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| (2003) |
After completing the table of contents for the Springsteen series Bryant and I did, we realized (or had pointed out to us) we forgot a few. There are a few hidden surprises in that aforelinked post, such as The Ties That Bind tucked away in the Chapter and Verse post. And until I looked for it, I thought The Essential Bruce Springsteen was one of those, as well. But nope - nowhere to be found. Here at the blog that is - searched my old gmails and found all the below. Phwew!
The Essential came as a 2-CD affair or with a 3rd CD filled with unreleased tracks. Let's dive in:
"From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)"
Bryan: 5/5 Love this! Ridiculous to discard it.
Bryant: I don’t like this quite as much as you, but it does indeed kick ass. 4.25/5 I sort of get why it was left off The River. Not really, but in theory. But its omission from Tracks is genuinely mystifying.
"Big Payback"
Bryan: 4/5 I love stuff that sounds like this. I can't really evaluate it as a song but it's fun.
Bryant: 4.5/5 I goddam love this one. Wikipedia says it was a b-side to “Open All Night,” but apparently not in America. It kicks much ass is all I know for sure.
"Held Up Without a Gun (live)"
Bryan: 4/5 I overscored "You Can Look But You Better Not Touch" but I think I prefer it like this. The title works better at least.
Bryant: Steve is really going for it on those background vocals, isn’t he? This is probably the closest the Band ever got to punk rock. They do it quite credibly. This is not a favorite for me, though. 2/5
"Trapped (live)"
Bryan: 3.5/5 I like the verses, not the chorus so much. Nice Clarence solo as always.
Bryant: I’ve never heard the Jimmy Cliff original, and I’m not sure I want to. If I had not been told this was a cover, I’d have no idea. This was released on We Are the World, so it likely reached a much larger audience than all the other songs on this third Essential disc. 3.25/5 from me.
"None But the Brave"
Bryan: 3/5 Not a bad tune, but I can see why it was left off Born in the USA. Nice Clarence outro. (I mean, it's always good when Clarence comes in. Everyone knows this.)
Bryant: I’m a big fan of this one. 4.25/5 I think it would fit Born in the U.S.A. like a glove; but that album was overburdened with riches, so the omission makes sense. But, again, two questions scream in the front of my mind: (A) how was this left off of Tracks?!?; and (B) how did they not assemble a new album circa 1986 using some of this stuff?!? That outro of Clarence’s is indeed divine.
"Missing"
Bryan: 4.75/5 This for me is hands down the best of Springsteen's soundtrack work. I heard this for the first time sometime after I moved to Chicago and remember thinking "Sheesh is that what Bruce is doing now? That sounds great." And then someone told me or I discovered it was from The Crossing Guard soundtrak. (Never saw it.) Love this track, though.
Bryant: Well, I’m not as big a fan of this as you, but I do like it quite a bit. I’ll say to the tune of 3.25/5. It kind of anticipates the adventurousness of “Worlds Apart,” doesn’t it? It’s not like he’d never done atmospheric; in a way, “I’m on Fire” seems to come from the same place. But the aural landscape of the production here is unusual compared to most everything else in his catalog, and I’d kind of be into hearing more from him in this vein.
"Lift Me Up"
Bryan: 2/5 Of his "emo" minimalist work, this is the least of it for me. Never saw the movie - perhaps it accompanies it very aptly.
Bryant: Does he say “I don’t need your Instagrams” at the beginning of this?!? I doubt it, but I bet he really doesn’t need anyone’s Instagrams. Anyways, I adore this song. 4/5 from me. The movie – Limbo, directed by John Sayles – is terrific. I don’t know that it makes the song better, but I also don’t remember a whole lot about it. You’ve probably figured out long since that I’ve got a very – VERY – emo side to me. I like that about music. I’m not too emo in real life, but I can kind of access the feelings of the me on the level of the Tower where I am that. I was over at a friend’s the other night, and he was listening to Neurosis, and I was kind of accessing the twinner of me who is into sludge metal. Other times, the disco twinner might take over for a while. I like that about music; it brings out the other versions of me. Anyways, I love “Lift Me Up.”
