Bruce Springsteen

^^

How can you compare this to older material, since it is so different. Looking forward to hearing this again more often.

Springsteen has always been a visual writer. He loves descriptives - never done better than on 'Black Cowboys', for example. He burns images into your brain. So what if, after 40 years, he still sings about the same themes? His stories just get richer with the years.

@Camilo: Over the past decade, Springsteen has moved on several musical terrains. at the end i think he lived a certain sound rock like a personal cage. After born in the u.s.a Springsteen was always like a man that anxiety of trying new ways. It is not always successful, but always attempted. I believe that the crucial moment of her new career was streets of philadelphia. With that song Bruce has probably figured out that cinematic vision could be useful and decisive for his music. His arrangements are more complicated and less direct. His sound is less "e street" and more elaborate. The old material was a phase and a vision of things. Now Springsteen is a man who sees things differently and have the honesty to represent them in a different way. This depression is a song about loneliness, resignation, inner fury, there is a sense of disquiet that dominates. Bruce has sought the most authentic way to represent it without having to repeat Nebraska or Tom Joad or drive all night. Without having to always make a photocopy of his old style. Or maybe just because the man who is now alone, is also an older man and abandoned boy drive all night or man Johnny 99 etc. It's a mature man near the age of retirement or death. And at that age you have to say things in a different way. You have Neil Young, Tom Waits, Mellencamp,...and others..I think that Bruce has no trouble writing a disc like Tom Waits or disk like Leonard Cohen. But maybe he thinks that this time his voice needs different sounds and images. That also needs to not be too of elites and too far from a common, collective, choral. It's still a man in the midst of his country and his people. It is not yet time for the closed rooms.

I do not particularly care for the sound of this album. I am a 30 year fan of his music, and have all previous albums, but this one just does not thrill me for some reason. It is clanky and somewhat harsh sounding to my. Just my opinion.

Really? I thinks its an amazing song... Different, not obvious and heartfelt... Dont care if it doesnt sound like Born To Run, all I care is for dignity and honesty and this song is full of that...

This song maybe be a bit sad, but the album is not depressing. Angry? Hell yes! It's supposed to be a rousing protest album, and I think he nails it. Love the mix of classic Irish Folk (Seeger Sessions) with a bit of late 80s Boss (You've got It and We Take Care of Our Own) and a bit of The Rising (Easy Money). A great mix of several Springsteen periods.

FYI - There is no "Old Bruce." The guy is an artist, and has consistently explored new territory for over 30 years.

Once again Springsteen is able to touch my heart, my soul and my mind like no other artist. Thanks Bruce

Excellent. I love the new album so far.

Anyone clamoring for the "Old Bruce" everytime he records are going to be disappointed everytime. I'm glad people like Emily and Anthony won't be attending shows. More chances for good seats for the rest of us. The E Street train will keep on moving along nicely without all you haters and so-called "fans."

I think it`s a great song. The album seems to be a step forward after Working on a dream. I´m looking forward to the tour!

Emily did you try to get tickets. His US Shows all sold out in about 5 minutes

All his songs are true to his and our hearts. God bless you Bruce !

Bruce...more messages to find in the quiet of the night

Trying to keep an open mind here but.... I understand Bruce is current with the times but I want to go to his show and FORGET about the times. I want to sing and dance and enjoy myself. Not happenin yet.

suzywong (Paris)great song, I will buy certainly the album

More Glockenspiel...but seriously...so far I like what I've heard. Nothing has stood out as an immediate hit but I like what I've heard better than anything on "Working on a Dream". I'll reserve the final judgement for when the entire CD comes out.

If you buy a Springsteen record expecting everything to be another "Born" or "Darkness" you will ALWAYS be positively disappointed. Those records are a product of the perfect mesh between the artist of that time and that exact moment in time and those two things will never again coincide. (Just as Elton John is never going to make another Tumbleweed Connection). You just have to deal with it, open up your mind and ears and try to hear where the artist is at at this new moment in time.

