Song Spotlight - "The Last Words Of Copernicus"

It is weird to think of Bruce Springsteen incorporating samples into his music (a la 2 Live Crew).  However, in "Death To My Hometown", Bruce took the chanting from Alan Lomax's recording of "The Last Words of Copernicus" to enhance the riotous sound of the record.  In fact, in many songs featured on Wrecking Ball, snippets from other songs are parsed through tracks such as "Shackled and Drawn" (Lyn Collin's "Me And My Baby Got Our Own Thing Going") and "Rocky Ground" (Peerless Four's "A Soldier In The Army Of the Lord").  It is interesting to see the Boss still experimenting with different ways of creating music in the fifth decade of his career.

Breaking News - "High Hopes" Video Released, New Album Announced

Well, once we were treated to a fantastic studio version of "Dream Baby Dream", the rumors started to swirl.  Today, everything became official: a video was released for "High Hopes", and an album by the same name was announced for January 14th.  Like Wrecking Ball, it's a not-quite-E-Street album, featuring a lot of Tom Morello (he's listed on eight of 12 tracks).  Upon first listen, "High Hopes" has that same "angry mob" sound that characterized Wrecking Ball stand-out tracks such as "Death To My Hometown" and "Shackled and Drawn".  While it isn't as catchy as "We Take Care Of Our Own", this song, as well as the aforementioned "Dream Baby Dream", have me very excited for the new album, and, more importantly, the (potentially) forthcoming tour.

Movie Review - The Grapes of Wrath

One of my favorite Springsteen legends revolves around John Ford's film adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath.  The story goes that Bruce was flipping around the television dial one night, and stumbled across The Grapes of Wrath, and was immediately drawn in by the tale of the Joad family.  He had never read the original novel by John Steinbeck, but used the film as the basis for his future songwriting (most notably in the album not surprisingly titled The Ghost of Tom Joad).  Before sitting down to write this post, I scoured the internet to try to find confirmation of this tale, but failed.  Maybe I had heard it at a concert, or read it in one of the many Springsteen books I've reviewed throughout the years, or perhaps it was just another one of my beautiful and disturbing Springsteen dreams.  Regardless, having never read the book either, I decided to plop on my couch, flip on Netflix, and emulate my hero.

Before going into my thoughts and feelings, let me just give a quick summary of the movie for those unfamiliar with the story.  If you are worried about spoilers for a movie that came out in 1940, I'd suggest you skip over the rest of the review.  The movie opens with Tom Joad, played by Henry Fonda, returning to his Oklahoma home after a four year stint in prison for killing a man in a bar fight.  Upon returning home, however, he finds that the Dust Bowl has wrecked the economy of his home town, and the banks are forclosing on his home.  There is no use battling back, as there is no specific man to blame, and the construction equipment coming to tear down his home cannot be haulted - you stop one, and they'll send more.  So the Joad family packs up and heads to California, hoping to find more work.  Unfortunately, when they arrive, they see that there are too many people looking for work, and the employers have slashed their wages due to the overabundance of labor.  They working picking peaches, and are forced to live in destitute bungalows where they are heavily monitored, as attempts to organize a resistance are immediately squashed by hired goons.  The family finds some peace in a government-run camp where the community is run by the workers.  In the end, Tom Joad moves away from his family, inspired to take up the fight for the working man across the nation.  His final words are stirring and memorable: "I'll be all around in the dark. I'll be everywhere. Wherever you can look, wherever there's a fight, so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad. I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready, and when the people are eatin' the stuff they raise and livin' in the houses they build, I'll be there, too."

Reading that description alone sounds like you've just listened to about fifty different Springsteen songs.  As a Springsteen fan for years, it was eye-opening to see how heavily this influenced him.  I'd compare it to the first time I saw Citizen Kane after growing up on The Simpsons: it's amazing how many references you can pick up on now.  I'm not exaggerating: take a look at the very first shot of the movie, does it remind you of anything?

