The Promise

[Synthesizer Patel]

Amazon has this for 80 bucks. I would like to hear the re-master, and see the DVD, but I don't think I am interested in the over dubbed songs.

 

It's not worth $80 - the packaging isn't written by Shakespeare or the dvd directed by Kurosawa, it's kind of a 1 watch-1 read deal, but that's always the case with this stuff, as far as I feel - however, the remastered album does sound great (I nabbed it in flac from somewhere). If you're not too bothered I'd wait until the release the album by itself. What I was going to say though, in regard to The Promise, is that I felt this way initially about The Rolling Stones Exile bonus disc, but I've actually grown to really love those songs - I don't think it's going to happen with The Promise, but you never know. You should be able to find it online to give it a try.

[remphish1]

I just got the cds yesterday. Anyone else haviong trouble adding it to your itunes library? My itunes shuts down every time I try and upload it...

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

I just got the cds yesterday. Anyone else haviong trouble adding it to your itunes library? My itunes shuts down every time I try and upload it...

 

No problem at all

[Sir Stewart]

Is it just me or is the Darkness remaster just about the best job in remastering history? I'm not really familiar with the album, but it could not have sounded this ... this perfect before.

[remphish1]

No problem at all

I had to redownload itunes then it worked!

[Kalle]

Is it just me or is the Darkness remaster just about the best job in remastering history? I'm not really familiar with the album, but it could not have sounded this ... this perfect before.

 

They really did a fantastic job on it, the only thing I'd say that would come close is a few of the Beatles remasters (Abbey Road specifically).

[imsjry]

Is it just me or is the Darkness remaster just about the best job in remastering history? I'm not really familiar with the album, but it could not have sounded this ... this perfect before.

 

That's great to hear because I didn't think the "Born to Run" remaster added much. Patiently waiting until my b-day next week for this. God, it's tough!

[LouieB]

Bought The Promise yesterday, but not listened to it yet. The packaging is kind of strange and kind of cheap, but then again the whole thing is only 20 bucks.

 

LouieB

[LouisvilleGreg]

Haven't had the discs out of my car in the past week. There are some ridiculously good pop songs on this record, it's really got a lot Bruce's great lost romantic all over it. I can see why he made the decisions he did, as Darkness is damn near perfect as it stands, but had this came out in 1977 in between BTR and Darkness, it would certainly be talked about today as perhaps in the same breath as "The River." It actually feels a little more cohesive as a double record than "The River," to me. Really hope to hear some of these lost gems when next the E Streeters hit the road.

[Sir Stewart]

I love that line about Iovine in Ain't Good Enough For You.

[LouisvilleGreg]

I love that line about Iovine in Ain't Good Enough For You.

 

yeah that's funny as hell and a great song, one of my early favorites. also neat to see all of the snippets of lyrics from future songs such as: "hey little girl is your daddy home..." from "Spanish Eyes" and much later on "I'm on Fire", also "Put on your black dress baby, and fix your hair up right...." from "Come On (Let's Go out Tonight)" and a few years later on "Out on the Street." I wish that early version of Bruce and Stevie goofing on "Sherry Darling," made the cut. I guess if they really did 60-70 songs for those sessions that breaks down to 10 on Darkness, 22 on the Promise, 7 or 8 on Tracks and maybe 4 or 5 that eventually made it on the River. That comes up to around 40-45, so there could still be another couple albums worth just from these sessions. I've read that "The River" had even more than Darkness. That's just insane to even think about.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

yeah that's funny as hell and a great song, one of my early favorites. also neat to see all of the snippets of lyrics from future songs such as: "hey little girl is your daddy home..." from "Spanish Eyes" and much later on "I'm on Fire", also "Put on your black dress baby, and fix your hair up right...." from "Come On (Let's Go out Tonight)" and a few years later on "Out on the Street." I wish that early version of Bruce and Stevie goofing on "Sherry Darling," made the cut. I guess if they really did 60-70 songs for those sessions that breaks down to 10 on Darkness, 22 on the Promise, 7 or 8 on Tracks and maybe 4 or 5 that eventually made it on the River. That comes up to around 40-45, so there could still be another couple albums worth just from these sessions. I've read that "The River" had even more than Darkness. That's just insane to even think about.

