"I was having a hard time locating my rock voice. I'd made some records over the past years, I made one in '94 that I didn't release. Then I made a series of demos, kind of in search of that voice. And I was having a hard time finding it. And there was a point I said: 'Well, gee, maybe I just don't do that now. Maybe that's something that I did.' But after writing "Land of Hope and Dreams", I felt it was as good as any songs (like that) that I've ever written. It was like, there's that voice I was looking for." (interview, NYT 2002)
Bryan: To obliterate the threat of Y2K with the power of rock and roll, Bruce got the band back together at the tail end of the 20th century. The tour culminated in a series of shows at Madison Square Garden, and the 2-disc set Live in New York City appeared in 2001. I skipped it at the time, though that wasn't the case for my co-captain in this voyage of Bruce, Mr. Bryant Burnette. Bryant! Was this the album that put you over the top as a Springsteen fan?
Bryant: I've been trying to remember how I became a Springsteen fan, and I think it was "Streets of Philadelphia" that did it. I was familiar with most of his hits, but they'd never really meant all that much to me personally. ("I'm On Fire" and "Dancing in the Dark" were exceptions to that.) That song really landed with me, though, so I started accumulating all of his albums and became hooked.
But - Greatest Hits notwithstanding - yeah, that reunion and HBO special really were the first major moments in his career that I was there for that involved the entire band. It was a reunion, but it was also, for me, a sort of baptism. Prior to that, I was a fan mostly of a thing that was over and done with; but with that, it was like the train I had hopped on had started to actually go someplace again.
Bryan: "This train... yeeeaaaahrrr-unnnga... this train..." And with that:
DISC ONE
“My Love Will Not Let You Down”
Bryant: 3.5/5 Kickass. A little ragged, but it’s such an intense song that I don’t know you’d ever get through a performance without kind of vibrating yourself into hyperspace or something.
Bryan: 3/5 I like it fine, but not sure I agree with leading off the album with it. (Interesting to see it as a thematic book-end to the last song on Disc 2, though – like Bruce is renewing his covenant with the faithful.)
Bryan: 4/5 Awesome solo. I'm going to have to check the DVD to see if it's Bruce - usually when it's a squawk of feedback and discord, it's Bruce. But sometimes Nils surprises me. Stevie's co-vocals always crack me up. Spirited performance and I definitely love that solo, but the vocals are a little hit or miss.
"Two Hearts"
Bryan: 3.25/5 I wonder if this will be the version that you end up loving! Man they must like this song - I feel like this is the 3rd or 4th time I'll be reviewing it. Again with the funny SVZ co-vocal cater-noodling at the end. I've got to fix that score for the studio version. No way this is a 3.8
Bryant: 2.25/5 Still not an especial favorite, but I prefer this to the studio version. Bruce and Steve sound so happy to be playing together again that it chokes me up a little. Okay, fine; it chokes me up a lot.
Bryant: 4.5/5 I really dig that version on In Concert, and this is that arrangement perfected.
Bryan: 2.75/5 Not a particular fan of this version, me. I had to look up what I gave the In Concert version. 2.5, so I guess I like this one a tad more.
"Mansion on the Hill"
Bryan: 4/5 I like the pedal steel guitar sound / soloing very much. Good version of a song I seem to like more than most, even if it makes it sound almost sweet compared to the haunting-ness of the studio version.
Bryant: He and Patti do a great job turning this into a Tex-Mex country ballad. I like that his approach to doing songs from Nebraska live has often been to effectively turn them into different songs. It’s almost like he’s saying, yep, that album was more or less perfect, don’t even want to fool with that. 3.5/5
Bryan: 4/5 Interesting version - I admire their ability to make the song new and retain the same sort of atmosphere to the previous performances, despite the different arrangement. The accordion works - the sax, the harmonica, all nice.
Bryant: Some of this is flat-out haunting; every second Clarence has, for example. Fuck, man, is he really dead?!? That just doesn’t seem fair. 5/5 You might be sensing by now that I like this album. Yes indeed. I think its impact on me was something equivalent to what the live box set had on you.
Bryant: 3.75/5 To the surprise of nobody, I prefer the studio version. But this arrangement works just fine for me.
Bryan: 4/5 Great soloing at the end of this one. My "4" is kind of low - anyone walking into a room would hear this and assume it was one of his biggest tunes. This is a fantastic version of it, whatever the case.
"Murder Incorporated"
Bryan: 3.75/5 I think the only thing that bothers me about this song is that long flat backing vocal note. It'd be different if it was Patti and/or some other ladies doing it, but a male vocal for that part doesn't work for me. A perfectly fine version of this tune, though. The live versions tend to be better than the studio one. (Same question re: the guitar - who strangles that solo? In a good way.)
Bryant: 2/5 They didn’t quite get all of this one. But it’s alright. Speaking of Murder, Inc., I wonder how many people tuned into this because they liked Van Zandt on The Sopranos. Probably a few thousand, at minimum.
Bryan: I'd love to get these people in a screening room with the people who only knew Max from Late Night with Conan O'Brien and see what everyone had to say.
"Badlands"
Bryan: 4/5 Like Born to Run - classic tune, not my favorite performance.
