 |
| Tonight! |
  |
| (1980) |
"Rock and
roll has always been this joy, this certain happiness that is in its way the
most beautiful thing in life. But rock is also about hardness and coldness and
being alone ... I finally got to the place where I realized life had paradoxes,
a lot of them, and you've got to live with them."
Bryan: With me as always is Bryant – hello, Bryant.
Bryant: I haven’t been fired and replaced with a robot yet?!? Surprising, but I appreciate the magnanimity!
Bryan: My magnanimity is second only to my modesty. It's common enough to see The River listed alongside Tusk, The Wall, Tommy, Physical Graffiti as one of the great all-time double albums in rock. I’m not sure if it tops my own personal list – you’ve got to get up pretty early to knock The White Album off its perch and I probably prefer at least a couple of the just-mentioned to The River – but what say you?
Bryant: I’m not terribly knowledgeable about Fleetwood Mac or The Who, but yeah, The Wall and the White Album both would get the nod over this for me. Not that it need be a competition. If it WAS, Dylan’s Blonde On Blonde might be my personal pick. The River is awfully good, though; you’re probably nuts if you don’t love all of these.
Bryan: Agreed. I noticed you deliberately did not italicize the White Album, which is undoubtedly correct, as it's only the colloquial name for The Beatles (1968). But, if anyone out there feels more comfortable italicizing it, don't let us stop you.
Bryant: We’ve got a double-album-length post on our docket here, so let’s get it going, eh?
Bryan: 3/5 I know this was meant to be the title track until he changed the title, but it’s not my idea of a great album opener. It's fine and all, just not a huge fan. The ai-yi-yi-yi chorus seems a misstep. I like "oh-oh-oh" ending, though. Brief as it is. Ai-yi-yi, oh-oh-oh, whatever it takes.
Bryant: I haven’t been fired and replaced with a robot yet?!? Surprising, but I appreciate the magnanimity!
Bryan: My magnanimity is second only to my modesty. It's common enough to see The River listed alongside Tusk, The Wall, Tommy, Physical Graffiti as one of the great all-time double albums in rock. I’m not sure if it tops my own personal list – you’ve got to get up pretty early to knock The White Album off its perch and I probably prefer at least a couple of the just-mentioned to The River – but what say you?
Bryant: I’m not terribly knowledgeable about Fleetwood Mac or The Who, but yeah, The Wall and the White Album both would get the nod over this for me. Not that it need be a competition. If it WAS, Dylan’s Blonde On Blonde might be my personal pick. The River is awfully good, though; you’re probably nuts if you don’t love all of these.
Bryan: Agreed. I noticed you deliberately did not italicize the White Album, which is undoubtedly correct, as it's only the colloquial name for The Beatles (1968). But, if anyone out there feels more comfortable italicizing it, don't let us stop you.
Bryant: We’ve got a double-album-length post on our docket here, so let’s get it going, eh?
DISC ONE
"The Ties That Bind"
Bryan: 3/5 I know this was meant to be the title track until he changed the title, but it’s not my idea of a great album opener. It's fine and all, just not a huge fan. The ai-yi-yi-yi chorus seems a misstep. I like "oh-oh-oh" ending, though. Brief as it is. Ai-yi-yi, oh-oh-oh, whatever it takes.
Bryant: 2.5/5 The thing I would say right off the
bat about this album is that it feels very much like a conscious effort NOT to
swing for the fences. It's almost as if Bruce
realized -- possibly correctly -- that there was really no topping Born to
Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town. Those
albums seem like the logical outcome of his talent applied
to his artistic trajectory. Where do you go from there? You kinda
have to go someplace else. The River is several someplace-elses all at once, and one of
those places is "fun-time rock-'n'-roll-land." Some of it sounds
a bit shallow and unessential to my ears, but that's only in comparison to
stuff like "Badlands," and THAT ain't no insult at all. So know
that what I'm saying is, a 2.5, for me, is an awfully good song. "The Ties That Bind" is an awfully good song.
Bryan: Several
someplace-elses at once with one of them fun rock-n-roll-land should be printed
on the back of this thing. That’s it exactly.
"Sherry Darling"
Bryant: 3.25/5 One of the most fun songs on this album, so therefore one of the most fun songs he ever wrote. I feel bad for that poor mother in the back seat, though.
Bryan: 3.75/5 One two three four! I like the chorus and the
lyrics, but the arrangement is kind of blah and the sax/ piano reminds me of end credits to a variety show or
something. (Note – repeat listenings over the past several weeks have greatly
enhanced my enjoyment of this one. Catch me on another day and I’ll give this
one a 4 or even a 4.1 Try and stop me, world!) Here's Southside Johnny and Asbury Jukes doing a very, uhh, loose take on it.
Bryan: 3/5 Not a bad version of this sort of tune in Springsteen's catalog but not one of my faves. It’d fit pretty well on Lucky Town, though – should’ve saved it for that one and picked one of the River outtakes from Tracks to take its place. ("Loose Ends" maybe? Would that alter the mood-to-ratio of The River? For the better, I say.)
Bryant: 2.75/5 This is one that I always kind of forget about, but when I listen to it, it always sounds better than I'd remembered. I can hear this one reworked a bit and fitting really well on either of the two preceding albums.
Bryant: 2/5 Not bad, but it doesn't do a whole lot for me.