Bryan: Man, disco twinner is pretty good. I want to meet my and your twinners of every genre out there.
"Viva Las Vegas"
Bryan: 3/5 How can you go wrong? I may prefer the Dead Kennedys version but this is perfectly fine, if not particularly distinguished. Doesn't have to be tho.
Bryant: The Dead Kennedys version damn near makes the Elvis version secondary. Not quite, but close. This one is great, too. 2.75/5 My only regret is that it wasn’t with the E Street folks. Would I listen to an entire album of Springsteen covers of Elvis songs? You better believe it. And, as we’ve established, it’s a damn shame there couldn’t also be a Elvis-covers-Springsteen album or two.
"County Fair"
Bryan: 4.5/5 Now here's one that would've fit on Born in the USA as a b-side at the very least. What a great little tune.
Bryant: It’s obscene how much great material got shunted away back in the early eighties. I know I’ve said that repeatedly, but it’s just astonishing. Wikipedia says this is a Born in the U.S.A. outtake, but it sounds more like Nebraska to me. Regardless, it’s terrific. 4/5
"Code of Silence (live)"
Bryan: 2.5/5 Kind of a boring tune.
Bryant: Yeah, this one is just kind of bland. It’s not bad, but I listen to it and just kind of shrug. 2/5
"Dead Man's Walkin'"
Bryan: 1.5/5 Ugh. A suitable song for the film.
Bryant: Huh. Well, we’ve diverged radically again on this one. I’ve always loved this song. I loved the movie, too, although I haven’t seen it since it came out. 4.5/5 One of my favorite of his acoustic songs.
"Countin' on a Miracle (acoustic)"
Bryan: 1.5/5 Didn't think much of the studio version and this one is just kinda there. An odd way to close an "Essential" album for Bryan McMillan
Bryant: I’m going to give this a 2.8/5, because I like it slightly more than the studio version.
~
Bryan: Total 39.25 Avg. 3.27 That puts it ahead of Live in Dublin. Which is funny because I think I always kind of want to listen to Live in Dublin, more than this one. Although I added "Missing" and a couple of other numbers to my mega-Bruce mix as a result of typing this one up. Bryant: (disc 3 only) 41.55 total, 3.46 average. That’s a better score than 18 Tracks, surprisingly. But I do think I prefer this disc to that one.
Bryan: What do you think of the selections for the first 2 discs?
Bryant: Can I take a moment to complain about the fact that with TWO DISCS TO WORK WITH, “I’m on Fire” was still omitted?
Bryan: Yeah, that is nuts. If that one isn't Essential Bruce I don't know what is.
Bryant: Because it amuses me to do so, I’m going to score the entire thing:
Disc 1
(1) “Blinded by the Light” – 3.75/5
(2) “For You” – 2.75/5
(3) “Spirit in the Night” – 3.5/5
(4) “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” – 3.5/5
(5) “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight”) – 4.75/5
(6) “Thunder Road” – 4.5/5 I didn’t give this a 5? Really?!?
(7) “Born to Run” – 5/5
(8) “Jungleland” – 5/5
(9) “Badlands” – 7/5
(10) “Darkness on the Edge of Town” – 5/5
(11) “The Promised Land” – 4.25/5
(12) “The River” – 5/5
(13) “Hungry Heart” – 6.5/5
(14) “Nebraska” – 4.75/5
(15) “Atlantic City” –7/5
Disc 2
(1) “Born in the U.S.A.” – 5/5
(2) “Glory Days” – 5/5
(3) “Dancing in the Dark” – 6/5
(4) “Tunnel of Love” – 3.5/5
(5) “Brilliant Disguise” – 4.25/5
(6) “Human Touch” – 2.5/5
(7) “Living Proof” – 2.25/5
(8) “Lucky Town” – 2.75/5
(9) “Streets of Philadelphia” – 5/5
(10) “The Ghost of Tom Joad” – 4/5
(11) “The Rising” – 4/5
(12) “Mary’s Place” – 3.75/5
(13) “Lonesome Day” – 2/5
(14) “American Skin (41 Shots)” – 5/5
(15) “Land of Hope and Dreams” – 5/5
Overall score for the two-disc version – 132.25 total, 4.41 average. That’s very strong, but it actually manages to come in slightly lower than Greatest Hits.
