Bruce Springsteen

[LoathedVermin72]

Born in the U.S.A. is a perfect-sounding album. Sounding "'80s" is not a bad thing.

For me it's not a question of my own listening enjoyment. The 80's sound turns off a lot of people right away and this is unfortunate.

Those people are dummies.

[evenslow]

When I think of "80s sound" I first and foremost think of neutered drums. That sucks for rock records.

[LoathedVermin72]

When I think of "80s sound" I first and foremost think of neutered drums. That sucks for rock records.

That certainly doesn't apply to BITU, though - those drums pack a fucking punch.

[Monkey_Driven]

Born in the U.S.A. is a perfect-sounding album. Sounding "'80s" is not a bad thing.

For me it's not a question of my own listening enjoyment. The 80's sound turns off a lot of people right away and this is unfortunate.

Those people are dummies.

Indeed.

[evenslow]

When I think of "80s sound" I first and foremost think of neutered drums. That sucks for rock records.

That certainly doesn't apply to BITU, though - those drums pack a fucking punch.

Not a big fan of gated reverb either. Remember reading something where Bruce wanted the drums to sound like they were coming from the other side of a basketball court. I don't prefer this. But I'm not a multi-platinum recording artist so who really gives a shit what I think.

[darth_vedder]

When I think of "80s sound" I first and foremost think of neutered drums. That sucks for rock records.

Yeah, what's up with that?

The drums are either too low, or have a weird artificial sound. It's as if a lot of them all used electric drums, especially the snare.

[Kevin Davis]

Every decade has its weird production trends -- the synths and canned snare sounds on "Born in the USA" are different only in specificity from the flowery string arrangements on "Songs of Leonard Cohen," or the complete channel-panning on certain Beatles records. The '80's production style probably stands out to a lot of people around here a) because, in a lot of ways, this was the era where computer technology really became a widely accessible tool for popular artists, and we look back on their fledgling attempts to grapple with it similarly to how we look back on Atari and Apple IIe computers, and b) because a lot of our members are old enough to remember music from the '80's, but had their principal love affair with music at a time when the prevalent artists of the day sought to rid the world of that perceived artificiality -- this was certainly the case for me for many years.

There is definitely a stigma that it is better to sound "timeless" than "dated," and to a degree, I understand this. But as I live through more decades, I begin to appreciate how unfortunate it would be if every record had nothing but an indistinct "timelessness" to it, owing no debt at all to the time and circumstances which birthed it. As time goes on, one comes to understand that era-specific production trends are just another way for records to sound different from each other. Plus I'm almost always a songs-first guy anyway.

[darth_vedder]

Totally agree. I mean, sure the music of the 80's kinda sounds cheesy but it's glorious for what it was. The 80's wouldn't be the same without it.

The drums in 80's movies is particularly great. It seems like most action movies had some sort of electric drum thing going on during tense moments.

[lecherouslittlestump]

When I think of "80s sound" I first and foremost think of neutered drums. That sucks for rock records.

That certainly doesn't apply to BITU, though - those drums pack a fucking punch.

Not a big fan of gated reverb either. Remember reading something where Bruce wanted the drums to sound like they were coming from the other side of a basketball court. I don't prefer this. But I'm not a multi-platinum recording artist so who really gives a shit what I think.

I love how on the Live 1975-1985 boxset, Bruce went back and overdubbed performances from the 70s with that big ass 80s drum sound. It's utterly ridiculous.

And I think his most 80s sounding song is actually from the 90s. It's also possibly the worst song ever released by a mainstream artist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O38GXNqbOuE

[Lament]

And I think his most 80s sounding song is actually from the 90s. It's also possibly the worst song ever released by a mainstream artist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O38GXNqbOuE

It makes me sad that I was able to guess what song this would be before I clicked on it.


Holy lord is that song fucking abysmal.

[Monkey_Driven]

And I think his most 80s sounding song is actually from the 90s. It's also possibly the worst song ever released by a mainstream artist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O38GXNqbOuE

It makes me sad that I was able to guess what song this would be before I clicked on it.


Holy lord is that song fucking abysmal.

I'm a huge Bruce fan and have listed to some of his albums 100+ times. I have never once made it through the entirety of Lucky Town or Human Touch. I just can't do it.

[LetMeSleep]

I have never once made it through the entirety of Lucky Town or Human Touch. I just can't do it.

So I'm not the only one.

[LoathedVermin72]

lol real man

[BigRedLedbetter]

This conversation needs more Outlaw Pete!

[LoathedVermin72]

It should be noted, though, that there are some very good songs on Human Touch. I love "Roll of the Dice".

[Kevin Davis]

I'm a sucker for "Soul Driver." There's a solo piano version from the 2005 tour that is just lovely.

[Lament]

I actually think Lucky Town is significantly better than Human Touch. Human Touch is garbage for the most part.



Real World was actually kinda awesome before he went and destroyed it on Human Touch.

[Kevin Davis]

"Lucky Town" is better -- "If I Should Fall Behind" should be a standard. But until "High Hopes" came out, I don't think it had much competition for second worst.

[LoathedVermin72]

I actually think Lucky Town is significantly better than Human Touch. Human Touch is garbage for the most part.



Real World was actually kinda awesome before he went and destroyed it on Human Touch.

I enjoy the album cut of "Real World". Nothing great, but it's a solid track.

[LetMeSleep]

Any ideas of where he'll head next? I feel the celebratory E Street bonanza touring band may have reached it's end (unless he flogs it to death). Could it be an acoustic album or another project like the Seeger Sessions?

And the worst decision about High Hopes was making it an album. It should have been a couple of throwaway eps. Like he did with those 4 outtakes.