Sam Sodomsky rules and so does that write up. Born in the USA is at worst a top-4 Bruce record in my book and the best songs on it are some of the very best he's ever written
i had it sixth or seventh when i did my run-through earlier in the year. it's closer to the greetings-USA-rising tier for me than top 3-4
I think I go back to his acoustic versions of most of the songs more than I do the album cuts. They were just driven into the ground for me. Though, I do get lowkey emotional listening to any version of BITUSA. ‘I’m ten years burning down the road, ain’t got no where to run - ain’t got no where to go.’ I just remember my dad getting really upset talking about coming back from Vietnam and him and his friends being treated as second class citizens by a lot of people for a long while. So it kind of hits the nerve.
I love all the live versions of his and the band’s music. “Born In The USA” is a top ten song for me, surrounded by mostly deeper cuts. The energy and the drums just surge through the mix, absolute perfect pop/rock song to me.
For a good portion of my younger years I thought it was so damn corny and now I recognize the ballsiness of it haha. Born in the USA is such a great record start to finish. I’m not really a huge fan of 80s production but for some reason this record still sounds amazing to me. So many upbeat jams with dark depressing lyrics.
USA was kind of tough for me early on in my Bruce fandom because I thought it sounded dated. But we’ve now reached the point where those sounds are so prevalent in music again that it no longer sounds dated to me at all.
HA HA HA to the part of the article that states No Surrender was almost left off the album. Only BRUCE considers shelving tracks that good. It's amazing that there were SEVEN singles off BITUSA and No Surrender, with its HUGE CHORUS was not one of the seven.
good lord Brian really swung for the fences and connected when he got the chance there. wish him and TGA were wired a little different and didn't stop. truly believe they could've been the biggest American rock band in the world.
I remember this was right when Gaslight was on the rise and had somewhat recently done the Hanging on E Street web series and that made me want to hear a Brian Fallon cover of No Surrender. Never imagined it would take the form of him performing WITH Bruce.
at their peak, they were pretty fucking big. i doubt they'd ever have been RHCP, foo fighters, even the killers level, etc. but yeah, they were definitely on the climb ... and then get hurt happened
First off, my favorite band ever. Second, they were big more regionally. Here in Texas they were selling maybe 750-1000 tickets max for concerts. I know in the Northeast they played MUCH bigger shows.
that Bruce guest spot was my intro to Gaslight. Had never heard of them prior. Forever thankful for that.
Never saw that video before. Brian looks like he is legit crying. Awesome stuff. Wonder if Bruce prefers Gaslight or Bleachers as his prodigy children.
Really felt like they sky was the limit for them when Handwritten came out. Two years later, not so much. But yeah, that album cycle was a moment.
The first time I saw this video I legit teared up. I literally cannot fathom how exciting that could be for Brian. I've spent the majority of my life imagining myself playing in front of a crowd like that - probably never going to happen haha but to see this guy who by all accounts is a really great dude live out that dream, alongside one of his idols is just such a beautiful thing to watch.
Agree, he looks so excited but also so nervous/awkward (doesn't know what to do with his hands without a guitar) - but just thinking about what a dream that obviously was for him. Dreams do come true.
I don't have a lot of absolute rules in my life, but "every time the E Street Band SB Halftime show comes up in your youtube recs you must watch it" is one of them