Some people get and some don't... always the way with Bruce and his music.

Please remember Bruce still makes albums not just one-hit singles. If you have been following the release of these songs this week, this is clearly the end of side one--a pillar of the album. The character has come to a crossroads. Tom Morello's guitar break sounds like screams and then tonally it changes to become more cheerful as if the character says "Let's get busy livin; or let's get busy dying!" Next week, Wrecking Ball will debut...so I think Bruce's character will say "Bring on that Wrecking Ball, I am ready to get busy liv'in! You can not hurt me now or anymore!"

Having been a Springsteen fan since I first heard Jungleland, I don't expect a "happy go lucky dance to the music album" based on what has been happening in this Country for the past several years. These new songs are rich and paint a tapestry of contemporary times. I for one am upset over Wall Street and Bankers who walked off guilty as hell with a severance package you and I will never see. Bruce paints these men as men of dishonor and deservedly so. Bruce keeps us all grounded and will sing a happy song when times dictate. Listen to what he sings and if you are up on current events it is exactly what you feel inside. Right on Bruce. Wrecking Ball should be mandatory hearing for all new CEOs, Bankers, and Executives. We should take care of our own; the working class of the USA and other countries.

When fan's listened to U2's No Line On the Horizon, many thought oh my God, what have they done. Then as they understood the message behind the songs and what they truly meant, the songs grew and grew on people and many of the songs on that CD are now classics in such a short time. I believe that when people/fans start understanding what Bruce's new songs mean they will feel the same. They are no longer about Cindy, Mary, Johnny or Terry. They are about the morals and values that these characters believed in.