Overall (three-disc set) – 173.8 total, 4.14 average.
~
Bryan:
Lucky Town 2.15
Greetings from Asbury Park 2.19
Magic 2.27
The Ghost of Tom Joad 2.44
American Beauty 2.56
Working on a Dream 2.71
Chapter and Verse 2.75
In Concert / MTV Plugged 2.82
Tracks 2.83
Chimes of Freedom 2.86
Wrecking Ball 2.86
Blood Brothers 2.88
Human Touch 2.9
The Promise 3.08
Book of Dreams 3.1
Hammersmith Odeon, London 3.1
Western Stars 3.26
The Rising 3.3
Devils and Dust 3.36
High Hopes 3.39
The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle 3.43
Essential Bruce, disc 3 3.46
Live in New York City 3.5
Loose Ends 3.63
Greatest Hits (New Tracks Only) 3.65
We Shall Overcome: The Pete Seeger Sessions 3.67
The River 3.71
Tunnel of Love 3.8
Darkness on the Edge of Town 3.82
Live ’75 - ‘85 4
Live in Dublin 4.11
Born to Run 4.41
Nebraska 4.5
Born in the USA 5.4
Bryant:
Human Touch 1.7
American Beauty 2.00
Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 2.04
Lucky Town 2.15
Chapter and Verse 2.15
Working on a Dream 2.23
The Ghost of Tom Joad 2.46
Magic 2.46
Devils and Dust 2.48
Book of Dreams 2.58
The River outtakes 2.66
Chimes of Freedom 2.69
In Concert / Mtv Plugged 2.75
Greetings from Asbury Park 2.75
Wrecking Ball 2.77
Tracks 2.81
High Hopes 2.83
Blood Brothers 2.9
The Promise 2.99
The Rising 3.1
Live in Dublin 3.22
Essential Bruce 3.27
Tunnel of Love 3.35
We Shall Overcome: The Pete Seeger Sessions 3.37
Greatest Hits (New Tracks Only) 3.38
The River 3.39
Live in New York City 3.48
Western Stars 3.52
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
By this point, what you'd have to call that third disc of "Essentials" is a leftover disc of leftovers that didn't make the FOUR-DISC set of leftovers. By all rights, a collection like that ought to be unlistenable.
ReplyDeleteInstead, by my reckoning (and yours as well), it's good enough to place quite favorably among his entire output of albums.
Hard to say enough about how incredible that is for a collection of also-also-also-rans.
It's true indeed.
Delete(1) I have to admit, with "Small Things" and "Big Payback", it's nice to here what I've come to think of as the sort of classic E Street sound.
ReplyDelete(2) Songs like "Held Up", to me, are good to perhaps more than decent tracks that could have been if the Boss had just been willing to slow things down to a more mellow Brill Building vibe. Like, for instance, I remember watching behind the scenes footage Van Zant and the Boss doing a slow, yet upbeat piano version of "Talk to Me" that had that perfect 50s doo-wop vibe to it. I think that's sort of what should have been released as a single, really. Not that I presume to lecture the Boss. It's just that if I hear an outtake of his, I sometimes wonder why he didn't go with that one.
(3) "Trapped" I started out ambivalent and found myself pretty much liking it at the end.
(4) "None but the Brave". Oh yeah, sure I remember this one. Been a long time, but I still recall this one growing on me. Another sample of that classic E Street sound.
(5) This might have been one of those tracks I skipped over on first hearing. Taking the time to listen now, it's apparent enough that this is Bruce in one of his more deliberately Pop oriented modes. The curious part as I listened to the lyrics, I got to thinking of Steve King's "Lunch at the Gotham Cafe". This is one of those reactions that tends to say more about the listener than it does about either singer or song, perhaps.
