Bruce Decisions (And Free Music)
Posted: October 13th, 2009 | Filed under: Bruce | 107 Comments »
So, once again, I find myself in a bit of a Bruce Springstreen conundrum. You might recall that last year, I spent days and days trying to decide if I could fly back from the Olympics in China, immediately get in a car when I arrived home in Kansas City, and go right to the Springsteen show in town. I decided — with the help of some brilliant readers — to go ahead and do it. And it was a great great decision. It’s the best Springsteen show I’ve seen.
Now … another decision. You might know that Springsteen will be in St. Louis on Oct. 25 and Kansas City on Oct. 26. Well, I will be your humble SI correspondent at the American League Championship Series between the New York Bullies and the California Angels, and if that series goes seven games (and it certainly could) then I will be in New York on October 25 and cannot make the St. Louis show.
OK … so what, right? There’s no game when Bruce is in KC on Oct. 26. So I just go there, right?
Sure. There’s only one problem.
On Oct. 25 in St. Louis, Bruce is playing the entirety of Born To Run, my favorite album ever.
On Oct. 26 in Kansas City, Bruce is playing Born in the U.S.A., which is like my 8th favorite Springsteen album. Maybe.
Actually, I don’t know if it’s my eighth favorite Springsteen album. Let me rank them here quickly:
1. Born to Run
2. The River
3. The Rising
4. Tunnel of Love
5. Darkness on the Edge of Town
6. Nebraska
7. The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle
8. Born in the U.S.A.
9. Greetings from Asbury Park
10. The Ghost of Tom Joad
11. Magic
12. Devils and Dust
13. We Shall Overcome
14. Lucky Town
15. Working on a Dream
16. Human Touch
Yeah, about eighth is right. Of course, if I did this list in 20 minutes, it might look different. If I took two days, it would definitely look different. And it all depends on WHEN I do it anyway. I think this is like ranking the greatest hitters ever — you have too many great choices.
The greatest hitters ever (just hitters … a Top 10 list off the top of my head in 30 seconds):
1. Ted Williams
2. Babe Ruth
3. Barry Bonds
4. Ty Cobb
5. Lou Gehrig
6. Mickey Mantle
7. Willie Mays
8. Stan Musial
9. Hank Aaron
10. Rogers Hornsby. Or Albert Pujols. Or Jimmie Foxx. Or Hank Greenberg, Tris Speaker. Frank Thomas, Honus Wagner …
Wow, that was ridiculously hard. I have no idea why I just did that list. I think if I redid the list RIGHT NOW I would change it. I probably would swap Ted Williams and Babe Ruth for starters. Maybe Musial was a better hitter than Mays. Weird, I don’t know that I’ve ever just tried to rank the best hitters before without coming up with a statistical formula. I suppose that’s worth a longer and more direct blog post.
Anyway, that’s my point. It’s almost impossible to come up with a list featuring so many great players or so many great albums. The big point for me is: Born in the U.S.A. is a great Springsteen album. But Born to Run is THE album for me, any artist, my favorite album of all time.
So what do I do? Do I wait and see what will happen in the ALCS and hold out hope that I can make it to St. Louis (and find tickets) for Born to Run? Do I just forget about St. Louis and try to see Bruce in Kansas City even though it’s Born in the U.S.A.? Or do I just plan to plan to skip Bruce this time around since I have already seen him on this tour, which means I’ve already endured “Outlaw Pete” once? Questions, questions, questions.
In the meantime, my buddy Pop Warner pointed me to this week’s single of the week on iTunes. The song is called Junebug and it’s by a 21-year-old musician named Robert Francis. The download is free, and it is most definitely Bruce-infused. At least we think so. Pops calls it “the song Bruce should have recorded.” I think there’s a bit of U2 in there too, maybe some Johnny Cash, definitely a lot of fun influences. It’s pretty great, I think. And even if you don’t agree, yeah, it’s free.
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Circle me, blasphemy…
I’m not a big Bruce fan
I’m not going to be much help either. There is no musical artist I would plan my life around. None.
Hold out for Born to Run. I’ll be rooting for the Angels to finish it in 6 or less.
I think you should try to make it to the concert. You only go around this earth once and you will always wonder how good was that concert? Just my two cents.
I’m surprised you are so lukewarm on “Greeting from Asbury Park”. The rawness and youthful abandon really draw me into that album.
