Bruce Springsteen (along with Bono) has always been the most overrated musician in musical history: the sounds that come out of his mouth when he’s singing sound like somebody masturbating with finger knives; his guitar playing is just average; and even though he has written some good songs, many of them are also repetitive. Okay, Bruce, we know that Bobby did this and Bobby did that. We know Bobby hates police officers and Bobby wants everything. How many times do you use the Bobby cliché in your music? And don’t even get me started on the “Mary” thing!
It would be ignorant, even among Bruce’s most harsh detractors, not to admit that the so-called Boss has come out with some memorable albums: Born To Run; Nebraska; Born in The USA; and his last relevant album, Tunnel of Love. Since then, however, Bruce Springsteen has become an absolute personal and musical joke: his albums flop faster than Paris Hilton's panties; his political aspirations make all liberals look bad; and his efforts to exploit social causes have become pathetically repetitive. His relevancy hasn’t faded overnight though. Lets take a look at all the events that have made Bruce the musical equivalent of Michael Jackson these days:
1992: The Release of the Albums Human Touch and Lucky Town
These albums arrived simultaneously on March 31, 1992. Despite the obligatory “good reviews” from liberal music critics, the albums barely had an impact on the charts. They debuted at number 2 and 3 respectively, but dropped instantly off the charts. These two poorly-produced albums were definitely the end of an era.
1994: “Streets of Philadelphia”
“Streets of Philadelphia” was one of the best records of 1994, but that’s not saying much since 1994 was the year of "Boyz II Men.” But what really stands out about this record is Bruce’s sudden interest in AIDS, as well as the gay community, one he didn’t have the guts to stand up for in the '80s when they most needed it. Where was Mr. Springsteen, the self-appointed God of the downtrodden, when gays were demonized to the point where it was considered funny for Eddie Murphy to make several gay and AIDS jokes with roaring approval? Megastars such as Elton John, Madonna, Liz Taylor, and very few others risked their entire careers speaking out about the incredible injustice on AIDS and the gay community that decade. Bruce kept his mouth shut until it was “politically” okay to do so. Given that he didn’t have much of a career at the time, he certainly didn’t have much to lose either.
1995: The Ghost of Tom Joad
Um, trying to think of something to write about this... okay, still trying... um... okay, I give up. This album is so unmemorable that I don’t think anybody recalls this talentless effort except, perhaps, the instant fall off the music charts and the failure to produce at least one hit single.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - sandra
Once again, Daryl D, just tell us how you really feel, ok? Anyhow, I really like the paragraph about Streets of Philadelphia. It was a great song, but yes, it was Bruce jumping on a bandwagon. His speech at the Oscars that year was pathetic. Where was he 10 years ealier on this issue?
2 - J. Arroyo, NYPD
I first want to say a huge "thank you" to blogcritics for allowing this article to be published. You know that no other media outlet would ever publish a negative article about Bruce Springcantsing.
I have been on the NYPD for 10 years. For someone like Springcantsing to publicly ridicule us, I think it's pathetic. It was all a publicity stunt. It might have won him some praise from the media, but trust me, he lost a lot of fans.
I lost three friends after 911. If I wasn't late to work that morning, I could have very well been dead too. Bruce did us no favors by making money off of our heroism either and not donating a cent of it.
3 - C. Hudson
Warning to Daryl D----you will be attacked by Bruce's legend of brainless fans, who don't understand what real musical talent is! It's really sad that Bruce fans follow Bruce around like "lambs" and defend everything this faggot does. A faggot with no talent, I will add.
4 - Rowondo
I find Bruce Springsteen about as interesting and relevant as Britney Spears. Everybody I know can't stand the guy. So why does he constantly win grammys? Why does he constantly get good reviews? There are some bad reviews of his material, but even those are sugarcoated. Daryl D, you should get an award for the best article on blogcritics in months! Just like your U2 article, thank you for exposing the truth.
5 - E. Gunderson
I think this article is very unfair. It seems more of a personal attack on Springsteen than an actual criticism of his work.
I will say this though - the 911 thing was a turnoff. If Springsteen hadn't commercialized it so much, that would have been a different thing. It seemed as if he was riding the back of a trajedy in order to score a hit.
Still, despite some setbacks (and everybody has them) Bruce is better than most of the crap that is called "music" today.
