Third time I've listened to this record this week. I have pretty much come to the realization, despite not being a die hard Springsteen fan, that this record sits strongly in my top five of all time, I'm thinking number three behind Exile and London Calling and just ahead of Let it Be ('Mats of course) and Blood on the Tracks. Not a song I don't love and the word play inherent in the lyrics is fucking brilliant. My first thought when I want to put on Bruce is this album. Every. Damned. Time. I do listen to Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle and Nebraska from time to time but this one is twice a month easy and sometimes I go into into a once a day phase. It is what it is. Sorry beantown.
Hey, love of the boss is love of the boss. Who am i to argue or complain? Now understanding, that's something else entirely Just in case there's anybody on this board who hasn't heard me say it, i'll reiterate that several of the songs are fantastic, still among bruce's best (agreed dime, "Mary" not among them). It's the performances that fall short to these ears, but your ears obviously vary. This may literally be the worst version of "Spirit in the Night" I've ever heard. Now I wish in my wildest dreams that I can ever do something that good, but still, it just pales in comparison to many, many, many other versions. The gap on "Growin' Up" and "Saint", for example, may not be quite as large but it's still pretty damn big. OTOH, if bruce springsteen didn't become BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, "Lost in the Flood" would have drowned, the Queen of Arkansas would have been dethroned and decapitated in a revolution, and Greg Kihn never would have been arrested for murdering "For You."
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard
Tequila Cowboy wrote:Hey, love of the boss is love of the boss. Who am i to argue or complain? Now understanding, that's something else entirely Just in case there's anybody on this board who hasn't heard me say it, i'll reiterate that several of the songs are fantastic, still among bruce's best (agreed dime, "Mary" not among them). It's the performances that fall short to these ears, but your ears obviously vary. This may literally be the worst version of "Spirit in the Night" I've ever heard. Now I wish in my wildest dreams that I can ever do something that good, but still, it just pales in comparison to many, many, many other versions. The gap on "Growin' Up" and "Saint", for example, may not be quite as large but it's still pretty damn big. OTOH, if bruce springsteen didn't become BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, "Lost in the Flood" would have drowned, the Queen of Arkansas would have been dethroned and decapitated in a revolution, and Greg Kihn never would have been arrested for murdering "For You."
I'm on record as having always loved Mary Queen of Arkansas but hell that's just me. Of course in all these years I've only seen The Boss once and that was in 2012 and frankly, didn't do much for me so as far as live versions so I'm no expert. Had I seen him back in the day I would most likely have a completely different perspective. I listen to and enjoy the Hammersmith-Odeon set from time to time but his live phrasing has always grated on me a bit. Of course that in and of itself is a contradiction because I love Bob Dylan's crazy reinterpreted phrasings but with Springsteen, not so much. So when you say Spirit in the Night from Greetings is the worst you've ever heard I'm completely mystified because I think it's almost perfect. The phrasing, the rhyming, the almost staccato delivery is what I love about it. Just for comparison I have the Hammersmith-Odeon version on now and I just plain don't care for it, it's too busy and the vocal delivery sounds put on to these ears but I also realize that his many, many fans including yourself would vehemently disagree. In the end, it's all good.
NP:
ps. She's The One is amazing on this set btw.
We call him Scooby Do, but Scooby doesn’t do. Scooby, is not involved
Tequila Cowboy wrote:My first thought when I want to put on Bruce is this album. Every. Damned. Time. I do listen to Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle and Nebraska from time to time but this one is twice a month easy and sometimes I go into into a once a day phase. It is what it is. Sorry beantown.
I feel much the same way about R.E.M.'s Reckoning. Even though I always list Fables of the Reconstruction as my favorite (and it is), it is usually Reckoning that I reach for after not having listened to R.E.M. for a while. I've heard it compared to Led Zeppelin II as it was knocked out quickly while the band was in the midst of a heavy touring period. From that perspective it makes perfect sense. It may also be why it has such a high listenability factor.
