The Promise

[Analogman]

I donno...I grew up with those early Bruce records and they sounded fine to me. I am actually excited about the extra material from Darkness. I had not read much about this until this weekend, when there was a good article in the NY Times on it.

 

LouieB

 

I've never heard the original vinyl pressings, but the cds sound like shit. I figure much like R.E.M, and U2, he will re-release all of his albums eventually.

[LouieB]

I don't know what the CDs sound like because I have only listened to the original vinyl copies. I love being old. They sounded perfectly fine to me. Darkness is one of my all time favorite albums. Just like lots of material from the 60s and 70s, I find I have little desire to listen to those things anymore. Not because I don't like the material, I just listened to it like crazy over the years. They spoke to me then and they might not now. I don't know.

 

I would not consider getting the deluxe set of Born to Run for the same reason, but the extra material from these sessions does hold some appeal.

 

LouieB

[Synthesizer Patel]

what makes me worry about Bruce remastering his crappy sounding cds is that he hasn't actually done it with Darkness, unless you can fork out £70, or whatever it is, for the box set. it's not being remastered and sold seperately - but, The Promise is; which is just fucking annoying - almost Neil Young level of annoying. so if he does this with everything i'm not going to be wasting my money. unless by some miracle he stop ignoring his first 2 albums and does a deluxe edition of them - then i'll pay out!

[Vacant Horizon]

what makes me worry about Bruce remastering his crappy sounding cds is that he hasn't actually done it with Darkness, unless you can fork out £70, or whatever it is, for the box set. it's not being remastered and sold seperately - but, The Promise is; which is just fucking annoying - almost Neil Young level of annoying. so if he does this with everything i'm not going to be wasting my money. unless by some miracle he stop ignoring his first 2 albums and does a deluxe edition of them - then i'll pay out!

 

almost Neil Young level of annoying.

 

 

hilarious! so you can't buy darkness by itself? that blows!

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

this is fascinating. i love the lost albums. didn't know this about springsteen. is there a good website explaining all of this? anyway, could it be that bruce has issues with just letting his songs stand alone with just the band, or just him and not all the 'stuff'? i think neil young has this problem. of course, i don't know as much about bruce to really have an opinion.

 

Couldn't tell you about any website. A lot of what I know was committed to memory for years of being a tramp.

Bruce's issue is apparently all about the context. He knows what concept or theme he wants to pursue and all else be damned. The way the last three records came about, he may have broken that work habit a bit.

[Analogman]

The final database of Bruce Springsteen lyrics, setlists, studio sessions. By Paolo Calvi

 

The two sites I use to loot at - Brucelegs, and Boots Bruce Springsteen page are gone, I do believe.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

The final database of Bruce Springsteen lyrics, setlists, studio sessions. By Paolo Calvi

 

The two sites I use to loot at - Brucelegs, and Boots Bruce Springsteen page are gone, I do believe.

 

Brucelegs was pretty epic. With the Jungleland torrent site, the need for boot id sites isn't really necessary.

As for general setlist and miscellaneous info I like Brucebase.

[Analogman]

I forgot about that one. Is the Lucky Town site still active?

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

I forgot about that one. Is the Lucky Town site still active?

 

I used to be on the mailing list a long time ago. I think the last time Kevin updated the site was sometime in 2003

[Analogman]

I think I was a member of that mailing list way back in the early days of the internet.

[Synthesizer Patel]

almost Neil Young level of annoying.

 

 

hilarious! so you can't buy darkness by itself? that blows!

 

i think all back catalogue reissues have to be judged against neil young's approach to it all. actually, van morrison is another one, but he seems to make it clear he's just pissed at his record label, whereas neil young seems to imply he's doing it out of some kind of benefit to his fans.

 

as for darkness - i haven't seen it advertised or available anywhere. i mean, it might come out in a bit after the box set stops selling, but it's just as likely to never come out. the worst thing is that i've seen the japanese vinyl replicas available now very cheaply - which are far better than the standard cd versions, but i don't want to get them and then find out in a few months that they've all been remastered and available to buy

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

I think I was a member of that mailing list way back in the early days of the internet.

 

Those were some heady days...Dave Marsh was an active participant (lord is he an arrogant prick). There were names on that digest that still are active over on Usenet.

[Vacant Horizon]

i think all back catalogue reissues have to be judged against neil young's approach to it all. actually, van morrison is another one, but he seems to make it clear he's just pissed at his record label, whereas neil young seems to imply he's doing it out of some kind of benefit to his fans.

 

as for darkness - i haven't seen it advertised or available anywhere. i mean, it might come out in a bit after the box set stops selling, but it's just as likely to never come out. the worst thing is that i've seen the japanese vinyl replicas available now very cheaply - which are far better than the standard cd versions, but i don't want to get them and then find out in a few months that they've all been remastered and available to buy

 

also, it keeps the record co. putting stuff out. there are gonna be springsteen fans for decades and there needs to be stuff to be released.