Bryant: 3/5 I’ve heard better live versions of this, but a mediocre version of “Badlands” is still awfully good.
"Out in the Street"
Bryan: 3/5 I do like it better than the studio version.
Bryant: 3/5 I like the band passing lines around toward the end. I’ll take this one over the studio version any day of the week.
"Born to Run"
Bryan: 4/5 Was this a bonus track or something? Why does it fade out of the previous and then this? Not bad - I mean it's a classic tune, hard to screw up, but not the definitive version for me.
Bryant: Yep, it was a bonus track. Wasn’t even listed on the back cover. Not sure why that necessitated a fade-out, though. I’ve never understood that. 3/5 I agree with you, this is similar to “Badlands” in impact. In other words: it’s okay.
DISC TWO
“Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out”
Bryan: 4/5 What the hell is Bruce doing in the middle of this one! Sexual healing and revival tent accents and the whole spiel. (While we're here I crack up at the "and companionship!" he adds after "river of sexual healing.") I like the band intros as always even if Bruce (and whomever's singing - I assume it's Patti - around the 11 min. mark) gets a little carried away.
Bryant: Do I really need a sixteen-minute version of this song? Damn right I do! That is indeed a big smack of weirdness in the middle – and I could live without Patti’s singing (it’s her song “Rumble Doll”) – but the cumulative effect is pretty strong. 4/5
Bryan: 3.5/5 Haven't got to the studio version yet, but this one's decent. If overlong. That's a big problem on Disc 2. But it's a good track and a spirited performance, just good lord, these endings go on and on and on.
Bryant: 5/5 I can vividly recall watching the HBO special and it ending with a double-shot of new material. I felt like time was standing still. In the good way, in my case! It felt to me like the culmination of a show that was intended to remind everyone how much fun it could be to be alive.
"American Skin (41 Shots)"
Bryan: 2/5 The first time I heard this disc was when Dawn and I were getting food at this one place that had it playing over the stereo. I don't recall when we realized it was Springsteen, but it wasn't until well into the disc. Before that, though, we both commented endless everything sounded, particularly the endings. We were groaning particularly throughout "American Skin," which given its subject matter seemed even longer. This is not a comment on the subject matter, just the context of when we heard it. Although - for me personally - the song/ message/ moment is undermined a bit by just the overwhelming amount of gravity.
Bryant: Hmm. Well, we’ve diverged significantly here. This is a 5/5 for me. I see your point of view, but I don’t share it. For me, this is masterful stuff. I wonder if maybe I only feel that way about it because I felt that way about it in the spring of 2001. Maybe, but whatever the case, that’s how it still hits me. Especially coming immediately after the one-two good-times punch of “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” and “Land of Hope and Dreams,” it feels like Bruce involving the audience in a moment for them to realize that while it certainly can be fun to be alive, there’s also a flip side where there’s always the threat of that being stripped away from you on a moment’s notice. That’s what gives the good times such urgency; you never know when they might be gone. This is made even worse if you consider that for some people, maybe it’s less easy to ever find the good times in the first place. To me, it sounds like everyone in the band is playing this song like their life depends on it; they’re trying to bring that poor young man back to life, if only for a few minutes. Does it go on too long? Not for me. It does fade out too fast, though.
Bryan: The fade-out takes two minutes! But I hear you, time is relative. The line I chose as our subject-line-lyric tonight resonates all too unfortunately in 2017.
“Lost in the Flood”
Bryan: 4.3/5 My favorite Asbury Track track, and I much prefer this mature take on the song, which emphasizes its epic qualities in just the right proportions. Bruce's vocal delivery of these lines vs. the studio version is instructive. I still think these lyrics / story would make a cool film, or something. A graphic novel maybe. Hell they made one for Outlaw Pete, why not Jimmy the Saint and the boys? Good guitar here.
Bryant: 4/5 I wish Bruce nailed some of the lyrics a bit more cleanly, but otherwise, this is the definitive version of this song. Also, wait … there’s actually an Outlaw Pete comic?!? How did I not know that?
"Born in the USA"
Bryan: 3.4/5 I really like that sort of Celtic/Middle Eastern sort of beginning, which I imagine was probably supposed to sound more Asian than anything. And I guess it does. (The musical overlap of cultures worldwide is a topic for another day!) But I'm less into the rest of this reinterpretation. I like that Bruce does this sort of thing, though. I respect the "well there are already 50 versions of us doing this the traditional way, so why not" argument. But: not a fave.
Bryant: I’m not a fan of this. 2/5 I don’t hate it, but it just doesn’t do it for me. I’m with you in spirit, though, in the sense of appreciating the effort. Bruce’s singing is strong, if nothing else.
"Don't Look Back"
Bryan: 4/5 I see you like this one, too, from a quick peek at your Tracks remarks. I agree - great stuff, could have been a big hit for him/ someone. Ah well - while I quibble, I guess he figured it was always going to come out/ around anyway. Still! Great track.
Bryant: Bruce sounds worn-out here, and this song demands peak energy. 1.75/5 I’m pleased for this song to get a bit of attention, but this performance does it no favors.
