From: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org (LuckyTown Digest) To: luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Subject: LuckyTown Digest V9 #56 Reply-To: luckytown@luckytown.org Sender: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Errors-To: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Precedence: bulk LuckyTown Digest Monday, August 5 2002 Volume 09 : Number 056 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: Rehearsal show ["Ilene F. Winkler" ] 'The Oprah of Rock'n'Roll: Bruce Springsteen's new album, "The Rising," takes a soft, unsatisfying' (The Weekly Standard) [] Ticket Auction for 8/7 ["Sheehan, Billie Jo" ] Waiting on a Sunny Day [Bob Handlin ] Random Hits, misses and curve balls... ["Brian Hedden" ] Re: LuckyTown Digest V9 #54 [Kevin McClintock ] The Rising may be too depressing ["Ron Kern, ASGCA" ] My take ["Michael Reed" ] The Rising (and the promotion) -- a huge disappointment ["Joel Ransom" Subject: Rehearsal show Hi all, I was lucky lucky lucky and got into the last rehearsal show thanks to the folks who organized the drop line. All I can say is it was so moving and exciting, and the new songs work so much better live than I had thought they would. Thanks to the drop line being allowed in before the invited guests (how's that for being fan friendly), we were standing right behind the VIP section, which seemed to fill up mostly with firefighter families and friends. At first people weren't sure how to relate to the new songs, started clapping for the beginning of The Rising, but Bruce stopped that. Once the song started it was almost total silence in the audience as people were just blown away I think by the emotion and drama of the way the band presented The Rising and the other "serious" songs. Of course a lot of us were tremendously affected by 9/11 in this area, and I have to agree with Stu (as usual) when he said how deeply this album has moved people here and how helpful it's been. I was talking to someone I know who was also at the show and we were both saying how when something really awful happens to you, you eventually have to either give up completely or pick yourself up...and go to a Springsteen show! To me that's what Mary's Place is...how do you live broken hearted, how do you get the party started, not sure but let's party on anyway. Even Waiting on a Sunny Day which is really a silly song has that feeling to it, and in concert they are using it as a tension breaker very effectively. The show we saw also was very effective mixing in songs like Darkness, Badlands, and Backstreets with the new material. And Born to Run and a couple of other songs let everyone cut loose and have a lot of fun. Finale once again was LOHAD which is even more appropriate now than before. Anyway, to the people who aren't so happy with The Rising, I would say, don't judge until you have seen the show (if you can), listen to the album a few times with headphones and let it wash over you. At first I thought it was kind of repetitive and simplistic, like others have said, but when you listen especially to You're Missing a few times you see that's just the effect Bruce wanted and just what happened to thousands of people after 9/11...everything was exactly the same (everything is everything) but it was also totally different. The song just brings me to tears every time I hear it. Well, I couldn't get tickets to any of the real shows, hopefully next year, but I guarantee you all will have a fantastic time, even if you're far away from NYC and the direct effect of 9/11. The songs work on a lot of levels...we may not have life everlasting but we have Bruce to get us through the bad times as well as the good and this show will leave you feeling really good. Ilene ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 03 Aug 2002 13:34:18 -0500 From: Barry Kaplovitz Subject: 'The Oprah of Rock'n'Roll: Bruce Springsteen's new album, "The Rising," takes a soft, unsatisfying' (The Weekly Standard) The Weekly Standard Online August 2, 2002 The Oprah of Rock'n'Roll Bruce Springsteen's new album, "The Rising," takes a soft, unsatisfying look at September 11. by David Skinner Article At: http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/001/526lkkqe.asp ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Aug 2002 15:07:32 -0400 From: "Sheehan, Billie Jo" Subject: Ticket Auction for 8/7 Support Hackensack Riverkeeper with Springsteen Charity Ticket Auction! Bid on two tickets for Bruce Springsteen's sold out "The Rising" Tour for the show at Continental Airlines Arena on August 7th and benefit Hackensack Riverkeeper! Bidding will close at 3PM on August 6th. Hackensack Riverkeeper has secured 2 tickets for Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band's Kickoff U.S. Tour date, August 7th at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford. This is