Springsteen's Letter To You thread (second try)

Of course what's also different is that *you* are not 14 anymore. Maybe you would say the same thing about Tunnel of Love if you would hear it for the first time today? We listen with different ears now.

 

Thank you for the correction Already picked up.

 

But my age gap with Bruce is still the same. Believe me, I would love some fresh insight right now.

 

My 2 cents....




One Minute You’re Here

Great, disarming opener. Shades of GOTJ. voice sounds great, with nice reverb.

Letter to You.

Ok song. Not great, far from bad. By the numbers Springsteen. Wish it wasn't the title track

Burning Train.

Utterly rousing, one of my favorites. It like early 80s U2 and Little Steven had a baby.

Janey Needs A Shooter

Was really nervous they were going to botch this. But they aced it. Very true to the legendary 1979 band demo. My only wish is there wasn’t a fade out, and that Danny Federici was still around to play on it. Glorious.

Last Man Standing

Thematically consistent with the album, but a little generic and by the numbers. But far from bad.

Power of Prayer

Doesn't bother me. If this song didn't have a hokey title, I think more people would maybe like it. A nice melody, kind of Magic-y.

HOATG

The only clear miss for me. He overreached here. This reminds me of a lot of his overbaked 2005-2015 songwriting.
The critics seem to love it, can't figure it out.

Rainmaker

Really like this one. Different. It's bombastic, but somehow it works. Love the chord changes. This should kill live (eventually) with all the BITUSA-style keyboards.

If I was the Priest

Maybe my favorite track. 1972 Springsteen meets 2020 E Street Band. Glorious. Not sure the band has ever sounded better on a recorded track

Ghosts

Love this one. Somewhat clunky lyrics are more than overcome by a stirring band performance. A big hunk of E Street cheese that doesn't cause indigestion. IMHO this should have been the name of the album, and the title track.

Song for Orphans

Same reaction as Priest. Wonderful, sweeping, rambling performance. Great slide guitar by Nils. It indeed reminds me of Dylan and the Band in 1966. I don't throw that comparison around lightly.

I'll See You In My Dreams

Beautiful summational closing number. Love the key change up to "for death is not the end". I agree with what Landau said in the film....."it has magnificence".

I love this record. Most excited about a Springsteen release since BITUSA. Great songs, great sequencing (first and final songs especially), great production, great ensemble playing. Other than the album title and the slick airbrushed cover photo (is Bruce always auditioning for GQ magazine?) I think its pretty damn great. At age 56 and starting to lose close friends, and as a lifelong Central NJ musician, it completely resonates with me. It's the one I was hoping he still had in him.

 

I understand, interesting point. But how much additional wisdom do you really gain after a certain age?

 

Not sure how old you are but believe me, at 66 I am thinking about the past way more than I used to. I am reliving my life and times of decades past about family and friends and experiences and the common denominator is all the music I grew up with and shared with others.

Over the past few years I lost several friends who I grew up with and who I shared many musical moments with; both in playing together, live concert companions, working in the music business and simply sitting around listening to records. There really is a different take on it as you age and start looking back at how you got where you are now.

Of course other writers have documented this in songs, books and movies, but we all have to do it our own way. It really is a sort of self therapy.

 

Maybe the truth is that the wisdom you gain is so common/universal that it's really hard not to resort to cliche' to communicate it?

 

Interesting thought. I hope not, although I'm not sure. My hope is that people with different experiences and personalities gain different types of wisdom and insight. And a good artist is able to write that down in a way that you "get it" immediately without all the necessary experience.

 

Tunnel of Love was written from a dark place, romantically at least. Same as Blood on the Tracks or Wildflowers, it's about the end of a marriage.

Bruce has been in a good place domestically with Patti for a long time and long may that remain the case. Contended Bruce isn't going to write angst filled heartache and the like and his songwriting might be weaker for it, but it's good to see Bruce in a good place.

In terms of 'what does Bruce have to say about losing friends that we haven't heard before', well that might be true. Terry's Song was a real gem in that sense and off the cuff, or The Last Carnival.

 

Pretty much exactly the way I'd review the album.

Kind of spooky, actually.

The only thing I'd add is that even though it's an obvious way of saying it, if you've ever watched someone die One Minute You're Here really does hit the mark.

 

I was there!

 

I had the exact same thought. The band are on fire here but the new material (with the exception of the opening track) is very average. The 3 old songs sound great, and they could’ve made a 5 star album by re recording a whole album’s worth of unreleased old tracks.

