 |
 |
|
|
buying more than one thing? (uses Multi-Item Price Optimization™) ...or |
||
 |
 |
intereact!Bruce Springsteen
Retail Price (not our price): $19.97
Release Date: 2005-04-26
Manufacturer: Sony
Format: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Track List
Now here, for your listening pleasure, the tracks...
| Disc 1 |
Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
1) Amazon.com
The last time Bruce Springsteen ventured West for inspiration, the result was the desolate Nebraska and its tales of serial killers and used cars. On his first record in three years, Springsteen navigates barren deserts and Old West war fields for a dozen forlorn songs that co-star the artist and his acoustic guitar. Though he's always had a knack for carving out the hooks and melodies that make each journey memorable, this time around Springsteen relies on the lyrics to carry the tune-desperate tales of tragedy, heartbreak, and lust with a Latino twist, like the boxer coming home ("The Hitter"), a distressing border-crossing incident ("Matamoros Banks"), and the Nevada hooker with good intentions ("Reno," which led to the warning sticker Adult Imagery). With no E Street Band in the mix, the album is decorated with horns and strings and Springsteen's novel falsetto on two his best efforts: "Maria's Bed," where the narrator comes home to his woman after 40 nights on the road, and the fast-picking "All I'm Thinkin' About," where he has more than Carolina on his mind. A decade from now this will be an underrated record in the Springsteen chronicles. --Scott HolterThe Best of Bruceby guest editor Steve Perry Steve is editor-in-chief of City Pages newspaper in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle(1973)After a folk-rockish debut album that bubbled with ideas and dense lyrical play, this is where Springsteen began to find his voice as a rocker and as a songwriter. The prisoner-of-love romanticism of "Rosalita" and "Incident on 57th Street" hinted at what was coming, and this early version of the E Street Band--jazzier and more spare than later versions, thanks largely to David Sancious's piano--sounds great, if a little ragged, these many years later. Born to Run(1975) andDarkness on the Edge of Town(1978) These two records, which belong on any compilation of the top 100 rock albums of all time, sketched the themes that he would spend his whole career chasing, and defined the expectations fans would bring to his records ever after. The first chords of "Born to Run" sounded like freedom itself the first time I heard them on the radio, and the album lived up to them. "Thunder Road" is still the greatest rock & roll love song anyone's ever written. The record sounded so big and impassioned and propulsive it was easy to miss the dread running underneath it. Darkness... put the dread front and center. There are more of his best songs here than anywhere else, even if the sound is muddy and leaden at times. Nebraska(1982)After The River (the best record that didn't make this list) and the ensuing tour answered his rock & roll prayers--he was a big star now, not just a perennial critics' favorite--Springsteen holed up in a rented house on the Jersey shore, where he wrote these songs and sang them into a four-track recorder in his living room. The tape was supposed to be a demo for the band, but after several false tries he concluded that the tape he'd been carrying around in his pocket was the record. Quiet and bleak, Nebraska nonetheless grabbed you by the collar and made you listen as surely as his rock & roll records ever had.Tunnel of Love(1987)The glare and hubbub surrounding the Born in the USA tour (the tour was great--the record itself overrated) made him pull back again, this time to write a cycle of songs about love and fear and self-doubt. After this, Springsteen's first marriage broke up, and he started a family with Patti Scialfa, disappearing for the better part of 10 years, notwithstanding the pair of not bad, just disappointing albums he released in 1992, Human Touch and Lucky Town. The Ghost of Tom Joad (1995) Some call it Nebraska II, but his second acoustic album was not a repeat of his first--the characters and settings had changed, and their circumstances were more expressly desperate, and social--though it did share the same interest in what happens to people whose isolation or marginal status renders them invisible. The Rising(2002)Everybody--including Springsteen himself--seemed to think it was a record about 9/11, but the subject was broader: death and loss as seen from more than halfway down life's road. Dave Marsh nailed it: "A middle-aged man confronts death and chooses life." Brendan O'Brien's production sounds great.2) Album Description
CD AUDIO SIDE: Entire Album DVD SIDE: * Entire album in 5.1 channel surround sound and in 2 channel stereo. * Special Devils & Dust film by noted photographer and film maker Danny Clinch, including rare, never-before-seen acoustic performances of "Devils & Dust," "Long Time Comin'," "Reno," All I'm Thinkin' About" and "Matamoras Banks" plus Bruce's personal introductions to the tracks.
Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 3.5 out of 5
1) Mixed results [Rating: 3 out of 5]
Not a big fan of this release. The title song seems to be trying too hard to make its point and, on top of that, is musically uninteresting. All the Way Home is a fair country/rock song--something that would thematically, but not musically, fit on Tunnel of Love. Reno is a lyrical feat, though the higher pitched acoustic slide guitar sounds are grating and makes it hard for me to listen to the song repeatedly.Long Time Comin' is a great song. A gem. I find myself listening to it quite a bit. My favorite of the album.Black Cowboys, Maria's Bed, Silver Palomino, Jesus Was an Only Son, Leah, and The Hitter are bores. Of the bunch, Silver Palomino rates highest in my book. I wanted to like them, but after repeated attempts I couldn't.All I'm Thinkin' About is painful to listen to. I'm not sure what the heck he was thinking when he decided to release this. Maybe it's a joke. But if so I can't be sure if he is poking fun at himself or at those in his audience who say they think it is great.Matamoros Banks: An interesting experiment. I like the music and the imagery. But it's one of those songs that needs an explanation to be understood. And if a song (or piece of literature) needs explanation, I'm not sure it works.I would not buy this CD again, though I would buy Long Time Comin' and Matamoros Banks from iTunes if I lost the CD.The DualDisc format is fragile. Please don't ever release on this format again, sir.2) The best Springsteen work ever [Rating: 5 out of 5]
I bought this on the recommendation of a friend and just loved it. A really cohesive presentation of thoughtful, reflective music. And I'm pretty sure you have to be over 21 to truly appreciate it....3) Wonderful album!! [Rating: 5 out of 5]
Love the album! I enjoyed every song, especially "Devils & Dust" and "Long Time Comin." I honestly think that this is Bruce' most creative album yet. Good work Bruce!! Keep it up.As for the dualdisc issue, I have nothing to say because I bought the imported version for the same price to assure myself that I would be able to listen to this on my Ipod. I suggest all of you do the same if you want to avoid any problems.4) Wonderful CD [Rating: 5 out of 5]
This remains on of my favorites from Springsteen. Many great haunting ballads - the title song is one of his greatest unappreciated works. Highly recommended!5) DEVILS & DUST...SPRINGSTEEN FOR THE THINKING MAN ! (and The Boss' best album since Born In The USA) [Rating: 5 out of 5]
Bruce Springsteen's Devils & Dust (2005) is an album of stark, intelligent songs with individual characters in each one. Sometimes Bruce portrays a character himself, and at other times he tells their stories. The people in these songs aren't living the American dream. Some just haven't made it yet, and others have had their lives shattered. Some, like the Mexican husband in Matamoros Banks, who dies trying to cross the border into America, never will. For the most part, these are scarred, broken lives, and even though most of the characters are fictional, they are real lives, lived by people with real feelings and real dreams, just like you and me. Springsteen makes these characters come to life in a very personal way, just like John Steinbeck did with similar characters in his novel, Cannery Row. Other than Jesus, who Bruce depicts as the very real, and very human, Son of God in Jesus Was An Only Son, the people in these songs live in the poor, forsaken part of American society. If you judge people who are less fortunate to be inferior, this album will smack you right between the eyes. If you don't have it in you to empathize with these folks, or have a pathological need to always blame others for their own misfortune, these songs won't have any meaning for you at all.Musically, the album is mostly acoustic guitar based, with a lot of harmonica, but nothing like Springsteen's Nebraska. Where that album was stripped down with only guitar and harmonica, Devils & Dust is also colored with mandolins, dobro, fiddle, electric guitars, drums, female backing vocals, piano, organ, horns, and an orchestra. The songs are dark, the songs are real, and the songs are very emotional. They fit Springsteen's voice well, and the musical arrangements fit the songs perfectly. Devils & Dust is a brilliant album that may take a few listens to fully appreciate. If you don't like it at first, don't give up, just keep listening (while reading the lyrics) until it registers. When you do find meaning in these songs and characters, you'll be very satisfied that you took the time to understand this rewarding Bruce Springsteen album for the thinking man (or woman). Devils & Dust is The Boss doing what he does best. By looking at a small part of our world, we can see the whole universe with more clarity and compassion.