The Rising

Critiquing this album is difficult. The cultural undertone through this is clear, Bruce Springsteen certainly had a lot of pressure on him. This album is probably too long. Good as a kind of social comforter, almost in the same way a person would use a hymnbook. But for me, a person who was too young for the cultural change it's difficult to find much in this album. Although I will definitely praise its promotion of love and lack of overt patriotism.

For all the reviewers' lofty talk of the album's themes and strengths, this album is underwhelming for any group, especially for a return of the E Street Band. The opener Lonesome Day would have been a strong opener for a band with lesser expectations; other than the intriguing Worlds Apart few other tracks really stood out or made an impression. With weak lyrics and repetitive and predictable song structures, the album struck me as a collection of filler from Seeger or Mellencamp sessions. Springsteen deservedly has at least a half-dozen entries on this 1001 list - The Rising should not be among them.

No wonder politicians love Bruce. An American icon of the 80s with deep songwriting, here he's at his most lovable it's actually a shame this didn't break canon like his classic records did (I blame modern radio formats), but at least it had its mark reaching platinum and winning a grammy. It's classic Bruce with strong ties to country and folk, but fits surprisingly well with the alt rock of the era. The mood is overall very optimistic and uplifting, especially with the gospel back vocals. It's a direct response to 9/11 to cheer up the people, and he's one of the voices to pull it off. The greatest weakness here is the expected double album syndrome. I think his heavy heartland sound is a bit too much for over an hour, especially since it doesn't vary too much. Doesn't help that every song is 4-6 minutes long, where even the songs you kinda like feel like they drag on. The first 6 and last 5 songs are (mostly) great, the whole middle third feels like filler and is at best decent. There's an unnecessary emphasis on happy dance tracks that are a bit too busy or abundant to take it all in, distracting from the quieter, more personal songs like "Empty Sky." But the good songs hit their mark really well, supported by a fantastic production effort where everything is loud and clear, and a wild performance by Bruce that I'd love to hear him perform these songs live. If you want more great songs by Bruce to add to your playlist, here you go. Songs like "Mary's Place" are good standalone pieces, but it reminds me too much of some of his better songs where I have to find things like the sax solo to look forward to. But judging it from a cohesive album point-of-view, it's a bit too much loud Bruce for me to enjoy all at once, hence my 3 stars. Favorites: Waitin on a Sunny Day, Nothing Man, Empty Sky, You're Missing, The Rising, My City of Ruins

C'était bon, mais sans plus, j'étais honnêtement surpris de voir que c'était un critical acclaim.

Not bad, could’ve been better if it was cut down to just the best tracks

Above average, but not my favorite Springsteen album. 3.5

There are Springsteens albums that I like more. It's good. But not great.

Best Song: Into the Fire. I'm a sucker for any gospel-style song, even if lyrically this one is about as milquetoast as it gets. Worst Song: Let's Be Friends (Skin to Skin). Just feels creepy and predatory. Overall: Bruce Springsteen is the epitome of serviceable, inoffensive yet unexciting music. Listening to a Springsteen album, it's easy to forget that you're even listening to music. It is room temperature water. It sounds the way store-brand hot dogs taste. You're not mad to have a hot dog, and hey everyone likes a barbeque, but you're not asking for the recipe.

good

It was fine for me, but nothing that I really embraced. I appreciated the emotions conveyed and that was done in an excellent way. Still not enough to make me want to return to listen.

Paar hits, voor de rest typical bruce.

Muy buen álbum. Gracias

Couldn't find anything wrong or right about this album. I guess it's impressive that I found my head nodding along to a couple songs even though objectively I couldn't find anything I enjoyed about them. Still nothing here that blew me away.

Elder statesman rokk. Hef aldrei verið sérstaklega hrifinn af röddinni hans, en þetta rennur nokkuð ljúflega í gegn. Myndi þó seint setja þessa plötu á topp 1000 listann minn.

Prima maar doordat het uit 2002/3 komt zitten er van die bijzondere keuzes in die erg oud klinken

It's a long one! SOme good songs, a bit samey in places

The "Nebraska" album will always serve as the litmus test for what Springsteen is capable of delivering and why this particular review forewarns that "The Rising" is mostly negative. Teetering on the edge of Americana, rock and folk, this is where Springsteen shines the most and this album "The Rising" misses that mark. The angsty and relatable Springsteen was clearly gone in 2002, and that's sad. His great tale in "Nebraska" was in being an American story, whether it was political discourse or sentimental short stories, he embodied American musicianship for pop-rock scene probably in the same influential way that Aaron Copland's "Appalachian Spring" put American ballet/orchestral contributions on the classical radar. Granted, 2002's album was probably being written and produced in late 90s through 2001, when America experienced significant change due to 9/11 attacks on NYC. Political opportunists more concerned with power grabs and emotional appeals created an adversarial political environment that we still feel two decades later. Perhaps this is what overshadows the pop-positivity of this album, giving Springsteen a new America to sing about. Not all is lost though, the song "Paradise" harkens back to the pensive gravitas of his earlier works, concluding with "My City of Ruins".

i really like bruce springsteen i feel like a lot of his music is fun and sing along able but this album was just so repetitive and predictable it just got boring after awhile.

Well yeah...this album does *sound nice* But it doesn't really hit me - I'm not expecting anything edgy, or even necessarily wanting that. Just some musical magic I suppose, as corny as that sounds. And everything just flows on by - I'm bobbing my head a little bit because it's utterly and completely accessible and frankly...melodically and rhythmically predictable. Inherently nothing at all wrong with that, but I wonder if you have to be a real Springsteen FAN to love and connect with this album. I'd probably never complain if this were playing, it's easy to listen to, but I don't think I'll ever remember any of these songs. 5/10 for just fine. 3 stars.

An older Bruce dealing with some shit as usual. Always a fan.

Max's drums have never sounded better. I've had this one lying around for a while and never gave it a listen. That was a mistake. It's a great record and a solid "comeback" for Bruce.

A lot of tracks here that are good listening but also not what I think of when The Boss. One of the few Bruce albums I already owned but this made me sit and listen to it which is what is needed for an album like this...

A bit too earnest

It was alright. I’m not a fan of Springsteen but it was easy listening. 3*

A little too spiritual for me. Certainly the second listen helped and I didn't mind Empty Sky, Worlds Apart, and The Fuse. I suppose Mary's Place also but still not something I'm i in a rush to listen again.

I'm between 3.5 and 4.0 on this one. It's really good. It has a sound that reminds me more of the early Springsteen (which is a good thing!) Solid album full of really good songs.

Quite good. 3.5/5

Laughed out loud when I saw this, literal back to back Springsteen albums after none in the first 300 we've heard. I said I was looking forward to more Bruce albums and it's time to reap what I've sown! For an album this late in his career, it's still really good. Veers into sounding like Eddie Vedder a couple times, but the tracks that hit me hit pretty hard. I enjoyed it. Favorite tracks: You're Missing, Lonesome Day, Nothing Man. Album art: Blurry Bruce photo, extremely 2000's looking cover. The font design screams "greatest hits album." Not a great look. 3.5/5

Bruce delivers a cello-filled treat for my inner boomer. I'm convinced that this is a country album at heart, with the expected post-2001 patriotism. Interesting writing, roots-rock instrumentals that are just too arena-forward.

Love the Boss and this is not an album I had heard before this playing. What a great American songwriter he is, he will be part of the late 20th Century great American Songbook no doubt. A good album but not his best. Liked "Lonesome Day" "Lets Be Friends (Skin to Skin)" "You're Missing" The Knopfler-like "Paradise" and the heart rending (Especially with what is happening in the Ukraine at my time of writing this!) "My City Of Ruins". The Boss is special and this is a good album but I am not sure it should be in this list.

