Bruce Springsteen and E-Street Band to release new album

I was just listening to the Rising earlier today, actually. Obviously it doesn't compare to "Born to Run" or "Darkness on the Edge of Town" but it does hold up on it's own as a surprisingly decent rock album.

In other words: I AM SO EXCITE!

Even better than the album is the possibility of a world tour in October.

What? Where the shit did this come from? That's awesome news, but seriously, is it just me or did this totally sneak out from nowhere? I didn't even know he was back in the studio. It's like the Cloverfield of awesome rock and roll.

There have been rumblings for about a year, but, yeah, it hasn't been as widely publicized as you'd expect for a new E Street Band album. This may be because there's been so much focus on the Seeger Sessions band with the Dublin live release.

I've been a broken record about this since We Shall Overcome came out, but my biggest hope for this is that Springsteen can translate that Seeger Sessions enthusiasm and looseness into a big, electric E Street Band release. The Rising is fine, but how great would it be to hear the now-massive band pull off something as quirky and fun as The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle?

The local paper had various Bruce spottings in the living section for the last few months while he's been recording. I hope you're right, Dave. I put the Seeger Sessions back on this weekend and remembered how much fun that album is. I hope that sense carries over here.

Not to derail, but does anyone listen to Little Steven's Underground Garage radio show? I've gotten hooked on listening to the archives online during the day. He plays some really great songs, and I've ended up buying records from bands I'd never heard of before he played them.

That would be amazing. The only thing The Rising lacked was a real contagious sense of energy, the kind you get watching him live at the Hammersmith on that dvd that came with the Born to Run re-release (have you seen that DaveB? It's sensational).

Yeah, that's an amazing show and exactly the energy I'm talking about. They still have that live, actually, but they kind of lost the sound* of spontenaity in the studio somewhere around Darkness or the River.

* I say "sound" of it, because I'm sure that Born to Run was probably more labored over than The Rising (or maybe more than anything else in his catalog, with the possible exception of Born in the U.S.A.). But it doesn't sound like it was.

The Wings for Wheels doc definitely proves that. I love the segment where they show the millions of different versions of Born to Run, and one sounds like ELO.

I love songs like Adam Raised a Cain from Darkness on the Edge of Town, where every member of the band seems to be playing on 11 and after that solo in the middle, there's that segment right before he goes into the final verse where everyone is just building up on that one chord and everyone's singing, as well. If there is even only a few moments like that on this album, I will be so thrilled.

I think what really hurt the E Street Band (and, actually, much of his studio solo work) was the rise of synths. It gave Bruce and his producers something to pad out the sound with, and they put them on everything. This later seemed to carry over into the guitars and other instruments. On the Rising, the instruments, more often than not, perform as one massive, shiny monster rather than individual parts.

They're a huge band that doesn't need extra sound, but from BITUSA on, there's all this unnecessary padding, as if Springsteen became afraid of the band sounding thin. There are 274 people in the E Street Band - even if everyone stopped playing at the same time, it wouldn't sound thin just by virtue of ambient noise. It's okay if not everyone plays on every single part of every song.

Yeah, if there's one thing Springsteen likes its that synth sound filling in everywhere. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I read an interview somewhere where he described that ambient synth that shows up in so much of his later work as "the sound of clouds moving," or something similar.

More like the sound of yawning. Restrict Bittan and Frederici to piano and organ only, get out of that 'all four (counting Patti) guitars play pretty much the same thing' mode, and let Max swing some more. Springsteen, at his best, is one of my favorite artists, but the production on his rock albums from BITUSA on drives me nuts.

I almost give a pass to the synths on "Dancin' in the Dark," since they drive the thing, but listen to Ted Leo's solo take on it and tell me it doesn't work as a song without that oh-so-80s keyboard bit.

Springsteen himself actually did a more aggressive, rockier version of it on The Rising tour. I thought it was a big improvement. Then again, I find that Springsteen's songs almost always sound better--maybe not better, but more alive--in concert than on the albums.

I saw Springsteen on his solo acoustic tour a few years ago, but I've never seen the whole band. Can't wait until they come this way again.

It's one of those songs that people think of as one of his "bad" songs from the eighties but I think that's mainly based on the production and the mix. At it's heart it's a really good tune with some pretty cool lyrics that fit in with his usual themes.

I find most of his Born In the USA album sounds way better live then it did on record.

Definitely. Even the less-known tracks like "Darlington County," "Bobby Jean," and "No Surrender" blend into sort of a blob because of the bland production on the album, but I've heard good live versions of all of them, I think. What's strange is that I don't really like listening to the acoustic or the synth-ed out version of "Born in the U.S.A.," but I think the poppy, keyboard-laden one makes the song a lot more complex - the acoustic one doesn't leave room for stupid politicians to misinterpret the chorus.

I saw Springsteen when he was touring supporting Ghost of Tom Joad and he did a really great version of Darlington County, a song I can't stand on the album, which made me re-think it's placement in his canon. His reggae-tinged version of My Hometown is also really good.

