Red Mosquito

I love Bruce! Keep up, Strat!

LoathedVermin72 wrote:I love Bruce! Keep up, Strat!

*inserts gif that demonstrates me feelings towards the above post*

Round 1a

Monkey
15. Promised Land
18. The River
47. The E Street Shuffle
50. The Promise
79. Murder Incorporated
82. She's the One
111. Two Faces
114. Gypsy Biker

vs

Lowlight
2. Born To Run
31. State Trooper
34. No Surrender
63. Open All Night
66. The Ties That Bind
95. Drive All Night
98. Death To My Hometown
127. Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?

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Higgs
11. Streets of Philadelphia
22. Growin' Up
43. Candy's Room
54. Wrecking Ball
75. One Step Up
86. Lonesome Day
107. Terry's Song
118. Rockaway the Days

vs

guestT
7. Atlantic City
26. I'm Goin' Down
39. Gave It A Name
58. Livin' In The Future
71. Reno
90. Better Days
103. Used Cars
122. The Wrestler

Monkey_Driven:

First of all, "The Promised Land" has one of the most powerful stretches of lyrics in all of Springsteen's discography:

There's a dark cloud rising from the desert floor
I packed my bags and I'm heading straight into the storm
Gonna be a twister to blow everything down
That ain't got the faith to stand its ground
Blow away the dreams that tear you apart
Blow away the dreams that break your heart
Blow away the lies that leave you nothing but lost and brokenhearted

I mean, goddamn.

"The River" is a very good song that I don't seek out much - it's just soooo downbeat.

I fucking HATE "The E Street Shuffle". I think it's a busy, overstuffed mess. To be blunt, I think The Wild, the Innocent... is a bad album. It's an awkward, overwrought stepping stone between the raw, verbose, youthful spunk of Greetings from Asbury Park and the immaculate sonic textures of Born to Run, and I don't think it works at all.

I hadn't heard "The Promise" before. This song has a really nice space to the production and arrangement. There's a pleasing separation of the instruments. Sparse and lovely.

"Murder Incorporated" is also new to me. I assume this came from the BITU sessions? I like it a lot. Big, beefy, totally '80s. I'm into it.

"She's the One", like everyting from BTR, is so beautifully produced. That strumming guitar humming beneath the intro...man. Overall, this is a middle-of-the-road track for BTR, but when it's competing against stuff like the title track and "Backstreets", that's hardly a criticism.

"Two Faces" is all right. I still haven't really connected with Tunnel of Love.

I love "Gypsy Biker". One of my favorite Magic tracks.

Best Song: The Promised Land
Worst Song: The E Street Shuffle
Overall: Very Good

VS.

lowlight:

"Born to Run"...what is there to even say? One of the most flawlessly composed, performed, and produced songs of all time. All those hours spent perfecting it were worth it.

"State Trooper" is my favorite song on Nebraska; its simmering menace is rendered almost terrifying by that propulsive, muted acoustic strumming. The protagonist BEGGING the state trooper, for his own sake, not to stop him...Jesus Christ. This song is so intense. Then it's capped by Springsteen howling into the sparse nothingness...fuck. FUCK! What a goddamn masterpiece.

"No Surrender" has my all-time favorite Bruce lyric:

I wanna sleep beneath peaceful skies in my lover's bed
With a wide open country in my eyes and these romantic dreams in my head

Man. That says it all, doesn't it? You fucking KILLED it with these first three picks. It's the best 1-2-3 punch in the tournament, no contest.

"Open All Night" is great.

"The Ties That Bind" might be my favorite track on The River.

"Drive All Night" is the one weak link on your team for me. I find it plodding and SEVERELY overlong.

Hadn't heard "Death to My Hometown" before. Considering some of the turds chosen from Wrecking Ball by others in this tournament, you made an excellent choice here, because I really love this song. It's a rollicking explosion of energy. So much fun.

"Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?" is a wonderful song.

Great job with this lineup. Definitely one of the best, if not THE best, teams in the tourney.

Best Song: Born to Run
Worst Song: Drive All Night
Overall: Excellent

VOTE FOR: LOWLIGHT

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Higgs:

"Streets of Philadelphia" is quite beautiful, though I can't help but feel that it's a lesser precursor to the masterpiece "Lift Me Up".

I love "Growin' Up". One of my favorites from GFAB.

"Candy's Room" is masterful. I would have chosen it if it fell to me in this round.

First time hearing "Wrecking Ball". I fucking hate it.

So if you got the guts, mister, yeah, if you've got the balls
If you think it's your time then step to the line and bring on your wrecking ball
Bring on your wrecking ball
Bring on your wrecking ball
Come on and take your best shot, let me see what you've got
Bring on your wrecking ball

Jesus fucking Christ.

"One Step Up" is pretty good.

"Lonesome Day" is a great song.

"Terry's Song" and "Rockaway the Days" are both meh.