I totally agree with you on the high ranking of “Tunnel of Love”, however. Big fan. It was the first tape I ever had, though, which may have something to do with it, although, I’m sure as an elementary school kid I didn’t fully grasp what the album was all about…
Angels in 6, Springsteen in STL, and Ben Folds in Lawrence on the 26th. Done, done, and done.
What, no Tony Gwynn? Not even at #10a, 10b, 10c, 10d?
Joe, I saw both “Born To Run” and “Born In The USA” at Giants Stadium in the last two weeks. Regardless of how you rank them (and I’d generally agree with your rankings), it was clear to me that “Born In The USA” is the better album for a live recreation. You’re likely to hear a few “Born To Run” tracks regardless, namely the title track and “Thunder Road.”
I will grant that hearing “Light” and “Backstreets” were tremendous moments, but the energy and the songs on “Born In The USA” simply translate better to the live setting. You won’t regret either choice I’m sure, but I wouldn’t dismiss the “Born In The USA” show out-of-hand. It may be an inferior album, but it definitely made for a superior show.
Come to think of it, one has to think that’s exactly why the Boss chose to perform “Born In The USA” for the final Giants Stadium show…
There are artists I would plan around like that, but they’re all dead.
I would love to see Bruce perform Darkness. And I feel sorry for people who don’t have obsessions in their lives.
@panicstreak, I don’t think you can be a top 10 hitter, if you’re not in the top 100 of career OBP. Gwynn was a great hitter, obviously. One of the greatest, I’m not so sure.
I saw Bruce do Born To Run a couple of weeks ago at Giants Stadium. Thunder Road and Jungleland were transcendent. Then again, I’ve always wanted to see him do Darlington County and I’m On Fire in concert, so Born In The U.S.A. would be cool too. If you like Born To Run as much as you say you do, I say you get tickets and hope for a series that ends in six. You can always find a friend who can use them (or throw them up on StubHub) if the series goes seven.
Joe, I am going to my very first ever Springsteen concert. The KC one. And when I heard he was doing Born in the USA (which does not do a lot for me) in KC, but Born to Run (my number one as well) in St Louis, I was really, really disappointed. But I have to work, for sure, no getting out of it, on Sunday so the KC show it is. Good luck in your dilemma. It would be fun to run into you at the KC show, though.
Joe, while Born in the USA may be your eighth favorite Springsteen album, it’s got to rank higher than that as a live experience (Nebraska and Tunnel of Love, while excellent, would prove a tad somnambulent played in sequence, and The River’s full 20 songs is just too much). So it’s up to fifth. And more than any other of his albums, Born in the USA is built with the arena in mind. It reaches the back of the hall, and some of the less ballyhooed tunes (“Downbound Train,” “Bobby Jean”) work really well in that environment. I think you’ll be surprised at how good it sounds live. Is it Born to Run? No, and I’m bummed that I won’t be in St. Louis. But it’ll still be awfully good.
Skip St. Louis and head to Baltimore on Friday Nov. 20th. A guaranteed BtR show. 2nd-to-last show of the tour.
1st beer is on me.
There was this singer-songwriter from Milwaukee named Paul Cebar. I remember a TV reporter going to Cebar’s apartment and being astonished at the huge piles of record albums Cebar had accumulated. The reporter asked, ” How many records do you have?” Cebar’s instant response: “Not nearly enough!” My first instinct is to say you’ve already seen enough Springsteen concerts. But I guess not. So…buy tickets for both and go to both. If you can’t go to one because your editor might fire you, give the tickets away and go the other one.
@#11
Just cause Gwynn isn’t high in OBP doesn’t mean he’s not one of the greatest hitters. Doesn’t hitting the ball involve not walking?
25th, and see what happens.
To each his own; I can’t fathom ranking Tunnel of Love or even The Rising, good as it is, ahead of Darkness or Born in the USA, or Tom Joad ahead of Lucky Town or the Seeger Sessions.
Wish I’d caught Bruce on this tour…you basically never regret going to a Bruce show.
I’ll have to check out this Francis guy. There will never be another Bruce, but that shouldn’t stop people from trying.
I don’t buy the argument that USA is better than BTR for a live recreation. Not one tiny bit. Especially since he has a trumpet player along.