Over 39 years ago, I let Bruce Springsteen's music into my soul. The '70s then and now seemed to have an air of darkness to them, reflecting on the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. The dismal fact that 55,000 plus troops were lost from their families forever was a big part of the era. At the time I was still wondering what really happened to JFK, RFK and MLK Jr., I was young and impressionable. However, the seed was planted in the '60s and history has proven that the American Dream for all US Citizens is like chasing a rainbow. How would these now known truths come to light, where did this skinny Jersey dude from the Jersey Shore get his facts back then...?
Try this on, the E-Street Band came into my life; I loved that garage band sound. The poetic words that back then the young Bruce put his thoughts and lyrics on paper. The power of music mixed with a talented musician took the story of his journey into my life that is still true today in 2012. His songs add more substance to every living fiber in my soul. Why you ask? I believe in the way Bruce delivers with the E-Street Band right by his side in the studio and on stage. I feel as if they have this uncanny way of walking in my shoes, seeing through my eyes and putting their hand on my chest feeling the rage inside of me, the peace that longs to triumph; and every other emotion I have encountered in the past 39 years watching factories close, families lost, homeless walking the streets, veterans who can't find work or are crippled from war. The assignation of a President, his brother the senator from NY, and the prominent leader of the Civil Rights Movement who fought and believed for equality for all people of these United States and the World. I did not see this man as black; I saw him as a human being with the same color of blood as mine, again the eyes of the world are still watching.
The '80s became a lost decade for me when my own brother's life ended in 1983. My only sibling gone, that in itself gave me the right to understand the Vietnam War debacle and my world stopped spinning. Then in the '90s I worked for a big box corporate rat. Other people who I worked with were also working there because the construction trades said, "We are only here because the new housing market tanked." Ironically, those same men would have preferred to work 16 hour days then to put up with the working atmosphere of that non-union giant rat. For example, the breakdown in fundamental ways of running a country, 9/11, Katrina, and a president that lied to the world.
The new century started out with turbulence during the vote recount for the presidency in 2000 and the down turn of the economy in 2001 were both early indicators of bigger problems to come. Somehow these events were hushed over with other events that followed 9/11 and the Government's so called need for revenge overseas. Economical problems such as: Enron, Tyco, and FTC and the patriot act. These scenarios affect all of us in the way birth certificates are viewed when looking for work, driver's licenses, library cards and US citizenship all have come under the US Government's microscope as on the same level written in, "George Orwell’s 1984" first published in 1949. So much more could be written the facts that led up to 9/11.
I read about all these scenarios and the rage inside me gets going and the wounds fester all over again. The way in which I choose to control these scars is through music and photography that started way before my introduction to Springsteen. However, the clarity of the E-Street Band came hard and softened those bruises like, “Wrecking Ball� which is now another chapter in a musical novel that I hear
and read that walks alongside history in the making. Some say that I have put Bruce on pedestal, "I say give me a reason and I will let you know more...�
Bruce has once again filled his gas tank (Jon Stewart's words) he's calling out to our leaders, to his listeners, and to anyone who gives a damn. Bruce is our big brother, a patriot from Jersey and went the inner city that lies in peril with empty buildings rising into the smoggy air, rusting away into the water aquifers and who knows where that stuff goes. Oh...! I get it, to the greedy 1% uppity politicians and people who would rather put on their horse blinders. Yeah, I am talking about those corporation rats who will build a boat to ride the wave of their destruction. However, we the members of the 99% are not allowed on. I am not jealous of their dirty money. I will say to all, I am pissed. Bruce gets that! His poetic songs are the wakeup call, the sound of a trumpet cry, the voice of a despaired whisper that belts out what I see and feel every time I go to a gas pump, and so called experts say, "The recession is over and we as a country have improved in the last two quarters in the market place."
Are you freaking kidding me; am I talking to those people with their blinders on? I am compelled to dare you to take a ride, look around, get out of your BMW, Mercedes, etc. Take a walk down a street for 10 blocks and in a roundabout way get lost in an alley, take a whiff, look left, look right, and I bet you will see one of many homeless and desperate human beings who once worked in one of those empty buildings, or better yet they were once a coworker that experienced downsizing and were forced (fancy way of saying retired early). This same company (Rat) is now sending their work overseas because labor is cheaper. There are families that see their loved ones walking on the same path destined to be holding a cardboard sign in the streets begging for money to feed their children due to foreclosures and/or unemployment that has risen to record heights and has put the economy in a tail spin all the while the elected officials live in their little bubble world.
It has been said, "If we are to forget the past we are doomed to repeat." The facts that songs are repeating, not by choice, the same scenario of the past generation and singer/songwriters knew back then that the government was getting to big. Who owns Washington these days? You have to see the truth in the everyday reality of those in peril, what makes you get up in the morning, do you even care? I hope so!
I heard around the dinner table at my grandparents’ home in the early '60s, "Be happy and find your niche, don’t do what we did and went through." They spoke of The Great Depression. However, these same people knew what to do, they bartered sugar, flour, garden grown vegetables, chickens, lambs, milk, beef and other services like helping with home projects for other families who were in need. These people somehow lived within their means. Now all those goods I mentioned above have grown in price to 500% more, you do the math. I do not have the answers to solutions of those in need. However, the 1% need to be held accountable.
This, “I take personal for it is my soul light one of the 99% who believes ….� I need to end, I’ll use this:
We Take Care of Our Own
by Bruce Springsteen

I been knocking on the door that holds the throne
I been looking for the map that leads me home
I been stumbling on good hearts turned to stone
The road of good intentions has gone dry as a bone
We take care of our own
We take care of our own
Wherever this flag's flown
We take care of our own

If you make more than $77,00 per year you can't go to his shows. Oh, wait a miunte his tickets cost to much too...

Emily Bruce has never and NEVER WILL have empty seats at his shows PERIOD!!!

Tom how many Springsteen shows have you been to? I have been to 20 or so nobody ever leaves and that will not start now you have no idea what you are talking about! Why dont you go to a Justin Beiber show sounds like your style

Glen, Open your eyes. Bruce is a multi-millionaire living a multi-millionaire's lifestyle.