 

neil is frustrating because the archives were supposed to be this clearing house, but turned out to a giant greatest hits collection with some interesting unreleased stuff. i'm a huge neil fan and haven't bought it. his initial remasters were way over due, but at this point, who cares. i got the first one. the levels are still shit. sound is cleaner though. who knows.

[Analogman]

Those were some heady days...Dave Marsh was an active participant (lord is he an arrogant prick). There were names on that digest that still are active over on Usenet.

 

It could be that I just read the digest. I don't actually recall participating. I think the site I spent the most time looking at was The Boots Springsteen page, or Backstreets, when they got a website.

 

And another one I just remembered:

 

Greasy Lake

[howdjadoo]

http://springsteen.start4all.com/

[Moss]

New sprinsteen video on pitchfork. Sorry if this was already posted somewhere in here:

 

The Promise

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

http://springsteen.start4all.com/

 

I found this part of the story heartwarming:

 

As difficult as the years leading up to “Darkness on the Edge of Town” were for Mr. Springsteen, the story has a happy ending. He and Mr. Landau solidified their working relationship, and collaborate to this day. With the lawsuit long ago settled, Mr. Springsteen has reconciled with his former manager, Mike Appel, and they are friends once again. Much of the work that Mr. Springsteen cast aside to hone his vision for “Darkness” is seeing the light of day.

 

 

I always thought it was a real shame that such a true believer as Mike became such an adversary. Appel was castigated for being abrasive, but he had one goal...one thought. Make Bruce Springsteen a star. When things went sour, he brought the same single minded focus to bear on the lawsuit.

 

Time really does heal all wounds.

[Analogman]

He was sitting with the band when Bruce was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I read his book. You get a different view of Bruce from reading it. Also, Bruce saved him from financial ruin a few times.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

He was sitting with the band when Bruce was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I read his book. You get a different view of Bruce from reading it. Also, Bruce saved him from financial ruin a few times.

 

Bruce has always been about connections, ties. After Danny died, I was hoping that DAvid Sancious might be convinced to rejoin the fold.

[Azzurri]

I never got into Springsteen until this past year, even though I was born and raised in NJ where he is like a religion. I listened to Magic first, and I really liked it, but I thought, "imagine how good the old stuff must be.." So I went back to the beginning with Greetings from Asbury Park all the way up to Darkness at the Edge of Town, and was astounded at the energy, the poetic and intense lyrics, the musicianship and arrangements, etc. I listened to NYC Serenade driving back from work today, and I was lost for those 9 minutes and utterly amazed.

 

What do you guys recommend after the Darkness record? I am excited about The Promise, but maybe that's for the hardcore fan and I should explore other stuff first...plus, it's a pretty hefty price to pay.

[Analogman]

I never got into Springsteen until this past year, even though I was born and raised in NJ where he is like a religion. I listened to Magic first, and I really liked it, but I thought, "imagine how good the old stuff must be.." So I went back to the beginning with Greetings from Asbury Park all the way up to Darkness at the Edge of Town, and was astounded at the energy, the poetic and intense lyrics, the musicianship and arrangements, etc. I listened to NYC Serenade driving back from work today, and I was lost for those 9 minutes and utterly amazed.

 

What do you guys recommend after the Darkness record? I am excited about The Promise, but maybe that's for the hardcore fan and I should explore other stuff first...plus, it's a pretty hefty price to pay.

 

The River and Nebraska

[LouieB]

Definitely Nebraska....Tunnel of Love is a good one too.

 

LouieB

[bobfrombob]

Or The Wild, The Innocent and E Street Shuffle. Or Born To Run. After these, and the above mentioned, you could consider Ghost of Tom Joad, The Rising, and Devils and Dust....

[LouieB]

Or The Wild, The Innocent and E Street Shuffle. Or Born To Run. After these, and the above mentioned, you could consider Ghost of Tom Joad, The Rising, and Devils and Dust....

Not to be contrary for the heck of it, but all three of these records are subpar conpared to the others we mentioned. Only once you love the other stuff, maybe you could like these three. I think Devils and Dust and Tom Joad are mostly boring and The Rising is of its time and has some good songs. The one exceptional song on Tom Joad is Youngstown, but then again I am from Ohio originally.

 

LouieB

[Synthesizer Patel]

If you've heard everything up to Darkness, then you've only got 2 classics left - The River and Nebraska. I'd put Nebraska up there with The Wild, The Innocent blah blah blah; it's fantastic. Apart from those, I personally think Born In The USA is the only other one I'd recommend getting - to me, after that, he just got boring and started repeating himself. The Promise is good, though - that's worth getting too and it's definately not for completists; I'd say everything after Born In The USA fits into that category.