Yes, USA was made for stadiums, but I was shocked that BTR worked as well as it did. Hell, I was floored that Darkness was as wonderful as it was.
Joe, my reviews of BTR and USA from Giants are up on brucespringsteen.net. You will enjoy both no matter what. You will find a ticket for whatever show you want to attend, and if you need help, drop me a line.
I love the album ranking, btw. Sending this to Chris to post on Backstreets news.
Life is all about having fun and trying to do things that you don’t often get to do…
1. No to KC on the 26th. You’ve seen Bruce enough to not really care if you see him again. In fact you’d probably spend the whole time comparing each song to the songs from the previous night, getting madder and madder as they go.
2. Yes to St. Louis on the 25th and yes to getting tickets now. Absolute worst case scenario you have to sell the tickets and lose a couple of bucks. Your bank account can probably handle the loss.
Best case scenario there is a game 7 and you have to make a descision about how to cover the game and still go to the show in St. Louis. That would be a fun puzzle to solve! I would sketch out about 6 different articles and fill in the blanks in the middle of the night while watching the game on your PVR.
3. Figure out if he’s playing Born to Run on another leg and go to that show.
No Pete Rose?
Get a seat for both shows. If you can’t make it because of the ALCS you leave them w/ someone who can sell them for you and you have your fall back of the 2nd show. If you don’t make it to show #1, you have the 2nd show so you can make sure to see him at least once.
Joe,
I am going to the KC concert but if I were you I would go to the Born to Run concert the night before or maybe go to another Born to Run concert later in the tour.
I think Ichiro deserves consideration as one of the greatest hitters. Every time I watch him, the more impressed I am.
Buy the tickets anyway, StubHub is your friend.
Buy tickets for both dates. As I’m sure others have mentioned above, you won’t have any problem selling the St. Louis tickets online if you can’t make it to the show. Just think how happy some procrastinating ticket-buyer will be!
Buy tickets to both and sell what you don’t use. If you can’t sell it (and I don’t see why not), it’s just money. Not that money is unimportant, but we’re talking about Bruce, here. (Not that he means a lot to me, but I know how much he means to you.)
Cover all your bases. The downside is financial, but in this case, it’s a worthy tradeoff.
@17, I’m pretty sure being a good hitter means not making outs. But, if batting average is your thing, he’s not even in the top 10 of career BA since 1900. There’s no way he’s one of the 10 best hitters of all time.
How can you not like Outlaw Pete??
joe, buy tickets for both the first show and the second show. you can unload them on eBay or craigslist if you can’t make it. “bruce insurance”
I need to pick nits with your list (the important one), mostly because I am always amazed by these numbers.
1. Babe Ruth’s career OPS+ is 207. Since 1900 there have been only 20 player-seasons that equaled or bested 207. There’s no way he’s not #1.
2. Rogers Hornsby has got to be higher than 10. Six straight seasons, and seven in his career, leading the league in batting, OBP, and slugging. Led his league in OPS+ 12 times (one less than Ruth and more than anyone else mentioned).
In short, I think no less than a 2,000 word post is in order.
@22 Pete Rose is a stain on baseball. And not just because of the gambling.
Joe – it kills me that you so criminally underrated Asbury Park and the Pete Seeger covers albums (the second a surprisingly good return to form for the Boss). That they both follow Born in the USA and the rising adds mightily to the offense. Just kills me. Go see both shows. And then go back and re-listen to those records again. Also check out Bruce’s modern-day era sound-alike, the Hold Steady. Your biggest fan….
Just saw BTR in the Meadowlands on Thursday night and it was the best Bruce show I’ve ever seen. That being said, I’ve seen/heard him do so many of the songs from that album, I would have enjoyed USA as much — if not more. Go to the one you know you can make and don’t worry about it. It’s BRUCE for god’s sake, and it will rock no matter what.
Because I vehemently disagree with your Springsteen list, I must now nerd out:
1. Born to Run
2. The Wild, The Innocent…
3. Asbury Park
4. Magic
5. Nebraska
6. Darkness on the Edge of Town
7. The Rising
8. Born in the USA
9. Tunnel of Love
10. We Shall Overcome
11. The River (I can’t express how overrated I think this album is.)
12. Tom Joad
13. Devils and Dust
14-16 (craptastic tie) Human Touch, Working on a Dream, Lucky Town
Buy the tickets to both shows (which I would if I could but just laid off) and if you can’t make it to St. Louis give them to one of your faithful blog readers (read: business deduction). I somehow taked my wife into the Show Me Doubler with Rush a few years ago (KC Thursday, St. Louis Friday) and we had a blast (except for the crappy hotel and thunderstorm that stopped an hour before the St. Louis gig). Either way, with the Boss you’ll get your money’s worth (and then some!)