John Ford, with famed cinematographer Gregg Toland, fills the movie with beautiful, stark imagery like that above.  In traveling from Oklahoma to California, we see gorgeous scenic shots that remind me of a film noir version of Breaking Bad (there are a lot more parallels you can draw between Breaking Bad and The Grapes of Wrath, but that's a subject for a completely different blog).  Springsteen's music reflects the barren, depressing mood in the film most notably in Nebraska and the obvious The Ghost of Tom Joad.  As Steve wrote about this summer, The Ghost of Tom Joad could be considered the most cinematic Springsteen album, but I see a lot of influence from this film in his most recent work, Wrecking Ball.  Two songs particularly stand out: "Death To My Hometown", as the men who kick the Joads off their farm are exactly what you'd imagine the "greedy thieves that came around and ate the flesh of everything they’ve found" would look like; and "We Are Alive", which draws from Tom's aforementioned "I'll be there" speech.

I would highly recommend this movie to all Springsteen fans.  While it may be a bit liberal for some of the more conservative Springsteen fans, it tries its best to stay apolitical, with Tom not even knowing what a "red" is.  The main message, as Springsteen echoes (on Wrecking Ball again), is that we take care of our own.  It is a tribute to the working class and a plea for compassion for your fellow man.

This Laugh's On Me: The Onion on Bruce Springsteen

The Onion, the internet's foremost authority on fake news, has had certain celebrities and politicians in their cross-hairs for years.  I've always enjoyed their continuing obsession with Spurs power forward Tim Duncan; his quiet and stoic presence both on and off the court have led to excellent, funny, and bizarre articles.  The Boss has been a frequent target as well, as his political causes mixed with his rock-and-roll lifestyle are ripe for satire.  Here are some of the highlights from the last five years:

Bruce Springsteen Concert Totally Changes Area Man's Mind About Voting (Oct. 27, 2008): In this article, Springsteen is used in place of any celebrity that is dragged out in election season for those silly "Rock The Vote" campaigns.  The choice of who to vote for (and choosing to vote period) are very complicated issues that always get reduced to simplistic platitudes that ultimately mean nothing.  The last line in the article sums it up best: "On Nov. 4, Garlock plans to vote for John McCain because he thinks Sarah Palin is hot."

Obama To Wait For Next Bruce Springsteen Album For Word On Economy (Jan. 10, 2010): The Onion has frequently predicted the future, and this article is no exception.  The next Springsteen album after this piece was Wrecking Ball, Springsteen's most direct take on the economy to date.  Whether or not Obama will base his policy off of it remains to be seen.  The shot at John Mellencamp at the end makes this article totally worth the thirty seconds it will take you to read it.

Bruce Springsteen Releases New Sci-Fi Concept Album About Struggles Of Poor Miners Working On Mars (Sep. 14, 2011):

As a fan of science-fiction and a fan of Springsteen, this article is the perfect storm.  The writer adds in so many details that help sell such a zany premise.  Song titles such as "Dead Man's Home", "Solid Ground", and "Martin Shoulders" truly sound like Springsteen tracks....provided he was doing a concept album about Martians.  You have to love the exasperated quotes from Steven Van Zandt, followed immediately by the sycophantic praise from a Rolling Stone editor.

It's Funny, I've Actually Only Been To New Jersey A Couple Of Times (Dec. 4, 2012): It's an article "written by" Bruce Springsteen, and I really wish Springsteen did write something like this.  It would be the greatest prank a rock star has ever pulled off.  It's funny how, even if you are not from New Jersey, hearing Springsteen reveal his "true nature" would forever change the way you see both him and his music.  Rationally, the music should stand on its own merit, but this article dares you to imagine a world where Springsteen was from Hollywood and how that would alter your thoughts on his work.

Bruce Springsteen On Fence About Playing Assad’s Birthday Gig (Sep 4., 2013): This article I didn't really care for, as it seemed like they could have inserted any artist into it, and just randomly picked Springsteen.  I mean, why would Springsteen agree to do only a 45-minute set?  That's way too unrealistic.

Great Moments in Springsteen Cinema History: Promised Land

Okay, so this isn’t a great moment but it’s a pretty good one. In the movie Promised Land, Matt Damon plays a natural gas representative who goes up against an anti-fracking environmentalist played by John Krasinski. The movie came and went with very little fanfare at the end of 2012 but it’s worth a viewing for its engaging performances and unexpected subject matter that doesn’t become as politically didactic as you might think – even if the plotting is a bit formulaic.