Bryan: 3.5/5 I could see Tom Petty having a big hit with this. (Incidentally, I'd never heard the Precious Metal version, nor even of that band) He did his job (catchy little rock number expressing something everyone can relate to – certainly never an unremarkable feat) but not a particular fave.
Bryan: 5/5 One of my favorite representations of this sort of song in Bruce's catalog. That "Papa go to bed now" reminds me of some of the anecdotes from various Bruce bios of Doug Springsteen sitting in the kitchen of Bruce’s childhood home with the lights off and his cigarettes, staring at the wall, until someone could get him to go to bed.
"Jackson
Cage"
Bryan: 3/5 Not a bad version of this sort of tune in Springsteen's catalog but not one of my faves. It’d fit pretty well on Lucky Town, though – should’ve saved it for that one and picked one of the River outtakes from Tracks to take its place. ("Loose Ends" maybe? Would that alter the mood-to-ratio of The River? For the better, I say.)
Bryant: 2.75/5 This is one that I always kind of forget about, but when I listen to it, it always sounds better than I'd remembered. I can hear this one reworked a bit and fitting really well on either of the two preceding albums.
"Two
Hearts"
Bryant: 2/5 Not bad, but it doesn't do a whole lot for me.
Bryan: 3.5/5 I could see Tom Petty having a big hit with this. (Incidentally, I'd never heard the Precious Metal version, nor even of that band) He did his job (catchy little rock number expressing something everyone can relate to – certainly never an unremarkable feat) but not a particular fave.
"Independence Day"
Bryan: 5/5 One of my favorite representations of this sort of song in Bruce's catalog. That "Papa go to bed now" reminds me of some of the anecdotes from various Bruce bios of Doug Springsteen sitting in the kitchen of Bruce’s childhood home with the lights off and his cigarettes, staring at the wall, until someone could get him to go to bed.
Bryant: 5/5 I honestly don't know if this song had ever fully clicked for me until this listen. I never disliked it, but I don't think I ever really paid attention to it. If you DO pay attention to it, boy does it pack a wallop, especially following those first four goof-offs. But for me, I think that's a lot of what makes The River -- and, later, Born in the USA -- work: that mix of happiness and sadness. Both feed off each other; this is the work of a man who's come to realize that any normal life is going to have heaping helpings of both. The Bruce of the first four albums maybe hadn't quite figured that out; he was first getting it on Darkness, I think, but even then, the shock of it seemed so fresh that it came roaring out of him primally, vitally, as though he were convinced he could still change it if only he railed against it strongly enough. By The River, there's more of an acceptance. The characters -- which I think they mostly are (as opposed to manifestations of himself in a literal sense) -- of songs like "Independence Day" know there's no going back. This is simply what life is.
Bryan:
That mix of happiness and sadness, highs and lows, absolutely. Whatever its
cause – chemical imbalance, unresolved issues from his upbringing, or just a
sensitive eye for detail in not-always-so-sensitive circumstances, an
expression of the eternal yin and yang of life - it defines so much of the
pre-90s Bruce catalog.
And
speaking of:
Bryant: 6.5/5 The happiest sad song ever recorded? The saddest happy song ever recorded? It's one or the other. I got no words for how much I love this song. That's alright. Bruce has got 'em for me.
Bryan: 6.5/5 I added a half-point to my original score of 6 following your lead here. It certainly deserves it. I mean, what more can be said? Those first few couplets (“Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack / I went out for a ride and I never went back. Like a river that don’t know where it’s flowing / I took a wrong turn and I just kept going”) flow so nicely into the chorus, where Bruce is almost in relationship/entropy-Yoda mode, dispensing hard-won wisdom that doesn’t exactly comfort, but certainly makes you nod your head in understanding. Just perfect. Instantly catapulted Bruce to a whole new level of songwriters. I’ve been singing this around the house so much (also "Glory Days") I'm starting to worry Dawn'll get the wrong idea. I think I'll always prefer the studio version, which I think is perfect, but there are some exceptional live ones out there, most especially this one. Crank that!
Bryant: 2.25/5 I don't dislike this one, but boy does it sound insignificant coming after "Hungry Heart." There are great live versions, of course, but what Bruce song is that not true of? Other, of course, than "Mary Queen of Arkansas"?
Bryan: 2.25/5 Meh. Too much with the drag racing, sometimes, with Bruce. I haven’t thought of The Heavenly Kid in years, but as a result of all this drag racing stuff I keep thinking about it. That was not an expected side effect of this project.
Bryan: 3.25/5 "My brain takes a vacation just to give my heart more room." Uncomplicated but fun. Would've been ideal for Kiss - hell, it even sounds like one of Gene's numbers.
Bryant: 3/5 I was so glad to see your comment about this sounding like a Gene Simmons song that I nearly shouted out loud. I've been saying that for years! And we're both right. This makes a certain amount of sense to me. They're from the same area and the same era, and Kiss was all about rock and roll basics, which is what a lot of The River is about. But vocally, I swear to God, I think Bruce was consciously doing a Gene here.
Bryan: I imagine he was going for the Stones, but the idea of his channeling Gene is too good to let that get in the way of anything.
Bryant: 3/5 Whereas, this, I hear this as more of a Peter song. Or maybe Paul. Paul would've had a blast with it, probably -- imagine the five-minute innuendo-laden rant he'd deliver beforehand!
Bryan: 3/5 Absolutely. My score for this one has bounced around like a pinball over all these listenings, but I think it’s settled into a solid 3.
