Inside Bay Area: Is Bruce Springsteen the greatest rocker of all time?
- From: Sue M. <batchild1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2007 07:02:08 -0700
From the Inside Bay Area newspapers at:
http://www.insidebayarea.com/bayarealiving/ci_7222937
==========
PURE 'MAGIC'
Is Bruce Springsteen the greatest rocker of all time?
By Jim Harrington, STAFF WRITER
Inside Bay Area
Article Last Updated:10/19/2007 06:46:36 AM PDT
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN goes by the nickname "The Boss." There may come a
day, though, when he's known by another moniker: "The Best."
Music appreciation is subjective. There is no way to issue a firm
decree that the Beatles or the Rolling Stones or Stevie Wonder or Bob
Dylan is the greatest pop act of all time. Still, if you take a broad
view--and consider all factors involved--you can make a strong case
that Bruce Springsteen is in the process of fashioning the single most
satisfying career in pop-music history.
This topic is relevant today for two main reasons. The first is
Springsteen's newly released CD, "Magic," which has prompted yet
another avalanche of rave reviews for the Boss--including the rare
five-star rating from Rolling Stone magazine. The second is the
58-year-old rocker's current tour with the E Street Band, which once
again has proven to be one of the hottest tickets of the concert
season.
The tour is certainly doing smokin' business in the Bay Area. The
first local date announced--Friday at the Oracle Arena in
Oakland--sold out within an hour of tickets going on sale. A second
Oracle concert has since been added for Thursday.
Of course, Springsteen isn't the only star who has recorded a
critically acclaimed album and posted a sell-out tour. So, why pick
the Boss over Neil Young, Prince or other candidates who deserve to be
included in any debate about the greatest rock star?
The answer, in a nutshell, is that no other act in the business has
managed to achieve on so many different levels and for such a
sustained period of time as Springsteen.
All-around sensation
It's almost World Series time, so I'll put this in terms of the
national pastime and use Willie Mays as my reference. During Mays'
reign, other players had seasons where they hit more home runs or hit
for higher averages than the Giants slugger. But nobody was a more
complete player than Mays in his prime. He had everything working--he
could hit .300-plus, slug 30 homers, run like the devil, catch like
crazy and throw out runners from deep in the outfield.
Springsteen is like that--only in music terms. He's a multi-tool
man--a fine vocalist, an excellent songwriter and a solid musician. He
excels equally in the studio and on the stage. Plus, he has proven
adept at many different styles of music through the years.
Other musicians have surpassed the Boss, especially in the studio, at
various times over the decades. But name one single rock star who has
continued to achieve at Springsteen's high level for more than 35
years?
Dylan and Young seem to be the most obvious choices, but both have had
periods where their recorded output was lackluster at best. And--if
you've actually listened to "Steel Wheels," "Bridges to Babylon" or
any other Stones' offering since 1978's "Some Girls"--you know to not
even bring up Mick, Keith and the boys when it comes to recent studio
work.
All of those acts--as well as many others--can topple Springsteen in
one regard or another. Unlike Dylan and Young, the Boss hasn't written
as many rock standards that will be covered by other musicians for
decades to come. Yet, he's written his share. The Stones can outdraw
Springsteen--but not by much. The Beatles have more all-time classic
studio albums, but Bruce isn't far behind.
Conversely, none of those acts can match the Boss when it comes to
being an all-around sensation. As mentioned, the Stones stopped
putting out worthwhile albums nearly 30 years ago, while Springsteen
has kept right on rolling. The Beatles could never have matched the
Boss on the concert stage, and their output, unfortunately, was
confined to a relatively short period of time.
Dylan had an extended period of mediocrity, beginning at the tail end
of the'70s and lasting until 1997's "Time Out of Mind." Since that
point, however, it's been all aces for the master. Young's
career--while as defiantly individual as any in the business--has been
littered with hits and misses. Some of the "misses" have been
extremely interesting oddities--"Greendale," anyone?--but were pretty
much ignored by the public.
Meanwhile, Springsteen has continued to put out records that, for the
most part, have been hailed by critics and eagerly consumed by fans.
A look back
Perhaps the entertainer gene runs through the blood of those born in
Long Branch, N.J., a beach resort town that was once an East Coast
oasis for theater and performing arts. It didn't take long for the
city's most famous son--young Bruce Springsteen--to feel the draw of
the stage.