 

Between 1977 and 1983, Bruce probably recorded upwards of 100 songs. Epic Sessions for Darkness led to even more epic sessions for The River and Born in the USA.

 

If Bruce can get over the lack of video material in the Studio from those two sessions, we could see some really epic stuff over the next five years.

[howdjadoo]

some nfo on outtakes,demos etc

 

http://www.springsteenliveinconcert.com/darkness/d-lostmasters.htm

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

some nfo on outtakes,demos etc

 

http://www.springsteenliveinconcert.com/darkness/d-lostmasters.htm

 

These things showed up in the late 80's after some fired employees apparently stole the masters. And this is just the stuff we know about.

[LouisvilleGreg]

Here are the Billboard numbers. I was wondering if they were gonna count the set and the 2 disc alternative seperately. Appears they did, and both did pretty well.

 

PROMISING CHART ACTION

The numbers are in... The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story, in all its six-disc glory, debuted at #27 on the Billboard chart, becoming the fastest-selling box set of 2010, according to today's Shore Fire press release.

 

The Promise, the two-disc release, charted even higher, at #16 here in the U.S. Overseas, it debuted at #1 in Germany, Norway, Spain, and Sweden; #4 in Ireland and the Netherlands; #5 in Denmark and Austria; #7 in the UK, and #9 in Switzerland.

- November 24, 2010

[LouieB]

I helped out and bought a copy the other day. Haven't listened to it yet.

 

LouieB

[LouieB]

Now I have...good stuff including nice original versions of Rendezvous, Because the Night, and Fire. Much of the rest is Phil Soector inspired.

 

LouieB

[Vacant Horizon]

some nfo on outtakes,demos etc

 

http://www.springsteenliveinconcert.com/darkness/d-lostmasters.htm

 

 

thanks for this cool link. i love this shit. however, it looks quite overwhelming at first glance. especially all the takes and such.

 

btw- i really wish they'd release the remastered darkness by itself.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

I have not found a simple list so far, mainly a lot of message board posts. I am sure there will be such a breakdown out there somewhere at some point. Or maybe I just have not found it.

 

Of course, various songs on Tracks had modern overdubs, and I read somewhere once that all the drums were re-done on the live box that came out years ago.

 

That sort of thing always sticks out to me - probably modern vocal overdubs more than anything else.

 

I revisit this post because the

probably modern vocal overdubs more than anything else

doesn't quite capture the problem with the material available.

 

Some of the vocal are 'ghost vocals' in the outtakes (sung as guide vocals off mike). In others he will sing a verse and hum or scat vocal a verse. I think he totally rewrote one only track.

 

I still maintain if there wasn't such an obvious hype about this being a record from 1978, it would still be a transcendant work. It does add to the aura of the tremendous productivity of that era, but it does put a different spin on things.

The point to me is that these are great pop songs.

 

At the height of his powers, Bruce was more prolific that Prince or Robert Pollard in terms of the amount of material he wrote and recorded. There's a lot more out there and given what we saw on THE PROMISE, there is probably quite a bit of materia even the uber diehards are unaware of.

[Analogman]

I'd rather just hear the demos, or the outtakes the way they are. I doubt all the unreleased stuff he has is worth hearing. I forget how much money I paid for Tracks, but I can tell you that I don't sit around listening to the 3rd and 4th discs of that boxset.

 

I am glad he is re-releasing his catalog though. I hope a single cd of the re-mastered Darkness comes out, I would buy that. I probably prefer Bruce's car songs above the rest of his stuff. And Racing In The Street is one of my favorite songs. I think all the tracks from The Promise are on Youtube. I will probably check them out.