Thanks, and keep on rockin’!
I don’t like Outlaw Pete either. In fact, I don’t like the Working on a Dream project at all. It’s like Bruce woke up one morning and decided he wanted to make an ELO record. The best song on it (The Wrestler) wasn’t written for it. The Wrestler is classic, effortless Bruce. And I loved the film, too.
Why the Lucky Town hate? I believe in my hear that if it hadn’t been released on the same day as Human Touch people would feel differently about it.
Been a baseball fan since 1958, attended my first Bruce concert in 1975. Last saw him in April. I am not a Good Old Days kind of guy … the shows I saw in 2008 were as good as any I’d seen, and I was at Winterland. Based on the show in April, if I had to choose, I’d take baseball over Bruce.
what does your editor at SI think?
To actually answer your question and not nitpick your list (which I’m sure you despise/perversely enjoy), I would buy tickets for both and go to both.
The Yankees will get run in six at most. With the aggressive Angels on the basepaths running on the weak throwing arm of Jorge Posada, you can rest assured the series will be over quickly. The Yankees’ rotation simply isn’t strong enough to keep runners off the basepaths, and their offense is too one-dimensional.
1. Nebraska
2. Born to Run
3. The Wild, the Innocent…
4. Born in the USA
5. Greetings from Asbury Park
6. Tom Joad
7. Darkness on the Edge of Town
8. The River
9. Magic
10. Devils and Dust
I really really like it when somebody comes out and says “uh…the Emperor has no clothes.” So thank you mucho for pointing out that “Born In The USA” is vastly overrated, and is not remotely close to being Bruce’s best album.
Of course it outsold every other Springsteen album by about 10 to 1, so for a lot of people, it is THE representative Boss album. Which is a shame.
By the way, my rankings would be similar to yours, although I would switch #1 and 2. I was lucky to see his 1980 tour, when he performed 90% of “The River.” To this day, that was the best show of any kind I have ever seen.
Oh yeah, to answer the question: Get tickets for both. As noted, you can ebay or craigslist the set you don’t use. I’m sure there are Bruce internet groups as well where you could unload them.
There are a half dozen remaining shows in which he plays Born to Run. http://www.backstreets.com/tour.html
I saw him do Darkness and Born in the USA in Giants Stadium. Both were slightly disappointing, and I’m tempted to believe that a BTR show would be as well.
One of the great things about a Bruce show is not knowing what comes next. He might start the show with a different song, or call an audible out of left field, or take some bizarre sign request from the crowd. Setting 8 or 12 songs in a row takes away that spontanaeity. And who’s to say that’s the best order for those songs? How great was it when he used to start shows with the sonic blast of Night. Won’t happen at the BTR show. The best you can say is that you’re guaranteed at least 8 great songs.
and Outlaw Pete.
All right, I more than freely admit that “Working on a Dream” is a deeply flawed album, it certainly has its strong tracks. Despite a fair amount of lyrical mailing in, I actually really like “My Lucky Day”, “This Life”, “Good Eye”, “Tomorrow Never Knows”, “Kingdom of Days”, and especially “The Last Carnival” (we’re talking proper album tracks). The only reprehensible ones are “Outlaw Pete” and “Queen of the Supermarket”. So that’s seven strong tracks to two awful ones with the rest being simply middling. I don’t think the album is great, but I don’t know that it’s “Human Touch”.
If it were Darkness i’d say don’t worry about missing Born to Run, because i too am lukewarm on Born in the USA. But then i am going to see Bruce tomorrow for the first time and learned that he was doing Darkness and was totally stoked that i would be getting Badlands and Prove it all Night which i have always imagined being fantastic live. so biased opinion
@ 38 – Rev. Slappy
It’d actually be really sweet if Springsteen made an album with the sole intent that it be his “Out of the Blue”. Jeff Lynne is the shit, and totally the best Wilbury (at least at that time, as late 80s Dylan had lost his Christian mind, Orbison owed much of his late 80s resurgence to the brilliant Lynne, and Harrison has the semi-honor of being my least-hated Beatle).
