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On the 'New Album' thread Skipja?k wrote " It sounds like everyone who has heard it is rating it as a monumental release."

I thought this observation deserved a thread of its own.  I'll start...

Everyone here maybe? I did see some nays on other sites.  I'd imagine some naysayers are keeping it to themselves, not wanting to get flamed.

I did ask myself these questions.  Why do I like it so much?  Is it the music itself?  Is it because it's Bruce and how many more E Street Band albums will there be?  Am I being nostalgic ...is this bringing me back to when I first fell in love with his music , to a time when I was younger and more vital?

Could Bruce and the band have asked themselves the same questions?

I've asked myself these questions and mused about many others and came to this conclusion.  For me it's probably all of the above and a lot more. 

The band is more mature as is Bruce... so too is their music.  If I had to describe this E Street Band album comparatively with other previous albums.  I'd say it's pure E Street with a more mature sound. 

To my eyes and ears, that's how it should be.  Bruce, the band and all of us have grown up and matured together through the years.  So too has their music.

I love it.

____________________________________

The SPL Rocks!

Prego che tu stia danzando con San Pietro alle porte perlacee del cielo





Pulled up to my house today
Came and took my little girl away!
Giants Stadium 8/28/03



Oats

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Love it too!

I think it is the first "E Street Band" album, in a way.

I don't find the lyrics Bruce is singing too important really. Some are nice... I like "Ghosts"... but generally they are a little on the repetetive side. The songs generally don't carry too many ideas.

But this seems to be the first time that everybody could play along as they liked... The Boss has finally managed to put his ego aside. (A true Rock'n'Roll Jedi Master now.)

Would be happy to attend a show and just hear these new songs. Have never thought something like this before.

My thoughts after several listens both through speakers (twice) and earphones;

One minute you’re here - liked this from the first listen, to me a simple but beautifully constructed song

Letter to you - formulaic E St, but I like the e st sound😀

Burnin train - a good mid tempo rocker

Janey - fantastic, no 2 out of the 3 oldies for me

Last man standing - growing on me

Power of prayer - musically just don’t like

House of 1000 guitars - first few listens really didn’t like but starting to grow on me

Rainmaker - initially through speakers this feels like a mass of sound and a bit too much, however, through earphones thou it’s so much more, really growing on me

If I was the priest,  my fave of the album, first line has the hairs stand on the back of my neck. No 1 out of 3 oldies for me

Ghosts - love this track, nothing new but makes you feel alive

Song for orphans - like this, very dylanesque

I’ll see you in my dreams - like one minute, simple but beautifully constructed song

8/10 album if a couple of songs shorter would have been a 10/10..

btw - i know some people’s view is that Bruce’s vocal’s seem a little forced at times, for me not, I think vocally he sounds great for young man of 71...

stay hard, stay hungry...stay alive

My random impressions...

I've been listening to Letter since last Friday, so closing in on 20 mp3 spins from Track 1 to 12 all the way through.

Of course it's grown on me with each listen. Same every time with a new Bruce disc.

Didn't think I'd ever love a new Bruce disc so much again after falling so hard for Western Stars (a masterpiece IMO) but LTY comes very close.

I never rank Bruce favorites because there's no point when you like or love them all. But this one is up there. Who can complain about a 70 year old rocker making music this good? I'll just state that I think it stands up against the best of what he's done in this millennium. If Magic was a highlight for you, this will be bliss!

The first few spins quickly dissipated any notion that this project had the grab bag feel of High Hopes. It has a unified sound throughout, because as we all know, it was all recorded in one place, live in one moment, by one tight group of musicians. It shows.

The four older songs fit right in sonically with the eight new ones written in 2019.

Ghosts is this albums killer track. Hopefully it gets a longer live shelf life than just one tour, like Radio Nowhere, for example.

The title track is up there with classic Bruce. It's the album wrapped in one theme sort of.  You hear it in context of everything else and quickly realize the album could not have been called anything else.

Priest - Orphans - Janey Needs a Shooter are pure bliss for any longtime fan who has heard the studio boots of the songs. All are perfectly executed, played and sung. The arrangements allow the wordiness of the lyrics to breathe. Maybe one day Bruce will explain to us what they mean?

Hopefully, this leads to Bruce tackling Saga of the Architect Angel, Two Hearts in True Waltz Time and Winter in due time.

I really like House of Thousand Guitars. Roy's stately piano intro bedrocks the song all the way through. I can hear the same piano part as an outro tickling right into Jungleland.