But we’re really here to talk about the Springsteen moment of course. Now, despite the film’s title, the song featured is not “The Promised Land.” Nor does the film feature Springsteen’s original music. Instead, it features Krasinski singing an (intentionally) off-key rendition of “Dancing in the Dark” at an open mic. The scene is classic Springsteen in nature. It begins with Krasinski alienating the crowd with his firm anti-natural gas beliefs before winning them over by singing Springsteen. His fellow bar patrons quickly join in and start singing with him on stage – the unifying nature of Springsteen incarnate.

In an interview with The Guardian, Damon expressed his appreciation for Springsteen and even said he feels that Promised Land is (coincidentally) a film version of Wrecking Ball. And he’s not off-base, there are strong thematic similarities to several of the songs on the album, particularly “Easy Money,” “Jack of all Trades,” and “Wrecking Ball.”

Guardian Excerpt:

Is Damon, I ask him in Berlin, a fan of Springsteen? It turns out to be a lucky guess, made only because his new film is called Promised Land – the name of a track from the 1978 album Darkness on the Edge of Town – and by the fact there is a memorable scene in the movie where Damon's co-star John Krasinski sings a karaoke version of the song "Dancing in the Dark".

"Uh-huh, huge," says Damon. "Springsteen's a god in my eyes." There then follows a few minutes where Damon picks his way excitedly through Springsteen's recent oeuvre: The Rising ("a masterpiece"), Magic ("such an intelligent takedown of the Bush administration"), and culminating with last year's Wrecking Ball, which reached number one in both the UK and the US. It is an intensely political record that shines a harsh light on the American dream, with music inspired by the Civil War and the Dust Bowl. "It doesn't feel like an act," Damon muses. "It doesn't feel like he's trying to pretend that he still has the common touch. I think he believes what he believes, and that's very real."

He continues: "I do view this movie, Promised Land, as the visual expression of his last album. It's actually eerily similar. I hadn't heard the album before we wrote the script, but John Krasinski and I went to hear him in Madison Square Garden at the first show that he did of Wrecking Ball and he played the album and I went: 'Fuck! That's the movie!' I went back to see him afterwards and he asked: 'What are you working on?' And I said: 'It's like the movie version of your new album.' And he goes: 'What the fuck does that mean?' And I said: 'I don't know, man! But you've got to see this thing when it comes out. I'm telling you, it's the movie version of your album.'"

Sadly, I couldn't find a clip of the open mic scene from Promised Land online so instead I'll include this video of John Krasinski and Jason Segal singing "I Get by with a Little Help from My Friends" at a karaoke bar in Michigan.

Lyrics Spotlight - Springsteen's Hard Times

This past Wednesday, I was listening to some live Springsteen on Youtube, as a Springsteen blogger is wont to do.  During this binge session, I came upon Springsteen's cover of the smash hit of 1854, Stephen Foster's "Hard Times Come Again No More".  It's just one of many highlights from his 2009 Hyde Park show, a performance spotlighted by a great solo from Clarence and Bruce's voice digging into new gravelly depths to sound like it was actually from the 1850s.

It is also a song that clearly inspired Springsteen, as he has often described the E Street Band as a band built for "hard times".  That phrase, "hard times", seems like it appears in numerous Springsteen songs.  So I began to research, and found that "hard times" appears in a whopping....three Springsteen songs.  There are songs where he is working hard, trying hard, looking so hard, having hard earned days, searching for things hard to find, and is in a hard land, but not a ton where Bruce specifically points out the hard times.  However, in these songs, as in most of his work, there is always a glimmer of hope at the other side of the dark tunnel.  Let's take a look:

"Rocky Ground"

You raise your children and you teach 'them to walk straight and sure 
You pray that hard times, hard times, come no more 



This is a bit of a cheat, since Michelle Moore is singing this part, but rumor has it that Bruce was originally going to do the rapping, so I'll assume the lyrics here were all penned by the Boss.  "Rocky Ground" really does have some great lyrics, but the song is a bit too over-produced (a problem with a lot of Wrecking Ball, as too many instruments are crammed on the tracks), and the rapping makes it feel more like a novelty Springsteen song.  It's a solid tune that I've enjoyed seeing live, but one I rarely listen to on the album.

