I'm from New Jersey, and though you may not have heard the news yet, so is Bruce Springsteen.
By Garden State law, I have been a fan of the man since I was back in middle school, just as Bruce rushed from being that cool rocker from down the Shore to a national treasure when Born To Run made him a cover boy not just on Rolling Stone, but on Time and Newsweek as well.
Frankly, being sainted and all, Springsteen's never needed much defending. Yes, it's hard to be a saint in the city, but for Bruce in New Jersey, not so much. This past week, however, I've heard something new and ugly -- some actual, misguided Boss-bashing. First, the Oscar voters somehow overlooked Springsteen's powerful theme for The Wrestler. Then this weekend I read a number of oddly mean-spirited early reviews for Springsteen's new album Working On A Dream, including a few that seemed to take a late swipe at The Rising and Magic -- two of his finest by my reckoning.
Now I don't even have the album yet -- come on, Bruce and Sony, set a former Bergen County brother up! -- but I hereby promise you Bruce's latest is a solid investment of your money, whatever that means in these post-Madoff times. Here's another safe bet for you: next Sunday, whether the Steelers or the Cardinals take that Super Bowl title, Bruce and the E-Street Band will having a winning performance.
At this point in one of the most uplifting and inspiring careers in popular music history, Bruce is not above criticism -- just way beyond most of what passes for it these days. So if I don't get a free copy of the album in the mail before then, I will buy one on Tuesday. And on Super Bowl Sunday, I'll make sure that my wife, sons and I all take our bathroom breaks well before halftime.
Show a little faith, bitches, there's still magic in the night.
I ran away from my Military Boarding School on the day before my Graduation to wait in line at the Sears to buy tix to see him.
My saddest day of recent years was the day that he came out and endorsed Obama.
I am and always will be a supporter of my friends the Clintons -
its sad that Bruce bought the media myth of the late primary period (actually Idf bet it was Jon landaou that bought it and sold it to BS - hes always been a media/celeb guy and he does profess to be Bruces political professor)...
But that doesnt change the reality that his heart is always in the right place.
and his music is always A plus - plus.
I accept that Springsteen or his manager goofed up by getting in bed with Wal-Mart, but it's kind of like you walking into a stranger's house, snagging a beer out of their fridge, taking off the shirt, and going to bed in their bed. So-wrong-it-seems-intentional.
I will always love The Boss and band. But the best albums are the ones that remain on my repeat button (Born To Run, Darkness, Tunnel, Magic, Live). None can beat his live shows, period. I eagerly anticipate the Super Bowl extravaganza. But my "faith" has been shattered of late and I'm much more pragmatic these days as the "magic" escapes me. "Waiting" is just feh. I say to you, come down to earth and ease up on the kool-aid of hype.
Federici unfortunately died last year, so no, he won't be appearing at the Super Bowl.
And avoid Wally World!
Suddenly this feels like Facebook
Nice to hear from you -- even disagreeing with me
The two titles having any allure are "Outlaw Pete" (although outlaws are a standard Bruce theme) and "Queen of the Supermarket" (which I'm sure has a character named Mary).
But the rest? "My Lucky Day" in Lucky Town? "Working on a Dream" to write something more original? "This Life" and "Life Itself", better than That's Life (discuss)? And is he doing a Beatles cover ("Tomorrow Never Knows")? I can just hear that trademark rasp singing "Lay down all thoughts, surrender to the void, Mary."
I kid Mr. S, because he's uplifted me so many times.
He actually does mean something in troubled times, and that's what we got
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By the way, nice alias.
I would have loved to see him at Mile High. But Sunday should be pretty great in high definition -- and cheap too.
The Boss always puts a lot of effort into every project. He never just throws stuff out there to sell because of who he is. He has explored various branches of the musical tree and you may not like all of what he has done. But it is never due to a lack of effort and the guy has never "mailed it in". Which in my book - is really what makes a musician worthy of criticsm.
My point is at a certain point, an artist deserves not blind praise but R-E-S-P-E-C-T enough for their latest work be viewed in perspective -- and not just "Why can't this be `Born To Run'?
A lot of people get called an American Treasure, but he actually is one.
George Orwell playing horn for Southside...... I'm still laughing about that one.
It's haunting and chilling and heartbreaking.
For me, that depth and feeling and poetry gets lost when he has that big shiny band behind him. One of the best performances I've ever heard was Springsteen playing "Born in the USA" on the Charlie Rose show, solo, just him and the guitar. I never liked that song until I heard it played that way, and it became a totally different song.