...and you're worried about how Magic will be because you're not wowed by "Radio Nowhere," you can quit your fretting. It's great - sweet, poignant and poppy in the best sense of the word.
Phew!
Thursday, September 06, 2007
If You're A Bruce Springsteen Fan...
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9 comments:
OK, and where did you get a copy? And how can i get one?
Will not divulge either of those. Not to be a jerk - I'd love for everyone to hear these songs, but I'm not in a position to share.
It's like going by an accident. You're not supposed to slow down and bother to look, just go on about my day. And yet still, I find myself watching your last.fm feed and thinking, "why can't I listen to Magic like he is..."
It's REALLY leaked now.
Itunes may still have itr as a free download.
Listening to it right now.. and I'm fairly disapointed... I've been a Springsteen fan of the first hour, but as soon as he dumped the E Street Band, for whatever reason, Bruce hasn't come anywhere close to the MAGIC he obviously thinks he can just grab back with this release.
There is no sparkle, no vibe, no love, no magic, it's pure routine.. from professionals.. and that is simply not enough.
If it lacks one thing it is exactly the very thing your blog is trying to revive.. SOUL.. you can check out any episode of Little Steven's Underground Garage and you'll find more excitement and pure and simple fun. This is a prime example of how major record companies first create and then succeed in maintaining myths. I never cared much about myths.
Where's the Bruce Spingsteen of flesh and blood, fear, despair, hope, angst, desire, guts... I just can't give a damn about this media created persona.
Maybe we should confront ourselves with the fact that Rock & Roll coming from millionaires is a contradiction in terms. And growing old gracefully in Rock & Roll is obviously a joke. They - Springsteen and the band - sound old, bored and tired... and even their collective denial isn't going to change that. "Orchestrated" is the one word that sums it all up.
Grabbing back familiar formula's, like the "Glory Days" remake "Livin' in the future" is just not good enough. The Eleanor Rigby inspired psychosoap "Your Own Worst Enemy" reminds me of Garbage's "Cup Of Coffee"... if only it came anywhere close to it.
Gipsy Biker sounds like the 80s band The Alarm, and therefore ... well "out of time". "Girls In Their Summer Clothes" another stringladen excursion is more of Electric Light Orchestra than Bruce Springsteen. "I'll Work For Your Love" then... well you better.. and a little harder. Uninspired mediocrity. "Magic" is everything but, at best it could be seen as funny, but .. no fun... despite the John Cougar Mellencamp fiddle. "Last to Die" was done before and much better, and titled "Surrender". "Long Walk Home" makes me yawn and sound like an outtake of "Born In the USA". "Devil's Arcade" is merely revisiting "Secret Garden". Finally "Terry's Song"... it leaves the very emptiness it describes, or at least attempts to.
I once used to prefer Bruce Springsteen over Bob Dylan... but that has changed a long time ago.
Like most politicians, the trap Springsteen seems to have got caught up in, is that he has access to too many words way too easily, but he doesn't have anything to say anymore.The rest is all a "Brilliant Disguise".
The long awaited Bruce Springsteen release should have been titled "Redundant".
and for completion's sake, "Radio Nowhere"'s basic riff sounds a bit too much like Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper".
And finally : the cover is really a cheap shot, some people even call it a mug shot.
So is it a bad album? No it isn't. It would be pretty much impossible to make a bad album with The E-Street Band... but as has been written elsewhere, the E-Street Band members were flown in to record over the weekends and Bruce and producer Brendan O’Brien did the rest "on week days". And that is exactly what's wrong with this album, you can just hear - if not feel - that the bonding of the days of old simply is no longer there. This is no longer a coherent and consistent tight unit of friends and pals, all going for the same goal. I miss the fireworks from Clarence Clemons, just to name one highlight of the early E-Street Band, this is all too tame, too lame.. and it isn't Clarence's fault.
This is the best album a major's money could buy him, let's not kid ourselves. But it will not stand as one of the better ones. As much as my brain is tempted to say, it's not that bad, my ears say: WTF. I know I'll spend my money on something else, something a little more adventurous.
Respectfully disagree with mephisto and agree with Mr. Lazar. Have spent the weekend listening to Magic, and - I'm talkin' to you Bruce fans - it is most definitely a "buy." We can't ever go back to the heady days of the late 70's and early 80's. Bruce and all of us are significantly older, with different perspectives on life. So think of Magic as a record that could've been made post-River as long as you gave Bruce another 27 years to change in soul and in voice. This is a fun, enjoyable pop-rock album that doesn't even stop to take a breath until track 8. It's been a long time since a Springsteen album did that. Yes I have some quibble with O'Brien's production and wish these songs were made with the crystal clear production of the Record Plant in NYC. But guess what? Jimmy Iovine hasn't engineered a record in probably 25 years (exec that he is now) and the Record Plant is gone. Time passes, life goes on. And yet, at 59 Bruce can still produce a record that pleases long time fans AND will likely spawn a couple of hit singles. Give it up for the Boss on October 2. Specifically, buy a copy of Magic. I plan on buying two: one from iTunes and one physical copy.
i agree with ford.... been a huge springsteen fan my whole life... iv seen him twice.... once with his devils and dust tour and the other with the seeger sessions.... im seeing him for the first time with the e street band in boston on nov. 18th and i cannot wait.... his music has changed a bit... but so hasnt bruce... his music has evolved from once singing about a kid being on the shore and the people he met along the way. he cant sing about the same stuff forever, hes singing about today but with the same livlihood and energy he has always had
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