6 - bad scooter
this has to be one of the most ignorant, biased, and narrow-minded things i have ever read. maybe second to the comments posted previously. the fact is that bruce springsteen, anyway you slice it, is a musical legend, and that while bruce may not be the best musician, the collective talent of the e-street band far surpasses that of almost any band on the market. you can talk down on streets of philadelphia, the rising, and the seeger sessions, but lest we forget that all of these works won grammys, some winning multiple grammys. obviously there are some in the music industry, whose opinion counts much more than yours, who feel that the boss is truly a great artist. you can call me a brainless bruce fan and i can take it because attacking people who support bruce is much more cowardly than attacking bruce himself. he is a genuine artist, never in it for the money, always in it for the love and the respect. find me one other MAJOR artist who still plays 4 hour shows. bruce was never about the albums; even his best didnt sell very much, but his tours are among the most evergetic in the industry, and as long as e-street is still kicking ass, the legacy of the boss will never go away
7 - Glen Boyd
So what exactly were your credentials again to write crap like this?
Time to hang it up my friend. You are obviously in the wrong racket. As kind as BC is to publish this tripe of yours, your lack of depth in the musical knowledge department speaks volumes. At least that Bryan Price guy seemed to have some sort of perspective when he wrote his wrote his piece on Born To Run and the question of Bruce Springsteen's continuing "relevance".
You on the other hand take half-truths and second hand factoids and count it as though it were the gospel itself.
There will be no Dancing With Mr. D here, no sir. Time to remove that Ipod with all of the downloaded Clay Aiken songs from your ass and recognize that being a credible music critic requires more than just a witty turn of the phrase.
You have to know what you are actually talking about.
-Glen
8 - El Bicho
"a witty turn of the phrase."
exactly where did that appear?
9 - Deborah
Daryl: What a load of tosh you've written. Uniformed, uninteresting and unsensored.
10 - kc
thiks rticle is 100 percent accurate. springsteen sucks!
11 - j. arroyo
aqnd Mr. Boyd, what actually makes you a credible critic? Is liking Bruce a requirement to being a critic? ADMIT IT...THIS ARTICLE IS EXCELLENT!
12 - j. arroyo
These days, I would much rather listen to Clay Aiken than Bruce Springcantsing.
13 - Matthew T. Sussman
Wow, what a trap paragraph:
"As I mentioned in another article, criticizing Bruce Springsteen (or U2) in an article like this will usually results in the author being censored, fired, or blacklisted among other music critics."
Remind me to use a similar paragraph any time I write something similar in nature:
"Down Syndrome is a result of bad parenting. Of course, saying this will result in me being banned from the Mayo Clinic."
14 - docton
And what are the half truths in this article? Name ONE of them? Why is it that you can only write negative articles about Janet Jackson, Madonna, Michael Jackson, etc. (who are also legends) and nobody seems to give a damn. But what made Bruce immune to criticism. I don't dislike the guy as much as the author, but I think he does make some valid points.
15 - docton
So what exactly were your credentials again to write crap like this?
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16 - comingdowntheroad
I actually think this is a witty, well written article. We need more people questioning Bruce Springsteen and his motives. He has lost me has a fan when he let his politics take over music.
17 - Duke De Mondo
the streets of philadelphia section was thought-provoking, but good god, man, i don't know a single soul who saw Springsteen on the recent Seeger Sessions tour and didn't yap at me till my ears were scragglin on the concrete about how it was the most amazing thing they'd ever seen and holy shit you shoulda been there and... I don't doubt it. Forgive the anecdotal evidence, but a good friend of mine has trawled left and right o'er the globe to see Bruce on most every tour since the early 80's, and he assures me, having seen most everything the man has offered live these past couple decades, that the recent tour is without a doubt the finest thing he has ever been involved in. who knows how accurate it is, i wasn't there, but i DID hear the album, and i DID hear Ghost Of Tom Joad and Devil's And Dust and, well, those were AMAZING records. complaining about a lack of hit singles on Tom Joad is just missing the point. direct me to another album by a mainstream artist anywhere near as evocative or haunting or beautiful from that era. You'll have trouble, i feel. complaining that the songs are a touch more challenging than what makes it onto radio (i'm not slighting what gets on radio, just saying, different entities entirely) is like complaining that Picasso's women had noses in the wrong place. it's missing the point.
18 - daryl d
Radio Airplay was different ten years ago. If someone didn't have a hit, it wasn't because of politics. Bruce Springsteen came off one of his biggest singles ever with "Streets of Philadelphia." "The Ghost of Tom Joad" should have been, at least, a minor hit but it wasn't.
I didn't see Bruce Sprinsteen on his Seeger tour, but know some people who did and said it was good. But Box Office Reports did report a number of empty seats at some shows. That's not a fact that was made up.
The last time I saw Springsteen live was during his reunion tour in LA back in 1999. This was his third show and there were a number of empty seats. Those seats don't always get reported empty in Billboard's Boxscore Report for various reasons, but trust me, there were empty seats.
And even though the show was decent (not as good as his Tunnel of Love Tour), it was a huge turnoff. He kept speaking about how bad Republicans are. What the hell did he have the right to lecture me about politics? Did this guy go insane?