"Waitin' On A Sunny Day"

Hard times baby, well they come to tell us all
Sure as the tickin' of the clock on the wall
Sure as the turnin' of the night into day



This, too, is another novelty-esque Springsteen song, moreso when performed live - as Bruce always finds an adorable eight-year-old girl to sing on stage with him, while I just stew in my seat, angrily thinking, "SHE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW THE WORDS!  SHE WILL PROBABLY END UP HATING YOUR MUSIC IN FIVE YEARS WHEN SHE STARTS REBELLING FROM HER PARENTS!  THAT SHOULD BE ME ON STAGE!"  Phew.

Anyway, I do love the lyrics above, as this particular "hard times" is delivered with such passion, both by Bruce, and by me singing along, trying to prove that I would've been the right choice to sing up there.  Sigh.  Perhaps I'll have better luck if I show up next time wearing my Elvis costume.

"Wrecking Ball"

And hard times come, hard times go
Hard times come, hard times go
And hard times come, hard times go
Hard times come, hard times go
Hard times come, hard times go
Yeah just to come again



First of all, it is a shame that when I search for "Wrecking Ball lyrics", Miley Cyrus's song is the top result.  Get your act together, Earth.  Anyway, fellow writer Steve is not a huge fan of the song, describing it as "overly repetitive and yet all over the place".  I completely agree, it is overly repetitive and yet all over the place - which is why I love it, because that's exactly what the process of living is like.  As Bruce repeats "Hard times come, hard times go", it invokes images of the difficulties you've had in your life and, simultaneously, your triumphs.  As you get older, you begin to see the events in your life and the world around you repeating, and you realize that these cycles have been happening way before you entered the game (to borrow from "Jack Of All Trades": It’s all happened before and it’ll happen again).  While much of "Wrecking Ball" works as a tribute to the Meadowlands, the "hard times" part here escalates the meaning of the song into another echelon, more universal for non-Jersey listeners.

There you have it, folks.  The first comprehensive look at the times Bruce has sang about, literally, "hard times".  Are there any other classic Bruce phrases that you've noticed in several songs that you'd like us to break down?  Let us know in the comments.

Lyrics Spotlight: Easy Money

“And all them fat cats they just think it's funny
I'm going on the town now looking for easy money”
- Easy Money, Wrecking Ball

There have been quite a few headlines over the past week about U.S. Chairman Ben Bernanke defending the Federal Reserve’s ‘easy money’ policy. Now I don’t bring this up in the hope of starting a political debate. In truth, I barely understand what he’s talking about. But I do know one thing, seeing the headlines immediately gets me humming Springsteen’s “Easy Money.” Sadly, there isn’t a YouTube mash-up video of Bernanke set to Springsteen’s tune yet and I doubt they play the song when he enters Congress. So in the meantime, we'll just have to draw our own connections in our head.

Sporting With Bruce Springsteen

They always say that people should write what they know, so in the tradition of drinking with Springsteen and gambling with Springsteen, I present to you: Sporting with Springsteen!

The Super Bowl is this Sunday.  Last year around this time, we looked back on Springsteen's epic performance at the 2009 Super Bowl.  If you haven't read that, make sure to click that link; it will be much more entertaining than the article you are currently reading.  This year, we will take a look at how the world of sports has crossed over into Springsteen's song catalog.

Looking for Springsteen songs about or referencing sports is a difficult endeavor, as the man does not seem to be a sports enthusiast.  While he did play a little baseball in his youth, his adolescence revolved around making those guitars talk.  However, there is one Springsteen song that I'm sure jumped to everyone's mind as soon as they read the title, so let's jump write into it:

Glory Days



This Youtube video even claims that it is the greatest song about baseball (John Fogerty must have turned over in his luxurious bed).  And despite Bruce's baseball ignorance (a "speedball"), I'm inclined to agree with that assessment.  Sure, taken in its entirety, the song is a melancholy look back at faded youth.  It's a wistful song dedicated to the memory of a bygone era.  That, to me, is baseball all over.

For example, football is a high-stakes world of advanced warfare, always being the first sport to adopt new technology, constantly improving their equipment, and making their players bigger and stronger.   Basketball has always been strongly in step with the youth culture; in every generation, there's at least a few stars who set fashion trends (Michael Jordan's long shorts/shaved head in the late 80s, Allen Iverson's "gangsta" look in the late 90s, and the James Harden/Russell Westbrook "hipster" look today).  Baseball exists in a world sepia-toned photographs of chubby men with funny mustaches.  You sit down with any baseball fan, and they'll talk to you more about retired players than current ones.  One of our writers, OB, is a lifelong Mets fan whose favorite player is Gary Carter - who left the team when OB was four years old!  Baseball is Abbot & Costello, peanuts & crack jack, and "Glory Days".