Say yes to both. I hate to say it, but comparing the STL Magic tour show to the “official” closing night show that took place in KC…wasn’t close, the STL show stood out for the set list and the energy Bruce responded to in the STL crowd. Being a KC homer, I hate to even admit it.
For those of us old enough to attend and remember, the KC show during the Born in the USA tour produced one of the best ever bootlegs and has to be one of the top 25 shows of all time???? So, see both and know you’ve experienced a show that may never be recreated again. Can the Big Man tour like this in the future??? Something tells be we won’t see CC on future tours.
@ 48 – Matt,
As you are about to find out, “Badlands” and “Prove It All Night” are fucking great live.
For game 7, tell SI you have a prior commitment, and I’m sure they could cover for you.
Joe, did you crack a wry smile when you underrated Stan Musial?
Joe, allow me to break this down for you statistically.
If we assume that both teams are of essentially equal quality, then one of two things is true:
1) The series will be over by game five anyway, or
2) After game five, one team will be leading 3 games to 2, in which case there’s a 50/50 chance the series will end with game 6.
In other words, there is better than a 50/50 chance that your calendar will in fact be clear for the St. Louis show, and I figure that’s enough to make your decision for you right there.
#1 Darkness on The Edge on Town Bruce Springsteen’s Darkness on the Edge of Town broke new ground for The Boss in 1978. A counterpoint to the operatic elegance of Born to Run, the album was an angry, raw record that burst forth after a three-year hiatus.
Because of its darker tones, some might call Darkness a difficult album, but despite this, it’s a cherished gem for many.
Collecting stories and photos from hundreds of fans, The Light in Darkness celebrates this classic record, allowing readers to revisit the excitement of that moment when the needle found the grooves in that first cut and the thundering power of “Badlands” shook across the hi-fi for the very first time. Or the uninitiated, but soon-to-be-converted teenager, brought along by friends and finding salvation at one of the legendary three-plus hour concerts – shows that embodied all the manic fury of a revival meeting.
Apparently, I am in a commenting mood right now…
Regarding the music poll (which I just noticed, don’t know how long it’s been up). In the history of popular music, I can only think of maybe four artists that rival the Beatles in terms of impacting wide swaths of popular music for several generations:
1. Robert Johnson
2. Louis Armstrong (more or less invented the improvised solo in pop music)
3. Chuck Berry
4. Muddy Waters
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@#42: I can see you know nothing about the Yankees.
Posada doesn’t have an amazing throwing arm, but it’s not weak. He’s done fine throwing out baserunners when his arm is healthy. And Molina might start when Burnett pitches as well.
The Yankee pitching has done just fine.
And one dimensional? Hmm…hits for power, check. Hits for average, well, except for Swisher, check. Gets on base, definitely.
If you think the Angels will win, cool, but when those are the reasons you come up with, come on.
Hmmm. Well first of all you will tell where I am coming from if you saw my list with BITUSA coming in at maybe 10 or 11 with a couple of songs as exception. I got to see all three albums at GS as well as BTR and Darkness last year at the Count Basie theater in Red Bank, NJ. Unfortunately for me, I got to see BITUSA twice. While it may be true that for the fan who goes to one show a tour or two loves the songs on this particular album,and in a stadium it probably works because that is where Bruce’s stadiums first originated I would try for BTR somewhere else if you can’t make it to St. Louis. I am much happier knowing that I am getting Thunder Road, Backstreets, Meeting (hopefully Curt Ramm is still playing horn for them) into Jungleland along with other songs.That said, GO YANKEES! May they win in 5 or 6 and you make it back in time!!!
@#58
The lineup is almost entirely aging power hitters who do get on base, but have no speed past Jeter and the situational base-runner Gardner whose utility in that category is certainly limited as a late-inning replacement.
The Yankees ace has historically struggled in the postseason, their other key offseason acquisition in the rotation is riding a hot month-and-a-half but often struggles mightily in trying to find the strike zone, and Andy Pettitte is a middle-of-the-road pitcher at this stage of his career. I wouldn’t rest easily if I were a Yankees fan and this was my rotation.