your chance to win them by donating to Hackensack Riverkeeper! All winning bids will be tax deductible above the face value of the tickets. In order to bid on these tickets, please send your bid to: kathyu@hackensackriverkeeper.org . Hackensack Riverkeeper will update its homepage regularly throughout the day with the current bids, so please visit www.hackensackriverkeeper.org prior to bidding. When bidding, please be sure to send: * Your full name, address, and email address * Your daytime and evening phone number * Your bid amount Bidding will close at 3pm (EST) on Tuesday, August 6th. Payment options will include credit card at confirmation of winning or, certified check or money order at pickup. The winning bid above the face value of the tickets will be tax deductible. In the end, the winning bid will be determined by the time stamp as shown on Hackensack Riverkeeper's Outlook -- an example is shown below: From: Joe Smith joesmith@aol.com Sent: Wed. 7/24/02 2:45 PM To: kathyu@hackensackriverkeeper.org Subject: Tickets for the Springsteen Auction Hackensack Riverkeeper is a 501(c)(3) tax-deductible, charitable organization. Thanks, Billie Jo Sheehan Metropolitan Division Meter Inspection 150 Circle Avenue Clifton, NJ 07011 973-365-2880 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 03 Aug 2002 11:55:57 -0400 From: Bob Handlin Subject: Waiting on a Sunny Day I've been reading various reviews and forums and it feels like people are universally declaring this song a clunker. (As in "there are a few lousy songs, like Waiting...") When you say this, you're pretty much saying that one of the great voices of the late 20th century accidentally threw in a clunker as the third song of a masterwork. "Yep, I've had the album two whole days and this song definitely stinks." After following this guy for so many years, you'd think we'd dig a little deeper first, but, I guess not. Here's what I think: Bruce climbs into a variety of characters, and tells you what the world looks like when you're standing in their shoes. The premise in Waiting is: Not everyone grieves the same way. I've met people who think and act just like this character. For every Woody Allen type who spends days on end staring at the walls and thinking deep thoughts about death, there are those whose world view protects them from such depths. When you write off this song, are you saying that you've never heard a truly sophomoric tale of contact from beyond? I know I have. I've absolutely been on the other end of "not a cloud in the sky, but it was raining. Hmmm, must have been Auntie Mabel crying from heaven..." Need direct evidence? Look no further than the Time article. Bruce seems to have spent some time talking to loved ones of the victims. Didn't it strike you that one of the widows, while speaking very highly of Bruce, throws in: "The only thing that bothered me is when he married Julianne." Huh? The comment doesn't seem to fit the mood of the moment. Could it be that not everyone living in the shadow of 9/11 thinks deep thoughts 24 hours a day? Do you mean to tell me that the victims of 9/11 actually represent a mosaic of viewpoints? That not everyone experiences the world in exactly the same way? The brilliance of The Rising is its empathy. Waiting on a Sunny Day is empathetic a substantial swath of 9/11 victims. I guess I'm proud of myself that my trust in Bruce's judgement gives me pause before I pick apart a particular choice he's made. I guess that's why I find most of the song-by-song breakdowns from the listening parties and first reactions a bit hard to swallow. I remember clearly that way back when, it took weeks before Darkness really started to sink in. I'm not ready to pass judgement on any of the work just yet... That said, I'm still trying to figure out how "Let's Be Friends" fits ;) Bob ================================Bob Handlin bhandlin@mediaone.net =============================== ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Aug 2002 17:51:18 -0400 From: "Brian Hedden" Subject: Random Hits, misses and curve balls... I was emailing a friend about this new CD and I put forth a few random tidbits about what I thought about it. I figure I was on a mini-roll so I'd take it public... First off I cannot stress enough my hatred for "Let's Be Friends (Skin to Skin)". I know someone mentioned about the potential for it selling records but I can't see it. Not to mention it sounds a lot like another song that was already a hit although the title and artist escape me. Musically it might be, to me, the weakest song penned. "Waitin' on a Sunny Day" sounds alot like what would happen if John Mellencamp did Billy Joel's "Allentown". Kinda like a musical, "You put your peanut butter in my chocolate". Got a really nice groove though and something tells me if 20,000 people clap along with this one it could be a pretty good audience