Bruce Springsteen

[liebzz]

That’s pretty exceptional and pretty much on the money. Haven’t watched the blu ray yet, just heard it so far.

[Strat]

Finally listened. Holy hell what a show. It’s almost laughable how good they sound.

Send me back in time to witness this in person please.

[Monkey_Driven]

Finally listened. Holy hell what a show. It’s almost laughable how good they sound.

Send me back in time to witness this in person please.

My dad saw Bruce right after Born to Run was released in a venue for 2,000 people or so. He's not a spiritual person, but he said that's the closest to a religious experience he's every had.

[liebzz]

They’re still pretty great live.

Note: the recordings of the piano and harmonica only renditions of Thunder Road from the 1975 tour are still my favorite. The Hammersmith Odeon version to open the show is so great.

[Strat]

What do we need to do to get Tom Waits in the 70's to cover Jungeland?

[liebzz]

I’m currently pretty obsessed with the performance of Quarter to Three on the No Nukes Concert live album. This has to be the definitive version, right?

[liebzz]

Now kind of kicking around The River. Perhaps it’s some perceived affinity after a few weeks with Elvis Costello and the War on Drugs? Or just feeling this album at the moment.

[oasisfan35]

Now kind of kicking around The River. Perhaps it’s some perceived affinity after a few weeks with Elvis Costello and the War on Drugs? Or just feeling this album at the moment.

I feel like I've already quoted the Wikipedia Background portion in this thread so I'll refrain but I do find it quite intriguing. The River has never sat well as a full listening experience for me, there are songs I absolutely adore, some that I find simply frivolous and that flow never hits me right.

I'm going to throw on The Ties That Bind now, been a while.

[liebzz]

I mean, Bruce took a huge swing with this album, kind of trying to capture the experience of adulting in all its ups and downs and big moments and small ones. I don’t think there’s ever a way to fully get that on the mark, but I think this is the next step from The Wild —> Born to Run —> Darkness… —-> The River. It’s probably the same characters ultimately that snap during Nebraska.

[oasisfan35]

I mean, Bruce took a huge swing with this album, kind of trying to capture the experience of adulting in all its ups and downs and big moments and small ones. I don’t think there’s ever a way to fully get that on the mark, but I think this is the next step from The Wild —> Born to Run —> Darkness… —-> The River. It’s probably the same characters ultimately that snap during Nebraska.

I feel it was just that, these gigantic ideas that Springsteen wanted to encapsulate in a singular effort. I agree that some of the same characters snap during Nebraska, just that transition of straight bombast metered down to the acoustic bones musically really purports Born in the USA as a crowning achievement.

[oasisfan35]

Springsteen Releases Recording From 1st Solo Tour In 1995

On many levels, Joad was a sequel to Nebraska, though despite being kindred works, only “Mansion on the Hill” from the latter is represented in the 12/9/95 set. The distinct difference between the two albums is Springsteen’s evolved relationship to his own songwriting.

Introducing the song “Nebraska” at the Christic in 1990, Bruce said, “I don’t even know exactly why I wrote it [in 1982]. I didn’t think anything about whatever its political implications were until I read about it in the newspapers. But something I was feeling moved me to write all these songs at that time, where people lose their connection to their friends and their families, and their jobs and their countries, and their lives don’t make sense to them [any] more, and all the rules go out the window.”

The shift with Joad is that in 1995, unlike 1982, Bruce was fully aware of the political implications of the songs he was writing. In fact, quite the opposite of that Christic quote, several Joad narratives came directly from newspapers and books he was reading at the time. Such hyperconsciousness made his Joad writing distinct from Nebraska, more journalistic than impressionistic. Performing the songs solo (which he never did with Nebraska material until the Christic shows), Springsteen knew that for the Joad songs to connect with his audience, they had to pay attention to the details.

As such, the new troubadour scaled down to theaters and demanded quiet from his adoring fans who could previously do no wrong in the adulation department. It was jarring but also thrilling to feel so much attention being paid to narrative presentation. On top of that, Springsteen’s guitar, harmonica playing, and vocals were masterful.

[i got bugs]

Just heard an amazing live version of joad on his sxm channel last night

It's on some live ep he put out on one of the more recent tours

[lecherouslittlestump]

Here's Chris Cornell singing Tom Joad. Unfortunately Tom Morello is also singing.

https://youtu.be/fbsaoI5kSns

[liebzz]

Tracks.

[oasisfan35]

Tracks.

Made a playlist of all the non-album studio material, damn fine listen.

[liebzz]

Tracks.

Made a playlist of all the non-album studio material, damn fine listen.

Yeah, so I really think it was the intimidating amount of material there - 4.5 hours and what seems like a hundred songs - I could not bring myself to commit to listening to it despite being a huge fan. I mean, I’ve done the journey here, I have probably heard each of his albums from Greetings through Born in the USA multiple dozens of times, same with some of the newer releases, seen him in concert I think 5 times if you count Springsteen on Broadway, own the expanded Born to Run, Darkness, and The River and poured over that material…yet this one eluded me for so long. I am only probably about a quarter of the way in. This is really as good as what is on the albums. There are surely some artists that have a deeper quantity of a bench, but quality wise this might be tops for stuff that didn’t make the studio albums proper.

[oasisfan35]

Tracks.

Made a playlist of all the non-album studio material, damn fine listen.

Yeah, so I really think it was the intimidating amount of material there - 4.5 hours and what seems like a hundred songs - I could not bring myself to commit to listening to it despite being a huge fan. I mean, I’ve done the journey here, I have probably heard each of his albums from Greetings through Born in the USA multiple dozens of times, same with some of the newer releases, seen him in concert I think 5 times if you count Springsteen on Broadway, own the expanded Born to Run, Darkness, and The River and poured over that material…yet this one eluded me for so long. I am only probably about a quarter of the way in. This is really as good as what is on the albums. There are surely some artists that have a deeper quantity of a bench, but quality wise this might be tops for stuff that didn’t make the studio albums proper.

Absolutely. You've also got The Fever, Trouble River as well as The Promise from 18 Tracks. I prefer the latter's rendition over the one included on the Darkness reissue.

[liebzz]

On Song 42/69. This is loooong, and yet not a bad song yet (obviously some better than others but no crap yet). So far, Thundercrack, Seaside Bar Song, Restless Nights, Roulette, Dollhouse, Loose Ends, Take ‘Em As They Come, Mary Lou, My Love Will Not Let You Down, This Hard Land, Frankie, and Stand On It are early favorites.

[Strat]

I’m so overwhelmed by his b sides and outtakes. It’s almost too much.

[lecherouslittlestump]

I lose interest by Disc 4. The quality suffers. It was supposed to be 6-8 discs originally IIRC.