Springsteen VI ~ A Dream Awaits in Aisle Two

[corianderstem]

Waiting for mine to arrive. Probably won't be until next week.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

Here is his version of Because the Night that is released on the box set from 1978.

YouTube - Because The Night (Houston 12/08/78) - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

Ooooh. I LOVED that opening music. So gorgeous. The influence of Springsteen on U2 comes through clear as a bell listening to that.

That was a reeeeeeeeeally sexy version of that song . And joyous. I always did like this song. Thanks for sharing that performance, I quite enjoyed watching it. Will check out a few more performances based off your suggestion as well, Popmartijin .

I do need to investigate Springsteen more. So far I pretty much know all his big songs and that's about it. *Makes note*

Angela

 

[IWasBored]

what i would do for a time machine.

 

[phanan]

There is no denying that most of the songs on The Promise are truly fantastic, but it should have been split up between songs with original vocals and the newly recorded ones - his voice has just changed too much over the years.

If you put all the 2010 "new" vocals on the same disc, holy shit, do you have some kind of new album on your hands. Even the songs I don't care for as much, like Save Your Love, fit MUCH better this way. Try this on for size:

1. Wrong Side Of The Street
2. Save Your Love
3. Someday (We'll Be Together)
4. Gotta Get That Feeling
5. One Way Street
6. Because The Night
7. Spanish Eyes
8. The Little Things (My Baby Does)
9. Fire
10. It's A Shame
11. Breakaway

That is a killer new album.

Then, use the remaining 11 as your "originals" disc (with some new enhancements of course, but still retaining the original vocal, making it truer to the Darkness time period). To go a step further, incorporate the four Darkness outtakes found on Tracks, which are just as good, and churn out a devastating Darkness companion like this:

1. Don't Look Back
2. Outside Looking In
3. Iceman
4. Talk To Me
5. Candy's Boy
6. The Brokenhearted
7. Ain't Good Enough For You
8. Hearts Of Stone
9. Rendezvous
10. Racing In The Street '78
11. Come On (Let's Go Tonight)
12. Give The Girl A Kiss
13. The Way
14. The Promise
15. City Of Night

Now that is fucking incredible right there.

Finally, when he inevitably releases more Darkness-era outtakes like Preacher's Daughter, Goin' Back, Don't Say No, Janey Needs A Shooter, etc., simply expand the Darkness companion CD to two discs.

Yes, I think about these things WAY too much.

 

[lazarus]

I don't think a guy's voice should be the only barometer of what period it "belongs" to. If the songs were written back then, and a majority of the music was recorded back then, it doesn't really matter to me if he completed them now.

As someone who's only heard a couple of these songs before yesterday, I'm not attached to various bootlegged takes that have leaked over the years. Sure, it would be nice to know what was recorded when for each track but I imagine that would perhaps distract from the whole experience.

 

[phanan]

It's unfortunately a distraction to me. As a result, the sequencing comes across a bit jarring in places.

The same thing happens with U2. While Rise Up is music from the JT period, it sounds like a more recent track because Bono doesn't sound that way anymore.

Regardless of this minor gripe, I'm very pleased with the release, and will gladly take the same kind of product for The River.

 

[lazarus]

I thought the only song on the Joshua Cock set with new vocals was Webbing of Sorrow?

And I didn't notice anything odd about Ref's Up, that's a great track.

 

[phanan]

Oops, you're right - I said the wrong song.

 

[lazarus]

Yeah, that one doesn't totally work. The lyrics sound a little forced, too.

 

[iron yuppie]

I'm only five or six songs into this album, but it has already reconfirmed just how talented a pianist Springsteen had/has in Roy Bittan.

 

[phanan]

Pitchfork gave The Promise an 8.5 and the box a 9.5.

 

[corianderstem]

I finally got my copy today! Yay.

I was starting to worry about how long it was taking to get to me (it shipped on the 18th), but I suppose considering it cost like $2.50 to ship, I couldn't complain.

 

[phanan]

Not bad at all, and of course Thanksgiving delayed it a bit more for you.