But it was really the "41 Shots" episode that turned me from "former stand" status to "hater" status.
19 - liberals suck
Daryl D, thanks for writing a great article. Don't listen to these other idiots (especially Glen Boyd) because they are only commenting negatively because you stroke a nerve in them.
Bruce Springsteen has always been trash. Now, he's has-been trash. He may be able to play 10 sold out shows in New Jersey, but New Jersey isn't representative of the rest of the world.
20 - sheldon God
While I don't necessarily agree with the tone of this article, there are some things I have to give the writer credit for:
1. The Streets of Philadelphia Section: very thought provoking and true. Where was Bruce during the 80s on this issue? Then again, can you blame him. Speaking about this issue was career suicide then.
2. 41 Shots: How can Bruce and his fans defend this? Obviously, the repeated statement "41 Shots" was used, before Bruce, to accuse the police of brutality and racial profiling. How can Bruce's fans now say that this song was really complimenting the police?
3. The last paragraph: really makes me think. Of course, this article is trashy. However, articles like this are perfectly acceptable these days. Why should Bruce Springsteen and U2 be protected from this?
21 - D. McCarthy, Sony Records
If Blogcritics had any sense, the author of this article would be fired. First of all, any person that gives Madonna, Jewel, and Janet Jackson good reviews doesn't know anything about music. But that's not the main point. He deals with misinformation.
1. "We Shall Overcome..The Seeger Sessions" has been certified double platinum. It was one of the biggest selling discs last year.
2. Bruce Springsteen NEVER played to empty seats, NEVER EVER!
3. "The Ghost of Tom Joad" peaked at number 7 on Billboards Hot 100. It was one of the biggest songs of 1995.
Once again, please make sure this author is fired.
22 - El Bicho
"Box Office Reports did report a number of empty seats at some shows."
What does that even mean? maybe they were too expensive. maybe they were bought and the people didn't attend. You take info and then attach meaning to them based solely on your dislike of the man and his politics.
Also a third show in LA is pretty impressive for any act, so it's not surprising that there were some empty seats. How many band play three nights in arenas here?
"But what really stands out about this record is
Bruce’s sudden interest in AIDS"
You've previously stated on another web site "even though I don't have a great knowledge of music or movies these days," so you don't need to provide further evidence, but I must respond to this. Bruce didn't take a sudden interest. He was asked by Jonathan Demme to write a song for "Philadelphia". Your lack of research about this and his chart success speaks volumes.
I only have one of the albums you slag, so I'm not a Boss fan, but you have yet to provide any truth just your opinion. There's a difference.
23 - realman
THE GUY WHO WROTE THAT KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT MUSIC, rising joed etc are life afirming music with soul.
the guy who wrote that lacks any soul. if you dont like someone or their music fair enough but to dismiss as basically worthless is a sure sign of ignornace, you need to ope your ears and close your mouth.
as far as the 41 shots goes. if your not guilty you got nothing to complain about. cops are over zealous trigger happy mini hitlers with too much power. the song isnt a attack its a story of a event a warning, keep your hands in sight, and to the cops look before you shoot.
24 - daryl d.
Wow, El Bicho, guess the brain cells aren't working. Judging by your work on Blogcritics, I would have to say that your brain cells haven't been working in a while. Aren't you the same one who attacked me for not liking "Dreamgirls?" And you are the one who has been sending me hate mail. Why are you so obsessed with me?
First of all, and maybe you should, you know, actually research: the reunion tour posted empty seats at some of the first shows on the tour. Don't get me wrong; the tour was a major success. But it was really the first time, in a while, that Springsteen played to any empty seats.
Bruce Springsteen was asked by John Demme to record the song for Streets of Philadelphia. But Bruce acted, suddenly, like he was the AIDS expert. His speech at the academy awards that year was very transparent.
25 - springsteen forever
Wow! What a site this is. I thought it read, "no personal attacks."
Mr. Boyd: your comments about Daryl D were uncalled for. Absolutely pathetic. I lose respect for you because your articles are good.
Mr. D: your attacks on "El Bicho" were really pathetic as well. He may not be right to question your fact checking (because none of your facts are wrong), but still, you know what I mean.
That said, I am a Springsteen fan and I don't like this article. It's not because of the fact checking because you do that well. It's because of the way you use the facts to formulate your opinion.
Chart success means NOTHING. Bruce still has a huge fan base because he is still RELEVANT! I think you need to look up the word "relevant," my friend.
Bruce Springsteen didn't try and tear down the NYPD with "41 Shots;" he criticized a SITUATION. He has given a lot of money to police organizations before, so I don't think he is anti-cop.