As for Posada, the other teams in Major League Baseball would seem to disagree with you as they attempted 111 stolen bases in the 100 games that he caught, succeeding in 80 of those attempts. His weak arm emboldens all comers. The Angels are the second-most aggressive baserunners in baseball. This will be an issue. And if Posada isn’t catching, then either: A) his bat isn’t in the lineup, or B) Matsui’s isn’t. Either way, Yankees are sacrificing something.
stop the outlaw pete hatin
Joe, there’s no way you can have “The Rising” in your top 3. good album but belongs in the the second division.
I saw Sprinsteen play “Born in the USA” at the Meadowlands and it was awesome.
Here’s my top 15:
1. The River
2. Darkness on the Edge of Town
3. The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle
4. Born in the U.S.A.
5. Born to Run
6. Nebraska
7. Greeting from Asbury Park
8. Tunnel of Love
9. Magic
10. We Shall Overcome
11. The Rising
12. The Ghost of Tom Joad
13. Human Touch
14. Lucky Town
15. Working on a Dream
16. Devils and Dust
“Babe Ruth’s career OPS+ is 207. Since 1900 there have been only 20 player-seasons that equaled or bested 207. There’s no way he’s not #1.”
–Brian at 32
4 of those seasons were by Williams, who had a career OPS of 191, and he had a 5th year in which he fell about 60 PA short of qualifying. Plus, OPS (and by extension OPS+) values OBP and SLG equally, which I think undervalues OBP, and Teddy Ballgame has the .482 to .474 advantage over the Babe there. Factor in that the Babe played in an era in which about a fifth of the population was institutionally barred from participating in Major League ball and in which the farm and scouting systems were still being implemented and refined (resulting in a less certain distinction in the quality of players between major and minor leagues like the PCL), and I think the case can be made for Williams. Ruth may still be the best (207 is pretty friggin’ incredible), but I don’t think it’s so clear cut.
You’re absolutely right about Hornsby.
I would actually rank Born higher, but gotta go with Born to Run just for Rosalita live.
Joe, in case you haven’t heard, Bruce has told the members of the E Street Band that they are free to work on other things after this tour as he has other projects and won’t be needing them. Clarence has back surgery scheduled after the tour. If/when they get back together (2-3 years?, longer), Clarence will be over 70 (he turns 68 in January). Whichever show you pick will probably be the last chance you’ll have to hear them together.
Also, FYI, Caryn @#20 wrote a great review of the 4th & 5th shows at Giants stadium–especially the 4th on October 8–at brucespringsteen.net
I truly enjoy how seldomly Joe’s comment section devolves into a rotten silly shouting insult match. All you people are not ruining my day.
St. Louis and then do a book signing.
@#67:
Suck-up!
I say buy the tickets and hope for a short series.
If the series goes to game 6 or 7, you could consider putting the tickets up on craigslist or something to recover some of the cost.
@#56 – JasonL
Maybe you were insinuating that those four should also be included in the poll and I misread that, but Robert Johnson wasn’t actually that popular until well after his time.
I would actually add Hank Williams to the mix, as well.
I also think Bob Dylan is being largely undersold. For starters, until he got the Beatles into drugs, they were simply a derivative pop band doing their best Buddy Holly impersonation (and it wasn’t a very good one). At least after that, their material was ripping off more timely innovators like 13th Floor Elevators and the Grateful Dead.
Oh, Velvet Underground should be in the mix, too. And if we’re talking about Chuck Berry, we should be talking about Ike Turner and Little Richard because all three were synchronously breaking the same musical ground.
#64 Of course, Rosalita wasn’t on Born to Run, but on the Wild, the Innocent and the E-Street Shuffle. It would interesting if those commenting included their ages. Because I suspect many over 45 (like me) would, like me, list Bruce’s first five albums in their top five. For me, it would be (1) Born to Run; (2) Darkness; (3) Greetings from Asbury Park (For You, Growing Up, Spirits in the Night; Blinded by the Light) Park; (4) The Wild, the Innocent (Rosalita, Sandy, Kitty’s Back, Incident on 57th Street) ; and (5) The Rive (would have been a tremendous single album). There have been isolated good songs since then but nothing tremendous in my opinion. I don’t need to hear Born to Run (the song) yet again but would like to hear Meeting Across the River, which I love and have never heard live, and Backstreets. And for those who love Bruce, check out the music of Willie Nile, who Bruce brought on stage at Giants Stadium.
bruce springsteen = yuck
i don’t know why anyone likes this two bit derivative hack.
ugh…
greetings from asbury outside the top 3, are you crazy??????
