The Promise

[Analogman]

I wasn't talking at all about the songwriting quality or arrangments. I'm talking about the overall sound quality on the albums which to me are perfect. You can hear the instrumentation and the songs have dynamic range. O'Brien and Bruce seem to not care about either anymore. Maybe I have it all wrong what a producer does.

 

I was agreeing with you.

[Coltrane]

The records O'brien produced for Pearl Jam (Vs, Vitalogy, No Code, Yield) and The Black Crowes (Southern Harmony) in the 90's still sound pretty damn good to me. I'm not sure what happened to this guy, but his recent work with Bruce is horrible.

 

Jack Irons is pretty freaking awesome, but he should not sound this much better than Max Weinberg.

[Analogman]

The records O'brien produced for Pearl Jam (Vs, Vitalogy, No Code, Yield) and The Black Crowes (Southern Harmony) in the 90's still sound pretty damn good to me. I'm not sure what happened to this guy, but his recent work with Bruce is horrible.

 

Jack Irons is pretty freaking awesome, but he should not sound this much better than Max Weinberg.

 

He didn't produce Southern Harmony, George Drakoulias did.

[Coltrane]

Whoops. That's right. He did produce those Pearl Jam records though. Actually, most everything else he's done is pretty horrible. I don't mind the production on some of the STP stuff.

[Analogman]

Another Billboard article:

 

Bruce Springsteen Premieres 'Darkness' Doc, Chats with Edward Norton

 

Bruce Springsteen figures his first three albums, including the classic "Born to Run," were a prequel to the rest of his career.

 

He really started to find a purposeful working life with his fourth record, 1978's "Darkness on the Edge of Town," the subject of a documentary that had its world premiere Tuesday night at the Toronto International Film Festival.

 

After the enormous success of "Born to Run" three years earlier, Springsteen had been kept out of the studio because of a legal dispute with his former manager. When he finally began recording again with the E Street Band, a deluge of songs poured out, stories of anguish and doubt in an America mired in hard times and disillusioned after the Vietnam War.

 

On a personal front, Springsteen was struggling to preserve a connection with his working-class New Jersey roots amid his own good fortune.

 

"I decided that the key to that was maintaining a sense of myself, understanding that a part of my life had been mutated by my success," Springsteen said in a conversation with actor Edward Norton in front of a festival audience a few hours before "The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town" premiered. "There was a thrust of self-preservation more than anything else, more than a political conscience or a social conscience."

 

Directed by Thom Zimny, who made a similar making-of documentary about "Born to Run," "The Promise" blends new interviews with Springsteen and his band mates with archival footage of the rehearsal and recording sessions for "Darkness on the Edge of Town."

 

The documentary airs Oct. 7 on HBO, then will be included in a CD and DVD boxed set release of "Darkness on the Edge of Town" due in stores Nov. 16.

 

The set will include live shows on DVD from the "Darkness" era and two CDs of songs Springsteen recorded but left off the finished album, which includes such tunes as "Badlands," "Racing in the Street," "The Promised Land" and "Streets of Fire."

 

Band mates say in the documentary that Springsteen wrote about 70 songs that were considered for the album. During a year of recording, the band worked obsessively to hone them, only to have Springsteen set them aside and move on to something else.

 

"I'd work the band for three days on a piece of music, throw it out," then repeat the process, Springsteen said in the session with Norton, who became friends with the rocker after they met at a concert 11 years ago.

 

The album was meticulously carved out of a "big chunk of stone," reduced to a final lineup of songs that fit the brooding tone he had aimed for, Springsteen said.

 

"It was an angry record. I took the 10 toughest songs I had," Springsteen said.

 

At the start of their chat, Norton told Springsteen that fans had so embraced his songs that "I don't even know if they're yours anymore. People own them, and they've become part of the tapestry of their lives."

 

During their conversation, Springsteen talked about earlier musical innovators, from Elvis Presley to James Brown to Bob Dylan. He described how, as "creatures of the radio," he and the band had been steeped entirely in music, but that his influences widened in the mid-1970s to include authors such as James M. Cain, Jim Thompson and Flannery O'Connor, and filmmakers such as John Ford, Martin Scorsese and many film noir directors.

 

Springsteen said he and the band put themselves through hell making "Darkness on the Edge of Town," working around-the-clock and forgoing any life outside the music.

 

"The way we did it was so hard that it often felt like we were doing it wrong," Springsteen said. But "we weren't doing it wrong. We were just doing it the only way we knew how."

 

Racing In The Street is one of my favorite Bruce songs.

[Kalle]

Secret show at the Horseshoe tonight in Toronto?

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

The Darkness Tour was epic. Springsteen went into that tour as a media darling and came out on the other side as an icon.

[bobfrombob]

Secret show at the Horseshoe tonight in Toronto?

Nope. Once national media set up on the sidewalk outside the venue, the secret aspect is sort of lost. From what I hear, the Horseshoe never really expected him to show but it sure helped sell Jesse Malin tickets.

 

Secret listening party today in Atlanta though.

[keeprighton2]

I remember Spsingtseen saying he felt he 'underplayed and oversang' on the original Darkness.

 

Can't say I agree with that - I feel the production and whole feel of it defines the record, mskes it what it is, a desolate yet urgent record.

 

In the light of what he said I hope he hasn't ruined the origianl outtakes from 77 and 78 by supplying new vocals, cos quite frankly he can't sing like he used to anymore. 'The Promise' is one of my fav Bruce songs in its original form and I'll be disppointed if he wrecks it like he did for Tracks.

