When Darkness Was Released . . .

This just now dawning on you?

I was only 13 at the time, but I noticed right away that the cover was also different from his other albums.

I just went back and took another look at it, and all I can say is damn, I was one sharp kid back then.

I was 21 and wondered where the hell was Clarence?

Where are the mods for this forum? I thought this was a place for serious discussion of Bruce's music, and where I could avoid the puppy dogs.

I remember hearing it when it first cane out and thinking that he'd finally got everything right, great songs, great production... then I started hearing live broadcasts from the 78 tour and they just blew the album versions away. I played the album to death when I first got it though but listening now, I wish they would do a remix, as the sound is pretty awful. Seems strange, especially after Bruce made such a fuss about the inks used in printing the cover that he let such a muddy mix go out.

Will we get a 30th anniversary remix next year?

You made several idiot comments yesterday. This was only one of them. Deal.

I remember thinking, "this guy needs some Prell".

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Due to the long wait between albums (3 yrs), and no sub-product being issued (live album, outtakes,etc) there was a tremendous amount of anticpation built up awaiting the Darkness LP release. That was further hightened by a delay...the scuttlebut at the time was that the album might be in the shops in early 1978...it ended up being June 1978.

Critical reviews were highly favorable when it was released, as was the fan response. This was further enhanced by that red hot Darkness Tour, which took most, if not all, of the Darkness album songs to a higher level. The album sales (in the USA) were strong in 1978 although, as it turned out, sales of the Darkness album did not have the sustainability of the BTR album (or the follow-up River album). There was no hit single off Darkness, so it didn't get the kicker boost that hit singles deliver.

There is a 1981 interview with Springsteen out there (can't recall with which journalist) in which Bruce is asked to rate all his albums up to that point (Greetings thru River)....Bruce rates BTR as his best studio effort...but is critical of the studio performances on Darkness....I can't recall his exact words but it was something along the lines of....."I think the songs on Darkness are strong but we didn't quite capture them right in the studio. We do all those Darkness songs 10 times better live"

I don't know if Springsteen still feels that way about Darkness (he's known to change his outlook) but I thought it interesting that only 5 Darkness studio outtakes made it onto TRACKS and then Springsteen "could not live with" releasing the Darkness studio verson of "The Promise".

You mean "could not live with", right?

Yes, sorry, forgot to type "not" - thanks for the heads up...I corrected it.

So is Earthslayer an actual person, or is he really just a fact gathering machine?

hi.can anyone help me.bruce wrote a song in early 70s called lorraine ,id like 2 no if it made it on any bootleg album.cheers

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"Lorraine" is one of a whole bunch of songs (or at least seemingly completed lyric sheets) that emanate from Appel's 1972 Sioux City/Laurel Canyon Music document files......however the recording history (if any) for all these remains a big mystery. This is a list of stuff from 1972 (cut from Brucebase)....there is also other titles from 1973 and 1974 not on this list. As you can see "Lorraine" is among them - but like all the others on this list (with one possible exception) nobody in collectorland seems to have any studio recordings of them.


AMERICAN DREAM
ANGELINA
BALBOA vs THE EARTHSLAYER
BALLAD OF ELMER THE PEA
BEFORE THE FLOOD
BILLY BOY
BISHOP DANCE
BLACK NIGHT IN BABYLON
BUSTED
CALVIN JONES & THE 13TH APOSTLE
CASPER
CIRCUS TOWN
DANNY JONES
GRANDPA?S GONE DOWN
HIGH NOON
IT?S EASY
IT?S JUST YOU
JUSTIN FEARS
LET THE WORDS
LONELY STREET
LORRAINE
MISSIE
MOTHER
ON A DAY OF THE COWBOYS
ORLEANS
PRISONER OF WARS
SHILO
SHE?S GOT NOTHING YOU NEED
SHE?S NOT MY WOMAN
SPANISH ROSE
SUMMERTIME IN MY MIND
TAKE ME DOWN
TEN COMMANDMENTS
TEXAS CARNIVAL
WHITE HOUSE
WISCONSIN

Naturally if one had access to Toby Scott's computer database all is likely to be revealed.

You mean you don't?

If Earthslayer met K2 would they have to thumbwrestle or something?

I guarantee you this one was still floating around during the BTR sessions and he probably wanted it on the album.

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K2 is some type of Nostradamus character......I can't compete with that.

Why, did Nostradamus have unusually strong thunbs?

It's all about technique, not strength.

K2 is full of s**t

I recall in 1978 at the tender age of 14 thinking, "This guy, Springsteen is so full of shit. And just damn depressing." My outlook was solidified in 1980 with the release of the even more morose album The River.