His mom bought him a guitar at 16, and, not long after, he was putting
on shows and making people think that, sooner or later, this kid was
going to be a star.
The ascent began in earnest with 1973's "Greetings From Ashbury Park,
N.J.," an amazingly accomplished major-label debut that some still
rank among the Boss' finest albums. The highly influential
recording--it was among the first of its kind to fuse
singer-songwriter material with rowdy rock-R&B sounds--certainly set
the bar high, at least artistically, for all who would come later.
Following "The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle"--the
excellent 1973 sophomore set that furthered his lore in Jersey but
failed to break him out nationally--Springsteen finally hit the big
time with 1975's "Born to Run." The anthem-filled rocker, which ran on
James Dean-intense charisma, proved to be such a big story that both
Time and Newsweek put Springsteen on their covers the same week.
And speaking of covers, other
artists soon began looking to the Springsteen songbook for material
and coming up with gems. Most notably, Manfred Mann, the Pointer
Sisters and Patti Smith all achieved Top 20 hits in the late '70s with
songs penned by Springsteen.
At this point, the Boss appeared to have the whole star-vehicle thing
figured out and, presumably, all he needed to do was keep writing
catchy rock anthems. Instead, he went in another direction, and,
starting with 1978's "The Darkness on the Edge of Town," embarked on a
road of musical exploration.
While not completely turning his back on the barroom rockers of his
early career, Springsteen shifted his focus to darker material with
1980's "The River" and, especially, 1982's "Nebraska."
And--surprise--fans found out he could handle the downer songs as well
as party anthems.
Big-time blockbuster
In 1984--just as President Ronald Reagan was getting the public's
approval for a second term in office--Springsteen released the
stadium-sized blockbuster "Born in the U.S.A." The album sold
approximately 15 million copies in the U.S. alone, charted seven Top
10 singles, and put the Boss on equal footing with Michael Jackson as
one of the nation's biggest pop stars. The album--and especially its
title track--eventually suffered from overexposure and is undervalued
today in the Springsteen oeuvre.
"Tunnel of Love," from 1987, followed the same course as "U.S.A.,"
mixing fun rockers with introspective meditations, and was another big
hit. The tank was approaching empty by 1992's "Human Touch" and "Lucky
Town"--simultaneously released discs that mostly sound as if they were
compiled from the editing-room floor of the "Tunnel of Love" sessions.
Deservedly, the two albums, while not bereft of fine moments, are
usually ranked by fans at the bottom of the Boss' barrel.
Springsteen rebounded with 1995's "The Ghost of Tom Joad," an intimate
batch of songs reminiscent of "Nebraska," then returned to full glory
with the Sept. 11, 2001-inspired "The Rising."
When I think back on this album, an old, unanswered question comes to
mind: Can music really heal?
Comfort in dark times
Well, perhaps, but not completely--especially when the wounds are as
deep as the ones lingering from the collapse of the World Trade Center
and the other tragedies of that day. Yet, "The Rising" proved that
music can provide some degree of comfort during even the darkest
hours. Argue all you want about which of Springsteen's albums is his
best, but not about which is his most important. "The Rising" was that
rare work that transcends the usual boundaries of art.
It also kicked off what has to be the most incredible four-CD run in
recent rock history (just a notch or two below what the Beatles did in
the'60s or Pink Floyd accomplished in the'70s). The most impressive
thing about the run is its diversity--moving from the arena anthems of
"The Rising" to the somber songwriting of 2005's "Devils and Dust,"
the old-time, hoedown of 2006's "We Shall Overcome: The Seeger
Sessions" and, now, the full-on E Street shuffle with "Magic."
Yet, just because the songs would sound good blaring from a jukebox
doesn't mean they don't have something deeper to offer, or are
inferior to the material found on more serious efforts like "Nebraska"
and "Devils and Dust." As David Fricke notes in his five-star review
of "Magic" in Rolling Stone, "...a firm beat, some Telecaster sting
and the robust peal of Clarence Clemons' saxophone can still tell you
more about the human condition than a thousand op-ed words."
Put another way: In the hands of Springsteen, rock'n' roll can still
be "Magic."
Reach Jim Harrington at
jharrington@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx or 925-416-4857.
.
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