Bryan: (3.5) Another one I wish he could’ve gotten to the Beach Boys for their particular harmony blend, though. Could’ve been one of their all-time big hits, actually. I wish I hadn’t thought of it, because now everytime I hear it I hear what might have been and it’s too bad.
Bryant: 3.25/5 This makes me think of a single mom I worked with at one point in time. Some other world, some other me ... hmm. Thoughts, thoughts, boy; I got plenty of thoughts. And if they were a song, they might sound a little bit like this.
Bryant: 5/5 I get hammered by this one just about every time. The kind of characters Bruce was singing about on his first few albums wouldn't even have realized that such a sentence as "Then I got Mary pregnant, and man, that was all she wrote" was even possible, much less the kicker about not even having a wedding dress or a walk down the aisle. When you're dreaming of such things as a younger person, they seem like givens; it isn't "if it happens," it's "when it happens." So finding out that it's far from given is a hell of a shock. And, so far as I can tell, it remains so for the rest of your days.
Bryan: 3.75/5 Hear, hear. I know it's practically heresy, but I've just never been as moved by this one as everyone else. I appreciate what you’re saying, and I know there’s an autobiographical element with Springsteen's sister and her husband and the whole escape-surroundings-directive and all. And I do very much appreciate the poetry and sensitivity of it, but it's just never one I’m dying to hear or feel any catharsis from doing so. Musically, tho, I like the way it builds and different voices and instruments join in, like tributaries rejoining the main, sad stream.
It's weird - if "The River" was just a random b-side, would I rate it higher? Probably. Why is that?
"Hungry Heart"
Bryant: 6.5/5 The happiest sad song ever recorded? The saddest happy song ever recorded? It's one or the other. I got no words for how much I love this song. That's alright. Bruce has got 'em for me.
Bryan: 6.5/5 I added a half-point to my original score of 6 following your lead here. It certainly deserves it. I mean, what more can be said? Those first few couplets (“Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack / I went out for a ride and I never went back. Like a river that don’t know where it’s flowing / I took a wrong turn and I just kept going”) flow so nicely into the chorus, where Bruce is almost in relationship/entropy-Yoda mode, dispensing hard-won wisdom that doesn’t exactly comfort, but certainly makes you nod your head in understanding. Just perfect. Instantly catapulted Bruce to a whole new level of songwriters. I’ve been singing this around the house so much (also "Glory Days") I'm starting to worry Dawn'll get the wrong idea. I think I'll always prefer the studio version, which I think is perfect, but there are some exceptional live ones out there, most especially this one. Crank that!
"Out in the Street"
Bryant: 2.25/5 I don't dislike this one, but boy does it sound insignificant coming after "Hungry Heart." There are great live versions, of course, but what Bruce song is that not true of? Other, of course, than "Mary Queen of Arkansas"?
Bryan: 2.25/5 Meh. Too much with the drag racing, sometimes, with Bruce. I haven’t thought of The Heavenly Kid in years, but as a result of all this drag racing stuff I keep thinking about it. That was not an expected side effect of this project.
Bryan: 3.25/5 "My brain takes a vacation just to give my heart more room." Uncomplicated but fun. Would've been ideal for Kiss - hell, it even sounds like one of Gene's numbers.
Bryant: 3/5 I was so glad to see your comment about this sounding like a Gene Simmons song that I nearly shouted out loud. I've been saying that for years! And we're both right. This makes a certain amount of sense to me. They're from the same area and the same era, and Kiss was all about rock and roll basics, which is what a lot of The River is about. But vocally, I swear to God, I think Bruce was consciously doing a Gene here.
Bryan: I imagine he was going for the Stones, but the idea of his channeling Gene is too good to let that get in the way of anything.
"You
Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)"
Bryant: 3/5 Whereas, this, I hear this as more of a Peter song. Or maybe Paul. Paul would've had a blast with it, probably -- imagine the five-minute innuendo-laden rant he'd deliver beforehand!
Bryan: 3/5 Absolutely. My score for this one has bounced around like a pinball over all these listenings, but I think it’s settled into a solid 3.
"I Wanna Marry You"
Bryan: (3.5) Another one I wish he could’ve gotten to the Beach Boys for their particular harmony blend, though. Could’ve been one of their all-time big hits, actually. I wish I hadn’t thought of it, because now everytime I hear it I hear what might have been and it’s too bad.
Bryant: 3.25/5 This makes me think of a single mom I worked with at one point in time. Some other world, some other me ... hmm. Thoughts, thoughts, boy; I got plenty of thoughts. And if they were a song, they might sound a little bit like this.
"The River"
Bryant: 5/5 I get hammered by this one just about every time. The kind of characters Bruce was singing about on his first few albums wouldn't even have realized that such a sentence as "Then I got Mary pregnant, and man, that was all she wrote" was even possible, much less the kicker about not even having a wedding dress or a walk down the aisle. When you're dreaming of such things as a younger person, they seem like givens; it isn't "if it happens," it's "when it happens." So finding out that it's far from given is a hell of a shock. And, so far as I can tell, it remains so for the rest of your days.
Bryan: 3.75/5 Hear, hear. I know it's practically heresy, but I've just never been as moved by this one as everyone else. I appreciate what you’re saying, and I know there’s an autobiographical element with Springsteen's sister and her husband and the whole escape-surroundings-directive and all. And I do very much appreciate the poetry and sensitivity of it, but it's just never one I’m dying to hear or feel any catharsis from doing so. Musically, tho, I like the way it builds and different voices and instruments join in, like tributaries rejoining the main, sad stream.
