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Rank Stranger
Latest download/CD release is from Atlanta_1978-10-01.
Show opens with THE LAST TIME:
[live.brucespringsteen.net]
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crholmstromQuote
VoodooLounge13
I think I actually prefer the film version of Western Stars to the album version. I'm usually a big fan of his acoustic stuff, but IDK for some reason this one didn't hit with me, but the orchestral versions sound better.
I'm with you on that one. I'd almost rather see him tour something like that than with E Street band. Cost would probably be prohibitive though if it happened.
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RollingFreakQuote
crholmstromQuote
VoodooLounge13
I think I actually prefer the film version of Western Stars to the album version. I'm usually a big fan of his acoustic stuff, but IDK for some reason this one didn't hit with me, but the orchestral versions sound better.
I'm with you on that one. I'd almost rather see him tour something like that than with E Street band. Cost would probably be prohibitive though if it happened.
Its been one of my few complaints with later Springsteen. And by later I mean the last 10 years. His resurgence in 99-09 was fantastic. Two great E Street tours, a phenomenal solo tour, an excellent Seeger tour that wasn't everyone's thing, then back to E Street for another 2 year marathon. It was a great time to be a Bruce fan.
After that it got a little disappointing. A couple not great albums in a row and 2 or 3 pretty unremarkable tours that were pretty much treading the same water as he'd been doing for awhile at that point. He just didn't seem to have much to say from 2012-2017. Then he came back in a big way with Broadway, Western Stars and Letter To You. This new covers album seems fun as well, but my issue is he's clearly got a lot of interests at the moment but not enough outlet. He feels obligated to tour with the E Street Band. I'd have LOVED if he toured Western Stars, or for this new covers thing, which is more interesting than another E Street tour, but he's putting out stuff too fast to tour any of it or really indulge. I think to me, if he's gonna tour he doesn't like to break from "this is how I tour" and that isn't conducive to these other vanity projects. Which I think sucks, cause they could be really special and different. We won't really see their full potential. Broadway was the only vanity project he really indulged and that he did for waaaaay too long.
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Rank Stranger
Latest download/CD release is from Atlanta_1978-10-01.
Show opens with THE LAST TIME:
[live.brucespringsteen.net]
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JimmyTheSaint
Take this from a guy whose handle is "JimmyTheSaint". Bruce lost “it” as a songwriter after Tunnel of Love, IMO.
A few decent songs here and there since, while he retained his skills as a performer and entertainer. The live shows with E Street have remained strong.
For comparisons sake I believe that post 1987 Tom Petty proved to be the better songwriter of the two, which is surprising given that TP couldn’t match Born to Run or Darkness standards with his earlier works.
Working on a Dream was an embarrassment of an LP and the rest was mediocre at best in the later era from Bruce.
The best songs on the Rising are ones that nobody paid attention to (Nothing Man, Empty Sky, You're Missing). Beyond those 3 tracks and the sentiment of the title track, the rest of the record was a hot mess punctuated by the juvenile "Waiting on a Sunny Day" and regrettable "Mary's Place" which could have doubled as a jingle for TGI Friday's.
Devils & Dust was a bore, the covers records were professional, Letter To You's best tracks are leftovers from when Bruce could write.
I do think he redeemed himself somewhat with Western Stars. There were some interesting songs on that one.
As for Petty & Heartbreakers, Wildflowers far surpasses anything Bruce released since 1987 and She's the One soundtrack is an underrated and underappreciated gem in his catalogue. Echo has more good than bad and Mojo was pretty consistent as well. Full Moon Fever and Into the Great Wide Open aren't my favorites, but those were both huge releases for TP. I'd even play Highway Companion and Hypnotic Eye before most, if not all, of Bruce's late era releases.
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JimmyTheSaint
Take this from a guy whose handle is "JimmyTheSaint". Bruce lost “it” as a songwriter after Tunnel of Love, IMO.
A few decent songs here and there since, while he retained his skills as a performer and entertainer. The live shows with E Street have remained strong.
For comparisons sake I believe that post 1987 Tom Petty proved to be the better songwriter of the two, which is surprising given that TP couldn’t match Born to Run or Darkness standards with his earlier works.
Working on a Dream was an embarrassment of an LP and the rest was mediocre at best in the later era from Bruce.
The best songs on the Rising are ones that nobody paid attention to (Nothing Man, Empty Sky, You're Missing). Beyond those 3 tracks and the sentiment of the title track, the rest of the record was a hot mess punctuated by the juvenile "Waiting on a Sunny Day" and regrettable "Mary's Place" which could have doubled as a jingle for TGI Friday's.
Devils & Dust was a bore, the covers records were professional, Letter To You's best tracks are leftovers from when Bruce could write.