 

Yep. My Dad died in February. Watched it happen. The song sums it up pretty well.

 

First thing I thought of was Willie Nile when I read the track list.
I thought cool Bruce is covering Willie! I'm sure Willie could use a few royalties. I played a show with Willie and he does seem to be a good guy...But when I found it wasn't Willie's song, I was a little disappointed... I mean it's not like writing Baby I Need You...The House of a Thousand Guitars is a specific, unique title.

 

He was very insecure about writing for ESB again, just like he was before Rising. IMO THE 3 old songs were a safety net of sorts, critic proof to the 70's fans.

Bruce has current creative Momentum, which is why I think LTY and WS sound good even with a couple old songs. Bruce recorded old unreleased Darkness songs at Carousel at the tail end of 2009, and that was NOT a 5 star album.

 

Maybe Bruce didn't realize it was a lift until it was too late! Another indignity of aging.

 

Hard to argue with any of your analysis; I feel the same way about a number of points, especially your ranking of If I Were The Priest (to me, this is the best full-band song/recording he has recorded in three decades) and Burning Train (fantastic guitar solo at the 1:55 mark). I don't know if I am prepared to state that I love the album, but I really like it so far.

I really did not know if he had it in him. Western Stars was clearly a return to form, but as a traditional band album, I had my doubts he would ever deliver something of this magnitude again, especially in his 70's. I remember stating at some point during the past couple of years in a Springsteen thread that I would like to see him record the way he did during the late-70's/early-80's with the old team (had Van Zandt in mind) -- while Bruce didn't bring back the old production team, he recorded most of this album live and that approach provides a sound that is reminiscent of the organic purity of the Darkness, River, BITUSA ('82 sessions) period, and I think that is one of the elements that makes this music sound so compelling.

 

I seem to remember we had a brief discussion in the Tracks 2 thread a couple of months ago when you said (and I hope I am not putting words in your mouth) that you would rather he released music from the vaults over a new album.

I am glad from your posts in this thread that you are finding so much to like from his latest work.

 

I agree in part, but I do think a lot of the new material is quite good, with House of A Thousand Guitars being the obvious weak link (like I said earlier, the Sleepy Joe's Cafe of the album). That said, the strength of the three 1970's era tracks is outstanding. I remember back when The Stones released the deluxe edition of Exile of Main Street; Mick and Keith resurrected some Exile era outtakes and at the time I thought of how great of a contemporary album consisting of additional reworked vintage tracks (especially coming on the heels of A Bigger Bang) would be. While Bruce's best songs on this album are arguably the remakes, there are a handful of very good originals that augment those tracks nicely.

 

But this album isnt Tunnel Of Love. And it isnt, Im supposing, made for youth so much. I dont know if it doesnt have anything to say in a new way or not. Hasnt the topic all been stated in song anyway?

Thats what I like about the new Dylan album. It has some weird angles in there. Some might not like the direction but at least its something from a different angle.

 

Agreed. My takeaway is this. The combination of writing new songs, taking a few old ones, getting the band in a room for 1 week and knocking them out is clearly a winning combination. It avoids his penchant for tinkering, adding strings, choirs, bullet mics and artificial booms and thuds (a la Wrecking Ball). It forces him to be organic, and rely more on his and his band’s well honed musical instincts.
It’s kind of mind boggling that he hasn’t thought to record this way since 1984.

 

I am sure I said that. And while this new album is a pleasant surprise, if I had to choose between this and a box set of vintage outtakes from the 1970's and 1980's, I would choose the latter. Still, I will admit I like this new album quite a bit.

 

I was 15 when Tunnel of Love was released, and didn’t find its overarching theme of “marriage is hard” to be particularly eye-opening. “Brilliant Disguise” might have been an illuminating concept back when he first wrote about it much more effectively in “Stolen Car.”

 

If there's any silver lining to this s@#tshow of a year, it's that I don't think you'll have to choose. He'll have plenty of time to continue figuring out what he wants to do with Tracks 2 since he can't tour (or do much of anything, really, besides calling in to journalists and late-night shows for another couple weeks). Hopefully the positive response to this album encourages him to keep working on music instead of...whatever else he could be doing.

 

Rainmaker-Priest-Ghosts-Orphans-Dreams is one hell of a closing crescendo. I can’t remember a Springsteen album that had such a strong finish.