It's weird - if "The River" was just a random b-side, would I rate it higher? Probably. Why is that?
DISC TWO
"Point
Blank"
Bryant: 3.25/5 I fancy I hear the beginnings of Tunnel
of Love on this song. Add some synth, and it's not far off.
Bryan:
3/5 Now that you point it out, I agree completely. Here's one I originally scored much higher, but repeat listenings kind of kept kicking it down. It’s not bad, but it’s no:
Bryan:
4.75/5 Pretty cheeky starting the 2nd album off with "Point Blank" and not this one. It works, I guess - Springsteen
/ Landau/ Van Zandt clearly had a good grasp on album side order and how to
distribute/ scatter the tunes. A signpost, if not the connecting hub, to a little further down the road to "Darlington
County."
Bryant: 5/5 I'm giving this one the full
five. I saw Springsteen in Birmingham in 2002 (I think), and he played
this. The roof of the
auditorium was blown off and landed two counties over, mysteriously still in
one piece. Work crews were eventually able to fix it back in place, but
it was touch and go, apparently.
Bryan:
I realize it’s almost certainly me reading into things but here’s another one I
just see casting a spotlight across King’s unconscious. It’s not a great story,
but I can’t help wonder if some of the ideas/ energy in this song ended up in
stuff like “You Know They Got a Hell of a Band.” Like you’ve said elsewhere,
knowing King has been a huge Springsteen fan since the early days – and a
general rags to riches trajectory and political sensibility - makes it tempting
to find parallels.
Speaking
of, I think the Wiggles re-arranged this and slowed it down as
"Dorothy the Dinosaur."
There's some amazingly fun choreography going on in this 7-minute long version from Paris 1985. That hyperlink should be cued up to it but apologies if it not - it's at/around the 3:20 mark.
Bryan: 4.25/5 I’m a sucker for songs like this. On the face of it, a ridiculous statement, even more absurdly put across. And yet, it's actually truth, like hey that’s my job, folks. And this is how it sounds! It always amuses me. It'd be fun to do a blog of all the songs named "I'm a Rocker." I can only think of the Judas Priest and Thin Lizzy ones, aside from this, but I bet there are plenty more. Way more if we expand it to any song that has as its title a pronoun-subject/verb-rock-any-tense. ("We Rock," "I Wanna Rock," "Let's Get Rocked," etc. Hell this should be an entire blog of its own, not just a post: Songs About Rockin'. An inexhaustible mine.)
There's some amazingly fun choreography going on in this 7-minute long version from Paris 1985. That hyperlink should be cued up to it but apologies if it not - it's at/around the 3:20 mark.
"I'm
a Rocker"
Bryan: 4.25/5 I’m a sucker for songs like this. On the face of it, a ridiculous statement, even more absurdly put across. And yet, it's actually truth, like hey that’s my job, folks. And this is how it sounds! It always amuses me. It'd be fun to do a blog of all the songs named "I'm a Rocker." I can only think of the Judas Priest and Thin Lizzy ones, aside from this, but I bet there are plenty more. Way more if we expand it to any song that has as its title a pronoun-subject/verb-rock-any-tense. ("We Rock," "I Wanna Rock," "Let's Get Rocked," etc. Hell this should be an entire blog of its own, not just a post: Songs About Rockin'. An inexhaustible mine.)
Bryant: 2.5/5 Absolutely, including the
paragon of the subgenre, Falco’s "Rock Me Amadeus." I leave it to you to decide whether I’m
serious about that. Back to the Boss, this
has always been one of the album's lesser songs, in my
eyes. It's fine, though, just not one I gravitate to.
Bryan: I like Bruce's clowning around at the beginning of this version from 2002. Another of those songs he wrote in the 70s that he never seemed to play back then but started popping up in the 21st century.
Bryan: I like Bruce's clowning around at the beginning of this version from 2002. Another of those songs he wrote in the 70s that he never seemed to play back then but started popping up in the 21st century.
"Fade
Away"
Bryan:
4.25/5 Showcases the Bruce/ Van Zandt
unique vocal alchemy pretty well.
Bryant:
Honestly, what could some other man do to a woman that Bruce couldn't?
I'm offended by the very notion on his behalf. Oh
yeah, I gotta score this, don't I? 3/5 I like it, but it's
not on my list of essentials.
Bryan: That outro is so good, though! In the eternal game of redistributing Bruce’s songs to other artists, Noel Gallagher would’ve (maybe still would – his voice is holding up all right) done well with this one. (And maybe he did, kind of, at the end of "Sad Song?" Noel was all about studying the songwriting greats, so it would only make sense if a lot of Bruce-homework got into some of that homework along with everyone else.)
Bryan: That outro is so good, though! In the eternal game of redistributing Bruce’s songs to other artists, Noel Gallagher would’ve (maybe still would – his voice is holding up all right) done well with this one. (And maybe he did, kind of, at the end of "Sad Song?" Noel was all about studying the songwriting greats, so it would only make sense if a lot of Bruce-homework got into some of that homework along with everyone else.)
"Stolen
Car"
Bryant: 3.75/5 Hey, looky there; Nebraska
was just born! Brutally sad, but usefully so.