Pleasant just doesn’t tickle my pickle

Not bad Bruce

Just good quality Springsteening

It's good but it's not amazing me.

An all-round decent album if notone I'm likely to come back to.

nekako san navikla na njegove brže, veselije pisme tako da mi je bilo neobično čut ovako nesto. ima tu dobrih tekstova, al na prvu nisan baš oduševljena pismama općenito. vjerojatno bi se nakon par slušanja dojam poboljša i ocjena bila veća

Možda sam samo očekivala malo više rocka pa me iznenadilo, dobar album al ništa posebno!

No good

Yea this wasn't bad I suppose. I've not listened to a full Springsteen album before. It kinda sounded how I expected it.

This was cool, would listen again.

A very murky sounding album from the Boss. Makes sense as it is a post 9-11 album.

I dig it. Begrudgingly

pretty good, but not like his original albums

Enjoyable, even if I am not as crazy about The Boss as a lot of other people

Not very remarkable, pretty much what you expect from a Bruce Springsteen album, although there is some development of the style. The only interesting song is "Worlds Apart."

Nice. Same charming Bruce. However, it sounds like a trendy 00's producer was deployed to give the Boss a little modern kick. Every track is smooth and contemporary, yet bland and gentrified. Fine to play at Starbucks.

Listened to this immediately after The War on Drugs' "Lost in the Dream" and it suffered for the comparison. Listened on a new day, and it did better, but still didn't really grab me. Much prefer angry cynical Springsteen than patriotic inspirational Springsteen. Fave track - "The Fuse"

strum that pussy like bruce springsteen

Very interesting album, great history behind it

Had to check on Song 2 if Bruce made a religious album. I'm just not a Springsteen person. Appreciate the band in the back, but the singing... uhg.

I'm almost sure he's had better; this is a little formulaic. Quite singable. I feel like this is also especially important for its context as a 9/11 catharsis album.

When Spike Lee came into town to promote The 25th Hour, he had a Q & A at what is now Everyman Islington. Someone had given him an Arsenal shirt; he immediately started playing the hooligan by applying American race relation tropes to the UK situation. Ah, I miss those innocent days… Anyway. Bought this album purely on the basis of the Springsteen song on the Spike Lee Joint’s soundtrack (‘The Fuse’) (I’m just going to say now that, for all sorts of reasons, the record company bloc had downloading and streaming coming for them from a mile away. The saw it, and waited for the catastrophe like a rabbit caught in the headlights. Buying an overpriced album because it’s the only way to enjoy a song at one’s leisure. Sheesh. It wasn’t home taping that killed music, it was EMI) Anyway. It sounded pompous then, and still sounds pompous now. The loathing I had for Springsteen many a year ago has mellowed to a grudging respect (although, tbh, why should anyone give a hoot about what I think about The Boss?) (Murder Inc was the song that forced me to give his back catalogue an honest reappraisal. Anyone who can do that must be half-way to good at the least) Bruce, like Spike, is a prisoner of the hype around him. Because we live in a hyper literal age now, once again, the circle has closed and he fits properly in the zeitgeist. But this album, nevertheless, belongs to a different time. About 20 years past. When fairly or not, not many people were too bothered about what he did, and his main constituency were men who then were about the age I am now. Nostalgia blunts our critical facilities, I fear…

Ok I suppose. A bit trite in places but some good jams here and there

Good

Happy sounds!

Some of Springsteen's hits I really like, such as Born To Run or Dancing In The Dark. But this album in general wasn't more than pleasant background listening for me. There's a couple of good tracks on here such as Lonesome Day and Worlds Apart. But most songs just feel like watered down, lukewarm semi-ballads that just don't go anywhere. You should know better by now Bruce. The album is also way too long. Would be much better if it would be cut down to about half of it's length with all the "standard fare" songs cut out.

Springsteen minus the muscle of his earlier albums. All very listenable, but no track jumped out as being one for the ages. What a storyteller though. Nobody else like this guy.

Prima album van Bruce.

Ja, dus echt een 'prima' plaatje, maar tegelijkertijd ook een soort van eendagsvlieg voor mij.

The Boss blijft leuk. Maar niet spectaculair.

Ik hou wel van Springsteen, en met dit album is ook niks mis. Maar het mist een beetje de scherpere randjes of puntigheid wat zijn oudere werk meer heeft.

Niets op aan te merken, behalve dat het niet heel spannend is.

Emo for boomers. I’m kidding, I just liked the idea of those words put together in a sentence like that. Anywho, I liked a lot of this record, thought a good bit of it was mediocre, and was completely and utterly blown away by the fact that I’ve never heard of a single person pointing out the fact that “Let’s Be Friends (Skin to Skin)” is basically that Sugar Ray song without the crumbling statues. I’m a changed man.

Lots of songs about the skies, day, earth... don't think it was intentional

I could tell it had some musical potential, but the lyrics were really simplistic and I already don't love country to start with. Would put 3.5 if I could!

The pumpkin spice latte of music. Enjoyable but basic

A lot of the same, but consistency is good

Songs drag on a majority of the time often reaching over 5 minutes except they just repeat the generic hook. Only a few songs are worthwhile which doesn’t make this Springsteen album much to come back to. 6.4/10

Strong start but overall average for me. A handful of belting tracks but elsewhere got a bit messy with different styles

The big boss. Leuk album maar niet speciaal. Vind springsteen zijn muziek wel vaak t zelfde na een tijdje

Bruce dat is te lang

Unpopular opinion, but I think it's better than Born in the USA. Enjoyable, but only as a background listen, though.

Enjoyed this but found it a bit repetitive at times. Favourite track was Lonesome Day. I was also pleasantly surprised by how much bari sax was on this album.

If I were 50+ and from New Jersey, 5 stars. I'm not.

Toby Keith if he was good and also not a conservative

Not really bothered about it, sounds pretty folky.

I like Springsteen but I don’t think I could eat a WHOLE one if you know what I mean. Never heard this album before and I don’t imagine I’ll go back to it. I enjoyed Mary’s Place. He has that uncanny ability to feel like he’s capturing the nostalgia of a nation whilst pushing everyone forward to change. Is that a bit much to suggest? Well, I enjoyed spending a bit of time in his company but on the whole was disappointed.

Why this album? He's just coasting, there's no fire. All good songs as you'd expect, but this is NOT one his best - there are at least half a dozen Springsteen albums I can name without even pausing for breath that are better than this. It's not that it's bad music (it's fine and I enjoyed it) but it's terrible curation (yet again).

I respect very much Bruce's place in the Pantheon of American rock music, and he deserves it. There are a handful of songs of his I really love, but simply as a matter of personal preference, his music just never "clicked" with me. I have no criticisms of him music; it genuinely is as simple as chemistry either being there or not, and for me and Bruce, it's just not.

Som alltid solid papparock fra brusern. Lett å høre på, fengende vokalmelodier og sjef stemme, men blir litt repetetivt.

Good true Springsteen

72 minutes is too long. The songs themselves are a mix of passable and bad. There was one toward the beginning where I thought "this is kind of catchy"

A really strong album with some great songs but a bit too lengthy for my liking with too many tracks I’d happy skip for any higher than a 3

Bit too redneck/overly long/Christian for me. Still not bad though.

Actually pretty upbeat singalong Bruce but dragged a little at points - good stuff tho

eh

Classic Bruce. A little mellower and more songs to God. But that describes all of us boomers, right?