Joe, you’ve really let me down.
I have no respect for anyone who doesn’t have “Nebraska” next to ELP’s “Love Beach” as the worst albums oif all time, by any artist in any genre.
Seriously… how do you send 50,000 people to the bathroom at the same time?
“Thank you… and now I’d like to play some songs from the ‘Nebraska’ album.”
Asbury Park only 9th?
Boo.
Which albums is Bruce doing the ‘play the whole set’ gimmick for? It would be kind of hilarious if he did it for, say, Tom Joad and recreated the ‘STFU Tour’ atmosphere in a huge arena.
76 and 78, I was a bit disappointed that he didn’t do that, at least a little bit, at the Super Bowl.
Speaking of which, who’s going to do that gig next?
I’m amazed I’m only the second one to mention it (after #6), but the easy solution here is StL for Bruce on the 25th (playing the percentages means a game 7 is unlikely) and Lawrence for Ben Folds on the 26th. It’s truly unfortunate that Bruce and Ben conflict for the KC crowd (I had a 3-week debate before committing to Ben for various reasons) but you’ve got to figure Ben will thin out the tracks from Way to Normal, unlike his last two KC shows, which will make for an even more interesting mix than usual. Maybe he’ll even play the entire Rockin’ the Suburbs album, his clear-cut #1.
@#80 – Andy
Are we talking about only Ben Folds sans Five and not his Fear of Pop “Volume One”? Every Ben Folds Five proper LP and Fear of Pop are better than the solo Ben Folds albums.
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Joe – if you can see Born in the USA you should go. I saw it at Giants Stadium last week and although I was disappointed to only be seeing about my 8th fav. album after missing Darkness on the Edge of Town by a day, it was well worth it. BITUSA was great live and the energy from the band and the crowd made it one of the better shows I’ve seen him play (even with Outlaw Pete in the setlist).
My own experience has been that scalping tickets for Bruce on this tour is incredibly easy.
That said, I would pick up ducats for the STL show now. If the LCS goes 7 that gives you all day Sunday to find tickets for the Monday KC show. Easily more than enough time.
If the LCS goes 7 and you have to eat the STL tickets, I mean, who cares? It’s a gamble worth taking. You’re betting on about an 80 percent chance of seeing Bruce play BTR in its entirety. That’s a good bet.
Buy tickets for both concerts. You can always sell the Born to Run tix if you can’t make the show, and you know you want to see both of them anyhow.
BTW, the best Bruce single (other than “Born to Run” – perhaps) is “Because the Night”, the Patti Smith version.
Joe-
I would like to respectfully invite you to come to Washington, D.C. for the show on November 2nd where he is scheduled to play Born To Run. Lets meet up for a beer.
-Dan
Joe –
I saw Springsteen play BitUSA in Jersey last week. The show was UNBELIEVABLE, maybe the best I’ve seen. BitUSA isn’t as great an album as BTR, sure, but in a live setting, it’s tremendous. And the band is simply on fire right now — they played a jaw-dropping version of Kitty’s Back, a beautiful Thunder Road. Even if you really hated BitUSA, it’s 12 songs and they’ll play 25-30.
Go. Go. Go go go go go go go go go go go go go. GO.
(Although if you rank WIESS seventh on your list of Bruce albums — SEVENTH! — I’m not sure you deserve to be going.)
I always laugh when people claim BornintheUSA is not among his top3 albums…if that album was not made then Springsteen never makes the status he is today and we never had this discussion…go to KC for this show as it will be a great live set…obviously he has a great list of albums but USA is a CLASSIC and should be at or near the top and go to KC for the show…
Easy solution, Joe. Make a trip home to Cleveland on 11/10 and see Born to Run.
Problem solved.
Also, give me advance notice and I can probably scrape up a ticket for you.
Tivo the game, go to both of the concerts, and count your blessings. You can write your article for SI when you get home.
I am so envious. I will miss this tour completely, as I am stuck in the mud somewhere in the swamps of China. Where Bruce never comes to play.
BTW, move the Wild and the Innocent up to # 2 on that list.
Um… Influence on popular music? Two huge omissions – Joni Mitchell and Led Zeppelin.