Bryan:
4/5 Another pained lament, and some of his simplest, most direct lyrics of
love gone to ruin but the bodies still live. A sad one.
Great tune but not my favorite sort of thing. It'd be perfect for the right sequence of a film, though. My points here are what I
think the song is worth; my own personal level of
enjoyment would be more a 4.
"Ramrod"
Bryan:
3.5/5 I mean, nothing special I guess, just traditional rock and roll. I've
got zero problems with that. Weird they chose "Fade Away" as the 2nd single from this record and not this one or "I'm a
Rocker." Now: picture this (once again) done by the
Beach Boys with Mike Love singing - same song, same approach. What would your
rating be? (Mine'd drop considerably.) The power of
Bruce! But also, equally, of the E Street Band. This
isn't a dis to the BBs, just properly evaluating the value these guys brought to the rock
and roll game. Here's a version from The River tour that rocks.
Bryant: 2/5 It absolutely rocks, but this is my least favorite song on the album. I never skip it or anything, but I'm kind of
glad when it's over.
"The
Price You Pay"
Bryant:
3/5 Another one that is part of the Nebraska
origin story. I'd love to hear it done in that vein, but it works
really well here, too, obviously. [Say, I
think you forgot to score this one!]
Bryan:
2/5 I only really like the sax solo. Don't like the "heart and soul" anguish or whatever he's doing
round the 6 minute mark. Or much else. The
lyrics are good - it's not a bad exploration of this emotion/ type of song. It
works better as accompaniment for something in a movie maybe. I can totally understand why anyone would dig it, but for the same vibe I'd rather just listen to "Backstreets."
Bryant: 3/5 I like it quite a bit more than you do, but I totally agree
that he needed to go in a different direction with some of it. It still
works for me as a whole, though.
Bryan:
4/5 Love this one. For me, this is the pointer-of-the-way to not just Nebraska but to all the country-Bruce to follow, almost as much as if it were a sneak preview of the 80s. "Bruce Springsteen Will Return In..." Perfect end to the
record.
Bryant: 3.75/5 Definitely great, but
not a personal favorite for me. I agree that it's a wonderful
album-closer, though. I wonder if people took it that way when it came
out? I bet a few fans were a little worried about the
direction it was pointing.
FINAL
THOUGHTS
Bryan: Total 74.25
Avg: 3.71 In many ways the pivotal album of the catalog, the one that harnessed the momentum and careful step-by-step placement of the first four and set the stage for everything that came after.
Bryant: Total
67.75 total, 3.39 average I'm a good bit lower than you on this
one. Don't get me wrong, though; I love it. Sure, it's not "as
good" as the previous two albums; but I don't think
it was designed to be. I think it was designed NOT to be. Either
way, it's crammed full of great songs.
~
THE RIVER
was produced by Jon Landau, Steven Van Zandt, and Bruce Springsteen
and featured
Bruce Springsteen
– lead vocals, lead guitar, harmonica
Roy Bittan –
piano, backing vocals
Clarence Clemons –
saxophone, backing vocals
Danny Federici –
organ, glockenspiel
Garry Tallent –
bass guitar
Steve Van Zandt –
rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Max Weinberg –
drums
Flo and Eddie –
backing vocals on "Hungry Heart"
Brian Roberts returns! Read his comments, if it please ya:
ReplyDelete"On to “The River” which will be interesting for me because it’s not a favorite of mine. I don’t dislike it, but I have a hard time connecting to most of the tracks. I saw the tour he did for the anniversary of this in 2016 and it still didn’t really resonate with me. I have no issue in saying that it’s a good album, I just don’t revere it the way that most Bruce fans do. My memory of it is that most of the songs just feel insignificant. It’ll be interesting to see how it grades out with fresh ears.
“The Ties That Bind” - if you look at my past scores you’ll see that I don’t require a song to even have a chorus for me to love it. But if you’re gonna put one in there, it can’t suck. And I think the chorus to this song sucks. I don’t like it one bit. I dig the music quite a bit, tho. I love the drums, especially the bit at the end of each chorus. It’s almost like Max thought he was playing for a better song. Clarence’s section is really strong, too. So the band saves this one from a really bad score. 2.25/5 Edit: damn it. I’ve been singing this damn song while typing reviews of songs I like much better. I guess that chorus doesn’t suck as much as I thought. Let’s give it a bump to 2.75
“Sherry Darling” - is this the meanest song in the catalog? I can only guess by the lyrics and the weird addition of the background noises and off harmony backing vocals that Bruce was trying to riff on “Get an Ugly Girl to Marry You” by the Coasters. Both songs are way meaner than they sound if you aren’t paying attention, and there’s something kind of fun about that.
I can hear what Bryan is saying about the sax sounding a little cheesy, tho I think it’s because tv credits music was trying to sound like this, rather than the other way around. So I won’t penalize the song for that. The sax at the end is especially strong and the last verse is really great both vocally and musically. Much like with movies and tv, if a song is gonna be dumb, it needs to be all kinds of fun to override that (I’m looking at you, “Hot Rod”). This song manages to clear that bar, even if my comments don’t indicate that. 4.0/5
“Jackson Cage” - I can imagine that if I was drinking a beer at the lake in 1980 and I’d never heard a Bruce Springsteen song, that I would think this is pretty great. As it is, I’ve heard what came before and after, and this just feels like Target brand Bruce. That’s not as bad as Wal-Mart brand or Dollar General brand, but it’s still not good enough. Is that the fault of the song or the listener? Especially if, as Bryant suggested, it’s maybe on purpose. I don’t know.