Some really nice tracks but a bit of a slog at times.

I’m sorry James but I didn’t love it. However with time maybe I could grow more accustomed to Bruce and then maybe if I was in some kind of torture situation where a madman forced me to listen to Bruce Springsteen every minute of everyday then perhaps in the days following my clandestine rescue operation by the S.A.S I would actually begin to miss Bruce Springsteen like some sort of Stockholm syndrome sufferer.

I don't know I like Bruce's hits but just not a super fan

Album was long without any song really dragging. Felt like a fair bit of filler on there but still enjoyed some tunes.

Not bad but not that great and very long

Ehhh. I usually love Springsteen but this didn't do much for me. It wasn't as passionate as his others and was just so long. Mary's Place was excellent though

Exactly what I expected, but I also enjoyed it more than I expected. Maybe I'm more receptive to The Boss since seeing Blinded by the Light. Good film.

Not his best

Un bon album de boss 3.60*

It's fine. Note a Springsteen fan, but I can tell the man is a song writer.

Some of the songs little twee and soppy for me, some great ones in there. James has promised us greater albums, so I'll look forward to those

It's boring to me

He feels like Dave Matthews for my parents’ generation. This is some of his later work that I don’t think was as popular but it still had some songs that resonated with me and didn’t feel like they were pandering to an audience

Solid Americana, exactly what I expect from The Boss.

legalzinho mas muito felizinho e otimista pro meu gosto, além de bem repetitivo vocal fera, sax tbm

Ehh pretty good

It's a solid album. Bruce knows how to make good music with meaningful lyrics, but it's heavy - very heavy and not an easy listen. If this is on in the background, you can't listen to the lyrics or it immediately comes to the foreground.

Title track is pretty good, as is Mary's Place, rest is bland

I don't necessarily dislike Bruce Springsteen, but I find the most of this completely un-relatable for me. It's fine. It's fine. It's there.

Surprised by how much I enjoyed this. Perfect Monday morning music. A tad long but very pleasant otherwise. 3.5

perhaps someday the music of 2002 will appeal to me. but most of it remains offputting and unenjoyable to me in a way i find difficult to describe. fav track: paradise

Was ok - he has a great voice, no denying, but a bit mundane

Never a massive fan of The Boss even if he’s in his prime. A couple of songs sounded reasonably rousing while a couple seems pretty basic and childish. Right down the middle of the road for a 3

rätt så intetsägande album, åtminstone vid första lyssning. nära en tvåa

Did not hate it

kinda long but really easy to listen to. i'm absolutely not mad at this. feels like "sitting outside at a big park watching the band play while drinking beer with family and friends" music. kinda nondescript.

Good!

I’m not a huge Springsteen fan (unless it’s his stance on Trump), but the first four tracks on this album are just dull, pleasant but dull. ‘Countin’ on a Miracle’ finally injects some life into proceedings, which is definitely needed. ‘World’s apart’ also provides some interesting variety in style. How successful this is however is open to debate as before the band crash in it kind of feels like a clumsy approach to copy something Bruce has heard without an actual connection to it. Overall its just too long and boring

This starts slowly (and quite boringly, were I to be entirely honest); it takes until “Worlds Apart” before you start to get anything which feels a bit different and has a bit of life to it. Things pick up a bit from there on, and “Mary’s Place”, in particular, is a lively standout. The title track is pleasant to listen to, as is “Paradise” (although, if I were Simon and Garfunkel, I’d be looking for royalties because it sounded quite a lot like “The Sound of Silence” in places). I have been hovering between a 2* and 3* for this one; it’s probably a 2.5* album for me, but I have “Born to Run” at 3* - and this isn’t quite on the same level for me.

I'm on my third Springsteen album of this project. I am still very 'meh' about his voice. Lonesome Day was alright, I guess. Into The Fire, sounded like Christian rock and I was very much not there for it - it was far far too long as well. Waitin On A Sunny Day sounded like people should be line dancing to it until the sax and tinkly noises started, when it suddenly went all Christmassy. It also felt like it went on far, far, far too long despite being less than 4 and a half minutes. Nothing Man was forgettable. And then I zoned out until World's Apart started.... This is very much an album of it's time, isn't it? I cannot imagine any American writing that song at any time other than immediately post 9-11. It's trying so hard so hard to be worthy that it becomes cringey to me. And then the next song is called Let's Be Friends? Bruce being as subtle as a sledgehammer. I appreciate that 9-11 was almost unthinkable to people from the USA (and in many way, much of the rest of the world) and so songwriters are clearly going to use that experience to write lyrics to process those events. I also share a lot of Bruce Springsteen's politics, so there's not an ideological issue for me, but I definitely would have preferred not to listen to a whole album inspired by an act of terrorism. This definitely didn't make me like Bruce Springsteen's music more. 2/5

I was a senior in high school for 9/11 and it was a wild time to experience in person. This album is supposed to be The Boss's reflection on it during that time and it really misses the mark, especially when looking back on it 25 years later (almost to the date). Ultimately, this album isn't that good, by Bruce standards and 2002 rock music standards. Mostly forgettable at best...

I was never a Springsteen fan, although I like his early stuff ok. This album did not change my mind about later Springsteen.

Enjoyment: 4/10 Replayability: 3/10 Cohesion: 3/10 Flow/Pacing: 4/10 Artistic Merit: 5/10 Weighted Average: 3.75/10 Review: This was a struggle to get through. The backhalf of this album falls apart because it feels like he couldn't commit himself to the idea of another album centered around country rock-pop. Liked Song(s): Lonseome Day Disliked Song(s): Worlds Apart, Paradise Recommend? Maybe Heard Before? No

Well it's better than Born in the USA, but twice as long.

There is no world where this needs to be 72 minutes long.

Heel rustige muziek. Prima voor de achtergrond, maar valt me eigenlijk tegen van deze beroemdheid.

сколько же альбомов у брюса.... мне такой вайб вообще не нравится - 3 с натяжкой, хотя нет, даже 2 пусть будет

Too long and takes itself way too seriously.

I know, in my heart of hearts, one day I’ll love a Bruce Springsteen. Hope springs eternal. But today is not that day. The last few songs made listening to this otherwise awful album listenable. I think most songs could’ve been slashed, added like two more somber songs that didn’t attempt to blend numerous genres at once, and it could’ve been a fine tribute. Maybe not worth this list, but at least debatable. As it is, this is a shockingly poor addition to this list by a decent artist. This is, by far, a hot contender for worst album cover art on the list.

This album is evidence that once the creators of this list decide that they like you, they will include literally anything you produce. I love the boss as much as the next guy, but in what world is this awful album he recorded nearly 30 years after his prime a must listen? Honestly, this isn't even Bruce's fault. His best work is amazing, and even great artists almost never make high quality records in their late 50's. The blame for this falls squarely on the reviewers who appear to be actively trying tarnish his legacy by including this terrible album. Misc thoughts: -The early 00's production on this is killing my soul. If you told me this album was a collaboration between John Mellencamp and Matchbox 20 I would have believed you. - Is it just me or are the lyrics weirdly horny for an album about 9/11? -The piano riff from "My City in Ruins" is literally just "The Weight". Did they seriously think nobody would notice?

Pas fan

An album that is a far cry from Springsteen's best work, one that would be merely okay if it wasn't for the fact that it is over 70 minutes. I don't think I gained anything from listening to this and am left wondering why this needed to be on the list.

As a Bruce Springsteen fan I can tell you this is definitely one of the worst. Of all the Springsteen albums why was this one chosen?