participation number. Is it just me or on several of the tracks you keep waiting to hear Jeff Lynne jump in and start singing, "Everybody needs somebody to lean on...". I always dug The Travelling Wilburys so it's not a bad thing and something about the production values screams it to me. Okay, so people are saying that Bruce took U2's GA idea and ran with it for this tour. It also seems like Brendan O'Brien borrowed from U2 as well. Anyone familiar with the last few U2 discs'll know what I'm talking about. Listen to Max' drum sound that kicks off a few of the songs. An over produced rap beat that lead off more natural sounding instruments. "Walk On"? "Mysterious Ways"? "The Fuse"? Have I mentioned how much I couldn't stand "Let's Be Friends (Skin on Skin)"? :-) Did anyone almost expect Bruce to start singing "I was bruised and battered/I couldn't tell what I felt" at the start of "The Fuse"? "Worlds Apart"...probably my favorite track on the whole disc, just a notch above "The Rising" and "Into the Fire". Talk about a challenging number. Extremely complex song to sing, the background vocalists help make this song as well. This seems to be an updated, current "Youngstown" in terms of sound and such. In fact, this could be "Youngstown's" replacement because I see this one being a true scorcher live. A total curveball in terms of composition. This one's a perfect ten. A message to Nils: Remember that map you worked out for "Youngstown", that chart that let you go off on a tangent and then come back? You got a few days before the opener.... Enough with the needing kisses from someone's lips. Given how fast this one came out I think it was basically all that seemed available to Bruce at the time. Give it another year and replacement lyrics I'm sure would've been found. Then again, God knows what complete songs might've been omitted. Maybe he would've omitted "Let's Be Friends (Skin on Skin)" (didn't really care for that one). :-) "Into the Fire" may be the most beautiful sounding song overall that I've ever heard him do. I hadn't heard this one before the Today show broadcast and when I heard it I literally got choked up over it. What a gorgeous sounding song. This CD has sonic elements of "Lucky Town" and the writing style of "The Ghost of Tom Joad". Even though it might not seem like it right now I think this CD is a modern day classic, a near work of art. To anyone who thought that those periods might've been "down time" in Bruce's career I prefer to think of it as a necessary step (I loved "Lucky Town" and the Joad disc myself). To me it paid off. The style of "Further On (Up The Road)" could've been taken from "Lucky Town". Hell, it could be the song itself. Most of the writing on this CD reminds me of the Joad era. Can someone tell me where I've heard the intro to "My City of Ruins" before? There's a song at the tip of my tongue and I can't place it. "Mary's Place"..."Rosalita" and "The E Street Shuffle" rolled into a 2002 wrap. I almost felt like singing "Everybody form a line" at times. :-) And finally, I think Bruce should be the envy of any other artist with similar longevity. I mean nowadays listening to Mick Jagger singing, "Miss You" or Keith Richards singing "Little T&A" is the equivalent to watching your grandfather sit by the fire and reminisce about trysts from earlier times. As good as The Who are come on...be relevant, put something out and tour around it instead of milking your past. Bruce easily manages to keep him self relevant and important. His voice is as powerful as ever and lyrically, with a few exceptions, is still as powerful a song writer. His band remains the best pure rock band today. Sure sounds great to me. See you "in the swamps of Jersey" on Wednesday, Brian [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 04 Aug 2002 01:20:19 -0400 From: Kevin McClintock Subject: Re: LuckyTown Digest V9 #54 Singles from "The Rising": I was working at the US Embassy in Panama in 1992. One morning the DJ on Armed Forces radio said that the next single from Bruce was going to be "57 Channels". I said no way. There are many radio friendly songs on Human Touch that would make much better singles than "57 Channels", not that I did not like the song, but it just did not sound like a single. I have read mention here of "You're Missing" as a single. I think this would be as horrible a choice as "57 Channels". I have 3 children and when I hear the line about the children asking if "you will be in our arms tonight", I get a lump in my throat because the line is so haunting. I find the song very emotional, but totally not radio friendly. I believe the two strongest songs for radio airplay would be "Waiting on a Sunny Day" and "Lets be Friends". After these two I think maybe "Mary's Place", but the song is a little bit long for a single. I could see "Into the Fire" as a fourth single. Also I could see "My City of Ruins" as the last single from the album. While many of the songs sound great to us long time Bruce fans who have been prone to travel thousands of miles to see Bruce in concert, I believe that a song like "Waiting on a Sunny Day" would be the most well received by pop radio. I believe that song has the potential to be number one on the Adult Contemporary charts. I don't know if it could garner enough airplay on the pure pop stations to become Bruce's first number one single, but I suppose it is possible. I went shopping at Giant, the DC grocery chain and picked up "Rolling Stone". Bruce was also on the cover of "Time" (which I had already picked up) at the checkout. I told my wife it feels like it must be 1984 seeing Bruce on the cover of Time and Rolling Stone. I have been predicting to people at work that Bruce is going to have a year like Carlos Santana had a couple of years ago with "Supernatural". Maybe I am just an old Bruce fan, but I have a feeling that "The Rising" is going to be as big as "SuperNatural" was. What do some of you think? [text/x-vcard attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 04 Aug 2002 13:34:16 -0500 From: "Ron Kern, ASGCA" Subject: The Rising may be too depressing My first simpressions of the Rising were not positive; it seemed over produced, repetitive and devoid of much melody. I have been listening to Bruce since 1975 and his music has been a major part of the soundtrack to my life. I have been giving the CD and LP a listen every chance I get and a few of the songs have started to appeal to me a little more. (The Rising is a wonderful poem and I'd love to hear Bruce's acoustic demo.) But, what I have found is that upon repeated listens, the heartbreaking material and imagery just depresses and upsets me to the point that I have to turn off the music and get away from it. There just is not enough hope found on the record. Much of what is written about on the album is found and dealt with in life everday; it is not unique to 9/11. I know, as I've seen my share the past year. Yet we must go on and find that inspiration to go on and live our lives. I am not finding it on this album, not that Bruce owes me any inspiration. Its just that I'm afraid that I will have to program the three or four songs that don't get to me and enjoy those. Here's hoping for a good tour! ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 4 Aug 2002 22:59:13 -0400 From: "Michael Reed" Subject: My take Hello. I don't contribute often enough to the digest. To me, music is an inherent feeling - you personally are either moved, or you're not. If you are, then the music is good "for you," if not no amount of praise will help it. I am one who honestly, sincerely take Human Touch over E St Shuffle any day. But I recognize I am in the minority. I have no problem with it, I just point it out to avoid any venomous response. Now, the reason I am posting. I wanted to give my review (don't we all) of The Rising. First song by song, but at the end, as an album, since I feel that is as important an aspect as well. There are a few really high spots that touched me on The Rising, a few middle of the road feeling, and a couple of letdowns. I have already changed the order of the songs for my own car tape, as many early songs don't "do it" for me. the disappointers Empty Sky - lyrically, it is among the best songs. But the chorus overplays the title too much for me. I am probably more disappointed since this song garnered much praise in reviews, and I am disappointed not to enjoy it more. I will keep listening. Waitin' On A Sunny Day - surprised it made the album at all, as the lyrics are not up to par at all. Countin' On A Miracle - I don't know what to say, the chorus is annoying for more to listen to - just not one I cared for. the songs that were okay Into The Fire, Nothing Man, Let's Be Friends - more good lyrics with average music backing them up. My City Of Ruins - I like it, I really do, I just don't find myself loving it. I will say it works in great context when applied to 9/11. What did those of you who heard it before 9/11 happened think? Did it seem like an interesting statement or overblown hyperbole? The Rising - I am very surprised this was the single, despite being the title track. The li-li's aren't sing-alongable easily, the bridge gets in the way of the song, and the catfish line really stands out in a bad way. The spirit is obvious, but there is much better work on this album. It would be interesting if this becomes first #1 Billboard single and how it is reacted to. Mary's Place - will be great live - the "shout from the crowd" line will be awesome. It DOES seem very out of place on the context of the songlist, though. Am I the only one who thought that unlike this time, Springsteen allowed the party song in an album where it singularly stands out, a 180 from Fire not being