The prime example of what I’m talking about is the harmonica solo. How was that not Clarence? A well placed harmonica can work (see “The Promised Land”), but here it sounds like Clarence was taking a long shit, they didn’t feel like waiting on him, and so they just said to hell with it and recorded it anyway. It’s not bad, but it just lacks all of the magic of the last three albums, and the next three for that matter. 2.75/5
“Two Hearts” - that theory of Bryant’s that I just mentioned might be proven true by the existence of this song. Imagine this with a “Badlands” style breakdown in the middle and a power solo by Clarence. I like this song a good bit, but it really does seem like it’s purposefully being held back from sounding like it belongs on the last two albums. Almost as if it’s been crafted specifically to prove that he could write a (sub) 3 minute pop song for the dual purpose of being played on top 40 radio and demonstrating that he has that particular club in his bag. By the time we get to “Live in New York City” it’s like he’s figured out that this song could’ve been better, and it’s performed that way there. 3.25/5"
(1) I think the chorus to "The Ties That Bind" kind of does suck. It may even count as cultural appropriation. You're canceled, Springy!
Delete(2) I don't think I've ever heard "Get an Ugly Girl to Marry You"! That's a hell of a sentiment.
(3) I like the idea of there being real Bruce, Target-brand Bruce, Great Value Bruce, etc., on down to Piggly Wiggly brand Bruce. I agree, Target-brand Bruce is on the upper end of the bogus scale; still a *little* bogus, but better than most of the other options.
(4) "here it sounds like Clarence was taking a long shit, they didn’t feel like waiting on him, and so they just said to hell with it and recorded it anyway." -- lol
I would not be in the least surprised.
Part 3 of Brian's comments:
ReplyDelete"“You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)” - this song suffers from the same disease as “Two Hearts”. Seriously, where in the hell is Clarence? These are the songs you specifically have him in the band to improve. Ok, not really… he improves all of them, but you know what I mean. This song is all kinds of fun, but with just a little bit of effort could’ve been a great one. I’m disliking Bryant at the moment for making me think it’s on purpose. I like this one a lot despite that, but not as much as I should be able to like it. The Bruce/Steve thing is in full throat and the guitar sounds good. I like the wonky cadence of it, too. 3.75/5
“I Wanna Marry You” - I never paid much attention to this song before, but I kind of like it. Apparently when you actually pay attention to songs written by great songwriters, that tends to be the case. Who knew? I think this is pretty much the polar opposite of “Sherry Darling” in that it might be the sweetest a Bruce narrator has ever been. I really like the backup vocals a lot, too. Bryan is probably right that The Beach Boys would’ve had a big hit with it. Apparently Mike Love is a real asshole, so I’m glad Bruce didn’t give it to them. 3.25/5
“The River” - wooo boy! Has he ever written a sadder lyric than “is a dream a lie if it don’t come true, or is it something worse?” Is there a better song ever written about regret? Possibly, tho I can’t think of it off hand. I think Bruce knew would he had with this one because the song lacks any extraneous bullshit production. It’s simply presented in a way the rest of the album really isn’t. It would have fit really well on the next album for that reason and the fact that the character study is so well drawn. Absolute expert song writing. And one of the rare occurrences where the song wouldn’t have been improved by Clarence. 5/5
“Point Blank” - I was hoping that this song would finally hit me, but no luck. I can appreciate what’s here. Roy and Danny are playing the hell out of it and I like the little guitar riff that plays throughout underneath. The production is great; it’s one of the few songs where I think I can understand everything Bruce says. I’ve seen him live twice, he played this song both times, and it sadly still does nothing for me. I’m sure there are lots of people out there who love it, and I guess I can see why, but I skip it when it rolls around. 2.5/5
“Cadillac Ranch” - and now for something completely different! No skipping this sumbitch - if the song can make a “Smokey and the Bandit” reference, then so can I! It’s no shock that they figured out a way to turn this into a giant party when they play it live, because it’s a giant party here. Great sax solo(s). Great piano. The chorus is a great hook. It just makes me angry that they didn’t put this much into a couple of other songs on the album, because all of the tools are obviously still there. I prefer the “Live 75-85” version, but only because I think that’s one of his best live performances. 4.75/5"
(1) "I’m disliking Bryant at the moment for making me think it’s on purpose." -- Fair.
Delete(2) "Is there a better song ever written about regret? Possibly, tho I can’t think of it off hand." -- I will cast a vote for "Chelsea Hotel No. 2" by Leonard Cohen. Maybe even "Famous Blue Raincoat." But if so, they don't beat this one by much; it's a titan.
(3) "No skipping this sumbitch - if the song can make a “Smokey and the Bandit” reference, then so can I!" -- This was Burt's gift to the world, that we all be able to make such references.