Third time I've listened to this record this week. I have pretty much come to the realization, despite not being a die hard Springsteen fan, that this record sits strongly in my top five of all time, I'm thinking number three behind Exile and London Calling and just ahead of Let it Be ('Mats of course) and Blood on the Tracks. Not a song I don't love and the word play inherent in the lyrics is fucking brilliant. My first thought when I want to put on Bruce is this album. Every. Damned. Time. I do listen to Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle and Nebraska from time to time but this one is twice a month easy and sometimes I go into into a once a day phase. It is what it is. Sorry beantown.
record blew my mind in about 1990. many, many massively great songs. mary queen is not one of them. fantastic album.
Nor The Angel. Speaking of Bruce, have you guys listened to any of the live material from the Wrecking Ball/High Hopes tour? The. Rhythm. Just. Seems. To. Plod. Along, A bit of a disappointment, but the folks I know who saw shows were still quite happy.
Third time I've listened to this record this week. I have pretty much come to the realization, despite not being a die hard Springsteen fan, that this record sits strongly in my top five of all time, I'm thinking number three behind Exile and London Calling and just ahead of Let it Be ('Mats of course) and Blood on the Tracks. Not a song I don't love and the word play inherent in the lyrics is fucking brilliant. My first thought when I want to put on Bruce is this album. Every. Damned. Time. I do listen to Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle and Nebraska from time to time but this one is twice a month easy and sometimes I go into into a once a day phase. It is what it is. Sorry beantown.
I will never forget the day I heard the real "Blinded". Mind = blown.
Third time I've listened to this record this week. I have pretty much come to the realization, despite not being a die hard Springsteen fan, that this record sits strongly in my top five of all time, I'm thinking number three behind Exile and London Calling and just ahead of Let it Be ('Mats of course) and Blood on the Tracks. Not a song I don't love and the word play inherent in the lyrics is fucking brilliant. My first thought when I want to put on Bruce is this album. Every. Damned. Time. I do listen to Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle and Nebraska from time to time but this one is twice a month easy and sometimes I go into into a once a day phase. It is what it is. Sorry beantown.
I will never forget the day I heard the real "Blinded". Mind = blown.
I will never forget the first time I heard Manfred Mann's version of "Blinded." I thought it was a joke. Literally. If you told me that day that the song would have 35+ years of legs I would have bet everything I owned against that possibility (not that I owned much at the time). Some things just can't be explained. At the time the only "justification" for the song was that at least it got a Springsteen song "out there." LOL, yes there was such a time.
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard
Third time I've listened to this record this week. I have pretty much come to the realization, despite not being a die hard Springsteen fan, that this record sits strongly in my top five of all time, I'm thinking number three behind Exile and London Calling and just ahead of Let it Be ('Mats of course) and Blood on the Tracks. Not a song I don't love and the word play inherent in the lyrics is fucking brilliant. My first thought when I want to put on Bruce is this album. Every. Damned. Time. I do listen to Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle and Nebraska from time to time but this one is twice a month easy and sometimes I go into into a once a day phase. It is what it is. Sorry beantown.
Hey, love of the boss is love of the boss. Who am i to argue or complain? Now understanding, that's something else entirely Just in case there's anybody on this board who hasn't heard me say it, i'll reiterate that several of the songs are fantastic, still among bruce's best (agreed dime, "Mary" not among them). It's the performances that fall short to these ears, but your ears obviously vary. This may literally be the worst version of "Spirit in the Night" I've ever heard. Now I wish in my wildest dreams that I can ever do something that good, but still, it just pales in comparison to many, many, many other versions. The gap on "Growin' Up" and "Saint", for example, may not be quite as large but it's still pretty damn big. OTOH, if bruce springsteen didn't become BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, "Lost in the Flood" would have drowned, the Queen of Arkansas would have been dethroned and decapitated in a revolution, and Greg Kihn never would have been arrested for murdering "For You."
IMO some great songs on Greetings but some real clunkers too (Mary Queen, The Angel). I rarely listen to Greetings anymore. The main reason is that there is such a tremendous gap between the studio versions and the many live versions of these songs. The best examples are Spirit in the Night and For You. You can tell that the lyrical brilliance is there, but the studio tracks just sound kind of dull. Contrast that with the live versions of these songs. Another example is the live version of Saint in the City with the Steve's and Bruce's dueling guitars in the outro. There really isnt a comparison. To put it into DBT terms, it's like comparing the studio version of World of Hurt to the live version - same title and lyrics but totally different musical experience.