Wrecking Ball



This song has just a vague reference to the New York Giants, but that's enough to make it into this article.  "Wrecking Ball" was written in 2009 when they were tearing down Giants Stadium.  It goes with the notion mentioned before that football is all about the future, as old stadium as torn down in favor of new, state-of-the-art designs.  These stadiums may have the largest digital screen displays in the western hemisphere, but they do not have the character of the old stadiums.  While paving over the past is not a problem unique to football (and nostalgia is not unique to baseball), it tends to be more associated with the culture of the sport.

While the previous two songs dealt with sad subjects draped in upbeat, toe-tapping tempos, the next two songs will deal with sad subjects in an appropriate somber tone.  Furthermore, while the previous songs dealt with team sports and the ideals behind them, the next ones focus on individual sports and the tolls they take on those who choose them as a career path.

The Hitter



This tells the story of a tough boxer who works his way up from the dockyard, earns fame and glory, takes a dive, and finds himself back in the docks again.  The story is very similar to "Workin' On The Highway", although told through Devils & Dust's barren acoustic sound, rather than the bombastic Born in the USA style.  It illustrates the perils of success, and uses brutal imagery to show how rough a living it is.  The narrator throughout is singing the song to his mother, showing that beneath the tough exterior he just wants the comfort of home and love to get him through his rough life.

The Wrestler



This has to be one of my all-time favorite Springsteen songs.  I remember watching The Wrestler in the theaters with fellow blog writer Steve, and when this song came on at the start of the credits, it was like a punch in the gut.  While the story of both the movie and the song can be applied to nearly any profession where you have to push your body physically and mentally into dangerous territory in order to succeed, it definitely works best in the context of professional wrestling.  Like "Streets of Philadelphia" only vaguely referencing AIDS, there is no obvious mention of wrestling in this song, aside from "blood", "bruises", and "broken bones".  However, the story here is one of the dozens of professional wrestlers whose life and careers were cut short as they pulled out all the stops to "make you smile".  The question at the end is a dark indictment of the fans of many sports, as they often do ask for more, taking for granted the sacrifices of the performers.

Well, that's a pretty depressing place to end the article.  So, to lighten the mood, here's a rant about being a sports fan:

A lot of people often make fun of sports fans based on their lowest common denominator.  You know who that is: the fat guy who paints his face, gets too drunk at games, and yells profanities at opposing players.  There are plenty of reasons to mock sports fans, and I'm sure I create more reasons every time I go to a game.  However, one joke that I can't stand is when people criticize sports fans for saying "we" when referring to their favorite team.  Critics will point and laughing, saying "Do you actually think you are part of the team?"  Actually, newsflash: I don't.  I just understand how pronouns work.  If I'm talking about the Giants, my favorite team, playing the Cowboys, do you know how confusing it would be to refer to multiple teams as "they"?  "They need to stop their defense because they are fighting them for a playoff spot."  Say what now?  I can't believe I have to explain this to non-sports fans in the year 2013.  Couldn't they (meaning people who make that dumb criticism) have learned about pronouns by now?  We (meaning sports fans who understand how to use the word "we" and myself, not the New York Giants and myself) figured it out long ago.

Now that my ranting is done, how about that Super Bowl?  Last year, I predicted the exact final score of the game, can I pull it through again?  Here's what the football experts at Legends of Springsteen think will happen Sunday:

OB: 49ers 27, Ravens 17
Rory: Ravens 31, 49ers 28
Steve: 49ers 35, Ravens 30

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Springsteen Lyrics of the Week - Wrecking Ball

Hold tight to your anger,
And don't fall to your fears
- Wrecking Ball, Wrecking Ball

I've always had my reservations about "Wrecking Ball" but I've slowly come to appreciate it through the course of the tour, none more so than last Saturday night at MetLife.

I do consider myself privileged to have witnessed its debut in 2009 but hearing it again for its final NJ appearance this tour resonated with me the most. I still find the song muddled, but the power of the above lyrics really stuck out to me.

Personally, I don't advise holding onto your anger too frequently, but if the situation calls for it, these lyrics can serve as a reminder to stick to your beliefs.