Part 4 of Brian's comments:
ReplyDelete"“I’m a Rocker” - I’m starting to think that my less than grand feelings about this album are based more on what should be here and isn’t, than what is actually here. For the love of all that is holy, where in the bloody hell was Clarence on this song?!? It’s a big ole romp of a tune that fails to blow the lid off like it could have, and I just don’t understand why. This song is as dumb as a bag of hammers, but it could’ve been a great one anyway. John Cafferty was probably leaning pretty heavily on this one (along with “She’s the One”) when he did “On the Dark Side”. He’s basically parroting the way Bruce sings here, which was a good call. I wanna go big with a score, but the lack of the sax drags it down. Unfair? Probably. But I’m not the one who didn’t wait for Clarence to get back from the bathroom before recording the song, am I Bruce? 3.5/5
“Fade Away” - of the lesser songs on the album, this is one that I’ve always liked. I wish I could explain why I like this one how I do and don’t care for “Point Blank”. I don’t know that there’s a whole lot of difference in quality. Oh well. The organ in the middle is great stuff from Danny. The chorus is a really singable hook, which I guess is why I like it better. I agree with Bryan that the outro is great. I nice, solid tune that I find myself humming quite a bit. 3.5/5
“Stolen Car” - Bryant is right that you can definitely see not just the roots, but the actual formation of “Nebraska” here. Much like you can see the pop roots of “Born in the USA” in a lot of the other tracks, it’s clear that he had an idea of where he was headed, but hadn’t quite figured out how to do it yet.
I’ll talk more about this when I get to “Nebraska”, but this is a song that didn’t register at all for me 6 years ago. Some life experience and being around a lot of local singer songwriters has changed my perspective on songs like this. It’s just an absolutely beautiful piece of music and the back up vocals really play well for me. I’m just going to pretend that the narrator of this song is Frank from “Highway Patrolman”. 4.0/5
“Ramrod” - a perfect example of a song that wrecks the world when played with all of the energy that Bruce and the band bring to a live show, that just doesn’t work quite as well on the record. It’s a fun song that just isn’t quite as fun here. I do love the organ work from Danny. Despite it being a cheesy moment, I do like Bruce addressing Clarence specifically as “Big Maaaan!” in introducing a pretty fun sax solo. On a side note, I believe this is the first song in the catalog that is 100% about fucking. 3.0/5
“The Price You Pay” - this is a really well made song. The horrible production of the mid 2000s albums are only made worse when you compare them to how wonderfully mixed this is. The clarity of each instrument, the wonderful vocal under dubs, the way the music never over powers the lyric. Really well done.
It almost feels like the narrator here is someone who witnessed the events of the song “The River” and is commenting on it for us as a cautionary tale, which I guess is exactly what’s happening. I like the end of the last verse when Bruce gets big with the vocal. Ultimately it doesn’t really go anywhere special, and once again we get harmonica instead of sax, but I like this one. It probably would’ve sounded at home on “Letter to You” which I am (im)patiently waiting to read a review of from you two. 3.25/5"
(1) "not just the roots, but the actual formation of “Nebraska” here. Much like you can see the pop roots of “Born in the USA” in a lot of the other tracks" -- Is shit like this not endlessly fascinating? One minute, there's no "Nebraska" and the next minute there is. What happens in that sixty seconds? Nobody can explain it, but sometimes, everyone can *hear* it. Tell me art ain't magic. I'll tell you where to go.
Delete(2) "On a side note, I believe this is the first song in the catalog that is 100% about fucking." -- That checks out.
(3) "once again we get harmonica instead of sax" -- This might be explicable if Bruce had the next album in his head subconsciously, and just hadn't realized he wanted to do a full-on Dylan thing.
(4) "It probably would’ve sounded at home on “Letter to You” which I am (im)patiently waiting to read a review of from you two." -- It's true, we have been lax as a motherfucker on that one.
Part 5 of Brian's comments (I think? -- I actually forgot to check what the previous one was numbered, but let's assume I'm correct):
ReplyDelete"“Drive All Night” - I never really paid much attention to this song. I think I got as far as “to buy you some shoes”, rolled my eyes, and then just tuned out. Then about 3 years ago I was listening to E Street Radio and Ralph Macchio was guest DJing. He introduced a live version of it that I wish I could specifically cite for you two, because it knocked me on my ass. It completely changed my feelings on the song and now I like it quite a lot. Well done, Daniel-san. Too bad I didn’t hear that before I saw him play it live myself. Although maybe that’s for the best.
Once I actually listened, boy did I find that I could really connect to the song. I didn’t buy her any damn shoes, but I did drive all night a couple of times to demonstrate my affection for a woman in my past, and the complete desperation with which Bruce sings the second half of the song is a feeling I’m sadly all too familiar with. I guess maybe I should’ve bought her some shoes. The sax solo is absolutely one of Clarence’s best. While overall the song is too long, I find that I listen to it more often than I ever imagined I would. 4/5
“Wreck on the Highway” - definitely another indication of where the next album was gonna go. Tho given the story of how that came to pass, I don’t know that Bruce knew it was going to be that way. It’s also another example of expert level production that should be used to embarrass the hell out of Brenden O’Brien. Even tho I don’t love the song, I love how clean it sounds. This is a brutally sad song that is the absolute perfect song to end this particular album. 3.75/5
That’s a total score of 74.00 for an average of 3.7. So, yeah, clearly I was just full of shit in thinking that I didn’t like this album very much. I still contend there’s a couple of missteps, and that most of the songs could’ve been improved greatly with just a little more put into them. There really is no excuse for Clarence not being much more of a major part of a lot of the songs. But when you put out a record of 20 songs and only 3 of them score below a 3.0, you’ve done something pretty special.
