BlueChair wrote:]NASHVILLE (Billboard) - Bruce Springsteen is about to release a new album and play the Super Bowl XLIII halftime show, but there's another project in the works that will be welcomed by fans: a deluxe reissue of 1978's "Darkness on the Edge of Town."
The "Darkness" package will be similar to Columbia's 2005 30th-anniversary boxed-set treatment of the New Jersey rocker's "Born to Run." That reissue included a Grammy-winning documentary about the album's creation and a 1975 concert from London. It was a huge hit with fans, debuting at No. 18 on the U.S. album chart with first-week sales of more than 53,000 copies.
The new edition of "Darkness" will "involve remastering that record, doing the kind of super-creative reconstruction and documentary of how it all came about and finding usable live footage from that point in time," Springsteen manager Jon Landau told Billboard. "That's a big one, and not that far from completion, and when we can find six weeks to sit down and finish it, I'm sure we will."
I'd love to be able to say I love the new album but I'm struggling to like it, overall. I'm finding few of the songs very compelling in terms of either melodies or songwriting and several seem to drag on with underwhelming 'here-we-go-again'-type keychanges that I'd never have expected from this band. It sounds like it's for old people. Mostly, I'm disappointed with Bruce's singing style on it... it's often strained and overwrought like he needs to take a big crap and I just find it unconvincing. eg:
Respect your opinion Bamboo but couldn't disagree more about the past two albums. To write the strongest melodies of his career at this stage is pretty impressive to me. The songs are becoming less 'Springsteenian' to me and more classic. The melodies of 'Surprise Surprise' or 'Girls in Their Summer Clothes' are just masterful. I'll agree that there are a couple of clunkers on the new one, but I'm digging the big, open voice he's using on some of these songs. To me he sounds like an artist who continues to try to write classic material and not fall back on his usual tricks.
Whoa my post looks horrible. I feel like a dick for the rash way I questioned his integrity, talent, etc there especially after all he's given me in his music. I'm still just not taking to large portions of the new album, but that's ok. Maybe now that I don't expect so much from it I may warm to it a little more. I like about 40% of it.
I love 75% of Magic. Aside from particularly I'll Work For Your Love, You'll Be Coming Down and Terry's Song and certain aspects of about 3 others that are otherwise fine, it's pretty solid.