Springsteen Lyrics of the Week - This Depression

"This is my confession,
I need your heart, in this depression"
- This Depression, Wrecking Ball

Continuing on the theme of last week’s article in The New Yorker, “This Depression” from Wrecking Ball takes on a new persona in light of Bruce’s comments about struggling with depression. It comes as a surprise to think that someone who seems as unbelievably happy with his job, that someone who has brought so much joy to millions of people, can feel a lack of self-worth and suffer from depression. In our quick take, we even expressed skepticism that Bruce could feel as low as the narrator of the song. But Bruce’s own admission suggests that he can. I’ve always found it strange that this was one of the two songs from Wrecking Ball that hadn't been played on the tour. Then, just last week in Norway, he played it for the first time. I initially assumed he wasn’t as proud of it but perhaps, up until now, it just felt too personal to play it live.

Rocky Ground Music Video Released

The second single from Wrecking Ball now has a music video. Check out the "Rocky Ground" video below for some soulful imagery and dramatic handwriting.

Springsteen Lyrics of the Week - Rocky Ground

"Jesus said the money changers in this temple will not stand"
- Rocky Ground, Wrecking Ball

In a song chock full of powerful religious iconography, these lyrics speak to me the most. I like that they are emphatic and forceful without suggesting violence, unlike so much else on the Wrecking Ball album.

Concert Review – Izod Center, NJ April 3 & 4

After two and half years, Bruce Springsteen and his legendary E Street Band returned home to New Jersey for back-to-back nights at the Izod center. I was lucky enough to make both shows. Admittedly, the first night left me slightly unfulfilled - my major complaint was it felt too contained for a Bruce Springsteen concert. I missed the spontaneity of the Magic and Working on a Dream tours. All such qualms were instantly eradicated on the second night when he unleashed the heart-stopping, pants-dropping spectacle he’s led us to demand.

I don’t mean to sound too harsh on the April 3 show. He's still the most electrifying entertainer I've ever seen and by all means it was yet another great performance. But I felt justified to see that Backstreets' reviews of the nights expressed similar concerns. Also, the first night's show was hampered by two external factors for me. The first was my quixotic hopes that he would play songs from The Promise. My desires were fueled by his debut of “The Promise” on Sunday night in DC and his intro speech and opening chords to "So Young and in Love" sounded like personal favorite "Ain't Good Enough For You" (I should note, "So Young and in Love" was fantastic in it's own right. Second was my anxiety about actually getting into the concert. Ticketmaster has always been pure evil but their paperless tickets are the work of the devil.

On the second night though, by all accounts Bruce came out swinging with “The Ties That Bind” third on the setlist. I've always loved that song and dreamed of seeing it live for the 2:56 moment when Bruce screeches the titular lyrics (a moment that the Legends of Springsteen editors refer to as the sound of Bruce crying).

Overall, the second night had more high-five moments (“Candy's Room”! “Johnny 99”!! “Ramrod”!!!) and the tour staples were performed at full tilt, too. Bruce also unveiled a video tribute to Clarence during “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” that made the night all the more poignant.

That being said, the first night had it's share of notable moments not featured in the second night including the opportunity to hear “American Skin (41 Shots)” in-person and the new arrangement of “Land of Hope and Dreams.”

From the Wrecking Ball tracks, the band plays them all most impressively, my favorites being the subtle power of “Jack of All Trades” and the bombastic “Death to My Hometown” in which Bruce does an awesome march/dance that tops the borderline ridiculous histrionics of his guitar strumming during the Jimmy Fallon appearance.

My takeway from both nights - something I’ve always recognized but never so acutely before – was Bruce's conviction. Every word he says, every line he sings, every expression he pulls, every gesture he makes, and every bead he sweats is done with conviction. He truly believes in the power of rock n roll and he wants his audience to feel the same way.

I don't think in alone when I say that his emotion is infectious. In fact, I know I’m not from watching 20,000 people singing, cheering, and clapping in unison. I also suspect I’m not the only one who’ll admit that on several occasions, I found myself on the verge of tears from the overwhelming swell of emotion that Bruce Springsteen can elicit.

For videos from Tuesday night, head over to Blogness on the Edge of Town and check out the New York Times and Bergen Record for other reviews.

What's Missing from the Wrecking Ball Setlists?