With some inspiration from Bryant for doing this on later stuff, here’s how I would have done a single album release of this:
1. Out in the Street
2. You Can Look (But You Better Not…)
3. Independence Day
4. Hungry Heart
5. The River
6. Sherry Darling
7. Cadillac Ranch
8. Stolen Car
9. Drive All Night
10. Wreck on the Highway
That would’ve come in at 3.975. That’s strong, but probably not enough better to be worth upsetting the overall composition of the two disc album as it is. And that’s also just me picking the 10 best scores and not trying to actually construct what would be the best album out of the 20 songs. So, no shock that Bruce and John Landau made the right call here. I wish they had done the same with “Born in the USA” "
(1) "Ralph Macchio was guest DJing" -- Makes sense that that dude would be a Springsteen fan.
Delete(2) "I didn’t buy her any damn shoes" -- That's surely the title for somebody's memoirs. Maybe not Brian's but *some* damn body's.
(3) "But when you put out a record of 20 songs and only 3 of them score below a 3.0, you’ve done something pretty special." -- It really is true, and this should be said more. (Maybe it is and I just don't know about it. I'm bluffing, but it seems true.) Sure, only a handful of these are great, maybe ... but the ability to put together this many which are very good is not a thing to sneeze at.
(4) Ones hopes -- regarding the ten-track cutdown Brian proposes -- that the wreck on the highway did not mow down the celebratory people who began the album out in the street.
Oops, pt. 2 didn't publish. (Is he still having problems publishing comments?) Here it is:
ReplyDeletePart 2 of Brian's comments:
"“Independence Day” - fresh ears win out! I had never really cared much for this song until this listen. Maybe it’s remembering how well it was used in the movie “Blinded By the Light” or maybe it was just forcing my ADD ass to actually sit still and really pay attention. Probably a bit of both. This is a great song.
Remember that sax solo I was waiting for in the last two tracks? Well here ya go, and buddy it has some things to say. It might even carry more emotional weight with its absence after the last verse. When it comes in the song, it’s at a point where the character is proud of his decision to leave and it’s like the sax is the embodiment of all of his hope and optimism. In the last verse the character is realizing that his leaving, while necessary, is pretty damn sad. And it’s gonna flat destroy his father. The fact that the sax doesn’t come back at that point, instead leaving us with that mournful organ, feels like a conscious choice to demonstrate the character’s realization that life and making big choices are far more complex than he knew. Or maybe Clarence just had to take a shit again. 4.5/5
“Hungry Heart” - legend has it the Bruce wrote this song in about 5 minutes and attempted to give it to Joey Ramone for his band to do. Joey, after looking at the lyrics for a minute, looked up at Bruce and said “no… I think you probably oughtta hang on to this one.” John Landau, unaware that Bruce was trying to give it away, stepped in and told him that under no circumstances was that song going anywhere. I have no clue if that’s true, but I hope so.
It almost has to have been the first song of his that I heard. I knew he was by the time “Born in the USA” came out. My parents weren’t in to rock from the 70s, so I’m guessing I heard this one somewhere along the line before then. I wish I knew where. I don’t really have anything meaningful to say about the song, tho I will point out that I love the deeper and harmonious sax that Clarence is playing in place of bass through much of the song. It’s absolutely fucking great! 6.0/5
“Out on the Street” - is there any guitar in this song at all? I don’t think I had ever noticed that before. I have a hard time separating the studio version from the vastly superior version on “Live at New York City”. I love that version, and so it makes me love this one. The sax solo is great. Roy is playing the crap out of the piano. I like the chorus a ton. There’s not much going on overall, but it blows right by that dumb to fun threshold that I mentioned before. I’ll dock it a half point because I know it’s not as good as the live version that’s playing in my head when I’m listening to it. 3.5/5
“Crush on You” - fresh ears coming in strong again. Or maybe just the influence of reading this series from the two of you. Hearing this as a Kiss song instead of a Bruce song gives it a charm that I actually kind of like. I still don’t think it’s particularly good and I don’t care for the way Bruce sings it. But I actually enjoy it overall. The sax gives it the obligatory bump, tho the weird clapping at the end knocks it back down a touch. I’m like Dumbledore with the arbitrary as shit scoring here. 3.0/5"
(1) "Is he still having problems publishing comments?" -- It seems to be a complete loss, yep. Very strange.
Delete(2) "Remember that sax solo I was waiting for in the last two tracks? Well here ya go, and buddy it has some things to say." -- It's possible that Bruce was purposefully keeping Clarence in reserve so as to make listeners feel the resultant absence. A mean trick, but effective, in its way.
(3) I too hope that Ramones story is true. And now I'm imagining the parallel universe where it happened and somehow led to Springsteen performing the end-credits song for "Pet Sematary." I prefer this universe. But I'd love to hear a vintage Ramones cover of "Hungry Heart."
(4) "Hearing this as a Kiss song instead of a Bruce song gives it a charm that I actually kind of like. I still don’t think it’s particularly good and I don’t care for the way Bruce sings it." -- Wouldn't sound like a Kiss song if you did!
I regret to say I have not listened to this one since we were doing the posts. That pretty much goes for a lot of these, actually - I really immersed myself at the time and then put together a playlist of all my 4 stars and above, which I guess does have more than a few of the above, and have used that for my Bruce listening.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of Ralph Macchio hosting E Street Radio. I'm sure I'd like the event itself, too, but the idea is fun. In this case, glad he called your attention to it again.
Crikey, I think I forgot all about "Letter To You". I didn't pick it up - I need to.
ReplyDelete