Poll: Bruce Springsteen or Neil Young

Yeah, I don't know what everyone else is smoking to come to some other conclusion...

 

As I said, I enjoy both--I give Neil the edge for many reasons. Also, I've seen Springsteen live many times, but never Neil--and it's weird because I like and listen to Neil's live albums more than Springsteen's officially released live albums. But I do think that Springsteen's fame is overstated. He is hugely popular among media people , which has the effect of amplifying his popularity. and though he can reliably sell out big venues here in New Jersey for multiple dates, it's usually the same people buying tickets for all of the shows. I think Bruce was only hugely popular in 1984-85. He seems to have deliberately shed a good portion of those fans by following up the mega-selling Born in the USA with the more personal , reflective Tunnel of Love. One more point. While a lot of music fans don't care for Neil Young, or don't follow his career, few really despise him. I can tell you that even here in New Jersey, many people loathe Springsteen, and while much of that can be chalked up to his political opinions (which he is not shy about expressing from stage), a lot of it is based on his music. Many people--especially fans of hard rock and metal--can't stand him, and never could.

 

Bruce for me but I am surprised by the margin that Neil has run away with. I love both but lyrically I think Bruce is in a different league. His ability for storytelling and imagery pulled me into his songs, moving me in a way that nothing Neil did came close to.

 

That's true, and reportedly, Neil's father--the well-known sportswriter Scott Young--thought that it was his son singing " Horse With No Name " when he heard it on the radio.

 

JoeF, I think you're underestimating the longevity of Bruce's appeal. Of course he didn't maintain the insane 1984-85 levels of popularity, but he continued to sell out arenas for a long, long time.

Even as recently as 2003, he did a tour that played stadiums - even outside of the usual DC to Boston corridor!

Bruce's ticket sales have declined over the last decade, which I think is due to oversaturation. He's played a LOT of shows since the 1999-2000 reunion, so he's worn out the casual fan base.

But he's still a big concert draw - and not just in NY/NJ. Would the NFL have asked him to play the Super Bowl if he wasn't regarded as a currently popular performer?

 

I can't argue with your points. Maybe as a long-time Bruce fan who no longer finds his music compelling ( I really didn't care for We Take Care of Our Own ), my view is somewhat warped.

 

Just checked in to see if Neil was still kickin' the boss' ass. Yep.

 

I gotta admit I wasn't wild about "Wrecking Ball" the album myself - it was okay, but not great. Not sure Bruce has made an album I largely liked since... "The Rising"? I guess "Magic" was good, though it could sound awfully derivative - a lot of those songs resembled other songs to me.

But I still love Bruce overall, and I love the shows. And I don't think that comparing album/ticket sales and fame depends on whether or not you or I like someone - I might hate a popular act, but that doesn't make them any less popular!

 

That is very true. But, I base it more from a technical and marketing point of songwriting. I am a pretty big Neil Young fan, but I try to look at his writing without that bias, having studied songwriting. He does a lot of the things that make songwriters immortal, a major one being to not always write to a specific time period or audience.
There is a lot of professionalism in his songwriting that is not obvious, which is the point, it isn't supposed to be.
Aside from, I just find the guy extremely clever and creative . He seems to have a huge range of categories he can write from.

 

Hey, not only in the US but the world over, Bruce is still more popular than Neil and this is coming from a Neil Fan. Something about his blue collar aesthetics that might have struck a chord with, not only with most Americans but almost every workingmen in this planet.

 

I meant to say Wrecking Ball. I actually loved Magic. I thought Brendan O'Brien did a nice job, and on that album he had good material to work with. I really think Bruce started taking himself too seriously right around the time of The Ghost of Tom Joad. Aware that many people consider him a "poet of the working class", or a modern day Walt Whitman, he seems compelled to issue a "state of the nation" periodically, or to make political statements/sermonize from the stage. It's his prerogative, of course, but sometimes I miss the scruffy Jersey shore rat of his first couple of albums...

 

Fan of both-but I am a bigger fan of Neil Young so he's my choice.

 

Well, he's certainly not as popular now as then. But you're dramatically understating his ongoing popularity. On the Wrecking Ball Tour he played 133 dates, in 26 countries, including stadiums in the US, Europe and South America, selling 3.5 million tickets and grossing $368 million. Wrecking Ball was #1 in 8 countries, Working on a Dream was #1 in 9 countries, Magic was #1 in 6 countries.