Moving along, some kind of switch went off in 1982 when Nebraska came out and I realized I'd missed the boat. D'oh!

I recall in 1978 at the tender of 13 thinking, "Hmmm...she likes the Bee Gees. That means, if I like the Bee Gees too, she'll dance with me. Fair enough. I think I like the Bee Gees....tragedy, when the feeling's gone and you can't go on...tragedy...."

It wasn't until a party in Dec 80, at the little-less-tender age of 15, when I got hit over the head with the 2x4 that was Thunder Road.

I wasn't ready for Darkness in '78. In fact, I wasn't ready for it until I hit about 17 and started putting money in my pocket and girls on the shelf.

I remember 78, I had just started work and in my very first week Darkness was released and one of my Colleagues was goin nuts, like it was the second coming, up to that point I had only heard BTR, I remember seeing the Cover of Darkness and thinking, miserable fucker, but within a year I was completely hooked, it was the Rosalita video that sent me over the edge, like so many before & since.

In 1978 I was completely immeresed in Springsteen. This lasted until say '82 when I was married for a year or so, had bills to pay,etc. When I met my soon to be wife in '80, she thought I had just seen Springsteen play that month from the way I was talking about the only concert I saw in August'78. The songs Darkness, Prove It, Badlands,Racing,Promised Land, were almost tatooed on my skin I listened to that album so F****** much.

I liked Darkness from the start and thought it was a better album than Born to run. He had got rid of that muddy sound and turned up the guitar. It sounded very tough in my young ears, like hard rock. When The River was released I got dissapointed, because it sounded lightweighted like some popmusic. He took the wrong direction I thought. Still think.

I thought the same thing when it was released.
Now I love it.

The first thing I heard was The Ties That Bind on the radio and I thought it sounded awful compared to Darkness. Tie-eye-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi. Oy!
It got better, but I still think it would have been better as a single album.

Absolutely.

If it were, think of all the threads we'd have of people proclaiming that The River was Bruce's best outtake, and they can't believe it was never officially released, and gasping in shock at how Sherry Darling and You Can Look got released but Price You Pay and Drive All Night were outtakes, and what was Bruce thinking leaving all those great songs in the vault when he could have released another album, and.....

I was 14. At first, I was a little disappointed that Darkness didn't have the grandiose sound (not to mention the great album cover) of BTR.

Of course, repeated listenings on my Radio Shack hi-fi, and the legendary tour that followed, changed everything.

Funny, I also remember that his shaving the beard was a big thing at the time.

Well, look what the cat dragged in. Welcome back BobbyG.

Thanks, Boss. Its been, um, quite a while....

My older sister bought me Darkness for my birthday, saying, "You like Elvis, don't you? Well, people say he's the next Elvis." This being 1978, and the pain and shock of Presley's untimely death still in the forefront, I was a little cautious. In my naivety, I was stunned to note "The Promised Land" was not the Chuck Berry classic.

In January 1979, I found a copy of the triple bootleg LP classic, Live In The Promised Land (Winterland,SF: 12-15-78) for $15.00. It blew me away, and I soon realized what the fuss was all about.

"Elvis, (he) was the ultimate heartbreaker ..."

I also remember the hot albums my stupid friends were listening to were Grease, Bee Gees, and Hotel California. Darkness was (and is) great, but the bar was pretty low at the time.

Here we are in 2007, and the bar is once again looooooow.

I got it by accident from the Columbia Record Club.
Forgot to send back the card.

Turned out to be a good accident.

outstanding!!

I really dug Adam Raised a Cain.

Not sure why, cause I had a great Dad and never wanted to kill my brother.

I don't think some people appreciate the power of the Columbia Record Club in the 1970's. Similar to your story, in 1975, I forgot to return the selection of the month. It was "Blood On The Tracks." It was one of the few times in my life that having my head up my ass was a benefit...

Picked up Darkness in 84. My first album was the River in 83, part of the Columbia 11 albums for a penny deal. Was blown away, within 2 months I bought them all. Born to Run, then Wild and the Innocent, Greetings,Nebraska, and finally, darkness. BIUSA came out in June and it was all over.

I went to one of those shows in '78 but had no idea who this Springsteen guys was (someone gave me the tix). Capital Theater. I was 13 at the time. Un-f*ing-believable. Bought born to run first, because someone told me that was "the best". Followed quickly with Darkness, greetings, wild. Then I discovered bootlegs. Winterland was the first one - almost the same show, I thought. Greetings ended up my favorite for a while, followed by Darkness.