#301

Big big fan of Hungry Heart but I always forget it’s on this album - feels of a piece with Born in the USA and how so many tracks on that album sort of disguise this really bleak cynical theme within an irrepressible melody

3 Likes
#302

It is a super upbeat number for a song whose opening couplet basically translates to “I have abandoned my family”.

3 Likes
#303

Feel like I keep expecting Hot In The City by Billy Idol to pop up on the album at some point. That’s a good thing, I think.

1 Like
#304

yeah! i’d forgotten that.

#305

The bar-room rockers are especially brainless on this one, which is fun, but I wonder if they overdid it with them a bit.

Really love Ramrod though.

1 Like
#306

The intro to this version is a thing of outstanding beauty.

2 Likes
#307

Does ‘Drive All Night’ massively get on anyone else’s nerves? It’s a very, very rare Bruce song that I would skip or have a more negative response to than ‘mildly ambivalent’, but Drive All Night really annoys me for some reason. Almost ruins the end of the album for me.

1 Like
#308

Doesn’t really annoy me but certainly isn’t one of his more rivetting ‘epics’ Seems to go on more than it needs to and is only really redeemed by that killer ‘C’ sax solo.

2 Likes
#309

I agree that it doesn’t really justify its length. Enjoy Bruce absolutely hollering HEART AND SOUL repeatedly though.

3 Likes
#310

Just catching up and I agree with you on this

#311

Midweek poll time, lots to choose from

  • The Ties That Bind
  • Sherry Darling
  • Jackson Cage
  • Two Hearts
  • Independence Day
  • Hungry Heart
  • Out in the Street
  • Crush on You
  • You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)
  • I Wanna Marry You
  • The River
  • Point Blank
  • Cadillac Ranch
  • I’m a Rocker
  • Fade Away
  • Stolen Car
  • Ramrod
  • The Price You Pay
  • Drive All Night
  • Wreck on the Highway

0 voters

#312

Never spent as much time with this one and always thought it was a mid-ground between Darkness and Nebraksa, but realise now its much more upbeat, in a similar vein to Born in the USA.

In all honesty, struggling to find a similar connection to the three that preceded it. The title track is an absolute classic though, up there as one of his best ever songs.

#313

Not spent much time with this album, I don’t know if I have a bit of Bruce fatigue or whether it is really the first album that has dipped and didn’t appeal to me as much.

Went for The River, which was a no brainer and then went for Two Hearts as it’s still quite upbeat and fun but less cheesy imo. Other good tracks were Stolen Car, Fade Away, Wreck on the highway aaaand I have a bit of a soft spot for Point Blank.

#314

A couple of the songs seem like precursors to Nebraska, especially Stolen Car, but yeah it’s generally more upbeat than Darkness on the Edge of Town.

#315

Too early for Bruce fatigue! If this listening club is a Springsteen concert, we’re still in the first half hour.

I think double albums just always feel overlong though, so I get what you mean. The next couple of weeks bring us back down into the more manageable 40/45 minute range.

1 Like
#316

Yeah the double album doesn’t help - but what else doesn’t help is the unnecessary filler songs that take up 80% of the album! It could be condensed into a really nice album but too much Cadillac Ranch and Sherry Darlings for me

Looking forward to next album as Atlantic City is one of my all time favs, and that’s the only one I know from the album I think.

#317

Curious one The River. Across the whole thing the hit rate is lower than top tier Bruce, but I’m a bit of sucker for doubles and definitely more forgiving of their low points. A generally much more upbeat album than Darkness, but the progression makes more sense when you hear some of the stuff on The Promise, and tracks like Independence Day hint at what was to come on Nebraska. I like it a lot and have enjoyed revisiting it this week. Probably a 9 for me, flaws and all.

1 Like
#318

Those rock and roll numbers hit the spot for me on this relisten but there sure are a lot aren’t there, I can’t deny the cheese, and that there’s a lot of repetition too. Cars? great! we get it. It’s only really Bruce that I listen to that does these sort of rock and roll pastiches, and he only does it here doesn’t he? At least in such quantity? I’ve not listened past Nebraska yet but I’m in this for the long haul. I guess there’s a bit of a novelty to them and a lot of goodwill too because of the brilliant songs on here. If I was new to Bruce and someone said hey, listen to this guy he’s one of the greatest songwriters ever and then put on Cadillac Ranch…well, i guess it would be quite good and funny actually.

Still not listened to The Ties that Bind but I think we are coming to that down the road so I’ll leave it til then. If I was going to do a one disc River I think it would be:

Ties That Bind
Sherry Darling
Jackson Cage
Two Hearts
Independence Day
The River
Hungry Heart
Out On The Street
Point Blank
Stolen Car
Price You Pay
Wreck On The Highway

I might have missed it but I don’t think anyone’s had much to say about The Price You Pay, to be fair I don’t either but I like it, it’s got a nice build, feels like it could have been on Darkness maybe? I dunno.

#319

I said a little bit at the beginning of the week but felt the need to give some further thoughts.

It was definitely the right call spending the extra time on the double record rather than the initial ‘The Ties That Bind’ LP that was completed in '79. We’ll discuss this in another week but that album was just too ‘slight’ in comparison. You get a bit of everything with this one. The more moody songs interspersed with the upbeat rockers give it a feel of the live show. As with most doubles, there is some filler i.e. ‘I’m A Rocker’, ‘Crush On You’, but the hitters make it an essential album, if not quite a 10 like the previous 2.

One final thought- I love to hear how his songs evolve over their conception. I’m a massive fan of the released version of ‘Point Blank’ but this earlier, rockier take (with killer guitar solo) is a worthwhile listen too.

3 Likes
#320

I also like the released Point Blank, the one you posted, it sounds…off but I guess that’s because it wasn’t completed but if they continued down that path then yeah that could have been a banger