 

Looking forward to seeing the film - was kind of hoping they might put out the Passaic classic show from Sept 78 but should still be amazing watching the Houston show from front to back.

 

75 thru to 81 is a defining period for me - can really take it or leave it after that even though the 85 stadium shows were unforgettable. 76 thru to 78 IMO defines the legend - the bootlegs dont lie!

[Vacant Horizon]

Nope. Once national media set up on the sidewalk outside the venue, the secret aspect is sort of lost. From what I hear, the Horseshoe never really expected him to show but it sure helped sell Jesse Malin tickets.

 

Secret listening party today in Atlanta though.

 

say more...listening to the promise in atlanat? where?

[bobfrombob]

say more...listening to the promise in atlanat? where?

Sorry; that's all I've got. There was a listening event in Toronto yesterday. Somebody from another board shook Springsteen's hand and spoke to Landau a bit. Landau told him there was a listening event today in Atlanta. Where do the Sony types hang out in Atlanta? In Toronto it was at an italian restaurant.

[Vacant Horizon]

Sorry; that's all I've got. There was a listening event in Toronto yesterday. Somebody from another board shook Springsteen's hand and spoke to Landau a bit. Landau told him there was a listening event today in Atlanta. Where do the Sony types hang out in Atlanta? In Toronto it was at an italian restaurant.

 

 

who knows. maybe brendan obrian's studio?

[LouisvilleGreg]

The documentary finally airs on HBO this week. Dying to see this. Here are the upcoming showtimes:

 

HBO

10/7 (9:00 p.m.)

10/12 (3:30 p.m., 12:30 a.m.)

10/16 (11:30 p.m.)

10/21 (10:30 a.m., 1:55 a.m.)

10/24 (5:00 p.m.)

10/30 (2:00 p.m.)

 

HBO2:

10/8 (8:00 p.m.)

10/10 (3:30 p.m., 12:20 a.m.)

10/13 (4:55 a.m.)

10/18 (9:30 p.m.)

[LouisvilleGreg]

Here'another sneak peak and interview:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/39553372#39553372

[LouieB]

I guess I will have to netflix this one down the road. It looks good.

 

LouieB

[dmait]

>I was listening to the Christic Institute shows yesterday. Absolutely breathtaking.

 

So true. I used to listen to that tape constantly. Terrific versions of those songs, especially Across the Borderline.

[Magnetized]

Anybody else seen this yet? I just finished watching on HBO and it is a really well-done documentary. I see definite parallels between Jeff and Bruce in their integrity and commitment to their own artistic vision.

[The High Heat]

I don't know hardly jack about Springsteen, but that's one damn good documentary. It's more about song, music and album production and not about a young Bob Dylan or Jay Bennett acting like twits.

[CortezTheKiller]

Anybody else seen this yet?

Saw it last week. Fantastic documentary. "Stick!"

[LouisvilleGreg]

Another similarity between Bruce and the E Streeters and Wilco (YHF era specifically) is the process of putting together a cohesive body of work. There are bands who have been togehter a lifetime that would love to write a song as powerful as "The Promise," or as devastating as "Cars Can't Escape," but creative vision relegated those songs to rarities in their respective catalogs. Hell of a problem to have.

[Synthesizer Patel]

i saw it and thought it was pretty good. i did say in another thread, though, that i don't really like watching older people talking about their younger selves. especially with bruce springsteen - because his music of that time was incredible and i personally don't like his modern music - so whenever his older self talks about the making of the album he slightly spoils it for me. i also think, "well they've had 30 years to come up with that reason", or to justify their actions etc... i therefore see it all as a little revisionist. i think the story could have been told simply by showing the 'in studio' footage and maybe a little voice-over every now and again to give some context to what is happening. i call it "walking with dinosaurs tv" - the makers seem to think you can't use your brain and put the pieces together yourself, you have to have your hand held at all times - "see that's how a dinosaur walks!", "oh and there was me thinking they hovered 2 feet off the ground and ran on petrol, before you showed me that computer generated image of what you currently think they moved like!"

 

anyway, it was good. could've been better.

 

does anyone know if they're actually releasing the album seperately without paying a fortune for the box set? i know you can buy "the promise - 2 cd outtakes set", but i've never seen the actual album seperately.

[jimtweedy1977]

I had heard the story of Patti Smtih getting the song 'Because The Night' several years ago but It was nice to hear and see her perspective on the song during this documentary.

[Kalle]

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/51942/226851

 

A really cool mini doc with some really great music clips (including two soul/popish songs that sound awesome) of Because The Night and The Promise, and apparently a bunch more clips to come!

 

The Promise also got 5 stars in Uncut and they said it was something along the lines of "The best unreleased Springsteen album ever, what true fans are waiting for".

 

I'm getting pretty excited to get the Darkness bundle in the mail.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

I don't know hardly jack about Springsteen, but that's one damn good documentary. It's more about song, music and album production and not about a young Bob Dylan or Jay Bennett acting like twits.

 

It's about song, music and album production because Steve Van Zandt didn't want to take control of the E Street Band and Bruce's demons were much different than Jeff's were in 2000-2001

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

I'm hoping that Bruce gives The River, Nebraska and Born in the USA a similar treatment.

Althought this is probably unlikely because outtakes from the River and Born in the USA were the principal components of discs 2 and 3 of tracks. And the very nature of how Nebraska was recorded precludes any useful remastering/remixing.

Maybe we can finally see the holy grail of Bruce fandom: Electric Nebraska.