Full of pathos, pretty overblown production, much too long. Springsteen just isn't for me and this one isn't even one of his better albums. Another average white guy that's WAY overrepresented here.

Nope. Too long. Too repetitive.

Я предпринимал попытку пару раз послушать Спрингстина и понял, что это НУ ВАЩЕ не мое поле интересов. Вот уже прям включая первую песню с альбома я чувствую запах старого салона какого-нибудь Lincoln и играющий на всю громкость adult contemporary радио-станцию для дедов и около-дедов 40+ которые чувствуют себя "американскими американцами" пока едут в каком нибудь поле посреди Верджинии. Короче, хуйня какая-то. Я слишком молодой и слишком нескучный чтоб это слушать, извините.

okay

The first album on this project that I almost gave up on. As someone who already struggles with Bruce, an hour plus of late period Bruce is not really something I'm really dying to devote my attention to. It's not that it's bad, it just is so aggressively what it is, and it's not for me. And there's so much of it. Sorry, Boss.

This was a really long, and tedious listen. Musically dull, and lyrically lacking any subtlety, Bruce Springsteen does absolutely nothing for me. I’m refraining from giving this a one because saying it was unlistenable would be an overstatement. I am baffled by the fact that Bruce has 5 albums on this list though.

no

This was incredibly mid but not bad enough for a 1 star.

Meh. Still not a fan of the Boss. He’s an ok songwriter, but this album drags. A lot

Someone heard Into The Fire and decided that's what every Christian song should sound like for the next 20+ years. Everything about this album feels early 2000s safe. Which I kind of understand as a reaction to 9/11.

Maybe I wasn't in the right mood, but I got bored of this and stopped listening about halfway through. The usual late Bruce output, love, loss and long desert roads. So-so.

Bloated and boring.

There's really nothing about this album that is remarkable or notable. Even Springsteen's voice is average. The whole thing just sort of plods along for double its deserving runtime, until it eventually runs out of steam.

I stopped listening. It’s too long and just not very good.

I already got The Rising yesterday with Goldfrapp and Seventh Tree (cover anyway). This however did nothing for me. Very stodgy, average, past prime Brucie non-bonus with the most tiresome choggy production.

This album is clearly Bruce Springsteen nowhere near his prime. The opening track is pretty good but the rest of the record feels drawn out, bland and lacking creative edge. It starts to sound boring, almost a chore to listen to. There's nothing specifically terrible about any of the tracks, they are all just missing that charm, charisma and energy that made earlier Springsteen so special. The best I can give this is a 5/10.

I listened while eating little cubes of cheddar, and the album was the cheesiest part of the whole experience.

Didn't really stand out to me that much. I'm surprised the album did as well as it did. Yeah there's some parts where I'm like yeah ok a little catchy ish. But generally... meh

Lonesome Day Worlds Apart

Worlds Apart - bitchin guitar solo

Selv om Springsteen ga ut The Ghost of Tom Joad på midten av 90-tallet, så er vel The Rising regnet som et slags comebackalbum. Det er fordi det er det første albumet med The E Street Band siden Born in the USA, og det er vel eneste grunn til at plata er med i boka. Dessverre låter det ekstremt datert og ekstremt høyt. Åpningssporet, tittelsporet og "Mary's Place" er umiskjennelig Springsteen, men låter som "The Fuse" er krampaktig forsøk på å få Springsteen aktuell i det nye årtusenet. Dessuten er det altfor langt.

I can kind of vibe with Bruce's early albums but this was not it.

Didn't do much for me. A bit too slow all around

An album made to heal & inspire middle-age americans in an immediately post-9/11 world. Plenty of cheese and not much that I would consider interesting to re-visit. A real middle of the ground album, and far from The Boss' best work.

Meh.. Worlds apart was cool, futher on too. But I didn't enjoy most of the album. 2/5

I'm not a huge fan of the Boss. That being said, though I thought the start and, to a lesser extent, the end of the album was a bit weak, the tracks in the middle were pretty good. He's a fine songwriter, just not my cup of tea.

2/5. Bit of a funny coincidence. My 100th album on the generator was my first Springsteen album, and now my 200th album here is my second Springsteen. When doing a large project like this one of going through the 1001 albums, you’re bound to learn something about yourself, and what I’ve learned so far is that I really don’t care for the music of Bruce Springsteen that much. His style of heartland rock just doesn’t do much for me. This album was very listenable, I never actively wanted to turn it off, but there was also not really a single song that I see myself coming back to or that I particularly loved. And at nearly an hour and fifteen minutes it overstays its welcome.

Springsteen does early 2000’s folk rock! Cool to see an artist change with time, but i didn’t love this.

Very american country style with coeny lyrics and too many mentions of faith, god , miracles, not for me

later bruce effort , found too melancholy that day

2002 Bruce Springsteen album, sure, add it to the other 10 on the list. FFS, Bob.

Impossibly long.

Hard for me to get into. I can see the value in some places.

Nao deu pra mim. Tem sua qualidade, inegavelmente, mas sinto que é algo meio fora de seu tempo. Acho que se o algoritmo tivesse me sugestionado um álbum mais “clássico” do Bruce, eu poderia ter embarcado melhor, mas esse aqui especificamente tem uma sonoridade meio repetitiva, emocionalmente modorrenta. Um dia desses eu pego outros álbuns do Bruce e escuto com mais calma, porque creio que seja um baita artista, mas esse aqui eu não aguentei não.

Bruce just isn't for me. A couple decent songs but I will likely not listen to this again

Sounds perfectly fine but just found it largely uninteresting. Don't have much else to say. Empty Sky and The Fuse the standout tracks for me.

Generic 2000s country adjacent rock. Sorry boss this ain't it.

this album is kind of massive. lots going on here and not a ton of it is great. a great snapshot of early 00’s music in general tho

All the 9/11 jokes I've made across a few of my reviews feel like low-hanging fruit now that I know Springsteen made a double album about the damn thing. Take a shot every time he says "blood" in this album by the way. Anyways, right after 9/11 is the time where you'd think he would've made something similar to Born in the USA instead of this weird empowerment stuff. I guess nobody wanted to rock the boat after the Patriot Act passed out of fear of getting unpersoned. All the weird shit that Trump's been doing over the past year really desensitised me to this kind of stuff, so really the best I can say is that I think more and more every day that 9/11 was an inside job to take away our rights, but that doesn't get rid of my right to say things like that publicly, nor does it get rid of my right to joke about it, and that's exactly why I love the first amendment, along with all of my rights that I still have and know by heart, much like everyone in the US should.

Sorry Bruce, but compared to the grittiness and the grounded, "real" feeling that makes the rest of his music so compelling, "The Rising" feels weak and manufactured in comparison.

Christian rock for atheists

unfortunately, i don't think i'm a big fan of "heartland rock." highlights were Further on (Up the Road) and The Rising.

Good but not great. Post 9/11 album about the United States and world affairs. Bland.

La verdad que me gusto, pero no me genero nada la verdad

Late Bruce is not great Bruce. Bombastic and unappealing

I'm reserving my 1-star ratings for things that are so awful I refuse to listen to them. I did listen to this and found this album corny but not an assault on my sensibilities, so 2 stars it is. Sorry to my Springsteen-loving best friend.

I'm genuinely not listening to all this. ANOTHER Springsteen album and this ones 1 hour 13mins. Fucking really? It's not even that bad just all the same.

I don't like this srry

Not very intetesting. Not awful.

Hm. Country!Bruce. It's no 'Thunder Road', I must say. I do have vague memories of the singles, but again I find myself surprised at how many 9/11-themed albums there were.

