Red Mosquito

Depends on the album

I don't really care for Side A of Tunnel of Love. And Side B isn't that great either.

Phew, feels good to admit that.

LetMeSleep wrote:I don't really care for Side A of Tunnel of Love. And Side B isn't that great either.

Phew, feels good to admit that.

I was reading a blog yesterday, about the inclusion of Springsteen and Young in the Philadelphia soundtrack, and it turned in to a ranking of his albums for no real reason. I scrolled through and Tunnel of Love was number one, I mean, I'm a fan but the short review basically called it perfect; needless to say I was a bit surprised.

Listening to the end of Greatest Hits and the Blood Brothers EP now, '89 to '96 is a very intriguing era of Bruce for me.

Tunnel of Love is very inconsistent. The best 3-4 songs are all timers. The bottom 2-3 songs are borderline terrible.

I put Tunnel of Love near the bottom myself. Yes, there are good songs in there, but none of it to me holds up against the albums that came before it. I think I ranked his albums once after I completed the journey but that was hard. I honestly am not that keen on any of the albums in full after Born in the USA and before The Rising. To me, it’s a period where Bruce was trying to get a foothold on something both new for him and independent, and there are some great moments in there, but it never quite takes hold for a full album.

oasisfan35 wrote:

LetMeSleep wrote:I don't really care for Side A of Tunnel of Love. And Side B isn't that great either.

Phew, feels good to admit that.

I was reading a blog yesterday, about the inclusion of Springsteen and Young in the Philadelphia soundtrack, and it turned in to a ranking of his albums for no real reason. I scrolled through and Tunnel of Love was number one, I mean, I'm a fan but the short review basically called it perfect; needless to say I was a bit surprised.

Listening to the end of Greatest Hits and the Blood Brothers EP now, '89 to '96 is a very intriguing era of Bruce for me.

I'd say TOL is extremely highly regarded within the Bruce fanbase so not surprised it would be ranked as number 1. It's seen as the last album from his golden era (which is basically all of the 70s and 80s).

I wish he would have toured it solo rather than ESB (even though those shows from 88 are great).

LetMeSleep wrote:I don't really care for Side A of Tunnel of Love. And Side B isn't that great either.

Phew, feels good to admit that.

Tunnel of Love is probably about a 6/10 for me.

Kevin Davis wrote:

LetMeSleep wrote:I don't really care for Side A of Tunnel of Love. And Side B isn't that great either.

Phew, feels good to admit that.

Tunnel of Love is probably about a 6/10 for me.

Tougher and Brilliant Disguise are top tracks. Side 2 holds together well enough but by then I'm over it.

LetMeSleep wrote:

Kevin Davis wrote:

LetMeSleep wrote:I don't really care for Side A of Tunnel of Love. And Side B isn't that great either.

Phew, feels good to admit that.

Tunnel of Love is probably about a 6/10 for me.

Tougher and Brilliant Disguise are top tracks. Side 2 holds together well enough but by then I'm over it.

Cautious Man followed by Walk Like a Man can take me out of the whole listening experience at times though Tunnel of Love reels me back in to thoroughly enjoy the rest. With that said I would personally end the album with When You're Alone.

oasisfan35 wrote:

LetMeSleep wrote:

Kevin Davis wrote:

LetMeSleep wrote:I don't really care for Side A of Tunnel of Love. And Side B isn't that great either.

Phew, feels good to admit that.

Tunnel of Love is probably about a 6/10 for me.

Tougher and Brilliant Disguise are top tracks. Side 2 holds together well enough but by then I'm over it.

Cautious Man followed by Walk Like a Man can take me out of the whole listening experience at times though Tunnel of Love reels me back in to thoroughly enjoy the rest. With that said I would personally end the album with When You're Alone.

That's interesting, I think "Cautious Man" and "Walk Like a Man" are my two favorite songs on the album.

I like "Two Faces," "One Step Up," and "Valentine's Day" a lot too.

