If any of you have been watching TV or listening to the radio over the last month or so (and I know you have), it’s been hard to miss all the hype for the new Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band record, The Rising, released yesterday in music stores everywhere.  I picked up my “limited edition” copy (the one with the little book filled with lots of Nebraska/Tom Joad style pictures in it) at Borders for $19.99.  The regular release is currently retailing for $11.99, which isn’t a bad price for 73 minutes worth of 15 songs.

The record was inspired primarily from the events of September 11.  Bruce sings of a fireman making his way up the World Trade Centers, just doing his duty on the way to his death, in Into the Fire (“You lay your hand on me/Then walked into the darkness of your smoky grave”) and The Rising (“There’s spirits above and behind me/Faces gone black, eyes burning bright/May their precious blood bind me/Lord, as I stand before your fiery light”).  He sings of the pain of loss from the perspective of one trying to cope with the death of a loved one in Empty Sky (“Just an empty impression/In the bed where you used to be”) and You’re Missing (“Coffee cups on the counter, jackets on the chair/Papers on the doorstep, but you’re not there”) and also from the perspective of a survivor trying to make sense of it all in Nothing Man (“I never thought I’d live to read about myself/In my hometown paper/How my brave young life was forever changed/In a misty cloud of pink vapor”).

Needless to say, this record deals with some incredibly emotional issues and, at times, the lyrics are some of the most powerful Bruce has ever written.  But as much as I try to take these songs out of the context of 9/11, I find it pretty difficult to do so.  Sure, there are moments on the record that take the listener back to the E Street times of old – Waitin’ on a Sunny Day conjures up memories of Hungry Heart and the “critics” like to say Mary’s Place is reminiscent of the early crowd favorite show-closer Thundercrack (although it reminds me a bit more of High Hopes or Without You, both of which were recorded during the Greatest Hits sessions and were rightfully not great enough to make that album).  But the bulk of the record is not really the kind of music I want to sing along with. That said, Bruce is one of the finest musical storytellers around and these songs capture a lot of the 9/11 emotion.  The record is worth the purchase for that reason alone.

There are a few songs on this record that I could have done without (Waitin’ on a Sunny Day and Let’s be Friends), or at least I would have preferred Bruce to rework (The Rising) and exert some of his perfectionism, even if it meant another classic delay of a Springsteen album.  This could have to do with the fact that Bruce used his first new producer since the early ‘70s in Brendan O’Brien, who previously produced such acts as Pearl Jam and Rage Against the Machine.  It really sounds as if the E Street Band hit the rockers way too hard and some of these songs, the title track in particular, come off as thick wall of sound making it incredibly difficult to follow any particular instrument.  This may be necessary for lesser musicians of the sort O’Brien has produced in the past, but the E Street Band’s greatest work has appeared in their more subtle tunes that seem to build off of each individual instrument: Backstreets, Racing in the Streets, The River and Blood Brothers, to name a few.  You can really feel how each individual instrument fits into the crescendos on those songs, which allows you to hear something “new” on every listen.  These crescendos that have been an E Street staple over the last 25 years are lacking in this latest effort.  Sure, Bruce was going for a different sound and needed to use the music to temper the emotional subject matter.  And, for the most part, he accomplishes that – with some pretty astonishing sounds from Max’s drum kit.  But after 18 years without an E Street Band record, I’ve got to admit I was hoping for a little more in the way of instrumentation.  Maybe when I hear some of these songs live I’ll have a different take, as Bruce’s work tends to take on a new life when played live.  I just think, however, that Bruce may have put a bit too much faith in O’Brien’s musical ear.

To prove I haven’t gone completely yellow, there are a few gems on this record that easily hold up to Bruce’s classics – Lonesome Day, Empty Sky, Worlds Apart, Paradise and My City of Ruins, which was originally written in the fall of 2000 about the decline of Asbury Park and played on the “Tribute to Heroes” telethon last fall. Empty Sky was the first song that really hit me on my first listen and it contains Bruce’s most effective use of the harmonica since Atlantic City.  The song has a kind of Downbound Train desperation feel to it, although the lyrics may get a bit repetitive for some tastes.  Worlds Apart stands out for its intensity and Middle Eastern sound as well as the Romeo and Juliet story line.

All told, I’ve got to give this record a mixed bag.  The gems on it will stand up with Bruce’s best work, but I really don’t think this record will receive as much play on my system as the six records released from ‘75 through ‘88.  However, for the subject matter Bruce tackles here, it is definitely worth a spot in any music collection.

Buy Bruce's New Album here:   The Rising