"Jungleland"
Bryan: 4.5/5 Another that would make a fine comic book/ movie! Although maybe that's what Streets of Fire was. (I've never actually seen it. I kind of imagine it like this song, though, and don't want reality to intrude on this impression.) A classic and a performance worthy of it, although the ending in context of the general overbearingness of disc two is kind of funny. Even the supposed-to-be-epic one is too epic! End the goddamn song already you maniac! Otherwise I'd have scored it a 5 or even higher. Interestingly - in the Carlin book and elsewhere - Bruce discusses how his reticence to end songs and shows was part of an overall working out of issues related to growing up the son of a manic-depressive Dad. While we're here.
Bryant: Bruce still sounds worn-out here, but the band makes up for it. Not an essential performance of this song, for my money; but, still, pretty good. 3/5
"Ramrod"
Bryan: 3.25/5 I really dig the studio version as you know, but this one - while I appreciate it breaking up the somber festivities somewhat - goes on too long. Come on now. Could have achieved the same mood-switching /rock and roll effect by doing "Candy's Room" and at half the time. But oh well. Reminds me of Oasis on "Be Here Now" where you just want to be like dude! That riff is not as hypnotic as you think/ this ending has been going on for 20 minutes. (I keep hitting that point, I know! But man.)
Bryant: I can remember when I first saw the tracklist for this, I thought “‘Ramrod’?!? Really?!?” The song just doesn’t do anything for me, and this live version – while very capable – doesn’t change that. For me, “American Skin” feels like it’s about three minutes long, and “Ramrod” feels like a half hour. Is Roy Bittan sneaking a little bit of “Cadillac Ranch” into the end? 1.75/5
Bryan: It's tough to tell - the piano riffs are similar enough where it keeps tricking my ear. The ending goes on long enough, though, where theoretically just about the entire E Street catalog can be snuck in there with room to spare.
Bryan: 2.5/5 In a reversal of my general ideas for this set, I kind of like dragging this one out like this. Deepens the mood. That said I might adjust my score of the studio version because it seems too high. Interesting ending for this set - would not be my first choice but I see why he chose it.
Bryant: Here’s another 5/5er for me. I love everybody’s section. Steve and Clarence can’t really sing, and I’m not sure Patti can, either. But they do great jobs with their sections here. (That little hitch Patti puts in her voice at one point knocks me out.) Nils is pretty great, though. Oh, yeah, and Bruce, too.
~
Bryant: 69.5 total, 3.48 average.
Bryan: 70.4 total, 3.6 avg
RANKINGS
I decided to just leave Bryant's two proposed mash-ups Book of Dreams and Loose Ends in with the rankings. I apologize for any confusion, but I like seeing them in there so hey, there it is.
Bryant:
Human Touch 1.7
Lucky Town 2.15
The Ghost of Tom Joad 2.46
Book of Dreams 2.58
Chimes of Freedom 2.69
In Concert / Mtv Plugged 2.75
Greetings from Asbury Park 2.75
Tracks 2.81
Blood Brothers 2.9
Tunnel of Love 3.35
Greatest Hits (New Tracks Only) 3.38
The River 3.39
Lucky Town 2.15
The Ghost of Tom Joad 2.46
Book of Dreams 2.58
Chimes of Freedom 2.69
In Concert / Mtv Plugged 2.75
Greetings from Asbury Park 2.75
Tracks 2.81
Blood Brothers 2.9
Tunnel of Love 3.35
Greatest Hits (New Tracks Only) 3.38
The River 3.39
Live in New York City 3.48
The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle 3.68
Live ’75 - ‘85 3.7
Loose Ends 3.92
Born to Run 4.35
Darkness on the Edge of Town 4.4
Nebraska 4.63
Born in the USA 4.88
The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle 3.68
Live ’75 - ‘85 3.7
Loose Ends 3.92
Born to Run 4.35
Darkness on the Edge of Town 4.4
Nebraska 4.63
Born in the USA 4.88
Bryan:
Lucky Town 2.15
Greetings from Asbury Park 2.19
The Ghost of Tom Joad 2.44
In Concert / MTV Plugged 2.82
Tracks 2.83
Chimes of Freedom 2.86
Blood Brothers 2.88
Human Touch 2.9
Book of Dreams 3.1
The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle 3.43
Greetings from Asbury Park 2.19
The Ghost of Tom Joad 2.44
In Concert / MTV Plugged 2.82
Tracks 2.83
Chimes of Freedom 2.86
Blood Brothers 2.88
Human Touch 2.9
Book of Dreams 3.1
The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle 3.43
Live in New York City 3.6
Loose Ends 3.63
Greatest Hits (New Tracks Only) 3.65
The River 3.71
Tunnel of Love 3.8
Darkness on the Edge of Town 3.82
Live ’75 - ‘85 4
Born to Run 4.41
Nebraska 4.5
Born in the USA 5.4
Loose Ends 3.63
Greatest Hits (New Tracks Only) 3.65
The River 3.71
Tunnel of Love 3.8
Darkness on the Edge of Town 3.82
Live ’75 - ‘85 4
Born to Run 4.41
Nebraska 4.5
Born in the USA 5.4
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