Beautiful song...Just amazing. Liking what I hear so far this week. Some of his best writing in a long time.

Sounds like Pink Floyd a little very cool!

I wasn't fond of it the first listen... can't stop the tears since the second listen. Profound comments from a very learned group of listeners. Great insight! Thank to all.

Dear Emily , my eyes are wide open . Sorry you can't make the show , sorry you don't like the new album , and don't quite understand what's wrong with a person working there tail off and being successful . I was not aware that Mr. SPRINGSTEEN was living this double standard life ! I'm aware of all the millions that he has raised for our VETERANS , A very great Parkinson foundation , His support of the hungry in our Great nation for over 40 years with local food banks . It's okay to not like his music , or fret over if the shows will sell out , or living like a millionaire ....?? I suggest that Bruce and the band should make you happy by charging $300.00 per ticket , do gigs in large Stadium' s , play for 90 minutes , and or lip sync the darn show . So Mr. SPRINGSTEEN & the E street band are a bunch of hypocrites . Is that the line ....Emily . I could care less on your facts that the tour won't do well , the album sucks , and I guess Bruce will have to go back to being a regular guy . HE IS A REGULAR GUY . please enjoy the band next week on Jimmy Fallon show ....all week long . You may want to contact a few folks that were helped out after the 9/11attacks . Ohhh the life of the rich and famous . Take care , be well . Dtl .

Love it Bruce, come to NZ!

Dear Nick , what island? north / south . I don't see oz or new Zealand on the tour as of today . good luck .

edgar villanueva,always the best!!! Bruce is the one and only!!!!!

Good for you Travis . Great response . Drive .

Who was one of the first to sigh up for live aid and so many other fund razing? in it for the money ? Em what rock did you hide under for the last 30 years?? Love your work bruce!! can't wait for you to visit us here in Little New Zealand

Blackscott, in vague reference to your comments to Bruce's album song selection. Bruce describes how comparatively easier or faster the process has become for him. I think the release of "outtakes", ie. Tracks, The Promise, etc. demonstrates that in many cases even though the original versions or starting points of the released songs were good, we definitely got the best versions. Case in point, "Racing in the Street". The Darkness album version is superior to The Promise version. I suspect that although we as fans are getting new material faster, Bruce is not taking the time to get to the best versions of these songs. Sometimes they improve when played during the live performance, but basically, to me anyway, his albums since Human Touch & Lucky Town resemble a collection of "outtakes". I do love this song however. Some of his "outtakes" like "The Fever" and "Murder Incorporated" were gems too.

We take care of our own when "our own" didn't even get a chance to buy tickets before they went on sale at "other sites."
Besides, it's not the same without Clarence.
It's just not.

When I first heard this song it was on E Street radio. I was in my truck and in a hurry to get to work. Just like some of the other people on this thread, I wasn't impressed with the song. But I just listened again and, Oh My God, it took my breath away. I've never agreed with Bruce's politics, but I've always respected the fact that he is straight forward with promoting his political views. From what I've heard so far, I think this album will be what every other Springsteen album is for me. Depending on what is going on in my life on any particular day, Bruce's songs and characters are beside me when I'm up or when I'm down. And, oddly enough, those exact same songs and characters that feed my ups and downs can also bring me up or back to center when the time is right. I can't wait for March 6 when we can finally put all of the songs from Wrecking Ball together in one place and let the whole story unfold at once. And I definitely can't wait to see how they translate live at the three shows I have tickets for so far. My brother turned me on to Bruce twenty years ago. He passed away three years ago, and Springsteen music, new and hold, keeps me connected to his memory because it makes me think about the conversations we had about the message in the songs, our great times together in The Pit at many arenas, and our great times together in the top row of many arenas.

Opinions are like assholes. Everybody has one.
Great single, Boss!!