Past his prime here Fave track: Countin' On a Miracle

Utterly forgettable. Thanks 'boss'.

This has a place on the list to show the impact of 9/11 music, but, it's not Bruce at his best.

Darkness on the edge of town is great.

Into the Fire might be the worst Springsteen song I've heard. This album is on this list because of the artist, not because of the art. There are some good songs as the album went on now. I liked the second half of the album a lot more. Mary's Place, Paradise, and The Rising stood out. 2/5

The Boss havde ikke fået mange nye idéer på det her album

slop

Overall, not a bad album. I didn't expect it to be that recent, but it was pretty chill leaving it in the background while I was doing other things. Nothing too exciting, but those first couple of songs have that specific vibe from around that time.

With 4 albums already on the list, did they really need to add "the boss" at his most middle-aged dad self?

When Bruce overspringsteens himself he produces this specific type of meh music.

I understand that this album is about those post 9/11 feelings but I really found this music more boring than moving. I guess I have plenty of my own post 9/11 feelings so I don’t really need many more even though mine are more of the “child watching it on the news in a different country” variety

Couple of decent tunes but it's monotonous and way too long

Songwriting is good still but the album is too long, the production feels off and the theming of the record just doesn't do much for me in the big 2026

Bloated and boring. This album just drags one, over an hour of songs that all sound relatively similar and lack any punch. This just has nothing that I can hold onto. Lyrics are so predictable and corny at times to the point of annoyance. I just get no joy from Bruce here, and from my limited knowledge of him, it Judy doesn't seem like him. I struggle to understand this albums relevance on this list, in terms of tone it lacks much direction and it suffers immensely because of this. Fav Track: Lets be Friends (Skin to Skin)

not a great album in my mind. A couple of good songs here but overall not really interested in listening to it again

Ugh... hard to admit this, being from NJ where Bruce is canonized, but this was not exciting at all. Expected more.

I understand why he’s here. But nah

I can't listen to this gut whine right now

2.0 - Weak

Does Bruce Springsteen want to shag the Twin Towers?

He’s giving his sermon on how to be.

Great voice, mediocre album that kinda blends into the background.

Sorry Bruce, I just really don't like your music. 2.5

There were actually songs I liked in this one. Not a Springteen guy but this was good.

Kind of yankeeslop

Bruce found God, or revisited. Where is the Boss?

Unless you grew up listening to Bruce, or his lyrics connected with you 40 years ago, this just sounds like a derivative cookie cutter borefest. The single-mindedness that Bruce fans have just doesn’t make sense to me because his songs are so cliché and mediocre. The same fans will say that Taylor Swift isn’t music, when they’re two sides of the same coin.

Probs higher than a 2, but I got sick of listening to him part way through

Not my style

This whole album just feels unauthentic, super performative and fake deep. Brian Griffin probably has this album saved and on vinyl. Yeah it sucks. Two stars for the occasional sax.

"You're Missing" was the sole highlight on this album for me. Beyond that, there wasn't really anything here that kept me engaged. 2 stars

I like Bruce but this didn’t do it for me. It felt overly safe and generic. I bet Rolling stone loved this but it felt empty to me.

Some songs were ok, most were boring.

Meh.

Notable Songzeile: I search for you on the other side Where the river runs clean and wide Up to my heart, the waters rise Up to my heart, the waters rise Das fängt stark an und lässt dann stark nach. Zu viel Pathos, zu viel Chor, zu viel AmerikaNewYorkNewJersey. Direkt nach dem Hören hätte ich es glaube ich noch härter bewertet, aber etwas besser als 2, aber noch keine 3.

Look, I get it. Ich habe alle Sympathie für Springsteen: macht seit 30 Jahren Musik, hat Bock, die alten Band wieder zusammen zu bringen, holt sich einen der AltRock Produzenten der 90er, um seine Songideen der letzten 10 Jahre aufzunehmen. Klingt dann auch ganz wie die 90er, und ganz vieles arrangieren sie direkt um es live in Stadien abzurocken. Der Boss ist so begeistert dass er das Album maximal lang hält und die Fans sind begeistert weil Springsteen ein richtiges amerikanisches Rock Album abliefert. Habe ich alle Sympathie für, good for him, good for everyone. Nur anhören muss ich mir das nicht.

Bin wirklich nicht uninteressiert was Springsteen angeht, aber von dem Album hab ich echt noch keinen Song gehört. Warum genau muss ich das hören bevor ich sterbe? Wenig Begeisterung dafür. Aber alles schön gemacht.

Only someone from New Jersey would believe this was going to heal us after 9/11

#916. This is the musical equivalent of wet mush. 2/5: waste of time

2.

Im not sure what it is about Bruce Springsteen that irritates me, but irritate me he does. For me he falls into the same category as Paul McCartney. I think it's the earnestness and embodiment of working class America that he portrays, in much the same way that Jimmy Barnes does to Australians. Sorry Bruce. At least there was less harmonica than the last album I was forced to endure.

I'm sorry I'm not a late-middle aged (American) man. It's just does not speak to me and I think there would be many more interesting albums to include if you cut some of the billion Springsteen albums from the list. This style of music incredibly tedious and boring, and by extension you are a boring person if you like it.

i think hes overrated WHO SAID THAT

Woof. I don’t really like Bruce Springsteen I guess. 2.25 Boring

sorry bruce not my fav….. 2.5

It flew by okay, but it was just plane average - it took a nosedive near the end too.

There's a reason Bruce is a legend. This album is not that reason. Shockingly bland with repetitive choruses and mediocre production. Not his finest hour. Not sure why it's on this list.

Yep ... sounds like just another Bruce Springsteen album ...

Always thought that Springsteen not unlike dylan did not fair well when trying to update their sound. Stripped back or rocking out is his forte. This is too much of a departure. The arrangements are weird and the lyrics are not his strongest. An experience not worthy of the subject

