The Rising [Live]

I am not the biggest Bruce Springsteen fan around, but i can tell you that his latest release 'The Rising" Is a can't miss grand-slam. I was skeptical at first with all the 9/11 overtones, but the songs prove to be mature and thought provoking and add to that his original E Street Band and what you have here is his best collection of songs since "Born In The USA". With fifteen tunes Bruce gives the listener a great cd with little if any filler. This cd blows away any of his late 80's or 90's releases and is destined in my opinion to sweep the grammy awards next year. Songs like "Lonesome Day", "Into The Fire", "Empty Sky", "My City Of Ruins" would make Dylan proud. All the non-acoustic tunes have that unmistakable E Street band sound compliments of Steven Van Zandt, Max Weinberg, Garry Tallent, Nils lofgren, Roy Bittan, Danny Federici, and of course big Clarence Clemons on sax and vocals. If your a fan of the old Springsteen, and appreciate well written songs and a tight sounding band by all means purchase this cd and enjoy.

The boss is back- it's as simple as that. Not only that- the E Street Band are back in a studio album for the first time since Born In The USA and it's Bruce's best cd since that mega album. He says he wrote it quickly and it sounds as if all the energy he's saved up in the last decade has exploded into a great album with so many highlights it's virtually impossible to guess the hits here. Here's a rundown of the songs with my marks:
(1)Lonesome Day(10)- Catches you by the balls straight from the start. Great rock. The boss means business.
(2)Into The Fire(10)- A song dedicated to the firemen/policemen who went into the fire on 11/9 and lost their lives(most of the album revolves around 11/9 as you know). Moving song.
(3)Waiting On A Sunny Day(10)- Starts a bit like Tenth Avenue Freeze Out and Hungry Heart and sounds like the old boss especially when Clarence Clemoms infamous saxophone enters.
(4)Nothing Man(10)- A slow moving song. Philadelphia style.
(5)Counting On A Miracle(8)- Like Born In The USA's songs, hard lyrics covered by pop/rock. A person who knows his lover won't come back is counting on a miracle.
(6)Empty Sky(8)- Similiar lyrics to the previous song.
(7)Worlds Apart(10)- A defenite highlight. An ethnic start suddenly explodes into Bruce's rocky best. Brilliant.
(8)Let's Be Friends(8)- A rather naive song, but here's to hoping...
(9)Futher On Up The Road(10)- More brilliant rock from the boss. Nothing to do with the Eric Clapton song.

(10)The Fuse(8)- Alright, not great.
(11)Mary's Place(8)- The writing on the cover mark this song along with Into The Fire and The Rising as the hits of the album.
(12)You're Missing(8)- Another sad 11/9 inspired songs.
(13)The Rising(10)- The title track and first single. It says a lot of the album's strength that it's first hit in near the end.
(14)Paradise(10)- My personal favourite. A quiet haunting song in the style of The Ghost Of Tom Joad.
(15)My City Of Ruins(10)- Ironically written before 11/9, but sounds as if it was written after. Brilliant and fitting end. Sounds like a quieter version of the title track.
How does this album rate compared to his back catalogue?
Greeting From Ashbury Park, N.J.(1972)(7)- A Bob Dylan style album. Great lyrics.
The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle(1973)(7)- Similiar to his first album. Features early hits Sandy and concert encore Rosalita.
Born To Run(1975)(8)- The big breakthrough. Considered by most critics as his best I prefer his later work. Brilliant title track, great lyrics in Thunder Road and Backstreets is powerful.
Darkness At The Edge Of Town(1978)(8)- Angry boss following a legal dispute with a former manager which resulted in a 3 year break.
The River(1980)(10)- The big commercial breakthrough. One big party, but the best songs are the quiet ones: the title track, Independence Day, the dark Point Blank and 8 minutes of bliss in Drive All Night.
Nebraska(1982)(8)- Dark, acoustic, very good late at night...
Born In The USA(1984)(10)- Commercial, catchy, poppy? Perhaps, but also utterly brilliant from start to finish and the lyrics are biting.
Live 1975-1985(1986)(10)- 3cds, 5 records. Basically greatest hits live.
Tunnel Of Love(1987)(8)- Personal record following divorce. Features the beautiful song Tougher Than The Rest.
Human Touch(1992)(10)- Admitedly a personal favourite of mine that's not rated by critics/fans. Very similiar to Born In The USA in my opinion. Highlights? The title track, 57 Channels, Gloria's Eyes(well, basically all the first 7 songs) and the beautiful I Wish I Were Blind. Ignore Pony Boy...
Lucky Town(1992)(8)- Released simultaneously with Human Touch, not as good. Should have made 1 cd out them both. Book Of Dreams and If I Should Fall Behind are beautiful. Actually lots of fans prefer this one to Human Touch.
Greatest His(1995)(10)- The big hits and 5 new great songs with Philadelphia, Secret Garden and Blood Brothers beauiful.
The Ghost Of Tom Joad(8)- Nebraska style.
In Concert- MTV Plugged(1997)(8)- shame it wasn't unplugged.
Tracks(1998)(8)- The B Sides. 4 cds. Highlights available on 1 cd. Sad Eyes and Wages Of Sin are beautiful.
Live In New York City(8)- Very long songs, the 75-85 cds are probably better.
The Rising(10)- Classic. In the same class as his greats.

