CD Odyssey Disc 305: Bruce Springsteen

After setting a torrid pace in July of CD reviews, August is off to a slow start. This is mostly because we've been out of town visiting my parents.

It is about 3 hours of driving each way for these trips, and Sheila and I enjoy selecting road music to take with us. We usually take between 6 and 8 albums with us - this time we took 7. In selecting, we look for music that is good for driving. Sheila likes to have albums she's familiar with, and to a lesser extent I like that as well. The general rule is - don't pick something that is going to annoy your travelling companion. Here's what we selected for this trip:

Guru - Jazzmatazz Vol. 1
Cake - Pressure Chief
The Kills - Blood Pressures
Jamiroquai - A Funk Odyssey
Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More
U2 - The Joshua Tree
Steve Earle - El Corazon

But none of these are the subject of my review today (remember I can only listen to CD Odyssey albums when I'm alone). I listened to this one today while painting.

Disc 305 is...The Promise

Artist: Bruce Springsteen

Year of Release: 2010 although featuring music recorded in 1977 and 1978

What’s Up With The Cover?: On a long dirt road in the middle of nowhere, Bruce takes a moment to lean on his car - he looks contemplative, but Bruce often does. Nevertheless, I dub this album cover awesome.

How I Came To Know It: Sheila got me interested in Bruce Springsteen, and my friend Casey got me hooked on his masterpiece "Darkness At The Edge of Town." Since "The Promise" is basically a collection of songs that didn't make it on "Darkness", I'll give Casey credit for this one.

How It Stacks Up: Outtakes or note, "The Promise" is a strong record. I have ten Bruce Springsteen albums, and I'd say this one ranks 4th or 5th best, depending on how I feel about "The River" at any given moment.

Rating: 4 stars.

"Darkness At The Edge of Town" is the greatest Bruce Springsteen album ever made, period, so last year when I learned that Springsteen was releasing a bunch of songs that didn't make the cut back in 1978, I was pretty excited. I was also a little nervous, albums of outtakes can go two ways. You are just as likely to get a collection of junk that rightly never saw the light of day, as you are to get hidden gems. If anything, logic dictates you're more likely to get junk.

Fortunately, "The Promise" delivers gems, not junk. In fact, I was strongly reminded of reviewing Pearl Jam's "Lost Dogs" back at Disc 109. Like that record, "The Promise" is a double album set that really could have been a single album of amazing music, but instead has a bit of filler. Also like "Lost Dogs", the good songs are so good and plentiful, that I found myself overlooking the filler, and focusing on the many great tracks.

I won't get too much into "Darkness At The Edge Of Town" until I roll it, but it isn't possible to talk about the "The Promise" without noting the tone of "Darkness". It is an album that has a dark, yearning quality, evoking the aspirations of youth, similtaneously inspirational in their idealistic worldview, and disappointing in the knowledge that most will fall far short of their dreams.

"The Promise" has exactly the same production as "Darkness", fairly sparse, but with the sounds of pianos, bells and saxophones threatening to burden the songs with excessive business. Fortunately, the threat is never realized. If anything, walking that edge makes the album far better (thanks to the genius of Clarence Clemmons, may he rest in peace).

Many of the songs relate directly to stories included on "Darkness", including a song called "Candy's Boy" which references "Candy's Room" on "Darkness". Where "Candy's Room" is about being in a girl's room with sexual intent, "Candy's Boy" is the trepidation felt on the stairs before you get in there and close the door, and the romantic desire that follows. Although I generally agree with Springsteen's decisions on which to include back in 1978, I would have favoured "Candy's Boy", for the original album as the stronger song.

We also get a song called, "Come On (Let's Go Tonight)" about taking your girl out on the town using exactly the same music as "Darkness"s "Factory". It is the flipside of the same character. Getting into bar fights and blowing off steam in "Factory", in "Come On" we see his softer side, recharging through a night on the town with the woman he loves.

There are also a couple early versions of songs on other records, including an early take of "Racing In The Street" and a song called "Fire" which is an early version of "I'm On Fire" which would be a hit for Springsteen on "Born in the U.S.A.".

"The Promise" makes me appreciate "Darkness On The Edge of Town" that much more, and the two records creatively feed off of one another. It is frankly amazing that in such a short span Springsteen could write so many classics he couldn't cram them all on the record.

In fact, the songs on "The Promise" are every bit strong enough to be a great record in their own right. Even though it is a bit bloated at 21 songs, I'd have a hard time cutting more than 5 if forced to. This is a great record, and a must have for fans of Springsteen's earlier albums.

Best tracks: One Way Street, Because the Night (a hit for Patti Smith in 1978), Wrong Side of The Street, The Brokenhearted, Candy's Boy, It's A Shame, Come On (Let's Go Tonight), Breakaway, The Promise, City Of Night,