Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells A Story
Rod the Mod finds his solo footing, headed for stardom, with the Faces in his wake.
6:00 AM GMT 22/06/2011
Features Disc of the day
Bruce Springsteen
Darkness On The Edge Of Town
(Columbia, 1978)
30 years old on Monday: the most underrated entry in The Boss's great American songbook.
World domination was a slow process for Bruce Springsteen. When it started to happen with 1975’s Born To Run, a legal tussle with his ex-manager kept him out of the recording studio for the next two years. Springsteen's frustration fed into the new songs he was stockpiling. Darkness... was not the follow-up fans or record company expected, missing a hit single and failing to achieve a similar sales trajectory. Long-time Springsteen watchers have always been aware of its heavy charms, but this is also a Bruce album for those turned off by the James Dean Springsteen of Born To Run or the Sylvester Stallone Springsteen of Born In The USA. Sombre reflection and unbridled ferocity are the order of the day, as the troubles in Springsteen's life infiltrated the characters in his songs. Badlands and The Promised Land are the big, cathartic rockers separating tales of teenage lust in Candy's Room, the headbanging prodigal-son anthem Adam Raised A Cain and Racing In The Street, a downbeat ode to reckless driving. In the UK, punk waged its war of attrition, but these sour, street-tough songs also mirrored the questioning mood of the times. Lawbreakers everywhere should seek out a bootleg from 1978 recorded at New Jersey's Capitol Theatre in which The E-Street Band come close to spontaneous combustion while ripping into some of the songs here.
Mark Blake
Posted by Danny_Eccleston at 6:00 AM GMT 29/05/2008
Further Listening
Tom Petty – You're Gonna Get It (Shelter, 1978)
Bruce Springsteen – The Rising (Columbia, 2002)
The Hold Steady – Separation Sunday (Frenchkiss, 2005)
SUGGEST YOUR OWN DISC OF THE DAY ON OUR MESSAGE BOARD HERE, OR, MORE PRIVATELY, HERE!
Previous Disc of the day
-
-
Earl Brutus - Larky
Last salvo of Ginsters Pasty-Warholism from Britpop ramraiders.
12:04 PM GMT 08/06/2011
-
Loudon Wainwright - T-Shirt
An overlooked small wonder from an unpredictable career.
6:00 AM GMT 03/06/2011
-
Landscape - From The Tea-rooms Of Mars… To The Hell-holes Of Uranus
Dry computer club Futurists, upon hitting implausible chart paydirt.
6:00 AM GMT 17/05/2011
-
-
Causa Sui - Summer Sessions Vol 1-3
Epic Danish jams, for when the neighbours get you down.
6:00 AM GMT 12/05/2011
end of body content back to top
Footer
Join us on:
© Copyright Bauer - all
rights reserved.
Reproduction of this
website, in whole or in
part, in any form or
medium without express
written permission from
Bauer is prohibited. All
use is subject to our
Terms of Use
|
|
Comments
Comment on this post
Fanatastic album - I've always thought Adam Raised A Cain would have been a perfect addition for a Sopranos soundtrack; the it's got Anthony Junior written all over it- NJ connection, the Cadillacs, the family dysfunction, the line about your mother calling you by your real name...bloody brilliant. Springsteen at his most passionate and raw.
Posted by Angelo Tsibogiannis at 6:50 AM GMT 29/05/2008 Report Abuse
Reply to this post
Absolutely brilliant album and as always Bruce was following his own path: pure rock n roll with integrity. As a young man just into my twenties when this was released I found every song inspirational and moving. Badlands, the closest thing to a hit on the album was a barnstormer but full of angry truth. Racing in the Streets, perfect for those long North American summer nights full of beer and girls. Every song defined that summer and still does. I don't listen to this much anymore, Not because the music doesn't live but becuase the emotion can be too much.
Absolutely one of Bruce's essential albums.
Posted by ajnabi at 5:12 AM GMT 09/08/2008 Report Abuse
Reply to this post
Comment on this post