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 Bruce Springsteen!

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SmilinSkullRing
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SmilinSkullRing


Female Number of posts : 119
Age : 40
Location : In Missouri, they would (will) not let me be
Registration date : 2008-10-26

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PostSubject: Bruce Springsteen!   Bruce Springsteen! Icon_minitimeFri 31 Oct 2008, 04:55

He's awesome. My number one artist. Anyone here like him? Oh, and happy halloween from Bruce! Go to his website to watch the video (it's great, believe me) and get the free download of the song. Twisted Evil

http://www.brucespringsteen.net/news/index.html
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http://www.smilinskullring.blogspot.com
Mr_K
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Mr_K


Number of posts : 362
Location : Essex
Registration date : 2008-09-11

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PostSubject: Re: Bruce Springsteen!   Bruce Springsteen! Icon_minitimeSun 19 Jun 2011, 13:27

Sad news - Clarence Clemons has died aged 69. RIP Big Man.
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Nancy
fallen angel
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Female Number of posts : 31
Location : Ghent, Belgium
Registration date : 2011-06-18

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PostSubject: Re: Bruce Springsteen!   Bruce Springsteen! Icon_minitimeMon 11 Jul 2011, 18:28

I'm also a Bruce fan, I especially like his older albums + the album ''Tunnel Of Love' which I love very much (it's underrated in my opinion).
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Mr_K
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Mr_K


Number of posts : 362
Location : Essex
Registration date : 2008-09-11

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PostSubject: Re: Bruce Springsteen!   Bruce Springsteen! Icon_minitimeWed 07 Mar 2012, 12:29

Wrecking Ball.

The Boss is angry, no doubt. Raging is fact, and rage might lead to great albums sometimes, but rarely subtle ones. Wrecking Ball is not subtle. The songs bludgeon as Bruce rails against injustice and inequality. He has visited similar landscapes before - The River did it better and more thoughtfully, for instance, and Nebraska more subtly. What seems to be lost is the human element, the small time characters that used to inhabit The Boss's songs are not much more than ciphers on Wrecking Ball. There's no doubting the raw power of such declamatory outbursts, but I feel I'm being preached to somewhat.

A couple of other things also stand out. Despite the rabble-rousing and fury, despair and futility are often just a step behind - lyrics such as "If I had me a gun I'd find the bastards and shoot 'em on sight" and "Hard times come, Hard times go - Yeah just to come again" give things a desperate edge. Then there's the religious overtones of the second half of the album. I have nothing against a good old spiritual singalong, despite being an atheist myself, but here whilst sometimes sounding great, these concluding tracks seem slightly disingenuous, or perhaps it is just that actually life is gonna be shit for many in working class America for the foreseeable future, so they'd better all just look forward to the afterlife!

There certainly seems to be little doubt that Springsteen still identifies with his roots, and Wrecking Ball is a sincere cry in the darkness. Unfortunately it is rather unfocussed, the strokes a little too broad, too simplistic to make a this one of his better albums. Musically the album is Bruce in cinematic Rock n Roll mode, but the same comments apply - too broad, lacking a little focus and subtlety.

If I seem to be damning Wrecking Ball with faint praise, then that is not really my intention. I am enjoying it - it is a big bold brash slice of Americana with its heart in the right place. The songs will probably sound great at this summer's gigs. I just wish that it was a little less bombastic, a little less obvious at times.

Still at least he is saying something. It is a pretty poor state of affairs when it takes a 62 year old to voice the discontent of millions. Where are the rest of the protest songs from anyone remotely mainstream FFS? Is political music dead?
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My Bury Vest
leader of the free world
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My Bury Vest


Male Number of posts : 1377
Age : 52
Location : MyBuryVest@twitter.com
Registration date : 2009-02-12

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PostSubject: Re: Bruce Springsteen!   Bruce Springsteen! Icon_minitimeWed 07 Mar 2012, 13:12

Fantastic review Mr K, despite never owning a Springsteen album, EVER !

Seen the band on TV at the festivals, they look brilliant live.
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Mr_K
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Mr_K


Number of posts : 362
Location : Essex
Registration date : 2008-09-11

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PostSubject: Re: Bruce Springsteen!   Bruce Springsteen! Icon_minitimeFri 09 Mar 2012, 12:08

Just to add to my thoughts above. A few more listens have altered my feelings slightly. The despair and anger are there, true, but a defiance also shines through - a kind of call to arms, not in a party political sense but in cry for common decency, which makes me really rather emotional. This works best on the title track where Springsteen uses the demolition of the Giants stadium as a symbol linking his (or his character's) past to the present, lamenting the crumbling of dreams and loss of youth, despairing at the hard times which keep on coming but squaring up to it all exhorting us to "Hold tight to your anger, and don't fall to your fear" and crying out "Come on and take your best shot, let me see what you've got, Bring on your wrecking ball". As subtle as a Dodge Charger and about as exciting. As raging against the dying of the light goes, it is a bloody magnificent effort.
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