3/10 I’m generally not a particular fan of Bruce Springsteen’s voice. He often has this shout-singing delivery that grates at my ears, and I struggle with his music as a consequence. Luckily, he’s actually singing in a far more restrained manner on this record. Maybe his voice can’t cope with that style of singing any more, or perhaps it’s in deference to the theme of this album, which is seemingly focused on 9/11. Unfortunately the music itself is some of the most middle of the road dad rock you’re ever likely to be exposed to. There’s not much in the way of variation across any of the tracks really, and often the drummer will pick a very straight beat and just play it relentlessly, with the occasional basic drum fill to spice things up, for 5 minutes, which gets pretty tiresome. And often the rest of the band aren’t offered much in the way of musical range either. It’s not that this is terrible, but there’s also nothing particularly distinctive or engaging about it. I can’t really recall any melodic highlights or hooks, despite having listened through three times, and the whole thing has just sort of blended together in my mind into a sort of amorphous musical blob. The band are good enough, but they’re seemingly not asked to be much more than that. The production is too clean, if anything. It sounds like an expensive and slightly soulless album that’s completely of its time. And the songwriting is just ok, leaning towards being relentlessly dull. What we land on is an album that sounds one third U2, one third Nickelback and one third a random middle-aged beer festival band with a name like ‘Manual Transmission’. Oh, and it’s WAY TOO LONG. I could probably have tolerated this more at 40 minutes, but it’s nearly twice as long as that. I can only think that, because he’s The Boss, he can just kind of release whatever he wants. It’s like the musical equivalent of an author who has become such a big seller that their editors no longer have the power to actually edit their work, so they release ever expanding volumes in a series to the detriment of the quality. There’s nothing worse in art than being boring and this middle of the road album was dragged further and further down in my estimations the longer it dragged on. Lonesome Day - This is incredibly pedestrian and middle of the road. It just sounds like any other slice of radio rock from the late 90s/early 00s. I’m not typically a fan of Springsteen’s voice, but he’s actually more restrained here than some of his other work that I’m familiar with. That being said, he sounds awfully generic here. The strings are overdone and it lend themselves to this weird plodding, almost uplifting vibe. It’s not completely terrible, but it’s also incredibly bland. Into The Fire - He’s putting on a southern twang here, which is really odd. It’s another fairly pedestrian effort and it feels like the band are doing the bare minimum to keep the track ticking along with no level of flourish or spectacle. Even the (very occasional) drum fills are incredibly dull. The strings again feel like they’re there to try and add emotion but feel very performative rather than emotive. The vocals are incredibly repetitive and so, so obvious. Waitin' On A Sunny Day - Ok, so the rhythmic vibe of this album is ‘plodding’. This is another that sounds like a generic late 90s band that have made it big enough to get the money for a string section on their latest album, so dammit, they’re going to use one. It’s incredibly predictable, including the obvious and cringy key change two thirds of the way through. This is pretty awful. Nothing Man - This one’s a bit better, it’s more restrained and I quite like the production because there’s a bit more nuance to it. Some of the shimmering, saturated background tones are really nice. The strings are pleasant enough here too and don’t feel forced. It’s quite long and repetitive though and I’m not keen on the “do-do-do” bit. It’s also very dynamically and rhythmically flat. Countin' On A Miracle - More generic dad rock. As with much of the album so far, the strings are kind of overdone, it’s got a very, very straight rhythm to it and it sounds slickly produced but ultimately pretty uninteresting. The chorus is a balls to the wall cheese fest and feels very, very by the numbers. Meh. Empty Sky - Do you think he woke up to an empty sky? He didn’t mention it, so I wasn’t sure. More plodding, repetitive and all too straight rhythm. There’s just not much to this at all apart from making sure we know that the sky was empty. Bland and uninteresting. I get what he’s trying to do, but it just doesn’t connect with me in any way at all. Worlds Apart - This at least tries something a bit different, but it feels a like a very westernised view of what music from the Middle East actually sounds like, and there’s not very much depth or nuance to it. But at least it adds a different flavour to the track and a bit more of a swing to the groove. When the band kicks in, it’s more of that generic, rhythmically straight, middle of the road stuff again. And if you’re trying to make some kind of point with a song, having a “la-la-la” section feels like a massive cop-out. Not the worst track, but good lord is it too long. Let's Be Friends (Skin To Skin) - Ooh, there’s actually a bit of feel to the groove here. It’s more fairly generic radio rock, but it’s got a bit more of a groove to it, which is nice. But it just keeps trundling along being nice enough, but fairly bland stuff. It seems Bruce is allergic to dynamic and rhythmic range as everything on this album picks a pace, intensity level and beat and just rolls with it for longer than is necessary. I mean, why on earth do nearly all of the songs need to be over 4 or 5 minutes in length? Further On (Up The Road) - If you told me this was Nickelback, I’d believe you. He might meet us further on up the road, but he’d definitely be positioned exactly in the middle of said road. Nearly all of his drum beats are just the same thing for 4-6 minutes and it makes it all sound very, very flat and monotonous. It’s an ok track for a pub band that you’d see performing at a beer festival, but it’s not very memorable or exciting. The Fuse - More rhythmically static stuff here and somehow, despite the drummer trying to give it a bit of pace, it drags a lot and the rest of the track feels like it’s a 45 being played at 33 rpm. This is just quite boring, and I don’t know how he feels like this hookless meandering deserves more than five and a half minutes of my time. Mary's Place - This is a bit folky and appears to be somewhat inspired by Sam Cooke’s excellent ‘Meet Me At Mary’s Place’. This, however, isn’t excellent. It’s a weird sort-of party anthem for people who always dance without moving their hips at all, probably with their arms half raised in a static position as they shuffle from foot to foot. It’s not very interesting, although at least he bothered to put a bit of dynamic range in here. I bet this one kills at the old folks home. It’s not the worst song on the album, but it’s very repetitive and about as safe as rock music gets. You're Missing - More plodding, more ok but not great melodies, more very flat rhythms. Do you know, I could almost imagine this being a good song if it was done with a bit more of an experimental production and development. Tom Waits could probably make this quite good with a bit of work, for example. But it’s so cleanly produced and sparsely developed that it just doesn’t grab me at all. And again, why over 5 minutes? The Rising - I mean, again, not terrible, but not very interesting either. It feels like the band are actually trying to give it a bit of welly here, but Bruce seems to not have enough lyrical ideas to not resort to fucking “la-la-las” again. Here’s a tip, Bruce: Write a 3 minute song that you can be arsed to write lyrics for rather than another 5 minute one with a bunch of half-arsed la-la-laing or do-do-doing. I think I wouldn’t dislike this as much as I do if it wasn’t an hour into a very samey album. Paradise - He can’t really summon the softness that he’s going for here, with his cod southern accent again. His tonal control is pretty weak when he’s trying to sing like this too. The rest of the track is so soft and edgeless that it works even less well in combination with this vocal. and, surprise, surprise, it’s way too long. Oh god, his vocal gets worse as it goes, it’s really bad. Again, there’s something in this with the subtle throbbing of the distorted tones, but he hasn’t actually found what that something is. My City Of Ruins - Ah, a bit of actual groove. It’s a shame he’s left the best song on the album more than 65 minutes in. But we do get some shout singing as it grows and he’s not exactly being very inspired with his lyrics in the chorus is he? There’s some lovely playing on this from both guitar and organ though. A nice way to end what has been quite an arduous experience.

Not a huge fan of Bruce Springfield. I do enjoy the softer side of this album and its country influences but over all not my daily listening vibe.

I like The Boss as much as the next guy but this album isn't essential

I know that by the time this came out Bruce was already massively famous and successful, which is good because this is some of the corniest and most repetitive music I think I've ever heard

Love Bruce but this doesnt belong here. No substantial music came from 9/11, which has to be the reason for this record's inclusion. On first listen, i immediately thought "this had to be a free grammy printer" and sure enough he won a grammy for best rock album. "Nothing Man" is my pick from this album if you have to listen to one song from it, but it's not really worth your time imo. "Lets Be Friends" is hilarious as a concept, a song that sounds suspiciously inspired by Sugar Ray, on an album with a song about 9/11 on it. So many classic rock revival albums sounded like this in the 2000's, half of this stuff reminds me so much of AC/DC's Black Ice. That is to say, not very impactful. The Boss tries, but doesnt succeed in doing much of anything. At least it's not as tone-deaf as a bunch of celebrities' singing "Imagine" from their super fancy homes in response to the covid lockdown. 2/5

Dont like the idyllic sound of first couple songs. Some elements of instrumentals are kinda cool. It is poppy music. "Worlds apart" and "Lets be friends" are my favs for now.

Why in lords name would I pick this up if I wanna listen to Bruce.

1.9 Ah shit ... Here we go again. Just when I was starting to feel a bit wistful that this was drawing to a close after crossing the 1,000 mark, the list throws another 72 minutes of Bruce fucking Springsteen at me. Satan exists, and he is a random number generator.

I can’t believe this would be anywhere near being on this list if it wasn’t a Bruce Springsteen album. It’s fine, but too long.

I’m sorry but nobody *must* hear 72 minutes of a man 25 year past his prime going through the motions, churning out watered-down cliché-filled versions of his old songs.

Bit boring late springsteen

Not a lot inspiring for me in this album.