Really love how the set turned out.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I couldn't find any deals on the box set online on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. I only looked at a few sites so maybe that's why. But I was at Borders Monday night and my mother bought it for me for Christmas. She has a rewards card with them (I think it's free) so she had a 33% off coupon and a $5 reward. Last weekend they had a 50% off one item in store so that would have been even better, but of course I was sick. I got the regular DVD's, not the Blu Ray, and I think it was 60 something dollars.

So I have to wait for Christmas

 

[IWasBored]

oh shiiiiiiit, blu ray.

i don't even end up watching these things, why do i need this?

 

[martha]

"new music"

I just got the two cd set.

 

[martha]

So far this thing is awesome.

Two thoughts so far:

1. It's kind of screwing with my head to hear "new" Bruce music that is (for the most part) so clearly from 32 years ago.


2. Spanish Eyes sounds as much like a Mink DeVille song as a Mink DeVille song does.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

YouTube - BruceSpringsteenVEVO's Channel

30 minutes of live footage from The Promise, recorded last week.

I'm 'bout to watch it RIGHT NOW!

 

[corianderstem]

I liked most of the stuff on The Promise. Most of it, I hadn't heard previously, as I haven't done much exploring of his outtakes and the like.

Haven't watched the DVDs yet, but I absolutely love the packaging of the box set.

 

[IWasBored]

but I absolutely love the packaging of the box set.

holy fuck yes.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I love it too- I haven't listened to or watched any of it yet but just to have and see all of that old handwritten stuff of his, it feels like such a treasure.

I'm afraid of ripping the pages out of the notebook

 

[corianderstem]

I watched the bootleg DVD last night - holy crap, it was three hours.

I mean, I knew they used to play these three-hour long shows, but .... THREE HOURS.

 

[AndrewCowley]

That is nothing. This concert -

Bruce Springsteen Concert Setlist at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale on December 31, 1980 | setlist.fm

was 3 hours 43 mins long.

Would have given anything to have been there.

Did he ever crack 4 hours I wonder? Need a Bruce expert to answer that.

 

[IWasBored]

something tells me phanan will know.

 

[phanan]

You rang?

The 12/31/80 show is indeed the longest, not quite four hours, but most people round it up to make it sound better.

40 songs in one night.

 

[corianderstem]

LEGENDS OF SPRINGSTEEN!

YouTube - Legends of Springsteen 01

"He must have been up there for, like, fifteen hours!"

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

VH1 Classic and Palladia present BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: A CONVERSATION WITH HIS FANS, premiering this Friday, February 4, at 9:00 pm ET.

In this 30-minute TV program, fans ask Bruce thought-provoking questions in the intimate New York City studios of Sirius XM Radio, and Bruce discusses the music of Darkness on the Edge of Town and his new album, The Promise. Hosted by music critic Dave Marsh, fan questions are intercut with highlights from The Promise box set, documentary, the Paramount Theater concert, the 2010 Songs From The Promise Asbury Park concert, and rare archival footage from 1976-1978.

Re-airings of the program are scheduled throughout the month of February. Check local listings and brucespringsteen.net for more information.

VH1 Classic

PREMIERE: Friday 2/4 - 9p ET/PT
Saturday 2/5 - 4:30p ET/PT
Sunday 2/6 - 1a ET/PT
Tuesday 2/8 - 2p ET/PT
Friday 2/11 - 1:30a ET/PT
Friday 2/11 - 11:30a ET/PT


Palladia

PREMIERE: Friday 2/4 - 9p ET
Friday 2/4 - 12a ET
Saturday 2/5 - 5:30p ET
Wednesday 2/9 - 12p ET
Thursday 2/10 - 11:30p ET
Friday 2/18 - 6p ET
Tuesday 2/22 - 9:30a ET
Sunday 2/27 - 4p ET

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Ahhh. Only 30 minutes? That definitely seems like something that deserves to be longer than 30 minutes. A full hour at least. Oh, well. I'll still watch.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Yes, 30 min for that is a joke. They must be too chock full of more important programming.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I wish I could have seen that, and I wish someone had the complete video

Bruce Springsteen Borrows Busker's Guitar For Impromptu Performance In Boston Park � CBS New York