From: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org (LuckyTown Digest) To: luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Subject: LuckyTown Digest V9 #49 Reply-To: luckytown@luckytown.org Sender: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Errors-To: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Precedence: bulk LuckyTown Digest Monday, July 29 2002 Volume 09 : Number 049 NOTE: Sale/trade posts should be emailed to luckytown-ads, *NOT* to luckytown. That includes tix wanted/tix grovels, post them to luckytown-ads, please. Contents: Bruce makes Billboard Charts [Warren Brake ] The Rising [Matthew Orel ] charity auction for CAA tickets ["Kevin Kinder" ] TV schedule reminder ["Kevin Kinder" ] Bruce on the Cover of Time Again [Jmcerra@aol.com] Response to Boston Globe review [Don Weisman ] Roy Bittans Rock and Roll DVD picks ["terry carroll" ] Review Of The Rising: 'E Street Meets Ground Zero' (New York Daily News) [Barry Kaplovitz ] My thoughts ["Trevor Broad" ] The Rising/Counting on a Miracle [Jon Boroshok ] "The Rising" Review from the Cleveland Plain Dealer ["Linda" ] Rocky Mountain News review ["pjaco7@earthlink.net" ] Bruce in The Record 7/28/02 [ALateJuliet@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 28 Jul 2002 17:57:26 -0300 (ADT) From: Warren Brake Subject: Bruce makes Billboard Charts For the 2% club... Hi there, Being a bit of a chartwatcher, I was pleasantly surprised to see that The Rising single debuted at #2 on Billboard's single sales chart with 13,000 copies sold in its first week. That, combined with its radio play helped it debut at #52 on the Billboard Hot 100 - the Hot Shot Debut for the week and the 6th highest debut on the chart this year. I believe this is the first time Bruce has been on the Hot 100 since Secret Garden in 1996. Warren, Halifax, Nova Scotia ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Jul 2002 00:48:29 -0400 From: Matthew Orel Subject: The Rising I don't know how else to put this: This is a great f****** album. Nearly everything about it is so right. From the opening count-off to the closing piano, this album is about as breathtakingly wonderful as I ever could have imagined, and then some. Much of it will take several listens to sink in, and not all of it has hit home just yet, but I do have some thoughts based on the listens I've had so far. Born to Run was called diurnal. I'm not sure if there's a word equivalent for that if events are spread out over several days, but that's what this album is. The sequence of "Counting on a Miracle" into "Empty Sky" is especially poignant. The album progresses from the initial shock, hoping against hope for a happy ending, the realization that it ain't coming, despair, and ultimately trying to find a way to move on and rebuild. The sequencing is astonishing to me, and the results wonderful. The production on this album. Let me just say this: If you haven't heard this on a decent sound system, find a high end audio store with a listening room. It's just stunning. The clarity, detail, warmth, and overall sound of the album are -- at least to my ears -- astonishing. Whoever has been dissing Brendan O'Brien's work on this must be deaf. The saxophone. So, people are complaining about lack of sax. Have these people taken a good listen to "Waiting on a Sunny Day?" Forget the passage at the end, let's go earlier in the song. Tell me, when was the last time you heard a bari sax used like that in a new Bruce song -- or, hell, in any other new pop song? While I haven't counted up the seconds, it seems to me there's more of Clarence's sax on this recording that on BUSA, and it's better integrated into the overall sound, too. There are any number of touches on this album that I totally love, from the use of cello in a couple songs to the straight-from-Stax-to-you arrangement in MCOR. The song styles, from '80's-era ESB ("Counting on a Miracle") to the old Van Morrison-influenced early work ("Mary's Place," complete with Bruce and Clarence both quoting musical passages from "Thundercrack") to Beatles-influences ("Empty Sky") to the drum loops of "The Fuse" and, most impressively, the mix of sounds in "Worlds Apart," work far more often than not. Finally, the lyrics. I retract previous criticisms. My favorite passage is still from The Fuse: "Blood moon rising in a sky of black dust/Tell me baby who do you trust." The whole album is right there. But there is so much more. Another passage that knocked me on the most recent listen was out of "You're Missing": "God's drifting in heaven/devil's in the mailbox." "The Rising" seemed such a downer on the lyric sheet and even to an extent taken out of context on mp3; on the album it's a triumph. I didn't understand "Paradise" when I read it on paper; set to music it smacked me in the gut. I couldn't get through the final verse, I had to head to the kleenex (a first for me with any Bruce song). That is the saddest song of Bruce's career. Yes, the final narrator lives, but this is not a miracle a la "Galveston Bay"; no, it is more resignation and realization: it's no better on the other side, there's no peace to be had. "I look for the peace in your eyes/but they're as empty as Paradise." So we go on, we try to find a way ("with these hands..."). All that said, it's not perfect. I could do without "Nothing Man," which more or less retreads all-to-familiar ground. "Let's Be Friends" might be a great song if it didn't sound so enervated. "Further" did little for me in concert, and the new dose of diesel still leaves in somewhat lacking to me. He's been stronger lyrically, overall, on several past works. In context, though, everything works. The album is 73 minutes, but they just fly by. This is a great, great accomplishment. Thanks for reading. - --Matt ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2002 11:10:25 -0500 From: "Kevin Kinder" Subject: charity auction for CAA tickets Bruce Springsteen has donated 2 sets of tickets for auction for his sold out Aug 7th concert at Continental Arena. Two charities will benefit from this auction: The Community Food Bank of NJ and the NJ Interfaith Partnership for Disaster Recovery. They are conducting an auction for these tickets on www.njfoodbank.org . The auction starts today and ends on Thursday Aug 1. The above is all the infomation I have on the auction. See the web site above for further information. Thanks. - ----- Kevin Kinder kinder@luckytown.org ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2002 17:57:04 -0500 From: "Kevin Kinder" Subject: TV schedule reminder As I have it, here's this week's TV schedule for Bruce: Tuesday: Today show, Nightline, UpClose Wednesday: UpClose Thursday: Letterman Friday: Letterman (which actually tapes Thursday) The Sony rep at the album listening party told me the Today show would show additional Springsteen snippets throughout the week. Not sure about that one, but I set my Tivo anyway. See also http://www.rockontv.com. - ----- Kevin Kinder kinder@luckytown.org ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2002 18:42:28 EDT From: Jmcerra@aol.com Subject: Bruce on the Cover of Time Again Yup. He's done it again. On the cover of the 8/5 edition, nearly 27 years after his first appearance. Buy now. Do you see what the '75 cover goes for on e-Bay? [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Jul 2002 18:24:40 -1000 From: Don Weisman Subject: Response to Boston Globe review I was confused by Steve Morse's review of The Rising in the Boston Globe. Morse complains that the album is "all over the place" musically. To me, isn't that a good thing? I find the album's diversity to be refreshing. It's the closest that Bruce has come to capturing the feeling of his live shows on record. His live shows are always a roller coaster of emotions, one moment captivating the audience in a hushed silence and the next moment driving people to dance on their seats and sing at the top of their lungs. The Rising has several songs that can bring tears and others that had me dancing around my living room. Some have catchy choruses that I can't help but to sing along with, and others that I just want to listen to and study for their multi-level interpretations. Sometimes I think critics feel the need to find something to criticize just so it looks like they're doing their job. The other thing that I have to vent about is the continuing comparisons to Bruce's earlier work. Why can't he be judged purely on the quality of what he's written and not against his work of 20 years ago. Times change, Bruce has matured and thankfully his music has as well. If you want rehashed music, turn on one of the many mediocre "classic rock" radio stations that litter our airwaves. Thank goodness someone is still pushing the rock forward. KailuaDon ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Jul 2002 22:15:20 -0700 From: "terry carroll" Subject: Roy Bittans Rock and Roll DVD picks We can all look forward to a great E-Street summer starting this week! I had the good fortune to be able to sit down with Roy at his home in California recently, for a piece in my new magazine, "DVD ETC". I had asked Roy to choose his 10 favorite DVD's (films, not concerts) with a Rock & Roll influence and he was kind enough to give us his picks as well as a few words on each. He made some very interesting choices. If you would like to check it out, you can find the magazine at better newsstands nationwide on Tuesday, July 30....isn't there something else hitting the stores on that date???? See you on the road! Terry Carroll Publisher DVD ETC Magazine www.dvdetc.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Jul 2002 22:52:38 -0500 From: Barry Kaplovitz Subject: Review Of The Rising: 'E Street Meets Ground Zero' (New York Daily News) New York Daily News July 26th, 2002 E Street Meets Ground Zero BY JIM FARBER Friday, July 26th, 2002 BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND, "The Rising" (Columbia) A lot of life has ebbed and flowed since Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band last got together to record a studio album, 1984's "Born in the U.S.A." In the interval, Springsteen married, divorced, remarried, had two children, moved to Los Angeles, moved back, cut several solo works, formed a new band, received his first critical drubbing, turned 40, turned 50, and, at last, rejoined the musicians long presented and perceived as his true brothers. Springsteen touched on all these subjects in his work off of E Street, but never has he done so in the presence of the old band. Still, don't look for any of these experiences to come up on the reunion album. As Springsteen