Clams wrote:IMO some great songs on Greetings but some real clunkers too (Mary Queen, The Angel). I rarely listen to Greetings anymore. The main reason is that there is such a tremendous gap between the studio versions and the many live versions of these songs. The best examples are Spirit in the Night and For You. You can tell that the lyrical brilliance is there, but the studio tracks just sound kind of dull. Contrast that with the live versions of these songs. Another example is the live version of Saint in the City with the Steve's and Bruce's dueling guitars in the outro. There really isnt a comparison. To put it into DBT terms, it's like comparing the studio version of World of Hurt to the live version - same title and lyrics but totally different musical experience.
I think it really has to do with the fact that I'm not a die hard Springsteen fan, but I absolutely love this record. The two songs (Mary, The Angel) everyone seems to hate are two of my favorites. I think the lyrics on both are just weird and bizarre and wonderful
The interstate's choked with nomadic hordes In Volkswagen vans with full running boards Dragging great anchors, followin' dead-end signs into the sores The angel rides by humpin' his hunk metal whore
I mean who writes like that? Sorry I love it. Again I think the live thing escapes me because I didn't go see him in his prime (or in my prime for that matter) and never really caught the bug. Most of my friends in my formative musical years actively despised him and while I didn't some rubbed off. The last Springsteen album I listened to was Born in the USA which I once hated and now don't quite but like would be too strong a word. I haven't heard a single song of his since then so my opinions are bound to be at odds with true fans like yourselves but I respect the hell out of both yours and beantown's opinions. it's all good, really.
NP:
Talking Heads- More Songs About Buildings and Food
We call him Scooby Do, but Scooby doesn’t do. Scooby, is not involved
Third time I've listened to this record this week. I have pretty much come to the realization, despite not being a die hard Springsteen fan, that this record sits strongly in my top five of all time, I'm thinking number three behind Exile and London Calling and just ahead of Let it Be ('Mats of course) and Blood on the Tracks. Not a song I don't love and the word play inherent in the lyrics is fucking brilliant. My first thought when I want to put on Bruce is this album. Every. Damned. Time. I do listen to Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle and Nebraska from time to time but this one is twice a month easy and sometimes I go into into a once a day phase. It is what it is. Sorry beantown.
I will never forget the day I heard the real "Blinded". Mind = blown.
I will never forget the first time I heard Manfred Mann's version of "Blinded." I thought it was a joke. Literally. If you told me that day that the song would have 35+ years of legs I would have bet everything I owned against that possibility (not that I owned much at the time). Some things just can't be explained. At the time the only "justification" for the song was that at least it got a Springsteen song "out there." LOL, yes there was such a time.
That's a world I can't comprehend.
It still kinda blows me away with as universally popular as The Boss is, that Manfred Mann's version has had so much staying power.
Zip City wrote:Simpson's cover of "The Promise" is one of the most unexpected songs of 2014. Talk about a song that was 100% NOT country when it was released....
Agree 100%
“Excited people get on daddy’s nerves.” - M. Cooley
beantownbubba wrote:Wow. I think Clams just agreed w/ me. Sssshhhh, don't tell him, it will ruin his whole day.
Once again Bubba, do you assume I read everything you write??? There isnt enough time in the day!
Dear Mr. Clams:
Should you happen to read this, please be aware that my post was not in the nature of "if you don't have anything original to say don't say anything at all" or even "how could you not have read my brilliant post saying the same thing much better just above?" It was much more literal than that: I thought you'd be distressed if you learned that you agreed w/ me.
I do hope you read the good ones, but no I don't assume that a busy mollusk such as yourself has the time to read everything I write.
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard
Just in case there's anybody on this board who hasn't heard me say it, i'll reiterate that several of the songs are fantastic, still among bruce's best (agreed dime, "Mary" not among them). It's the performances that fall short to these ears, but your ears obviously vary. This may literally be the worst version of "Spirit in the Night" I've ever heard. Now I wish in my wildest dreams that I can ever do something that good, but still, it just pales in comparison to many, many, many other versions. The gap on "Growin' Up" and "Saint", for example, may not be quite as large but it's still pretty damn big. OTOH, if bruce springsteen didn't become BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, "Lost in the Flood" would have drowned, the Queen of Arkansas would have been dethroned and decapitated in a revolution, and Greg Kihn never would have been arrested for murdering "For You."
