Bruce Springsteen Band • Page 40

its crazy how much i love this album.

 

I might be an outlier here, but I first fell in love with Nebraska. That was kind of my gateway album and I come back to it pretty often, even though I listen to Darkness and the B side of Born In The USA a lot more now.

 

Catching up: Bruce doesn’t have a bad record but his worst is Working on a Dream (sorry Chris, although we’ve been going back and forth about this for a decade now haha. “Queen of the Supermarket” still makes me gag)

High Hopes probably works the least well as an album but I’ve come to view it as a B-Sides collection and enjoy it accordingly. Human Touch is better than those two for sure at least. Then honestly I also reach for Human Touch more than Tom Joad or Devils but I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s better than those two. If I want to hear sparse acoustic Bruce I’m just more likely to seek out a live show from the Joad or Devils era solo tours than sit down and listen to the record. Or just play Nebraska lol

 

I’m with you on High Hopes. It’s weird how that little mental flip of the switch calling it a B-sides collection makes so much difference

 

There are a lot of good songs on there, but they're underserved by the production (peak of O'Brien shrink-wrapping the E Street Band) and a tracklist that puts a lot of similar-sounding songs in the middle of the record. I feel like O'Brien was on autopilot working with Bruce at that point, and the album would have been better served by a new producer. I always felt like the switch to Aniello helped inject a lot of new life into Bruce's sound on Wrecking Ball (though, I'm now really ready for him to try someone new again).

Human Touch has the lowest number of songs I actually like, hence the bottom ranking from me.

 

I don’t disagree with anyone’s critiques of Working, it just has a bunch of songs I keep coming back to over the years despite its flaws

 

Sounds a lot like Friday night around here

 

Yes. Roll of the dice is the only track that’s decent.

 

Not a fan of dream myself.

 

Can't believe this was 10 years ago. Remember this one so vividly. Specifically, I remember the night it leaked, staying up and listening to it and chatting with probably a bunch of you about it on AbsolutePunk.

 

i really do not care for that record

 

Same. Only songs i come back to are the title track and land of hopes and dreams honestly.

 

I have a soft spot for Wrecking Ball because my favorite Bruce show I’ve been to was on that tour (Vedder sang Atlantic City with him, get jealous Bruce Springsteen Setlist at Wrigley Field, Chicago) but at this point it’s probably at best #5 of the records since the late 90s reunion

 

It’ll also always have a lot of emotional resonance with me because it’s the first one after Clarence died and features his final work

 

yeah i connect with it maybe more so than others because the Wrecking Ball tour was the first time I ever saw him, and that was right around the time i actually got into him as more than just a casual know the hits but nothing else fan. I was a late Bruce bloomer.

 

The first Springsteen album that came out after I became a huge fan was Working on a Dream, which I never really liked. Getting Wrecking Ball and loving it right away was really exciting, because I’d worried he was coasting a bit at that point in his career.

 

it was the first time i saw him as well. i vividly remember the songs from the album hitting like a dud during the set

 

Only one I remember wishing he hadn't played was "Jack of All Trades." That was visibly a "bathroom break song."

 

I remember thinking "Death To My Hometown" ruled at that Wrigley show.

 

Hell yeah, "Death to My Hometown" was an awesome part of that show. And I remember thinking "Land of Hopes and Dreams" was the emotional peak of the whole show.

 

Nice subtle bragging about seeing him multiple times

 

Having seen Bruce perform Wrecking Ball live twice, can confirm it gets the feels going.

 

Imagine thinking a legacy artist's fans being too stupid to like new material is a reflection on said new material.

 

I think Bruce is an exception to most legacy bands/artists when it comes to fans wanting and enjoying new music.

yes, IMO he’s genuinely better than most other artists - but TYPICALLY fans don’t give a fuck about new music from them. Tom Petty, perfect example, seeing him on those last few album tours. New stuff drove a lot of folks to the bathroom. They didn’t care for it and they wanted to hear their favorite hits. And those weren’t bad records, by any means.

When Bruce puts out a new record, his fans dive in the same as they always have. To various conclusions.

 

wat