These Springsteen albums are just such a slog fest man. Painfully white.

If I was a big Bruce Springsteen fan I would have bought this in 2002 and enjoyed it for a few months as the latest dispatch from the Boss. And then I’d never play it again. But I’m not a big Bruce Springsteen and I’m not interested in his thoughts from a quarter of a century ago. The production is bog standard Dad Rock circa 2002. There’s a moment he sounds like he might have heard a Beck tune of two but the oldtimey drums and saxomphone lets you know he wasn’t paying attention. It’s not Bruce’s best work. It does not find him doing something new. We don’t learn anything new about Bruce or his opinion on world events. We don’t need to hear this record!

I think this album is very over rated. It's the same theme song after song about lost love. It's a shadow of previously released albums with the E Street Band. Very disappointing.

I have grown to really like him through this list, but this album just doesn't resonate with me. Feels a bit too patriotic and overblown.

I’m sorry I just don’t get it at all

Springsteen is one of my all time favorite artists; he's got my favorite discography of anyone in the 70s, and he's at least top 5 for the 80s. Depending on how I feel on the day I get Nebraska, three or four of the Springsteen albums on here are getting a 5. This one's got some interesting ideas to it (especially when he takes a little influence from Middle Eastern music), but it's overlong and just not his best work. Glad I didn't have to give him a 1 at least.

I don’t really understand what this is doing on this list. No individual song is that bad (mostly) but compiled into an album like this just takes away from the efficacy of any of them.

Inoffensive, but that’s not really what I want when it comes to music.

I generally like Bruce but he has a tendency to be mawkish and sentimental so doing an album in response to 9/11 just becomes like an unlistenable slog after a while. There are only so many inspirational narratives I can hear here before getting bored which might make me a bad person but oh well!

"I don't believe in magic" - Christian man

Pleasant, predictable. Generally uninspired songwriting.

A double album of plodding country tinged Springsteen isn't doing it for me

in direct comparison with born to run...not convinced

Springsteen in a blender. Nothing distinguishable or remarkable here

the terrorists have truly won

for some reason i just really cannot get into this

I'm not sure I've ever listened to a full Springsteen album before. Oh god that was boring. Bland, instantly forgettable, strum alongs. Some of the instrumentation behind it was nice, but also the amount of backing that was there took any edge off any of the parts at all. I can't recall a single interesting guitar part of any other part for that matter. I'm typing this as the organ solo plays in the last track, it's a nice solo, but the song is so ploddy it could easily be any gospel song from the last 50 years, but then it's not a gospel song, it's just him lamenting something or other. Of course it was a double album, the ones I find boring always are.

Generic AmeriRock veering into country. Bland.

I made it about half way through track two before I had a look to see how much longer this album would be. Not terrible, but found this a chore to listen to.

I always dislike it whenever people call an artist 'past their prime' as soon as their most famous album has been released 10 years or more into the past. Incidentally, I also kind of dislike this album. Not because Bruce has lost his charm, but because of those far too poppy melodies, the overfull and cliché production, the lack of great melodies and his annoying country intonations. But hey, the E Street Band sounds pretty good, so there's that.

Surprised to see this, given I wouldn't put it in Springsteen's best. These songs aren't good. It's nostalgia at a time I guess people needed it. Generic, crappily written songs. Sounds like songs you'd get from some local band that takes themselves way too seriously.

This was really long and sounded the same. I can imagine his earlier stuff was much better

Not a fan

Not baaad but definitely not my jam either So I'll rate this album a 2/5

nothing man was very good

Not as bad as I expected, honestly nice on my ears, but I don't see myself coming back to this for any reason. I am curious about other Springsteen, though.

Came in skeptical. Heard the first song - better than expected. Then every song after it sounded like the first song but not as good. Gave up after a half hour or so.

So the first Springsteen album we get is one that no one likes, so I'm not in the minority. As I always say, I like everything about the guy except those damn songs. These ones are particularly hackneyed and tendentious, and we already have a Steve Earle.

THIS WAS THE FIFTH AND FINAL SPRINGSTEEN ALBUM ON THE LIST!!! I’M FREEEE

Doesn’t really hold up after 9/11. Too much melodramatic production, generic lyrics, not playing to Springsteen’s strengths

There’s Springsteen albums that deserve to be on this list. This is not one of them. Nothing wrong with this album but that’s the problem. It’s just another pop rock album, there is nothing special about about it, it’s bland.

We had big plans to write and record an EP that day. We probably all had a few ideas ready going in, but the process required personal integrity - the bulk of the compositional work and recording would be done there and then. Precisely because the process, rather than the output, was important. Or, more honestly, the narrative of writing and recording in one day was the most important thing. What an achievement! What creativity! What art! We worked pretty quickly, running off a number of short, charming, no doubt very stupid songs. You and Paul went off to buy lunch, while I recorded something particularly shoddy, and returned with the news from the radio. We switched on the telly and watched the 9/11 catastrophe unfurl. For a bit anyway. We gave it our due attention. Registered shock, sadness, etc. Performed interest as a form of respect. Then we went on about our day. We almost finished the EP. I think we also took a break to watch a Mercury Prize preview on Channel 4. You have to realise when you have properly performed deference to the big emotive event, then move on with your life and get back to making art. That’s why I gave up at Mary’s Place. That was enough time spent on this big emotive event. Hopefully, some near edition of the 1001 book will recognise that enough deference has been given to the event that elevated this dull, late-career album by Bruce Springsteen and evaluate the record in itself. 1.5 Yesterday I happened to hear the recent single by The Divine Comedy ‘Achilles’. It contained the lines ‘I saw a man this morning/ He was turning 53/ And his pampered mind was turning/ To thoughts of mortality’ Not one of Neil Hannon’s best, it’s fair to say. Shite in fact. However, I heard this and thought ‘I bet Bruce Springsteen was about 53 when he made this album we got today’ and he was! Springsteen was the same age when he made The Rising as Neil Hannon was when he was making Rainy Sunday Afternoon. So I had a listen to the recent Divine Comedy album alongside this. On the face of it this seemed like a reasonable comparison. Both Springsteen and Hannon are proven songwriters at this point in their career, albeit decades past their best. The Rising was Bruce’s 12th studio album and he hadn’t released one in 6 1/2 years. Rainy Sunday Afternoon is The Divine Comedy’s 13th studio album (12th if you don’t count Regeneration - only joking, it’s ‘class’) and he hadn’t released one in 6 years and 3 months. Both released a Best Of in between. The more I thought about it the more this was the same album - possibly the same artist. Actually there was very little insight to be had. The stakes are entirely different. When Springsteen wrote and recorded in the wake of September 11th 2001 there was presumably the pressure of expectation; a nation’s worth of people wondering how an icon of American culture - virtually an American institution - was going to respond as an artist. I doubt there was much expectation at all, from anyone, regarding Neil Hannon’s response to America’s more recent political crises. Still Neil raises the eyebrow at the yanks on a few different tracks. ‘Mar-a-Lago by the Sea’, the most direct, isn’t great although it’s unexpectedly one of the more memorable things on the album. Neil is semi-retired and sounds it. He can sit in his parlour in Kildare (it’s bound to be a parlour) and knock out whatever he fancies - a wee song that suggests he’s read The Iliad, a wee song about a man who turns into a chair (‘The Man Who Turned into a Chair’) - and then him and a few mates, none of them drummers, will tart it all up in the baroque pop fashion and take a lovely trip off to Abbey Road (!) to put it all on tape. Poor Bruce, on the other hand, still had to show up for work at 53. The Boss couldn’t be farting around singing about chairs when the rubble of the Twin Towers was still smoking. His country needed him. I can’t imagine writing under such pressure. Neither can Neil - although around the time of the Good Friday Agreement he did dare to pen ‘Sunrise’, very nice if a little maudlin. Grew up in Inis Ceithleann too so he did. So Bruce and The Rising deserve a little understanding before he has even punched his time-card. I think he does reasonably well. Musically there is much Springsteen-by-numbers; mid-tempo guitar sawing, big witless snare hits - but truthfully when anything different appears (electronic drums, tabla) it’s squirmingly awkward. Springsteen keeps things simple and familiar in his melodies - solid, folky stuff that sounds instantly credible, even venerable, without being gripping in any way. The singles are catchy. Lyrically I can give him more credit. He was smart and capable enough to approach his recurring subject with caution. You wouldn’t call it oblique exactly, there’s a track called ‘Empty Sky’ and another ‘My City of Ruins’. Springsteen does mostly evade over-sentimentality though and always steers away from flag-waving, neatly folding away national loss and national anger under the recurring veil of a missing partner. ‘I woke up this morning I could barely breathe Just an empty impression In the bed where you used to be I want a kiss from your lips I want an eye for an eye I woke up this morning To the empty sky’ Not bad. Not one of Springsteen’s best. None of them are. Still, Neil Hannon said somewhere a while back that as a songwriter gets older they get better at songcraft but lack the inspiration a young artist accesses so easily, or something like that. It’s more or less true of Springsteen on The Rising. These are well-judged in tone, for the most part; I think ‘Paradise’, a half-attempt at a sort of Suicide-Bomber ‘Nebraska’, was a mistake. But there is no real vitality anywhere on the album. Springsteen made his bones writing songs that wove life-or-death drama out of deciding to leave your hometown or deciding to stay. On The Rising - confronted with life and death drama as the core subject, he can only summon up a rather statesmanlike rigidity. Competent, responsible, unsexy. He invokes God, calls for ‘strength’ and ‘love’ and gently acknowledges vengeful anger. Craft. Nothing to Darkness on the Edge of Town. Still, probably half a point ahead of Neil Hannon at 53. I’d be interested to know what Springsteen would have written about if the stakes were lower. If he had decamped to a farm in Kildare, filling his down time rescuing pigs. And what Neil Hannon will write about if, when, he returns to confront the political tempests of his original home. Even though he has lived in the South for a lot of years I think he would probably still be credible and energising enough for enough young Protestants in Fermanagh and Omagh to flip a UUP Council seat for the Alliance Party. Mon Neil. Make a difference. Rainy Sunday Afternoon 1.5/5 The Rising 2/5 PS Rainy Sunday Afternoon gets a 2 from me.