I do think he redeemed himself somewhat with Western Stars. There were some interesting songs on that one.
As for Petty & Heartbreakers, Wildflowers far surpasses anything Bruce released since 1987 and She's the One soundtrack is an underrated and underappreciated gem in his catalogue. Echo has more good than bad and Mojo was pretty consistent as well. Full Moon Fever and Into the Great Wide Open aren't my favorites, but those were both huge releases for TP. I'd even play Highway Companion and Hypnotic Eye before most, if not all, of Bruce's late era releases.
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Topi
Speaking of Bruce treasures, my all-time favorite Bruce show (and I've seen him 22 times including Broadway) was on his home turf in Newark, NJ in early 2016.
I was lucky in the pit lottery and landed 2nd row, dead center at the mini-catwalk.
After "Rosalita", Bruce gave me his guitar pick. (OK, I had to beg him a little bit.) It's the size of a bass pick with no identification. It's got some sandpaper-like material applied to keep it from slipping. Bruce doesn't give out those picks at shows a whole lot. Sometimes you may see him give a harmonica to a little girl.
Story gets better. The following day I was flying out to Toronto for another show there. I got to the airport early - and who's at the Air Canada check-in counter before me? Max Weinberg!
Max went to a Dunkin' and I politely asked him to sign my ticket stub from the previous night.
Turns out half the band and their road crew was on the same commercial flight with me from Newark to Toronto. I got Garry, Nils and Charlie to sign my ticket stub at the gate as well. Pretty much everyone else was there except Bruce, Patti, Steve and Roy.
It felt kind of weird to sit back in coach of that tiny plane surrounded by the band's technicians and crew, faces I knew from dozens of shows before. "Oh, there's Kevin Buell, his guitar tech..."
(The band members flew first class.)
Oh gosh - GA was 150 USD back then and if you were lucky in the lottery, you made the pit. I liked that system way better than lining up (for days). They've obviously done away with it now in the US arena shows with a mainly seated floor and a guaranteed "GA Pit."
In Europe in 2023 they're mostly doing tiered GA which is fine by me, I can pay a little extra so I'm guaranteed a place in the pit/front of stage section. I guess only Dublin was all "GA"?
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RisingStone
Dynamic Pricing and then this…there’s no end to the mess surrounding the ticketing for Bruce Springsteen’s tour 2023.
[twitter.com]
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yorkshirestoneQuote
RisingStone
Dynamic Pricing and then this…there’s no end to the mess surrounding the ticketing for Bruce Springsteen’s tour 2023.
[twitter.com]
I dislike dynamic pricing as much as the next bloke but to be fair it’s not really Bruce or BST’s fault a ticket provider went bust
True!Quote
RisingStoneQuote
yorkshirestoneQuote
RisingStone
Dynamic Pricing and then this…there’s no end to the mess surrounding the ticketing for Bruce Springsteen’s tour 2023.
[twitter.com]
I dislike dynamic pricing as much as the next bloke but to be fair it’s not really Bruce or BST’s fault a ticket provider went bust
Fair enough.
Two different types of messes.
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JimmyTheSaint
Take this from a guy whose handle is "JimmyTheSaint". Bruce lost “it” as a songwriter after Tunnel of Love, IMO.
A few decent songs here and there since, while he retained his skills as a performer and entertainer. The live shows with E Street have remained strong.
For comparisons sake I believe that post 1987 Tom Petty proved to be the better songwriter of the two, which is surprising given that TP couldn’t match Born to Run or Darkness standards with his earlier works.
Working on a Dream was an embarrassment of an LP and the rest was mediocre at best in the later era from Bruce.
The best songs on the Rising are ones that nobody paid attention to (Nothing Man, Empty Sky, You're Missing). Beyond those 3 tracks and the sentiment of the title track, the rest of the record was a hot mess punctuated by the juvenile "Waiting on a Sunny Day" and regrettable "Mary's Place" which could have doubled as a jingle for TGI Friday's.
Devils & Dust was a bore, the covers records were professional, Letter To You's best tracks are leftovers from when Bruce could write.
I do think he redeemed himself somewhat with Western Stars. There were some interesting songs on that one.
As for Petty & Heartbreakers, Wildflowers far surpasses anything Bruce released since 1987 and She's the One soundtrack is an underrated and underappreciated gem in his catalogue. Echo has more good than bad and Mojo was pretty consistent as well. Full Moon Fever and Into the Great Wide Open aren't my favorites, but those were both huge releases for TP. I'd even play Highway Companion and Hypnotic Eye before most, if not all, of Bruce's late era releases.
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bye bye johnny
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MelBelli
I love Bruce, but I’m finding it harder and harder to listen to him at length. A lot of self-awareness but, paradoxically, almost no humility left.