We’re technically a month into the Wrecking Ball tour and Bruce has been sticking very closely to the Wrecking Ball album track list. Only two songs have yet to make an appearance on the tour: “This Depression” and “You’ve Got It.”

I don’t think anyone would argue that either is a standout track that is sorely missed from the concerts, but both have their fans. Personally, I find “This Depression” to be a sweet song, if a minor one in the context of the entire album. And I’ve grown appreciation for “You’ve Got It” after reading a few reviews that accentuate the strength of its straightforward love song qualities.

It will be interesting to see if either song appears during the tour or if Bruce has immediately discarded them from his live catalogue. Are there any fans out there clamoring for either one to be played live?

Here at the blog, we’re all very excited for our first Wrecking Ball show tonight and Bruce’s New Jersey homecoming at the Izod center. For those who haven’t been able to make it to a concert yet, Blogness on the Edge of Town offers an amazing collection of videos from the tour.

Wrecking Ball is #1 on Billboard Top 200

Congratulations to Bruce Springsteen for claiming the top spot on Billboard with Wrecking Ball. Bruce finally unseated Adele's 21 from the number one spot. Nothing against Adele, one or more of the editors of Legends of Springsteen may own her album, but we're delighted that Bruce was able to claim top spot for the 10th time in his career - even if it was close.

Happy Wrecking Ball Day

All of us here at Legends of Springsteen would like to wish all of you out there a very happy Wrecking Ball Day.  We've already provided quick takes for every song, but now we get to listen to it as a whole and digest Bruce's latest effort.  Personally, I'm leaning towards giving a B+ or 7 out of 10 or 261 stars out of 360 stars, but I feel that it is better to hold off and soak in the album a couple of times before giving it a final say.  Look for our reviews later this month.  

Quick Takes - We Are Alive

I'd like to withhold any definitive judgements until I've had some more time to disgest the whole album, but this might be my favorite song.  It easily sports some of Bruce's best lyrics, creating wonderful imagery of the protests and troubles that the United States has gone through in its rich history.  Musically, it borrows from "Ring of Fire", in the same way that "Outlaw Pete" borrows from "I Was Made For Loving You".  Despite this quibble, the song's message is very powerful.  It reminds us that there have always been difficult times, but the spirit of goodness will always survive. 

Quick Take - Land of Hope and Dreams

When I first read the track list I was disappointed to see "Land of Hope and Dreams" and "Wrecking Ball" included because I wanted to hear new Bruce songs. Even though there are already versions of "Land of Hope and Dreams" available on the Live in New York City album and the Essential Bruce Springsteen, I’m happy about its inclusion on Wrecking Ball. The lyrics really resonate in this version and the backup vocals add poignancy. And as Blogness on the Edge of Town notes, you really can’t begrudge its inclusion when you hear Clarence’s saxophone come through one last time.

Quick Take - "Rocky Ground"

On first listen to “Rocky Gound” it sounds like a song that was leftover from The Rising.  And it was left off for good reason.  It just leaves a lot to be desired.  There isn’t much to speak of musically as it’s mostly drum and piano.  The lyrics are almost too “Bruce-esque”  if that makes sense.  The clear struggle of the working class, religious imagery, and social unbalance have been commonplace in Bruce’s past songs, especially on this album.  There’s just nothing that sets this apart from other songs.

Then comes the ending of the song, with a “hip-hop influenced” verse, as it was described in the previews.  I absolutely hate it.  I respect that Bruce is trying to branch off and try new influences but this was a big swing and a miss.  I hope that he doesn’t try it again.

The best part about Wrecking Ball, as an album, it seems like most of the songs will go over big as part of a live show.  Even a song like “Rocky Ground”, that I’m not too crazy about, I can definitely see being sang along with in packed arenas on the upcoming tour.

By the way, does anyone know who the female singer is in the chorus to the sound?  Definitely does not sound like Soozie Tyrell or Patti.

Quick Takes - You've Got It

Whew.  After my last two reviews ("Easy Money" and "Death To My Hometown"), it is a relief to listen to a sweet, simple song.  Unfortunately, there isn't much to say on this song.  It is what it is - a straight-forward love song, and chances are that your first impression of it will be your last.  It will be interesting to see how it works in the context of the whole album, as thematically, it sounds more like a leftover song from Lucky Town, and doesn't sound like it belongs with the other politically charged anthems on the new record.