The last Springsteen album you really cared about

Agreed, although I can probably stretch it out to about a dozen.

I disagree. I have been a Springsteen fan for many years. His catalogue of work starting with Greetings all the way through the release of Tracks was one of the most important bodies of music to me personally, and I still hold it in very high regard. I was a fan of Human Touch and Lucky Town when it was "not popular" to support those albums (in fact Bruce himself continues to distance himself from those albums as a whole). It is a weak, unfair assumption to lump those who feel Springsteen's present-day work is inferior to what came before as Born In The USA bandwagon fans. The fact that a faction of fans, myself included, feel his overall post-Tracks (circa 1998) body of work has significantly declined does not make any of us lesser fans. The point of this topic and others is for discussion. Not every Springsteen fan has to fawn over every album, or every period for that matter. The fact that some of us feel Springsteen is no longer producing great work, does not mean we are being dismissive or have sweeping contempt for his present-day material. He isn't the first legendary artist to experience a drop-off in quality and/or an inability to match the brilliance of the past.

 

Ouch.

 

Wow, settle down, man! Believe me, some of Bruce's music means more to me than just about anything. The Seattle Christmas show I saw in 1978 remains the best show I've ever seen. I scraped up $110 when I really couldn't afford it and saw The River tour this year and it was one of the better Bruce shows I've been to. But for me, the show's momentum screeched to a halt when he hit "The Rising." The song does nothing for me. I find much of Bruce's later material lacks melody and focus. I have theories why this is that I've expressed in other threads. When Bruce releases an album these days, I give it a listen and, for whatever reason, am usually left cold. I don't know if he'll ever reach me again with his music. It really doesn't matter though, since he's already given me lots of music and memories that I've enjoyed for decades. I'd call that being a fan.

 

Just discovered The Rising in DVD Audio format. Found for $2 at a thrift store. I can't believe how good this album is. Reminds me so much of his early work but from a more mature perspective. I never thought I could enjoy a late period Springsteen album as much as I am this one. Excellent find if I don't say so myself.

 

Agreed

 

I think the last Bruce album I really, really loved was Magic, which I think is a great (but LOUD) record. None of his more recent releases have enthused me in the way that that album did, but you never know what's on the horizon - he's certainly fired off some strong albums later in his career.

I do tend to have the strongest connection to his 70s/80s "golden" period, from say, Born to Run to Tunnel of Love. However, Magic and The Rising certainly are albums that I greatly appreciate, and there's great tracks on many of the other albums as well. Don't really see myself stopping to care about Bruce or his albums any time soon!

 

Wrecking Ball, and that's only because I never got around to really listening to the subsequent High Hopes.

Also loving the live shows from the past year and earlier. Very happy that classic shows are being released in FLAC.

 

Cared about them all up to Nebraska but since Lucky Town, The Rising and Wrecking Ball. I own them all and I give them a chance and there's usually a couple of things I really like but I mostly listen to Bruce live shows from all eras.

 

Darkness on the Edge of Town. Sorry, I dropped Bruce after buying The River and being bored by it.

 

Im not big on the Boss but I do like his Darkness>River>Nebraska period well enough.

 

Tunnel of Love would be the last great album, but I did care about The Rising.

 

Magic

 

I've never been able to figure it out but Bruce's music has never made a connection with me at all, with just one tiny exception, Tunnel Of Love. It's not the politics or anything like that, or not understanding his messages, it's almost like it's just the voice does nothing for me positively or negatively. I've always found this weird. I have respect but I think my Bruce Springsteen is Bob Seger, him I love, even the one everyone puts down, Old Time Rock & Roll. Never heard a Bob song I didn't like, even that weird Ballad Of The Yellow Beret oddity from way back. I would have to rate John Cafferty as having a large place in my musical universe and I can see how he was sort of copping a lot from Bruce. Also Dwight Twilley who's I'm On Fire I used to think was Bruce.

Oh well. Carry on Bruce, sorry I can't/don't dig yas. You're right in there with Sinead O'Connor; never felt anything about her one way or another either, but might like either if I met them.

 

Gee I am green with envy
And I am too old to feel that way
I saw him in Lennox Mass........(I can't spell that it's where Alice's Restaurant happened) in 1975 and again in London a few months later and have seen him twice in Australia
In fact he was in the local pub here last week in a small town 50 miles south of Brisbane on Harley Davidson bikes( not that I saw him) and nobody knew who he was
Think Darkness is the best record but he sure can play rock n roll

 

I'm with you
Give me your version

 

I think half the album has to be tossed, some lyrical changes have to be made to the remaining songs, and a new producer has to be employed before it can head towards the "classic" realm. I don't think the album has held up particularly well over the years; its deficiencies are more obvious with every passing year.

 

Sound issues be damned, I loved and continue to love Magic. I've been a fan since album one, and Magic gets as many spins as any of his albums to date. Just grabbed me.

 

The Ghost of Tom Joad was pretty much the end of the line for me in terms of Springsteen albums I really liked - I found the Rising to be a little dissapointing, and the poor mastering on everything following made the CD's uncomfortable to listen to on my home stereo at any volume. Always been a huge fan of his shows, but his recent lack of regard for his long time fans that live in NC by cancelling his show with very short notice to ticketholders due to political issues really rubbed me the wrong way and disrespected us long term supporters.

 

The River - but Tunnel Of Love is great album, everything else has some tunes on each album.

 

Tunnel of Love. Yes, it's been that long.

 

Yeah, I know the feeling!

 

"Tunnel of Love". It's probably the last album where music was the most important thing in his life.

 

Still waiting on 'the next one...'

 

well...i'm sure it's not dis-similar to most others.

omit :

Let's be Friends
The Fuse
Mary's Place

that makes it 12-song, under an hour album which makes it less of a chore to sit through than 72+ min. official version.
i could cut few more but Bruce seems to like dozen-song per album concept so i'll respect that. i'll also open with the title track as he did on the tour.
one would be surprised cutting out mere 14-minutes off could do to an overall impression of album.
what is your version ?