explained before its release, most of the new songs were inspired by the hurt and experience of Sept. 11. In a sense, that means Springsteen and the band's comeback got hijacked by history. After almost two decades apart, most of the new songs address the last 10 months. On one level, 9/11 seems like a natural rallying point for the guys, given their longstanding commitment to issues of faith, deliverance and everyday bravery. True to that spirit, the first cut released to radio (the album's title track) treated the subject with the creativity, passion and sonic individuality you would expect from a meeting of Springsteen's art and the band's talent. But much of the rest of the album lacks that power, invention and musical rapport. It's a solid work but not a revelatory one. Nowhere will you hear the alarm or excitement of "Born in the U.S.A." Only once does the tempo race $ in "Mary's Place," and that cut goes for obvious nostalgia, recycling the band's '70s sound with a wink. While one-third of the tracks stand out, the melodies on the rest sound common, their lyrics generic. Sometimes "The Rising" even has the feel of a Springsteen solo album, with the band tagging along just to keep things from sounding too somber. In much of "The Rising," Springsteen's deepest communication is not with the band but with the guest string players, who offer the album's most distinctive sound. Instead of using them for mere sweetening or folksy fiddling, they're used for rhythmic oomph. The stalwart strings prove especially moving in the opening track, "Lonesome Day." But otherwise, producer Brendan O'Brien hasn't created a special sound for "The Rising." You won't hear anything as arresting or savage as the guitars in "Cover Me" or the drums in "Born in the U.S.A." Lyrically, the decision to go for a topical theme fits a pattern. Having addressed AIDS in "The Streets of Philadelphia," the underclass in "Tom Joad," and police brutality in "41 Shots," Springsteen has, in the last decade, recast himself as a musical reporter. Maybe it was inevitable that the ultimate critic's pet would one day turn into a sonic journalist. But this time only a few songs show the surprising language and vivid images of his best work. He approaches Sept. 11 from several points of view. He's a witness to carnage during "Into the Fire," a surviving family member in "You're Missing," a man awaiting death and deliverance in "Paradise" and a ghost suspended in air in "Nothing Man." That last situation shows the most creativity, even if it's matched to Springsteen's most ordinary tune. Elsewhere, his images and ideas can be as obvious as the titles of "Empty Sky" and "Waiting on a Sunny Day." The grief often feels generic, since many songs lack the verbal detail and melodic tug to individualize the suffering. The obviousness reaches a nadir in "Worlds Apart," which tries for understanding between the United States and the Middle East with such lines as "may the living let us in, before the dead tear us apart." It's a nice thought, but the mix of American rock and Arabic melodies feels like a shotgun marriage. Unlike the organic melding of East and West forged by, say, Led Zeppelin, Springsteen's seems like a self-conscious gesture. The four songs, out of 15, that bear no relation to 9/11 (they're bunched in the middle) seem out of place. One, "The Fuse," means to capture the role of sex in a long-term relationship. But Springsteen's deep and weary voice speaks only of intimacy, not eros. Far sexier is "Let's Be Friends," a terrific soul ditty that sounds like an old Major Lance hit. It's delivered with greater zest and conviction than Springsteen's more serious-minded songs. Likewise, "Mary's Place" fulfills its goal $ to bring back the old band's sense of fun. Besides the rumbling title track, several of the 9/11 songs do manage to live up to their subject matter. There's a stirring redo of "My City of Ruins," for one. Countering Springsteen's shattered version of the song on the "America: A Tribute to Heroes" television special, this take has the gospel soul of the Band's "The Weight." It closes the album with a credible sense of hope. Any work that houses numbers like this has clear worth. But the bulk of the album can't be called a triumph, in either language or sound. For all its haunting moments, Springsteen didn't find a way to personalize other people's pain. It was admirable to try to chase the biggest story of recent history. But perhaps it should come as no surprise that, in the end, it got away from him. E-mail: jfarber@edit.nydailynews.com http://www.nydailynews.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Jul 2002 14:48:01 -0400 From: "Nadeau, J-G" Subject: Re: Are We The Only Ones? Hi Gerry We are not the only wone but... On April 8, 2000, I was at a convention in Saint-Louis with the Association of Practical Theology. I had bought my tickets in advance due to the good will of a member of the LTD list. There was a group activity scheduled for the Saturday evening and I told some people that I couldn't join in since I was going to Bruce's concert. All the ones I talked to, and the others as well, knew about Bruce and were quite happy for me. On Sunday morning the show was a good breakfast topic. Bruce is well-know and appreciated in those (theological) waters. But not everywhere, I agree. Maybe Bruce is too serious for most rockers or youths and is lacking in glamour that seems to be what it takes to be known these times around. Jean-Guy ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Jul 2002 00:14:59 +0100 From: "Trevor Broad" Subject: My thoughts Nearly 30 years have passed since I heard my first Springsteen album. I have changed a lot since, but the music has always been there for me. I was nervous about hearing The Rising. I need not have worried. It is more than I could have hoped for. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Jul 2002 08:41:54 -0400 From: Jon Boroshok Subject: The Rising/Counting on a Miracle For anyone who may have been worried about songs on The Rising sounding too topical about September 11, listen to the title track (The Rising) and Counting on a Miracle again now that the none coal miners have been rescued. The Rising (track) can certainly be interpreted differently - to being about survival. Wanna bet Bruce dedicated on of those two songs to the miners and/or their rescuers? JB ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Jul 2002 10:18:18 -0400 From: "Linda" Subject: "The Rising" Review from the Cleveland Plain Dealer Hi Folks - This is the link to the review of "The Rising" in Sunday's Plain Dealer. http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/plaindealer/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/entertainment/1027762326300770.xml If you have trouble with it loading, go to www.plaindealer.com ; under ARTS click on the word "More Stories"; on this page, scroll down all the stories to the left side of the page (Ted Danson, John Ritter, etc); and click on the underlined letter L No headline on this page mentions Bruce, just that "L" which is the first letter of the headline it will take you to. If you're reading this on a day other than Sunday, you can find it in the archives by today'y date. Enjoy. Linda in Cleveland [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Jul 2002 13:18:01 -0700 From: Jennifer Brindle Subject: The Rising and GA Okay. Okay. I have been sorely tested and find myself lacking. I received my copy of The Rising in the mail yesterday, and to hell with integrity concerning GA tickets. I'm going to the show! Now I have to find tickets. This music toooo good to pass up! Bruce, I bow to you. Your music has again swept me into new consciousness. Maybe GA isn't so bad after all. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Jul 2002 11:05:58 -0400 From: "pjaco7@earthlink.net" Subject: Rocky Mountain News review Mark Brown in the Rocky Mtn. News here in Denver provided a thoughtful and interesting review of The Rising in Saturday's paper, including a track by track review... http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/music/article/0,1299,DRMN_54_1285602,0 0.html Paul Denver, CO - -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ . ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Jul 2002 13:17:58 EDT From: ALateJuliet@aol.com Subject: Bruce in The Record 7/28/02 Reprinted from the North Jersey "The Record" without permission. Springsteen's tour driven by events of Sept. 11 Sunday, July 28, 2002 By BOB IVRY Staff Writer >BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (RIC FRANCIS/THE RECORD) Over the last decade, the King of Rock-and-Roll has traded his crown for another: King of the Car Pool. "He's been known to take his turn," says a fellow member of the Chapel Beach Club in Sea Bright. "He's very good with the kids." On his new album, "The Rising," Bruce Springsteen has, in effect, expanded the car pool to include his entire audience. With so many of its songs tapping the grief of Sept. 11, "The Rising" marks yet another transformation in Springsteen's public evolution. Now he's a consoling patriarch, taking a wounded world upon his knee. Here's the dilemma, though: Who listens to Dad? Springsteen himself seems to expect this will be a tough sell. He knows the album market is depressed - dominated by acts half his age. He is working harder than ever to promote himself as a 52-year-old who represents rock-and-roll's future as well as its past. Bruce and the E Street Band will mark the album's release with a Tuesday performance live from Asbury Park's Convention Hall on NBC's "Today" show. That night, Springsteen will be a guest on both ABC's "Nightline" and "UpClose." Then there will be two performances on CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman," Thursday and Friday. On Aug. 7, at the Continental Airlines Arena, Bruce and the band start a tour that will attempt to sculpt hot arena rock from the cold stone of tragedy. Such uninhibited courting of the national media is unprecedented for the normally coy Springsteen. But the decision to perform 46 shows in 46 cities - with plans to return to selected venues in 2003 - has been hailed by industry insiders as a brilliant business move. "There will be a great deal of heat surrounding the shows," says Gary Bongiovanni, editor in chief of Pollstar, which tracks the concert industry. "With one opportunity to see Bruce, people will be scheming and clawing to get tickets. I'd be shocked if there were any tickets left unsold." Maybe so. But in places like Portland, Phoenix, and St. Louis - where there's no empty sky and no empty