(Weird, while I was typing this iTunes started playing Thunder Road
which I still think has one of the best lines about a girl ever "You ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright/ Oh and that's alright with me")

Has anyone heard a studio version of American Skin (41 Shots)? I've only heard a live version but I can imagine that it becomes a muddled mess if it's mixed like his other stuff*.

*Despite my love for everything about Tunnel of Love I recognize that it's production is not for everyone.

Hey, my three favorite tracks on the album. I have no problem with the album version of "No Surrender" (one of my favorite jogging songs) or "Darlington County" (I think I just love the line, "For a kiss and a smile I'll give it all to you"). The live version of "Bobby Jean" is an almost ridiculous improvement, however. I believe it's on Live 1975-1985 but I could be wrong.

A new Springsteen record is always cause for celebration and a tour with E Street is cause for a goddamn circus, assuming of course that it happens. Only in the last couple of years have I become a real Springsteen diehard and therefore have never seen him live. If I miss another chance (I lost out on tickets to the Seeger Sessions tour) I better just stab myself in the eardrums with a rusty screwdriver.

I forget exactly what album it was, but he did this live version of Two Hearts that rocks my shit everytime I hear it.

But, yeah Dave, you pretty much nailed it. Too bad I can't afford tickets to his shows.

Patrick, you can't afford not to go. Save some cash it's well worth every penny.

I can't believe I just heard about this yesterday. So excited -- although I agree with the general consensus about "The Rising," I'll defend "Mary's Place" as one of the best songs Springsteen has ever done.

I also hope he brings the energy of the two Seeger Sessions albums (and the two-disc Live in Dublin set is absolute joy -- between the folk songs and the Sessions band playing classic Springsteen, it pisses me off that I missed that tour) to this record. While I wish the whole band had been able to get together in one room to record this, like with the Seeger Sessions, I'm hoping for greatness.

Also, Patrick, you shoud definitely see Bruce and the E-Streets if they announce a world tour -- I've heard rumblings for a while that this may be the last one for a while, between Max going to LA with Conan in 2009 and Clarence Clemons' health problems. Even beyond that, Springsteen with this band in concert is a pretty goddamn great experience -- I saw him from the cheap seats on the reunion/Ministry of Rock and Roll tour and it was amazing.

First leg of the fall tour has just been announced:

October 2: Hartford, Conn. (Civic Center)
October 5: Philadelphia (Wachovia Center)
October 9-10: East Rutherford, N.J. (Continental Airlines Arena)
October 14: Ottawa, Ontario (Civic Centre)
October 15: Toronto (Air Canada Centre)
October 17-18: New York (Madison Square Garden)
October 21: Chicago (United Center)
October 26: Oakland, Calif. (Oracle Arena)
October 28: Los Angeles (TBA)
November 2: St. Paul, Minn. (Xcel Energy Center)
November 4: Cleveland (Quicken Loans Arena)
November 5: Auburn Hills, Mich. (Palace of Auburn Hills)
November 11: Washington, D.C. (Verizon Arena)
November 14: Pittsburgh (Mellon Arena)
November 15: Albany, N.Y. (Times Union Center)
November 18: Boston (TD Banknorth Garden)
November 25: Madrid (Palacio De Deportes)
November 26: Bilbao, Spain (Exhibition Centre)
November 28: Milan (Datchforum)
November 30: Arnhem, Holland (Geldredome)
December 2: Mannheim, Germany (Sap Arena)
December 4: Oslo (Spektrum)
December 8: Copenhagen (Forum)
December 10: Stockholm (Globe)
December 12: Antwerp, Belgium (Sportspaleis)
December 13: Cologne, Germany (Koln Arena)
December 15: Belfast (Odyssey Arena)
December 17: Paris (Palais Omnsiports De Bercy)
December 19: London (O2 Arena)

I can't wait. I'm hitting the Boston show for sure. A friend had an extra ticket to their reunion tour in 98 but I couldn't go because I was away on business. Man, did that piss me off.

I've listened to the first single ('Radio Nowhere', a free download on iTunes for the week) a couple times today and I like it a lot. I'm not a huge Bruce fan -- I respect him more than I actually end up listening to his records -- but this is enough to get me more interested in the record.

It's a straightforward stomper, and while it could be a little louder and more representative of the E Street Band, it's basically all chorus and makes for a great car tune.

Clarence's solo would be a lot more awesome if they didn't have that guitar which threatens to overwhelm it. But, you know, it's Bruce and the E-Street band, and I am phenomenally easy when it comes to them. I think it's kind of awesome.

I've only heard the song via the video on Amazon, which has some pretty muddy sound quality, but I like what I heard.

I don't think it's a threat so much as it's a full-on assault. The only way I can make it out is if I take my right earbud out.

I fall into Russ's camp, mostly, and this single did a great job of getting me excited to hear the rest of the record. I really like it.