Bruce Springsteen – I was never that great a Bruce fan. Firstly, I somehow missed out on the first couple of his albums and only caught up in the Eighties. My main gripe was that critics were calling him the New Dylan…as if. And just as when a new band are proclaimed as the new Beatles it just raises my hackles, I am afraid. Also, calling him The Boss was more than annoying. Still – there is no doubting his place in the pantheon of 20th Century rock (somewhere in the mid twenties – possibly). I first really loved him with Born In The USA, a classic rock anthem if ever there was one, and the single ‘Dancing In The Dark’. I worked back a few (but not all the way) albums. First of which was the double The River (1980); a double album chock full of pretty good, and what would remain, classic Springsteen songs of working-class life and struggles of love and loss – universal, and some great melodies. The album was originally planned as a single record ‘The Ties That Bind’ – but Bruce was writing incessantly and the band returned to the studio recording almost 50 songs in total. 8 more were added as a second disc. So, the River (part 1) starts with ‘The Ties That Bind’, and gets better as it progresses….best songs are ‘Sherry Darling’, ‘Hungry Heart’ and ‘Independence Day’ but I also love closer – ‘The River’. In some ways this might have worked better as just this album. Disc 2 – is almost better than the first. The trouble with double albums is that they are sometimes just too much to take in at one time. And in the days of vinyl it often happened that side one of disc one was played relentlessly and the second disc not so well played. Best songs are hard to pick but I do love ‘Stolen Car’, Drove All Night’ and ‘ Wreck On The Highway’. 1982 saw Bruce present a completely different album. He had recorded demos for the E Street band to record but decided to simply release the songs as they were; very acoustic and moody – the resulting album Nebraska is one of his best, so a wise decision. A gorgeous quiet heartfelt album – where the songs are given room to breathe. Best songs are again hard to pick but ‘Atlantic City’, ‘State Trooper’ and ‘Johnny 99’ stand out as exceptional. Then in 1984 came the real breakthrough album Born In The USA – a standout and quite commercial album which broke Bruce to a much wider audience, not least because of the great video to the single ‘Dancing In The Dark’. The album is chock full of brilliant songs not least of which are ‘Darlington County’, ‘No Surrender’, ‘Glory Days’ and ‘My Hometown’. As so often happened though the follow-up was considered weaker, even though Tunnel Of Love (1987) was actually a fine album. Maybe the three year gap had softened his edge, maybe it was the over-produced over use of synthesisers or maybe it was the fame – who knows but the album seems to lack any real sense of excitement. Despite that it does contain some fine songs – ‘Brilliant Surprise’, ‘Tougher Than the Rest’ and the title songs itself. I sort-of lost interest a bit in Bruce for the rest of the Eighties (I did buy Human Touch and ‘Lucky Town’ at the time but haven’t been tempted to replace them on CD s yet. In 1995 though, Bruce released another very quiet album The Ghost Of Tom Joad. Similar in mood to Nebraska being acoustic in feel, even though five tracks again feature the band. Tom Joad was a character in Steinbeck’s ‘Grapes Of Wrath’ and Springsteen updates those desperate times with new hard times for poor Americans. The album has a tex-mex feel, one of the tracks; one song is Sinaloa Cowboys. Along with Nebraska this is my favourite Springsteen album. Maybe I am just a sucker for sad songs; best of which are – the title track, ‘Sinaloa Cowboys’ and ‘Across the Border’. A very quiet contemplative album. There was then a gap of 7 years….( who knows why). In the meantime an album of outtakes was released 18 tracks (1999). A bit of a mixed bag really. I like some of the songs but others are just bombastic. Best are ‘Growing Up’, ‘Pink Cadillac’ and ‘The Promise’. Eventually The Rising came out in 2002. An album about and inspired by the 9/11 attack in New York. Strange that Americans bomb third world countries with impunity but get so upset when theirs is attacked. All in all though a pretty good album and a big seller, Best songs ‘The Rising’, ‘You’re Missing’ and ‘My City In Ruins’. A welcome return and a nicely varied album with the E street band in tow. It seems that once the tap (of writing, recording and touring) had been turned back on Bruce had a new lease of life. He released Devils and Dust in 2005. Not a bad album at all. This again was an acoustic album. Best tracks – ‘Black Cowboys’, ‘Reno’ and ‘Long Time Coming’. I find however that the lyrics just pass me by, somehow the sound of the instruments and Bruce’s quite subdued voice mean I am listening to the sound rather than hearing the words. Magic followed in 2007. A more varied album this time – recorded with the E Street band. Best songs ‘Girls In Their Summer Clothes’, ‘Radio Nowhere’ and ‘Long Walk Home’. And somehow, with the band in full flow I can hear the words better, and enjoy the whole album better. Working On A Dream came out in 2009. A fairly typical Springsteen effort; a few bombastic anthems and a couple of quieter songs. Somehow, I felt he was plodding along really. Best tracks (all overlong) were the title track and ‘Queen Of The Supermarket’ and ‘Life Itself’. The most recent acquisition I have is 2012’s Wrecking Ball. Which may be a mistake as this is a cracking record. Bruce seems to just be able to knock these great songs out – but you sometimes have to ask yourself -just how many albums do I need. For some artists there is no contest – I have to have them all…but for Bruce I have enough (possibly). Except, of course, for the compilations. Greatest Hits is a pretty good selection, mostly early stuff of course. And The Essential Bruce Springsteen – well, not really so essential but there you go.