considered for Darkness despite the quality of it? Let's Be Friends, The Fuse - the two songs I need to hear again to be sure about. They both are good (particularly the chorus line hook in The Fuse) but didn't strike me as uplifting. the topflight Lonesome Day - probably my second favorite album cut and a perfect song to open the album. A case of lyrics not matching the tenor of the song in the best of ways, as the singer is pushing himself through this lonesome day even without a real reason to. Paradise - great sounding recording, with lush gorgeous instrumentals. Springsteen's diction is a little off in spots (my wife didn't get the first verse until after I explained it) but well written. It is slightly less than... You're Missing - a truly great reaction to 9/11, the one song really worthy of mentioning in conjunction with the tragedy. Where I felt Empty Sky grates musically, and The Rising meanders, Missing has a lush haunting all the way through, and personalizes the story while making it general enough for everyone to appreciate. Worlds Apart - excellently recorded song, and while the lyrics are a bit naive, they are good enough to emote a feeling rather than overpowering it. The vocal performance here is terrific, and I wonder how well it will go over on stage in comparison. Further On - quite simply, and unapologetically, my favorite song on the album. It is clearly not about the 9/11 incident (obvious, since it is not a "new" song) as the album is being marketed, and perhaps wouldn't garner notice. But it really works for me. I feel a real connection to it. Sue me, okay? And last, the album. I do feel the album is disjointed at times. Mary's Place doesn't belong on it at all, and it happens that my least favorite songs all a are located near the same portion on the album. I really dislike the 9/11 marketing, as the songs need to be taken for themselves. War, for instance, was clearly a reaction to the Vietnam situation initially, but the song was so powerful that by the time Springsteen performed it, it was beyond a specific statement, in a way that something like Eve Of Destruction, I feel, wasn't. There is nothing on this album that stands clearly marked as a reaction to 9/11 that is truly great - You're Missing is great, but it needs no inference to 9/11 to work. Empty Sky only works in comparison to 9.11, and I didn't feel it was a great spokesman for it. Sorry. Lastly, while I am not overjoyed with The Rising, even after seeing it performed, since it is a single, I sort of hope that instead of a concert opener, it becomes an encore. It seems better placed there. But then again, what do I now? Thanks for letting me ramble. - - - Michael Reed Maintainer of the alt.fan.james-bond FAQ reed55@core.com reed@hmss.com Her Majesty's Secret Servant - www.hmss.com alt.fan.james-bond FAQ - www.ianfleming.org/mkkbb/afjbfaq/ ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/james-bond/FAQ [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 4 Aug 2002 21:51:43 -0700 From: "Joel Ransom" Subject: The Rising (and the promotion) -- a huge disappointment >"Waitin' on a Sunny Day" stands out: it's incredible how hackneyed some of the lyrics are I won't bother to do the "injured Bruce fan" routine because you've dared criticized the album (I too don't love everything on it) but I must take exception regarding "Sunny Day." This is currently my favorite song from "The Rising." It's infectious, tons of fun, and the lyrics, stylistically, are exactly what they should be, and I think just what Bruce intended. There are cliches in there, but I love every single one! I demand that you recant! Now about the album overall. I think it tracks really well, in that you can listen to it from start to finish and it feels like a cohesive whole. I think roughly half the songs are excellent, songs that I will listen to again and again. (already we're way ahead of 90 percent of new releases) Of the rest of the songs, some I think are good, but I bet they won't get too many repeat plays from me. Some are duds perhaps, and on a couple Bruce's voice is--dare I say it--showing his age. But what the hell, I would say the same about any one of his albums. I must say I'm particularly disappointed with My City of Ruins, which I expected to be a standout after the excellent performance of it during the Tribute special. You can quibble about various aspects of The Rising every which way, but to me, it shows Bruce just as he is--not infallible, sometimes overreaching, producing great music with as much honesty and humanity as he can muster. Hey pal, it's not as easy as it looks! Can't wait til he gets to San Jose! - -joel ------------------------------ End of LuckyTown Digest V9 #56 ****************************** ********************************************************************* ** 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.