It's too Americana for my liking. And it sounds heavily recycled, when Waitin On A Sunny Day Started I thought Hungry Hop was about to play. There are a couple interesting tunes, some world music and ballads, that aren't the typical Boss cuts I have heard. Overall the album just exists, it's not bad and it's not good. Bruce fans will like this, but I would not seek it out for a relisten.

Its very not my thing. And the fact that its 1 hour and 15 minutes doesnt help it mutch. Its a style thats not for me. Almost tempted to give it a 1.

Not my thing.

Not at all what im in it for. Im not the biggest or really any kind of Bruce Springsteen fan. I did like Nebraska quite a bit but nothing else has ever caught my eye. And thats where I thought this was going originally. Nebraska with kinda heavy handed production, like hes trying to remake that with the lens of his success. But its not that. It feels like its trying to be everything. Just a scattershot blast of everything all at once. There are like drum machines here. Some like traditional drums from somewhere. I dont even know. Its alot of shit thrown at the wall and none of it sticks for me. And the nature of it being everything makes for a very not cohesive experience. I was making confused face after confused face while this was on. I just dont get it. Im sure real spring heads love it but its not for me in the slightest. Maybe Nebraska is all that he has for me but im sure ill this site will try again with something else and maybe that will also surprise me. But not this

Pass.

holy fucking boring

Don’t like good voice

In my first listens to The Boss, I couldn't believe this was called singing. Then I did buy into the Americana and everyman that Springsteen ever strives to represent, as well as New Yorker editor David Remnick's deep fandom and profiles of Springsteen. Springsteen's father would come home drunk from the rug factory, and, if not the voice, the lyrics of 'Born to Run' captured all of that Kerouac-restless energy to hit the road. I respect the man's continuing evolution, liberal sentiments (he reflects on his success like a Tolstoy, still mindful of the working class and victims like Trayvon Martin, to whom he dedicated a song). He is the self-aware entertainer, going for 120% in his live performances to please his audiences, and still going in his 70s. All of that said, in this album, Springsteen seems to be in an early-middle stage--with those gospel elements coming in. The lyrics are less evocative than his other work. No standouts for me.

Why does Bruce Springsteen feel like the most generic rock musician in this album? This just felt like a real meh of an album.

honestly didn´t listen, but I JUST KNOW this isnt Springsteen´s best so I will listen to some of his other albums later

Bruce is the rock ‘n’ roll boss of big feelings. So I can see why songs like "Mary's Place" and the title track could put a lump in your throat whether 9/11 just happened or not. But remove the context and swap out the singer and I could've mistaken this one for a way more forgettable artist. (Uncle Kracker crossed my mind, but only for a second.)

Why is this on here? Too Christian rock for me and just overall very mid

Painting by numbers. Perhaps it felt right at the time but not sure the world or indeed America really needed this. An odd inclusion anyway. Surely this is way down the list of Springsteen albums.

Bored. Bored. Bored. I’m not a fan of Springsteen’s early album, but at least they had some get-up. This was miserable.

I like the Boss and all of his other albums on this list are likely (or have already) scoring 5 but this one is a bit of a blip. Appreciate the context and all but 20 years down the road this feels very bland and earnest and could easily be Christian Rock if he slipped in a couple more Jesus references.

I just cant ignore how cheesy this sounds to my ear

If the exact same album had any other name than Bruce Springsteen on it, this mediocre pop rock wouldn't even be considered for the list. Favorite song: Mary's place.

Noticeably weaker then any other bruce album I've heard. And it certainly doesn't help that it's by far the longest. I think lyrical this is done very well and I feel the emotions going on. The instrumentals were just ok. But yea the album length is brutal. If you cut about half the album you got something pretty great here. Which says everything about what's wrong here

I'm a big fan of some of Springsteen's albums, but just not feeling this one. It's pretty cheesy and lacks the raw punch which makes some of his stuff so damn good.

When an artist is referred to as "a storyteller" I've always taken that to mean the lyrics are good but the music is probably a bit shit. Whilst the latter is true, its the immature "creepy Uncle Rock" lyrics which are outstandingly bad: "The fuse is burning Shut out the lights The fuse is burning Come on, let me do you right" The old bloke seems pretty proud of his wick too as he proclaims "The fuse is burning" a total of 15 times in the song 5-star wick, 2-star Dad-Rock

I’m not the world’s biggest Springsteen hater or anything, he’s got a nice voice and the band is obviously good (if not a bit too slick, in a Steely Dan way). A person would just have to go soooo far down the list I of things I want to listen to before getting to “a whole album of Bruce Springsteen ruminating about 9/11.”

This album really almost killed me wanting to finish this list. I spent almost a month avoiding it. It is just so mediocre and long.

2.5

Not terrible but what in the suburban white american mom is this album. Did not feel a single emotion while listening, neither good nor bad.

Never used to like the boss, still don’t. Maybe should listen to earlier stuff but this was a little cheesy to me.

Forgettable

Not another Springsteen please