecting change in the country, "Magic" takes that change as a given. That allows Springsteen the chance to focus on the music again, as well as the lyrics. It lets him experiment with new sounds (well, new-to-him sounds) to update his more classic themes.
"Girls in Their Summer Clothes" sounds like Ray Davies filtered through Morrissey's "Everyday Is Like Sunday," right down to the super-detailed lyrics and dramatic delivery. "Last to Die" - seemingly the only war-related song with its chorus of "The last to die for a mistake" - jangles like "Fables of the Reconstruction"-era R.E.M. And there's a bit of U2, circa "Rattle and Hum," in "Gypsy Biker."
That said, "Magic" sounds like Springsteen and the E Street Band. There are lots of Clarence Clemons sax solos to hammer home emotional points. There are lots of Little Steven Van Zandt garage-rock guitar riffs. And the harmonies of Springsteen, Patti Scialfa, Nils Lofgren and Van Zandt are as gorgeous as ever - especially in the Beach Boys-tinged "Your Own Worst Enemy."
Sonically, "I'll Work For Your Love," with its piano opening and front-and-center harmonica, could have been on "Born to Run." But lyrically, it shows how his point of view has changed. Drenched in religious imagery, "I'll Work for Your Love" is about the quest for salvation, not simply an escape.
These days, it's not enough just to run, but to have something to run to. On his most recent tours with the E Street Band, Springsteen would go into preacher mode, testifying about how rock and roll could save your soul.
The guy singing "Magic" has already been saved and he's coming back for the rest of us.
MAGIC. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band go back to the future. In stores Tuesday. Grade: A.
Springsteen's top-selling albums
"Born in the USA" (1984) -- 15 million
"Live: 1975-85" (1986) -- 13 million
"Born to Run" (1975) -- 6 million
"The River" (1980) -- 5 million
"Greatest Hits" (1995) -- 4 million
"Darkness on the Edge of Town" (1978) -- 3 million
"Tunnel of Love" (1987) -- 3 million
SOURCE: Wikipedia.org
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Copyright © 2007, Newsday Inc.
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i only just received my CD from backstreets, ( and lyric booklet )
havent even given it a full listen at 100% attentionspan yet.
I will have to get back to the thread after a few listens.
also- my first show is fri night in Phillytown.
decent seats--i'm stoked.
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With the release of Magic today and the kick-off of the E Street Band tour tonight, it's already a big day for Springsteen fans. But Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell went ahead and made it official, declaring October 2 "Bruce Springsteen Day in Connecticut." I say we all take the day off.
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Yes, a few too many BMW's and Mercedes. But other than that our ***cringe*** Republican governor kicks butt.
I love her.
This just seals the deal.
And I don't feel right when you're gone away
i am not feeling "You'll Be Comin' Down" at all, and i was sort of disappointed with "Gypsy Biker" after all the positive things i heard about it.
"Livin' In The Future" is a great song i can't wait to hear live on Saturday (i'm gonna miss the Phillies game though and that REALLY SUCKS).
"Girls In Their Summer Clothes" and "I'll Work For Your Love" are both good songs no matter what people say over at Greasylake.org or Backstreets.com
good record. i'll be listening to this alot. along w/ Down III.
I love the new record! Does anyone know what the uncredited song at the end is?
Is Sony Music up to the same games again?? They've already lost once by doing this kinda shit before.
I don't forget...
:(
For Those About To Rock !
Art changes people. People change the world.
Usually on opening day WalMart and Best Buy will have it for less than $10.
It's Terry's Song, Bruce wrote it for and sang it at the funeral of his long-time friend Terry McGovern who passed away at the end of July. There is a tribute page at http://brucespringsteen.net/news/terrymagovern.html which includes some very touching words from Bruce and a rather cool remembrance from the guys in Marah.
It's uncredited because Bruce added it to the album after the covers were printed.
Yeah thanks, my dad just pointed out that the caption on the last page quotes from it.
PM. Face value and a beer.
Nuclear fission