Love how the album is framed with songs about loss. It's impossible not to be affected by those bookends if you have lost anyone dear to you of late. I often dream of my father who passed six years ago. I'll See You In My Dreams cannot help but resonate. And that guitar solo! It hits!

Personally speaking, One Minute You're Here will always mess me up because of things that happened last Friday. That afternoon I had my 15 year old cat anesthetized and buried him in my backyard.  I came into the house to read about a local drummer who died - heart attack at 37! I took a nap, woke up, downloaded Letter. Soon as I heard the words "next minute you're gone" I lost my shit.

Burnin' Train reminds me of LOHAD, with power chord guitars thrusts. I can see this song turning into a live standout with extended guitar solos and a faster pace.

Last Man Standing is a tribute to George Theiss, the man who brought Bruce into the Castiles. It has the classic E Street feel, and Jake sounds just like his uncle. It namechecks some Jersey Shore haunts where they played back in the day. The track is one of the centerpieces of the record.

The Power Of Prayer opens with Roy beautifully tickling the ivories once more. This is the song that has grown on me most of late. Great sax hook. I can picture Bruce transforming this song live, with preceding rap about rock and roll merging into religious zeal.

The red-headed step child of the album is Rainmaker. It will remind everyone of the demagogue that Trump is, for obvious reasons. Along with the three songs written in 1971, Bruce has stated that this one is also an older song, written years ago. Make no mistake, it's a great song, it just sticks out like a sore thumb in the context of the rest of the record. Makes one wonder why it was included.

In sum, I'm wary of critiquing such a great record overall. Where would I find any fault? Another track as instantly classic as Ghosts would have put this one over the top.

What's most inspiring for us fans with this release, is that Bruce has discovered that the quick recording process, minus the usual overthinking, can pay great dividends.

Who knows, maybe if he is sheltered in his barn studio long enough we'll get another jolt of E Street fluidity.

Or a Tracks !! box set, 12 CDs....

Bruce, I'll see you in my dreams....

Half way through the doco (yeah couldn’t wait!) really loving these songs, loving the band. Chills throughout. Nothing beats the first listen of new songs from these guys. Only happens once!!
And let’s not forget fresh recordings of those great old tunes.

Cheers,

Hazy

--------------------------------------------------------------------

She said last night she read those letters...
And they made her feel one hundred years old...


Thank you, Quaker!

Actually... it was a different cereal I was tied to.  Can you guess which one?

Ok had enough time?  It was a couple of years after college and I was going down the Jersey Shore with my girlfriend to my college buddy, Bill's parents house for the weekend.  His sister was down with her two little boys.  As we arrived and stepped out of the car, bill's 5 year old nephew ran up to see who was stepping out of the car.  He looked, turned and shouted... Hey everybody!  It's Oats and Honey.

He hadn't met my girlfriend until then.  It didn't matter that her name was Kathy.  Down the shore she was known as Honey from that day forward.  True story.

____________________________________

The SPL Rocks!

Prego che tu stia danzando con San Pietro alle porte perlacee del cielo





Pulled up to my house today
Came and took my little girl away!
Giants Stadium 8/28/03



Oats

I don't want to crap all over it, I really don't.  I was excited by Ghosts when it dropped, and again when I cued up the first song and heard One Minute You're Here.  The rest of it just never approaches either of those songs musically or lyrically.  There's not a character (besides himself) in the entire album, really--it's more meditation than character writing.  The old songs are reworked fantastically (especially Janey), but they are as confused and wordy as they were when they were written.  Besides nostalgia, what is their purpose?  E Street writing is just not my favorite type of writing he does anymore, I guess.  I was moved far more often by the specificity and stories of Western Stars.

All that said, there will be wonderful live moments when some of these songs see the stage.  Burning Train, Ghosts, and Janey will kill, and I'll be pumping my fist with everyone else.  Maybe some of the rest of these songs could benefit from a crowd too.  I'm glad he put the album out, and it's great to hear the band on all cylinders, and I'm happy everyone is so jazzed...but as a whole it didn't do it for me.

@Oats posted:

Actually... it was a different cereal I was tied to.  Can you guess which one?

Ok had enough time?  It was a couple of years after college and I was going down the Jersey Shore with my girlfriend to my college buddy, Bill's parents house for the weekend.  His sister was down with her two little boys.  As we arrived and stepped out of the car, bill's 5 year old nephew ran up to see who was stepping out of the car.  He looked, turned and shouted... Hey everybody!  It's Oats and Honey.

