Springsteen Survivor - The River - Round 4

[bono_212]

Please vote for your LEAST favorite.

Mercy ruling - "Crush on You" was eliminated.


Votes:
Crush on You - 6
You Can Look, Point Blank, The Price You Pay - 1

 

[phanan]

You Can Look, I guess.

 

[martha]

Point Blank

 

[If you shout...]

Jesus, there is a lot of shit on this record. Some of my faves, too, but looooooooooots of shit.

 

[corianderstem]

You Can Look, I guess.

Ja.

 

[martha]

Jesus, there is a lot of shit on this record. Some of my faves, too, but looooooooooots of shit.

Yeah. A single disc would've been nice. But he's a prolific fucker, so what are you going to do.

 

[phanan]

Actually, a double would have been just fine if he'd substituted some of these things with the best outtakes located on disc two of Tracks. Can you imagine Disc 2 beginning with the thunder of Roulette, for example? And songs like Loose Ends, Restless Nights, Be True, and Take 'Em As They Come should have been on there.

 

[martha]

I knew I'd discussed this with someone before. phanan, when you coming to Cali to meet me?

 

[phanan]

 

[phanan]

Two votes for The Price You Pay?

Heresy, I say.

 

[martha]

If it's slow, vote no.

 

[LemonMelon]

If it's slow, vote no.

Yeah! Keep out The River. Ramrod and Cadillac Ranch FTW

 

[phanan]

If it's slow, vote no.

 

[If you shout...]

"The River" is the best song on this album.

 

[martha]

Fade Away is the best one.

 

[bono_212]

Two Hearts is the best one


I love You Can Look, but I suspect that's only because of the live performances from Tunnel of Love Express Tour.

 

[corianderstem]

"The River" is the best song on this album.

I'm with you.

 

[phanan]

I love You Can Look, but I suspect that's only because of the live performances from Tunnel of Love Express Tour.

The live performances from that tour were great, and based on the alternate version of You Can Look that would have been released on the original The Ties That Bind album, if it had come out. While the regular album version isn't necessarily bad, it pales in comparison.

 

[bono_212]

The live performances from that tour were great, and based on the alternate version of You Can Look that would have been released on the original The Ties That Bind album, if it had come out. While the regular album version isn't necessarily bad, it pales in comparison.

Ah, I see, didn't know that. I'll have to listen to that version and see.

 

[bono_212]

My charger's broken, and there's not a whole hell of a lot I can do about it. I'll try and start rounds from the library I guess, but I don't have classes on Mondays and Fridays, and, aside from tomorrow, I'm not going to go to school just to start a round of Springsteen Survivor. We'll just have to see what happens.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

I love You Can Look, but I suspect that's only because of the live performances from Tunnel of Love Express Tour.

not to mention it gave us the best photo ever.

 

[corianderstem]

What a tease, saying that and not posting the picture.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

What a tease, saying that and not posting the picture.

sorry. it's this photo:

 

[IWasBored]

Actually, a double would have been just fine if he'd substituted some of these things with the best outtakes located on disc two of Tracks. Can you imagine Disc 2 beginning with the thunder of Roulette, for example? And songs like Loose Ends, Restless Nights, Be True, and Take 'Em As They Come should have been on there.

i can agree with this.


roulette is an awesome song. take em as they come kicks ass. loose ends is good...replace point blank, wreck on the highway, and hungry heart. shuffle some track order...best summer driving tunes EVAR.

 

[phanan]

Looks like we'd disagree on which tracks to dump, but yeah, it would have been a great idea.

I really enjoy almost all of the tracks from this era, I just don't think their execution as a whole was fully realized at the time. It almost seems that as Springsteen began writing about romance, relationships, famillies, weddings, etc. that perhaps it was getting a bit too personal, and he needed to break those songs up with some flat-out garage rock tunes, so he threw on stuff like Sherry Darling, Cadillac Ranch, Ramrod, Crush On You, I'm A Rocker, You Can Look, etc. Now these are, for the most part, great songs in their own right, but I just don't think they fit in well on the album. I would have liked to have seen The River more fully realized, followed by a tour, and then, while on tour, releasing a quick follow-up that was a straight ahead rocker with all these great party tunes he was churning out. Just imagine the contrast going from The River, with its relatively serious subject matter (albeit with some lighthearted moments still), followed by this rock album, then moving on to Nebraska. I think that would have been fascinating.

 

[corianderstem]

sorry. it's this photo:

... oh, I .... uh .... I see.

 

[bono_212]

... oh, I .... uh .... I see.

You're welcome.

 

[IWasBored]

Looks like we'd disagree on which tracks to dump, but yeah, it would have been a great idea.

I really enjoy almost all of the tracks from this era, I just don't think their execution as a whole was fully realized at the time. It almost seems that as Springsteen began writing about romance, relationships, famillies, weddings, etc. that perhaps it was getting a bit too personal, and he needed to break those songs up with some flat-out garage rock tunes, so he threw on stuff like Sherry Darling, Cadillac Ranch, Ramrod, Crush On You, I'm A Rocker, You Can Look, etc. Now these are, for the most part, great songs in their own right, but I just don't think they fit in well on the album. I would have liked to have seen The River more fully realized, followed by a tour, and then, while on tour, releasing a quick follow-up that was a straight ahead rocker with all these great party tunes he was churning out. Just imagine the contrast going from The River, with its relatively serious subject matter (albeit with some lighthearted moments still), followed by this rock album, then moving on to Nebraska. I think that would have been fascinating.

Yeah, again I agree with everything you've been saying, except for the specific songs I'd swap out. The flow thing...it is in parts just a bunch of rock songs. I think because there are a bunch of slower songs (most of which, unlike Martha, I actually do like), or maybe just because there's so much stuff, I've never really had a problem with the flow of the album. Born in the USA is a different story. I liked how Alterman put it in his book about that album being the least cohesive Springsteen album to date. While there are a bunch of good songs there, it's just a bunch of good songs.