[Vacant Horizon]

I'd rather just hear the demos, or the outtakes the way they are. I doubt all the unreleased stuff he has is worth hearing. I forget how much money I paid for Tracks, but I can tell you that I don't sit around listening to the 3rd and 4th discs of that boxset.

 

I am glad he is re-releasing his catalog though. I hope a single cd of the re-mastered Darkness comes out, I would buy that. I probably prefer Bruce's car songs above the rest of his stuff. And Racing In The Street is one of my favorite songs. I think all the tracks from The Promise are on Youtube. I will probably check them out.

 

nice post AMan. i too like to hear stuff the way it was/is. most artists have a good sense about what should go on an album....both for themselves and the fans. even ryan adams:)

[Golden Smoghead]

I just wanted to go back and visit a topic from a couple pages ago.

 

Coming to Bruce relatively late in his cycle (after 9/11, in my 20s), I actually found BITUSA a lot better than you guys give credit. I had heard the tracks a few times as a kid but thought the song BITUSA was some kind of jingoistic deal and didn't care much for Dancin' in the Dark, so I was surprised by how good that album is overall.

 

I also find Nebraska a bit boring. I know that's sacrilege, but face-to-face, I'd rather listen to Devils & Dust any day of the week. Dunno, different strokes for different folks, but I think some of these late Bruce songs like Maria's Bed are the bee's knees.

 

I would also say that production values from the 70s really do not sound that great to a more-modern audience. I really hate all that jazzy saxophone and theatrical sound all over the place, I much-prefer the more stripped down / rocky live versions of some of the classics. Not to say the songs themselves aren't great, but I think the only original version that compares favorably, out of all those tracks, is probably Promised Land. Even The River, I'd rather hear one of the live versions to the studio cut.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

I'd rather just hear the demos, or the outtakes the way they are. I doubt all the unreleased stuff he has is worth hearing. I forget how much money I paid for Tracks, but I can tell you that I don't sit around listening to the 3rd and 4th discs of that boxset.

 

I am glad he is re-releasing his catalog though. I hope a single cd of the re-mastered Darkness comes out, I would buy that. I probably prefer Bruce's car songs above the rest of his stuff. And Racing In The Street is one of my favorite songs. I think all the tracks from The Promise are on Youtube. I will probably check them out.

 

I won't be scolding or condescending here...but listen to the damn things already.

[LouisvilleGreg]

Here ya go A'Man this will get you started, one of my favs from "The Promise":

 

[LouisvilleGreg]

These things are to be taken with a grain of salt, but supposedly the below is from someone with inside knowledge in the Bruce camp regarding the next year or so worth of projects:

 

It will be several independently released DVDs, maybe more than 8, maybe less (depending on how good they sell), over the next 4-5 years. Volume 1 is scheduled for release early May 2011 and will be called BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & the E STREET BAND - Live Anthology Volume 1, and will featured never before seen footage from the Born to Run Tour. No complete shows exist on tape, so the 100 min long DVD will contain recordings from several shows. I heard the most is supposed to be from the shows at the Roxy in Los Angeles.

 

Two more Live Anthology releases are scheduled to come out before christmas 2011. A compilation of material from the Chicken Scratch Tour in August and another full Darkness show in October. Around that time Bruce and the band will hit the road for around 25 shows, reenacting the famous 1978 concerts in North American theaters and other small venues. Several shows will be broadcasted live on the radio, internet and youtube.

 

Early 2012 will see the release of a multi-disc box-set containing outtakes, alternate versions of know songs and yet unknown compositions, spanning Bruce's entire career. They're not sure about the name yet but I heard that Tracks 2 is a very likely possibility. The interesting thing is, that Bruce and the band will go into the studio in the fall of 2011 to record some new songs that Bruce hasn't even written yet! That's what I call inside information!

 

Following the release of "Tracks 2" and another couple of "Live Anthology" DVDs, a worldwide european and north american tour will be announced. And don't even ask - I don't have any exact dates yet. And I really don't want to get your hopes up with rumours.