 Bruce Springsteen Certainly these days, I am much more likely to sit down and listen to a Bruce Springsteen bootleg than to a Bruce Springsteen album. I don't even own Born to Run, but I pop in War and Roses a few times a year. The weird thing is, I don't know whether I like it because it's great or because it's hilarious. Springsteen is the ultimate true believer in the redeeming power of rock 'n' roll, and Born to Run is his balls-out statement on behalf of all the blue-collar Joes and Marys who find enlightenment in getting wasted on the boardwalk, going to movies, and/or riding in fast cars. Bruce's obsession with these themes is never more apparent than here, as you're able to hear him working through the songs until they gel – nowhere else will you hear someone sing the words "Eddie," "street," or "car" with greater frequency. Actually, I"m not sure he really ever says "car," because everything on this album is so grandiose and overblown, that a car becomes a "chariot" or a "hemi-powered drone." Springsteen is some kind of self-proclaimed gladiator, feeding big-ass saxophone solos to the lions. (?) There are moments on War and Roses that make me laugh out loud, such as the first take of "Backstreets," where toward the end, Bruce is almost completely unitelligible, screaming and groaning, and all you can make out is "Baaaaaaaaaaaackstreets" at the end of all these gutteral moans. So is Born to Run a transcendent masterpiece of raw emotion, or is it the best comedy album ever made? That's not to say it's not amazing stuff, just that you have to have some latitude for Springsteen's histrionics, and the bombast he manages to eke out of his bar band. This is certainly an audacious record, extremely ambitious and confident – nothing held back. That cuts both ways. Mostly it's truly great, but occasionally you have to step back and listen to it with, say, Samuel L. Jackson's ears, and ask "For God's sake, what is this dude going on about??" Um, wait, am I reviewing Born to Run or War and Roses? Let's see … some of the highlights of the boot are a double-tracked alternate take of "Born to Run" that features the exact same harmonies I could previously only hear while singing along with the album in the car, an alternate "Jungleland" that is thoroughly epic and/or ridiculous, three early takes of "Thunder Road" featuring substantially different lyrics, and some songs not included on the final album: "A Love So Fine," "Linda Let Me Be the One" (probably the funniest cut on here), "Lovers in the Cold," and "The Heist." "The Heist??" Jesus, you won't find more testosterone on a Vin Diesel album. That reminds me, I really should produce a Vin Diesel album. Should I call it Diesel Powered or Vin's Yard?
Review by Wimpempy Tarlisle |