Now we know who is replacing Clarence Clemons :

Clarence Clemons' Nephew Jake Clemons Joins the E Street Band

As long as he can play well I'm cool with that

Really surprised at the love for the new single. After the embarrassing debacle that was WOAD, it's apparent (to me, anyway) that the muse has left the Brooze. Trite, shallow lyrics and boring, repetitious music.

And, for goodness sakes, Boss...it's "cavalry", NOT "calvary". Drives us crazy when somebody commits that blunder. That doesn't give you the common touch, just the uneducated touch.

Which makes me sad. I've been a major fan since the mid-70's and Born...and missed a great chance to see him right before The River was released (it was a 4-hour drive and he appeared on a weekend between 2 major snowstorms...we could have ridden a chartered bus called The Springsteen Express, which would have cost about $28 each for tickets & round-trip passage!!! ). Tracked down lots of boots, EPs, books, Backstreets mags, etc. Liked nearly everything released up until recently (including Lucky Town, Diesel, Magic, and even half of Human Touch), but this doesn't sound promising at all.

Anyway, I'll give it a shot, just like Working (despite the warnings, which proved to be true). If the rest is as bad as "We Take Care...", I'll just have to be happy with the special editions of Darkness, Born, etc. and relive the Glory Days.

I still check out new releases from the old guys (Dylan, Neil Young, Bruce, Petty, etc.) but haven't found many who have anything fresh to say.

Richard Thompson being the glaring exception. He's still releasing strong material. Looking forward to his new album much more than Bruce...and I was a Bruce fan long before becoming an RT fan.

One things for sure, this is a way better album than WOAD. Soundwise it's a lot closer to the Seeger Sessions than the E Street Band. Lots of Irish and gospel roots . Lots of backing vocals and no horns to speak of. Death to My Hometown sounds a bit like the Pogues.

I'm starting to think we've heard the last E Street Band sounding album. Which may be fitting given the deaths of Danny and Clarence.

No horns? I sure heard some great trumpets as well as Clarence's killer sax on LOHAD.

Here's "Death to My Hometown":

http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/a...o-my-home.html

^ ^ ^

Much, much better than "We Take Care...". Still not crazy about the vocals...sounds like Bruce is concentrating too hard on imitating Irish singers & enunciating clearly (which has never been a Bruce trademark). Don't know how many times I could hear this without getting tired of it (and I like Irish pub songs...guess this one didn't strike me as any different from the rest I own, although the lyrics were much better than the single).

On the other hand, the link posted did make me go to Youtube and listen to the other songs. Very pleasantly surprised a the quality (although the first couple did have the sing-along pub quality of the song posted above). The more songs I heard, the more I was impressed. Several very strong performances with both relaxed & go-for-broke vocals and some interesting tweaks.

Releasing We Take Care first (and performing it live on Grammy's) was a mistake IMHO (if the intent was to create buzz for the new collection & convince doubters that Bruce had rebounded from WOAD). This now looks like a definite purchase for me and should take its place in Bruce keepers.

Very happy to have to eat my previous words regarding Bruce's creative demise.

Fantastic album. Shackled and Drawn is my early favorite. Love the melodic work and drums (Matt Cameron for sure?) in This Depression. HUGE and great surprise when I heard the Sacred Harp singing samples throughout Death of my hometown! Love it, love the influences, love the content.

Tonight's appearance of Bruce & The E Street Band on Jimmy Fallon. 2 songs tonight and tributes all week with Friday's entire show just Bruce and The E Street Band.

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Great performance. Everyone seems energized except the keyboard player on the left. Did someone just wake him up?

Loving this CD. Glad he did my two favorites on Fallon as well. Solid CD throughout.

Excited about seeing him Sunday night for the opening show (Atlanta). My wife has never seen him before and I think she's going to be quite impressed with the power that's going to come off that stage. I like the new album. The work Bruce has done the past 10 years just blows away those 90's albums.

We had fun last night, but I definitely preferred the other times I saw Bruce ('84 and '08). One's experience is going to depend on how much the new album means to you. Bruce has the same problem U2 now has. Good new songs taking the place of older excellent songs. It's cool he can play almost all the new cuts and it can be enjoyed, but it didn't seem to rise above the type of violin-type work John Mellencamp does/did (I like John BTW). It's wild to think he could play 2.5 hours and not one song from The River. That's both a compliment and a complaint.