I've read many of the reviews of this album - I saw somemone comment that Bruce should not be political, or that he should not be a story teller. I even saw someone comment that it was not a tribute to 9-11??? It was released too soon?? The fact is the album was already in the works when 9=11 struck - however - songs already written were altered to reflect a thrid party affect - A man who's wife was among the rescue workers lost and who's body was never recovered. By the time of release in 2002 almost every song reflected this. Not only did he capture the many feelings most of us had, he did it in a way that left room for hope. I've been a Springsteen fan since the late 1970's - I've seen him live many times - and for over twenty years I never thought an album would ever be more complete and more relevant than Darkness on the Edge of Town in 1978. The Rising has the perfect mix of strong lyrics, powerful vocals - musical excellence and of course the relevance to the world we live in. Song's which seem to focus on the anger of a nation - Into the Fire - Empty Sky (which refers to the grounding of aircraft immediately following the attacks) and the Fuse - The powerful Nothing Man which represents a survivor who is being called a hero, but lost his wife during the attacks - and is trying to find the strength to take his own life. As dark as that is, it is real - and Bruce writes about it in hopes that people will understand the survivors - and avoid the same problems that faced many Vietnam veterans - many of whom feel that those that died were the lucky ones. Your missing was also a strong reminder of the hardships faced by the survivors.

What makss this album so exceptional is the inclusion of tracks such as Counting on a Miracle, Waiting for a Sunny Day and Mary's Place. These tracks inject hope into an otherwise hopeless situation. All summed up with My City of Ruins which captures all of the aspects from rage, to anger, to sadness, to helplessness and finally hope and faith. Telling us to Rise Up both literally and figuratively.

Over the years I have had hundreds of CD's in my car, but this one always finds it's way back there.

As far as being polictical - he has always been that way - in the early 1970's with the very political "If I was the Priest" where he attacked the war in Vietnam - "Lost in the Flood" which touched on the acceptance of violence in our society, and of cource American Skin (41 shots) which spoke up against the racial shooting of a youth by the NYC police. He was called upon several times to write songs for contravercial films - first Philadelphia - which was extremely political - and Dead Man Walking - which was both political and religious. The fact that he won oscars for both of these would suggest he does o.k. when called upon. That is without even getting into his involvement with No Nukes, aid for Africa and Amnisty International.

I was please to see that most of the reviews were of a positive nature, and seem to reflect our need for answers, redemption, revenge, healling, faith and understanding. In my opinion, this album, released only months after the attacks of 9-11, outlines our vulnerability as a people, and calls on faith and hope to rise up against those that would do us harm. It is a more humble approach in a way rather than just flag waving and revenge.

Bottom line - a masterpiece
Dave