He hadn't met my girlfriend until then.  It didn't matter that her name was Kathy.  Down the shore she was known as Honey from that day forward.  True story.

Hmm, if "Honey" is the first impression...

I have not visited this Board since the Rising era and have rarely been motivated to post.  I was born in 1978 and have been a lifelong fan.  The songs of Bruce Springsteen are woven into every minute of my life, good and bad an all in between.

Letter to You is a masterpiece.  Best E Street album since the River.  Certain tracks may very well work themselves into the  iconic Springsteen songs that have defined my life.   Live it.  Love it.  A slice of heaven has arrived on Earth.

@justafella posted:

I have not visited this Board since the Rising era and have rarely been motivated to post.  I was born in 1978 and have been a lifelong fan.  The songs of Bruce Springsteen are woven into every minute of my life, good and bad an all in between.

Letter to You is a masterpiece.  Best E Street album since the River.  Certain tracks may very well work themselves into the  iconic Springsteen songs that have defined my life.   Live it.  Love it.  A slice of heaven has arrived on Earth.

Welcome back 👍

Cheers,

Hazy

--------------------------------------------------------------------

She said last night she read those letters...
And they made her feel one hundred years old...


@Joe_Moloney posted:

Except for Jabeyy it's shite

Is myspace still a site?? And who is Joe Maloney???

The above could be the title for a new reality series. 

We have our first naysayer.  Tell us why Joe?

____________________________________

The SPL Rocks!

Prego che tu stia danzando con San Pietro alle porte perlacee del cielo





Pulled up to my house today
Came and took my little girl away!
Giants Stadium 8/28/03



Oats

Love it and his best album since god knows when.  Quantum improvement over that pile of shite, Western Stars. The man is back on form. I can’t provide a more insightful an

Love it and his best album since god knows when.  Quantum improvement over that pile of shite, Western Stars. The man is back on form. I can’t provide a more insightful and analytical review as I’m busy washing my hair

Overall I think it’s great. Sounds amazing, some great songs. Brilliant opening 4 tracks. Power of Prayer is super too, but kinda ruined by the fact that it’s basically the same melody as Last Man Standing, even down to the sax/guitar piece. Thousand Guitars is awful, a song that definitely would have benefitted from more than three hours work. Rainmaker sounds like a Wrecking Ball b side. The rest of the album is great. Priest is just sublime

@Mando posted:


Love it and his best album since god knows when.  Quantum improvement over that pile of shite, Western Stars. The man is back on form. I can’t provide a more insightful and analytical review as I’m busy washing my hair

Bout time... what's it been 3 or 4 months?

____________________________________

The SPL Rocks!

Prego che tu stia danzando con San Pietro alle porte perlacee del cielo





Pulled up to my house today
Came and took my little girl away!
Giants Stadium 8/28/03



Oats

I bought and listened to it for the first time yesterday... (I know, I know...)

I was in a record shop with my good friend Essexboy, explaining (rather lamely) over a coffee (it is a record shop with a coffee shop at the back - why aren't they all like this?) that a new E Street Band album wasn't a priority for me right now, I guess 'Magic' was the last one that really did anything for me and that was on the back of a tour. I guess I'd just prepared myself to be underwhelmed.

Martin convinced me and as we were leaving the shop I grabbed a copy of the grey vinyl and bought it. I downloaded it on Apple Music for the journey home. These were genuinely the first notes of this record I'd heard. I pulled up to the gates of my drive and sat there to let 'I'll see you in my dreams' finish and was filled with all sorts of emotions.

It's a great record, possibly best since the 80s? I could hear it belting out of the arenas and that live show feeling came back to me, the queuing for the pit, the wristbands, the rain, the cold (Sunderland & Manchester 2012 anyone?). This is why I love the E Street band.

'Priest' is one of my all times, I was dreading him fucking it up, but he didn't, nor 'Janey', nor 'Orphans'. They were all done right, and didn't jump out as I thought they might, this is a skilful record in that respect, it works as an album from start to finish.

If we ever get a tour, then 'Ghosts' will be the one he fucks up for me, an elongated band intro song, like '10th' on the reunion tour, or WOASD, on every tour since The Rising. But hey, I'll take that. I'll take that all day long.

Welcome back E Street Band.

Hi Tara, Glad to hear you like it.  Drop me a pm and let me know how everyone is doing.

____________________________________

The SPL Rocks!

Prego che tu stia danzando con San Pietro alle porte perlacee del cielo





Pulled up to my house today
Came and took my little girl away!
Giants Stadium 8/28/03



Oats

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