By contrast, since we're comparing them, Neil Young hasn't matched anything like Springsteen's ongoing sales since in nearly 40 years. Young's last #1 album was Harvest in 1972, his last million seller in the US was Harvest Moon in 1992. By contrast Springsteen's had five of his last six albums go #1 and had his last million seller in the US in 2007 with Magic. He was pretty much always a bigger seller than Young and today he's a much bigger seller than Young, FWIW.

 

I agree. He's a great songwriter from a variety of points.

 

I believe the blue collar persona appeals to the more class-conscious Europeans than it does to Americans.

 

Yeah, I don't think so. Overstated? How can fame be overstated? Again, he's still selling well (better than many other rockers) and filling stadiums. Somehow I don't think that's overstated.

Personal taste is one thing but it's hard to argue with numbers.

and your proof for that? America is very class conscious.
http://www.vanneman.umd.edu/vita/abstracts/ajs80.html

It's a myth that Americans aren't conscious of class.

 

Your facts are irrefutable , but that has nothing to do with greatness. Lady GaGa and Miley Cyrus outsell Bruce and Neil ( and Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Elton John) many times over COMBINED in any given year. Again, I won't quibble with your sheer numbers , but the vast majority of the sales of the past few Bruce albums occurred the week they were released. There was a steady drop in sales the second week and then off the charts in a matter of weeks. Yes, his die-hard dedicated fans usually run out and buy his latest album the week it comes out--I still do.

 

Just last year he played Fenway, Gillette, Wrigly, Nationals Park, MetLife Stadium, Wembley, Millenium Stadium in Wales, a bunch of other stadiums in Europe and Latin America.

 

No doubt you are right on all counts, Bruce Springsteen is up there with the Stones, mostly because he is one of the most highly marketed entities on the planet. The guy has a pretty large public profile.
I think it important to note that Neil Young seems to have very little promotion, and seems to stay popular as much by word of mouth than anything else. When he puts an album out or embarks on tour you aren't going to see him on Good Morning America. I remember being a bit surprised that he did an interview ( Leno or Letterman?) when he released Prarie Wind and did a song from it. That is quite rare for him. When Springsteen releases an album you can bet you will see him on a talk show or Charlie Rose or something.

And, I think it is also significant that Springsteen has a huge following among pop fans and the general public at. Women like his looks, that right there is a huge marketing asset.

If Neil Young was promoted as much as Springsteen humans would be building space craft to send his music to other planets.

 

Yes, Bruce looks fantastic for his age. We should all learn from him...

 

I didn't say anything about greatness. They're both great artists. I prefer Springsteen's music in every way, but I like Young's music a lot. I'm just noting that the assertion that Springsteen's no longer very popular is inaccurate on the basis of the numbers. FWIW, I've also quite liked Springsteen's recent music. Loved Magic, liked Wrecking Ball very much, even enjoyed parts of Working on a Dream a lot. And all of 'em were better than Le Noise, Psychedelic Pill and Americana, none of which I thought were very good.

 

This is right on. The truly amazing thing about this is that he was able to embrace the gunge/alternative crowd without forsaking his rock audience.
The guy doesn't shed fans to gain other ones, he is like Joe Walsh, he just keeps racking them up.

I don't think having the genetics to make you a magnet can be learned, some are just born with it.
The guy had that trait when he was young, age didn't give it to him. It just hasn't taken it away.

It could very well be that this has less to do with his popularity than people finally being fed up with insane ticket prices and rebelling against them. To be fair, a lot of artists ticket sales have suffered.
Neil Young has in the past been quite outspoken about high ticket costs and has himself rebelled against them, if he still has that same mindset perhaps his ticket prices are being kept within a reasonable enough range that cost is not a factor with him as much as with other artists.

 

Neil Young doesn't embrace the grunge/alternative crowd, they embrace him.

 

This is getting kind of silly. Both artists are great but we're arguing over personal taste and trying to extrapolate that to suggest that one artist is, somehow, greater than the other.

Both have their merit and I'm glad they both continue to reach their fans.

 

He embraced them as well, and played to them. He certainly doesn't seem to shy away from sharing the stage with them or recording with them.