Online Editorial: "It's Time to Fire the Boss" (Springsteen)

It's great that "everyone" now agrees that Elvis never lost it, because I get told that when people find out I like '70s Elvis.

 

I have to disagree with Dylan, his last 2 albums and the new bootleg series is on par with his earlier work. But I can't find anyone else.

 

Dylan seems to have regained his fire !

 

I'd like to see some stuff from the Archives come out. Some live stuff from the Darkness
tour, for example. I heard an interview on NPR a year ago maybe, he hinted that some of
the old stuff will be put out (sooner or later). I don't care for what he has done recently,
and he seems out of touch as far as the SQ of his releases (like Magic).

 

It's now great that everyone respects his Vegas years !!!!!!!!

 

To say Macca lost the fire is flat-out nuts. Very few people can say they've been making music and selling out stadiums for 50 years. McCartney can.

He's in his mid-sixties, tours his @ss off, and still KILLS in concert. Plus, he even had a hit record just last year with Memory Almost Full.

Flowers In the Dirt is my favorite Post-Beatles Paul album, and that was from the late 80's.

 

Sorry but, I fired "the boss" before he started.

 

...and completely uninformed about the artist they were writing about among other things (that's what ticks me off about it)

Springsteen's "loudest and strongest" detractors have always been those who know the least about him, don't follow his career and have some kind of personal axe to grind against a man who has given so much for so long.

 

No axe to grind...

 

That's all that is; but it's an uninformed opinion.

To each their own (all I hear in My Bloody Valentine is noise)

He still does; ask around.

I think it's one of his finest.

Gotcha!

 

A flute to toot?

 

This is what was supposed to be happening with The Darkness Anniversary edition , similar to The Born To Run anniversaryedition , a remastered cd + live footage from the 78 tour .
I really hope it happens .

 

I've never cared for his music much, but I think Bruce is a decent, respectable artist and doesn't deserve a pointless diatribe like this. Typical "jilted and disappointed lover" fare, I think, by someone who believes they are owed something by the man and has developed resentments. Utter nonsense.

 

It's not like it's 1985 and we are saturated with Bruce all the time.

I remember Esquire doing a piece called "St. Boss" around the time of Tunnel of Love, basically complaining about the way Bruce was being deified (or canonized I guess) in the rock media. Even at that time I could imagine someone feeling the need to balance the scales a bit. But today Bruce doesn't get any more media attention than he or his fans need.

 

So was your dog

 

+1

The guy knows ZIP.

I'm no Bruce holy roller by any means. I have certain favorite songs, I own a handful of his cds, but I totally GET why people love him like they do.

MAGIC is an EFFIN' great album. The first time I played it, I KNEW it was my favorite album of his since BORN TO RUN.

And then I saw the tour, and man - this guy was totally ON.

I'm anxious for the new album - and I haven't been anxious to hear a new Bruce album since Darkness came out 30 years ago.

To the editorial writer, a quote from Doctor Denis Leary:

"Shut the ***K UP!"

You GO Bruce.

 

At issue here is this: Bruce grew up, moved away from his hometown, got married, had some kids, lost some hair. You know, did what most of us have done or will do.

This was, of course, Bruce losing his street cred. He crafted an image of the rebellious street tough from working class roots and America simply loved that image. Now, that jacket don't fit no mo, and thus he needs to be "fired".

When artists get married, have families, get older, get divorced, lose their parents, question their own mortality and the future lives of their children, this usually translates into artistic malaise for their fan base. Thus, they should always stay single and angry.

Or die at 27.

"We don't care about the nuclear arms race, just play 'Roxanne' dangflabbit!"

Some artists are able (by choice or coincidence) to keep their private lives out of their music. Many simply cannot. Many find "Tunnel of Love" a very good album, however ticket sales were disappointing - who wants to hear Springsteen moan about a divorce? Whereas someone like James Taylor has such a mellow personality that at his age and bald, no one is crying out that he sold out or somehow cheated his fans.

 

You didn't see his boring concert last year where he played a bunch of cheesy cover tunes most of the night did ya?

 

I'm no fan of his, but wouldn't the reason for the covers be the fact he was promoting his album of cover songs?

 

It's not really a huge stretch for James Taylor to do cover tunes -- many of his biggest hits have been covers. (You've Got a Friend, Handy Man, Up on the Roof, etc.)

 

superbowl

I am not a Springsteen expert but didn't his first manager sign him on a basis of 'I'll get you on the Superbowl!'

Bruce is one of the greats. Does anybody think you stay the same as you get older? If you do then you are naive or just plain young.

 

Geez, I'm getting old (not 60 quite yet), and don't have the energy and stamina I used to. But shell of my former self? I hope not. I hope I am wiser and have more interesting stuff to say. Maybe Bruce does too, I don't know, but I then I haven't paid much attention to his records. There's a certain critical contingent though, that thinks it's all about continual high performance, and beating the competition. Kinda like music as a sports contest. Then the old guys are always checked out to see if they can deliver the punch and keep up with the young turks. If not, they are washed up has beens, worthless to anybody, time to check into the home and disappear peacefully and die in their sleep. This is the sort of macho aspect of rock that really turns me off. You can almost hear the gloating pleasure in this guy's essay, between the lines.

 

I've seen Bruce at least 3 times and he is one of the hardest working men in the music business. I'm sure Bruce is more than wealthy enough to sit back and do nothing but continues to work hard in this business.

This writer obviously has an axe to grind...

 

Yes, and many there were unaware of this album coming out (it was not released at the time) and were not happy with this version of James (someone actually told me they thought he'd finally "sold out")

 

Glory Days