Best Song: Candy's Room
Worst Song: Wrecking Ball
Overall: Okay

VS.

guestT:

"Atlantic City" is great, though I don't adore it like some others do.

I DO adore "I'm Goin' Down", however.

First time hearing "Gave It a Name". I really like the guitar tone here. Solid tune, though I do wish it were a bit more dynamic sonically.

"Livin' in the Future" is so fuckin' good. Sounds like it's straight off BITU. I'd rank it among the top tracks on Magic, for sure.

"Reno" is generic acoustic material to my ears.

I really enjoy "Better Days". I think I have a higher tolerance for Bruce's meathead '90s stuff than most fans.

"Used Cars", like most (all?) of Nebraska, really only works for me once I stop and take in the lyrics. Musically, this kind of quiet, acoustic stuff usually doesn't move me, but the thematic exploration elevates it. The way those twinkling chimes subtly kick in after "I ain't ever gonna ride in no used car again" is brilliant. Has rural American yearning ever been captured more potently than it was on this album?

"The Wrestler" is very good, though I feel like it's a bit too short. It's such a crime how poorly regarded WOAD is (though I realize this isn't REALLY a WOAD song).

Best Song: I'm Goin' Down
Worst Song: Reno
Overall: Good

VOTE FOR: guestT

LoathedVermin72 wrote:First time hearing "Wrecking Ball". I fucking hate it.

Oi! I'll have you know that according to Rolling Stone that's Mr Springsteen's 43rd best track!



Good write-up LV, always good to get extra feedback with votes. And yeah, lowlight's team is a bit of a monster, ain't it?

Monkey
I love the 2011 E St Shuffle version and this was on my list. As was Gypsy Biker (I love Magic). Promised Land and The River are mammoths, The Promise and Murder are solid 4 stars. I could never hear She's The One again and I'd be fine and Two Faces has a sentiment I can relate to but I'm not a fan.

vs

Lowlight
Phew. What a team. BtR is his best song, No Surrender is 5 stars hands down as is The Ties That Bind. There are a few I prefer on Nebraska over these 2 and Drive All Night does plod (although if in the right mood it is pretty special). Death... is a great recent song and one of the best on WB (I'm surprised Jack and Easy Money weren't picked). Bus is good but middle of the pack.

This is basically a coin toss. I'll go Monkey as it has 4 x 5 stars vs 3 on Lowlights. Lowlight's is probably the most consistent team though.

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Higgs
Streets is a great track and unique in his catalogue and is Candy's Room. Growin Up is fine but I never choose to listen. I have really tired of Wrecking Ball. One Step Up is lovely. Lonesome Day is 5 fucking stars and Terry's Song may be 5 stars too. I love em both. Rockaway is without doubt the lesser track on this team. Not a fan.

vs

guestT
AC, Goin Down and Livin In The Future are all 5 stars songs for me, Future is fucking great and as relevant now as ten years ago. The Wrestler is so close to 5 stars I can't put my finger on it. It and Terry's Song are fine examples of his simple approach absolutely nailing it. Better Days is pretty good too. Gave It A Name is well written but it musically it does very little for me, and Reno does even less. Used Cars is a okay but drifts by me.

Higgs. But another incredibly close one.

lowlight
Higgs

lowlight seriously has one of the best teams. I'm an idiot for not taking BTR with the first pick.

MD and Lowlight both have great teams, but MD picked a lot of songs that I have an extra level of personal attachment to, where some of the big songs on LL's team aren't particularly special to me. "No Surrender" in particular feels like a dumping ground of cliches to my ears -- I am surprised so many of you rate it so highly. Bruce comparing his high school jamming buddies to "soldiers in the winter's night with a vow to defend" gets an instant ick from me. Vote for MD, but again -- two excellent groups of songs.

Higgs and TCMS both have interesting flavors to their teams -- they went for less obvious picks early which gives their teams greater character if less grounding than some of the others. "Lonesome Day" and "Atlantic City" are the two songs that made me a Bruce fan after years of hating him based on false impressions of his hits; it was appropriate that the first Bruce song I ever loved opened with the line, "Baby once I thought I knew/Everything I needed to know about you." But I agree with LV about "Wrecking Ball," and I find "I'm Goin' Down" incredibly grating -- overall I think I like the "Born in the USA" album a lot less than the rest of you guys. Slight vote for TCMS -- the two "Nebraska" songs give his team the slight edge for me.

Lowlight
guestT

Lowlight
Higgs

Monkey
guestT

Tcms and myself. I'll do a little write up for the next round. Too hungover today

Apologies if I missed this, but how long is each round staying open for voting?

LoathedVermin72 wrote:Apologies if I missed this, but how long is each round staying open for voting?

69 years.

LoathedVermin72 wrote:Apologies if I missed this, but how long is each round staying open for voting?

2 days max.

Gotta go with Monkey, since his line-up has three of my personal favorite Bruce songs of all-time (The River, Murder and The Promise).

For the second, my vote is for guestT on the strength of Atlantic City and The Wrestler.

Me
guestT