(6) This one sounds like there's a more interesting, possible Duran Duran song stuck somewhere behind a lot of self-conscious experimentalism here. Heard better, I'm afraid.
As for the idea of musical twinners, if I ever had one, at the current moment he would be a sort coffee-house jazz type, hanging around in the lobby of places like The New Yorker, or grooving out to old forgotten Jazz names like Bill Evans and Frank Wess.
The reason for this can I think be "blamed" on J.K. Rowling of all people. She went all Richard Bachman a while back and wrote a detective novel under the name of Robert Galbraith. If I had to describe what finding that out was like, then it was like going back some old stomping ground you used to play in as a kid, only to discover that the most popular girl likes to hang out there as well. And you're think, "I didn't know you had that in you. I like it!"
(7) The Elvis cover is decent, yet neither this, nor the Dead Kennedys has ever done what Los Lobos was able to accomplish with Richie Valens La Bamba, where it can stand on its own merits. That said, Jerry Lee, the Killer, did a cover of "Pink Cadillac" that i think is better than the Boss's original.
ChrisC.
(7) Ahh let's take a moment and reflect warmly on Los Lobos's "La Bamba" cover, and not just that one but "Hotel California," which I think is vastly superior to the original version. I've never been able to really get into Los Lobos - tried a few times, but they're a band I admire more than genuinely love. I respect them though. Hell I remember seeing them on SNL in the 80s and they've been touring and kicking ass ever since, and I like a band with a long-term plan.
DeleteAs for the Jerry Lee cover, it's not bad, but it kinda reminds me of the song that would play over a bar fight in an 80s movie or something. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I prefer the Bruce version myself. (One of my faves - I sang it round the apartment so often when we were originally doing these blogs that my wife actually banned it for a brief period of time.)
(6) I would love to meet a variety of interdimensional mes and find out what genres they've explored. I've always been a bit of a genre omnivore, but I bet my twinners are more selective.
(5) Isn't it fun where the mind goes/ what associations arise? Off topic but I have one I'll share: whenever I hear "You Belong to the City" (which is more often than most, I guess, since the Miami Vice soundtrack is one of my dishwashing soundtracks, and I'm a creature of habit) and it gets to the middle 8 ("when you said goodbye! you were onnnn the run!" that part) I always picture a man standing in front of an industrial fan, waving his arms to keep his balance, and singing those lines to the camera over his shoulder. Every so often it cuts to someone else, looking on, confused. So far, this has cracked me up (and come to mind somewhat spontaneously) like 55,000 times in a row.
I might need to stop smoking weed when I do dishes. Or just in general.
Another one: when I did the "Cannonball Run" blog last year or whenever it was, I had that song in my head for a month or so after, and I always heard/saw him singing that in front of a concert-stage-sized flag on a jumbotron or something, and could picture the bedazzled dancers and huge cowboy hats.
(2) It's interesting how many different angles these guys tried on songs. I was blown away by the "Tracks" version of "Born in the USA" for example. I don't know if I'd ever say I prefer it to the one we got in this level of the tower, but hearing this eerie glimpse of how it might've gone (or any of those "The Promise" or "The Ties That Bind" sort of takes on songs, or if we'll ever hear the rocked-out version of "Nebraska") is pretty cool.
Just listened to all these tunes again this afternoon and have to say I was a little out of my mind giving "From Small Things" 5 stars. I can't begin to explain whatever possessed me to assign it that high a score and wish I'd left better notes for myself. Let that be a likely unheeded lesson for myself. Anyway probably like a 3 out of 5 for me, but I can adjust my scores for both "Missing" and "The Big Payback" upwards to cover the math so no change necessary to the rankings.
DeleteFor whatever independent bodies are reviewing these things to ensure internal consistency and the integrity of calibrations in general. By God.
Although in all honesty "County Fair" hit me as much less than a 4.5 star song this time around... (maybe around 3 or 2.5) I might have to bribe some judges to avoid editing this.
As a wise man once said, between our dreams and our actions lies this world.
DeleteSometimes things hit you differently than at other times. Ain't no science in this game!