Little disappointed that the show is only 2.5 hours and no sign request, guess the boss is getting old. I like the new album, still looking forward to the DC show in 2 weeks. I'm gonna try for the pit but seeing that over 1,000 people lined up and only 350 got in, i'm starting to wonder if it is worth going through the hassle.

I took a look at the Atlanta setlist, and I will be happy if I get something like it in Tampa on Friday evening.

It seems like Bruce always plays a lot of songs from a new CD early in a tour and drops some of them as the tour progresses. I usually like to see at least one show near the beginning and at least one near the end if at all possible.

It really is amazing that Springsteen can still fill arenas without playing a greatest hits show. Other that a couple of songs during the encore, a casual fan might not recognize most of what was performed in Atlanta last night.

Pretty sure he's been doing 2 1/2 hour shows for the past 7 or 8 years. The last time I saw him he played that long.

I thought his shows were still hanging around the 2:50-3:00 mark

Unfortunately, this was the first time my wife ever attended one of his shows and she was actually bored a little bit. Of course, he could play nothing but songs from Darkness and River and she could still have been bored (not sure, just guessing). I warned my wife ahead of time she would not hear many of the hits she's heard on the radio. There is a certain sense of sameness to the sound of many of his new songs, especially if you aren't familiar with them.

It struck me, as a casual fan, how I could make a 24 song setlist that would bore me to tears. But I could also pull up 24 songs that would blow my mind.

In Greensboro Monday night, he played for roughly 2 hours and 45 minutes. This was my first Springsteen concert and it was fantastic. I would've loved to hear some more of the older tunes (Spirit In The Night, Prove It All Night, Darkness, Atlantic City, etc) but I certainly have no complaints about what was played. The songs off of Wrecking Ball sounded even better live than on the album (especially Rocky Ground).

Going to see him tonight in Albany. Actually got lucky the other day and Ticketmaster still had a floor GA seat available so I jumped on that. Can't wait, I really like the new album and just psyched to see him again!

Haven't posted about this album yet but I think it's pretty damn great to be honest. Stand out tracks for me are Death To My Hometown, American Land, and Shackled and Drawn. The whole thing is really an enjoyable listen though. Really hope that he has a second leg of the current tour and comes someplace near me as I'd love the chance to go and see him and The E Street Band!

Here was my setlist tonight.

Badlands
We Take Care of Our Own
Wrecking Ball
Out in the Street
Death to My Hometown
My City of Ruins
Darlington County
Jack of All Trades
Murder Incorporated
Downbound Train
Shackled & Drawn
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
The Promised Land
Apollo Medley
Janey Don't You Lose Heart
Backstreets
The Rising
Lonesome Day
We Are Alive
Land of Hope and Dreams
* * *
Thunder Road
Rocky Ground (with Michelle Moore)
Born to Run
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-out

First time Darlington County was played this tour. The dude just rocks out. I don't know what else to say, he just brings it every night. Had a blast as always.

He played a 3h40m set in Milan tonight. 33 songs!


Set List
1.We Take Care of Our Own
2.Wrecking Ball
3.Badlands
4.Death to My Hometown
5.My City of Ruins
6.Spirit in the Night
7.The E Street Shuffle
8.Jack of All Trades
9.Candy's Room
10.Darkness on the Edge of Town
11.Johnny 99
12.Out in the Street
13.No Surrender
14.Working on the Highway
15.Shackled and Drawn
16.Waitin' on a Sunny Day
17.The Promised Land
18.The Promise
19.The River
20.The Rising
21.Radio Nowhere
22.We Are Alive
23.Land of Hope and Dreams


Encore
1.Rocky Ground
2.Born in the U.S.A.
3.Born to Run
4.Cadillac Ranch
5.Hungry Heart
6.Bobby Jean
7.Dancing in the Dark
8.Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
9.Glory Days
10.Twist And Shout

I have heard a fairly reliable rumor (source was first hand) about Bruce playing Baltimore on 9/25, which is just a few days after the tour closer at the Meadowlands. Could this be another Rock the Vote tour?

He's said he's not getting involved in the campaign this time