I didn’t like the idea of full albums in concert…until I saw a full album in concert (BTR on Thursday). It was absolutely tremendous–especially with the wonderful addition of a trumpet player for Meeting Across the River. It’s hard to complain about seeing all eight of those classics in the sams concert. And the rest of the show was outstanding.
That said, even though BTR is my second-favorite Bruce album (behind Wild & Innocent), I’ve seen all those songs live many times. I agree that BITUSA is a bit overrated, but songs like the full-band title track, Cover Me, I’m on Fire, and Downbound Train have hardly been played in the last 15-20 years. So in some ways, I would have preferred seeing the BITUSA show.
For some reason, as much as I love Darkness, I’m not sure if I’d want to see that full album, just because so many of the songs are standards in his set anyway. Now, if he were to play all four sides of The River–or get Sancious back for Wild & Innocent–that’s another story!
Why not skip the Springsteen in KC and go see the Bottle Rockets at Knuckleheads Saloon on the 24th instead?
Seeing a good live band in a small club is all about immediacy and connection, especially compared to the ordeal of going to a huge stadium show with the crowd and the prices and the parking and being far away from the stage, and all the other hassles that entails.
Personally, I’m more interested in small shows, rather than spectacle and mass appeal and being a million miles from the stage. Maybe a Springsteen fan would see things similarly.
I just saw the East Rutherford show last Thursday, they did BTR. I’m right with you on BTR topping BitUSA by a good margin.
You gotta try for BTR. It’s sublime. Even has a trumpet for Meeting Across the River.
Though, I’m with #94 and would have punched a nun to see Wild & Innocent.
You put the River above Darkness and Nebraska? First thing I think you may have ever written that I find baffling.
Joe, skip the game and see the Born to Run show. It’s your favorite album. You have to. Bruce trumps all.
[...] not paid directly) about all sorts of things – including his love for Bruce Springsteen (ranks his favorite albums here) and especially his love for all things [...]
Tunnel of Love??? C’mon, Joe – that’s just not right! That album was crap, lacked the E Street Band. Bruce saw the error of his ways and so should you
Elton John and Aretha, while both vastly talented, have no place on a poll of “most influential” artists in pop music. You should likely add Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, the Velvet Underground, Black Sabbath, Kraftwerk, and Hank Williams Sr.
Really, though, it should be a two-horse race between James Brown and the Beatles, and ultimately. I went with James Brown, though – plenty of other bands were doing incredibly innovative stuff around the same time and in the same general areas as the Beatles (though not quite as innovative), whereas James Brown was completely different than anything that came before, and he pretty much invented the dominant popular music form of the last 20 years (hip hop), and essentially invented funk. Prior to JB, music was primarily concerned with melody; he flipped it on its head, and made rhythm the driving force.
Joe:
Charlotte 11-3-09 is a BTR show. I got an exrea one (on the floor) for you if you want it.
Joe:
Charlotte 11-3-09 is a BTR show. I got an extra one (on the floor) for you if you want it.
Joe: I’m a Bruce and baseball geek like you. Most all of my vacation time surrounds these two passions.
Go see Bruce any chance you can. You WILL regret it, if you don’t. I was at the STL-KC shows last year and STL was the best of the 20 shows I’ve been to over the last 24 years.
When you think about it, the worst Bruce show (if there really is such a thing) is a helluva lot better than the best of most everything else out there live.
As we say, there are two kinds of people: Those that love Springsteen’s music and those that have never seen him in concert.
Life is short, live your passions.
Go.
For the kid who has never seen Bruce do “Prove It All Night” live: Oh, how I envy you. Your reaction will either be fist-pumping ecstasy or uncontrollable weeping. It’s that good.
So Is Badlands, but some songs were just meant to be done live. I’ve thought of doing a list of Bruce’s best live songs, but everybody already knows about Rosalita, Tenth Avenue Freeze Out, and Born To
Run.
So here are the most underrated live Bruce gems:
1. Light Of Day
2. Drive All Night
3. Fire
He may never play any of those again. But when he did? Wow.
Looks like Joe might miss both of Springsteen’s shows with this rainout in NYC for Game 6 now pushing everything back a day….
Hey, you took the job with SI and were pleased as shit to take it. So, deal with the consequences….At least you’re working!
Springsteen in KC cancelled due to a “death in Bruce’s immediate family” So Joe, did you ever get to see him?