There's most of an album in there but it needs a couple more decent tracks early on:

Tougher
Walk Like A Man
Two Faces
Brilliant Disguise
One Step Up
When You're Alone
Val Day

LetMeSleep wrote:There's most of an album in there but it needs a couple more decent tracks early on:

Tougher
Walk Like A Man
Two Faces
Brilliant Disguise
One Step Up
When You're Alone
Val Day

I don't really like "Tougher Than the Rest" at all, I feel like it's the kind of song that validates everyone's negative stereotypes of Bruce Springsteen.

Some of these songs are really great on the 2005 solo tour. One of the officially released shows from this period has solo versions of "One Step Up," "When You're Alone," and "Valentine's Day" all in a row and they're great.

Kevin Davis wrote:

oasisfan35 wrote:

LetMeSleep wrote:

Kevin Davis wrote:

LetMeSleep wrote:I don't really care for Side A of Tunnel of Love. And Side B isn't that great either.

Phew, feels good to admit that.

Tunnel of Love is probably about a 6/10 for me.

Tougher and Brilliant Disguise are top tracks. Side 2 holds together well enough but by then I'm over it.

Cautious Man followed by Walk Like a Man can take me out of the whole listening experience at times though Tunnel of Love reels me back in to thoroughly enjoy the rest. With that said I would personally end the album with When You're Alone.

That's interesting, I think "Cautious Man" and "Walk Like a Man" are my two favorite songs on the album.

I like "Two Faces," "One Step Up," and "Valentine's Day" a lot too.

Well it's a darn good thing we're still free to enjoy what want for our own reasons, unless I missed a memo.

Kevin Davis wrote:

LetMeSleep wrote:There's most of an album in there but it needs a couple more decent tracks early on:

Tougher
Walk Like A Man
Two Faces
Brilliant Disguise
One Step Up
When You're Alone
Val Day

I don't really like "Tougher Than the Rest" at all, I feel like it's the kind of song that validates everyone's negative stereotypes of Bruce Springsteen.

Some of these songs are really great on the 2005 solo tour. One of the officially released shows from this period has solo versions of "One Step Up," "When You're Alone," and "Valentine's Day" all in a row and they're great.

Also I'm speaking of this album in regard to the studio versions only, live Bruce is just such a different animal. I should finally crack open his book after I finish with Lanegan's:

Springsteen later wrote in his 2016 memoir, "Tunnel was a solo album, so I wanted to distance the tour from being compared to our USA run." The Tunnel of Love Express was, as rock author Jimmy Guterman later wrote, "a tour intended to disorient."

What do people think of the Brendan O'Brien-produced albums? The Rising, Devils & Dust, Magic, Working On A Dream.

I'm reading the brilliant Bruce Springsteen: Stories Behind The Songs by Brian Hiatt and it contains a lot of interviews with B'OB. He was hired by Bruce because of his work with Pearl Jam, who wanted a modern/loud sound. He helped shape a lot of the songs on The Rising; pushed for that album to be shorter than the released version; pushed for the the use of more strings which have dominated Bruce's songs for the past 20 years; he hates Let's Be Friends; "doesn't give a shit" about criticism of Magic's sound. Some really interesting tidbits.

Monkey_Driven wrote:Tunnel of Love is very inconsistent. The best 3-4 songs are all timers. The bottom 2-3 songs are borderline terrible.

Need to spend more time with this one but the title track and Brilliant Disguise are top shelf.

New Spotify live mix up today songs of summer. Haven’t listened yet.

On the fun side, Bruce released in his archive the 2008 show from Nassau Coliseum about a month ago and I got the cd of it in the mail today. It was my first Springsteen show. I am excited to relive it.

liebzz wrote:New Spotify live mix up today songs of summer. Haven’t listened yet.

On the fun side, Bruce released in his archive the 2008 show from Nassau Coliseum about a month ago and I got the cd of it in the mail today. It was my first Springsteen show. I am excited to relive it.

2009?

Yeah, sorry. That one.

I went with a seasoned pro of Springsteen shows and we got in early through the general admission bracelet thing Bruce was doing. First Springsteen show and I was maybe 10 feet from stage dead center. For that show. I have been a huge fan ever since.

lecherouslittlestump wrote:What do people think of the Brendan O'Brien "doesn't give a shit" about criticism of Magic's sound.

That tells you everything You need to know about why he now sucks. Thinks he’s above criticism and does not have the professionalism to care about his craft, keep up with time and technology or improve.