seat on the train to serve as relentless reminders of all that we lost on Sept. 11 - good tickets are still available for August shows. Part of the reason could be the $75 ticket price. Although Springsteen's price is far below the $100 and $200 asked by U2 and Paul McCartney, it's a bit high for, say, a firefighter or a cop, especially when you figure in the cost of parking, snacks, and a baby sitter. "Could Bruce be out there with a cheaper ticket price? Yes," says John Scher, a longtime New Jersey concert promoter - he promoted performances at the legendary Capitol Theater in Passaic during Springsteen's salad days. Still, says Scher, "there's an enormous desire for Bruce's fans to see him with the E Street Band, who are considered Bruce's comrades in arms. The shows will sell out, and people who can't get in will have to do the next best thing - buy the record." And a remarkable record it is, if only because there are no car songs on "The Rising." Instead, "The Rising" offers 15 songs - five that directly address the tragedy of Sept. 11 (the title song, "Into the Fire," "Empty Sky," "You're Missing," and "My City of Ruins," whose original subject was Asbury Park) and another five that may have been inspired by the events of September. This is Springsteen's first full-length album with the entire E Street Band since 1984's "Born in the U.S.A." Is it a catharsis, or does it merely reopen wounds? "This feels to me like the right record at the right time from the right artist," says Dennis Elsas, a New York deejay for 30 years, now at WFUV-FM. Springsteen works from a deep reservoir of trust among music fans of a certain age. Many see him as the sort of performer who could face down the horror of Sept. 11 in the verses, while offering hope in the choruses. "We turn to a songwriter like Bruce Springsteen for some comfort and understanding and he's given us a whole album of his process in dealing with 9/11," says Rita Houston, music director at WFUV. Some of the songs sound so raw that translating them to a 20,000-seat arena seems next to impossible. But Elsas, for one, is willing to wait and see. "The show will certainly play differently here than it will in the Midwest," Elsas says. "Here, there will be a great communal catharsis. On his last tour, Bruce talked about the power, the promise, and the mystery of rock-and-roll. On this tour, I expect a celebration, but also something else - - not prayer, that's too trite - but a show of emotion." Julia Keller, a columnist for the Chicago Tribune and a longtime fan, says she thinks Springsteen has transcended the vicissitudes of mere relevance and landed in a more secure place. "At some point, you lose the mantle of cultural spokesperson and move into something more important," Keller says. "There is always a role for the cultural sage, the artist who has moved past the facile affirmations of popularity, and can speak to and about something more lasting. Springsteen, now that he's not the freshest face around, can speak more from his own heart, and not worry about focus groups. He's evolved past demographics." Meanwhile, on the Asbury Park boardwalk, the legend of the The Boss and his glory days there has dimmed. Paul Muirfield, a lanky, multiply pierced 18-year-old from Matawan, practices his stunt bicycling while his friend, 17-year-old Nicole Latif of Wall Township, provides an audience. "My mom is in love with Bruce," Muirfield says. "I like a few of his songs, but I couldn't tell you the names." When he thinks about Sept. 11, Muirfield thinks of a song called "Wait and Bleed" by the aggressive rap-metal band Slipknot. Latif thinks that's funny - all Muirfield ever talks about is Slipknot, she says. She can't think of any good music about Sept. 11. "I used to listen to Bruce Springsteen with my dad," Latif says. "But now my parents are divorced and I don't see him much anymore." Springsteen's U.S. album sales, last 10 years "Human Touch" (1992), 1.2 million "Lucky Town" (1992), 874,000 "Greatest Hits" (1995), 3.1 million "The Ghost of Tom Joad" (1995), 625,000 "Tracks" (1998), 271,000 (boxed set) "18 Tracks" (1999), 212,000 "Live in New York City" (2001), 346,000 Source: Nielsen SoundScan Bob Ivry's e-mail address is ivry@northjersey.com ------------------------------ End of LuckyTown Digest V9 #49 ****************************** ********************************************************************* ** LuckyTown WWW URL ** The LuckyTown FAQ, back issues, web-based subscription/unsubscription, and many other things can be found on the LuckyTown WWW Page: http://www.luckytown.org ** LuckyTown mailing list addresses ** You can send email to go into the next LuckyTown Digest to: luckytown@luckytown.org You can send email to go into the next LuckyTown-Ads Digest to: luckytown-ads@luckytown.org Any questions for the list admin should be emailed to: owner-luckytown@luckytown.org To unsubscribe, send email to majordomo@luckytown.org with message body: unsubscribe luckytown-digest To get further information on how to subscribe/unsubscribe/change your subscription address, as well as the other available commands, send email to majordomo@luckytown.org with message body: help ********************************************************************* The contents of this digest are not necessarily approved by the list admin.