A Contrarian View of Bruce
Published August 26, 2002
Mark Gauvreau Judge does not like Bruce Sprinsteen - at all. He explains why in a Wall Street Journal editorial:
- Back in 1984, when I was a college student, I panned the album "Born in the U.S.A.," Bruce's breakthrough (coming years after the early so-called triumph of "Born to Run"). The college paper ran an entire page of letters calling me a fool--one from my own brother. I was even warned about going to a certain bar favored by some of The Boss's disciples.
Had I only realized then what I do now: There is no reasoning with Springsteen fans. They form their own religion, or rather their own cult. Bruce's return is their Second Coming, and third and fourth, depending on how you count. Indeed, religion is the only way to explain the Pauline tone of the Return of the Boss.
"Bruce Springsteen has gathered many a superlative over the years," Kurt Loder panted in a five-star Rolling Stone review. I had a flash of hope that a "but" was going to follow that clause, but then came the geyser of gush: "Even for him, though, 'The Rising,' with its bold thematic concentration and penetrating emotional focus, is a singular triumph. I can't think of another album in which such an abundance of great songs might be said to seem the least of its achievements."
(see Blogcritics.com reviews of The Rising here and here, and here
- A Contrarian View of Bruce
- Published: August 26, 2002
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- Writer: Eric Olsen
- Eric Olsen's BC Writer page
- Eric Olsen's personal site
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I was wondering why this one showed up: thanks for the concern VP, very glad to have you spending time with us. You should consider joining.
Re Bruce, I think he is on the comebck trail, and while I have mixed feelings about the whole Concerts for Aging Liberls thing, it does seem to have ratcheted up the passion level, and maybe the next album will be the real comeback "The Rising" tried to be but wasn't quite.
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Bruce's ability to appeal to simple, strong emotions is undeniable, and that is the only thing many people are looking for in music.
Any recording artist who can give people the emotional experiences they want to have does not need to rise anywhere near true brilliance in the execution of the music. Simple competence is more than enough, if delivered with conviction.
I think this is why there is often so little effect when reviewers pan a popular artist. Fans seem to instinctively know that the act of reviewing can change the whole experience of hearing music. The reviewer who hates Bruce Springsteen, or even Britney Spears, is often clearly not sharing the same experience as the fans.
Perhaps reviewers instinctively know this, too. Perhaps that's why so many try to persuade readers to share their negative views by saying the artist used to be great, but then "sold out" or otherwise fell from the heights of real greatness.
(As a side note, I'm always more than happy to comment on an old entry if it gets a spammer's garbage off the front page.)