Bruce Springsteen – The Rising

I was delighted when this album came out, and must insist that it’s far more than a haunting musical tribute to the Trade Centers crashing. The music is only magnified with the bringing together of the E Street Band, where they come across as broadly significant here as they did on Born to Run, standing shoulder to shoulder as if reborn, a new incarnation of something I’d dearly missed.

Of course Springsteens addresses the spiritual dissociation that surrounded the nation on that day in September, where in almost a gospel manner he salutes and makes those who rushed to the scene larger than life, legendary in their single mindedness to sacrifice their lives in the hopes of saving others. Still, if one takes a step back, this is not an album about September 11th, it’s an album about September the 12th, when people had to return to their jobs, with emotions worn on the sleeves, determined not so much to right a wrong, but to survive in the face of adversity. Then, from out of the blue, like a breath of fresh air floats in “Waitin’ on a Sunny,” filled with strutting lyrics and big riffs that simply had me bouncing off walls, or the delightful “Let’s Be Friends” with its R&B inspired presentation, perfect for strolling down the boardwalk listening to the barkers try to draw you in, to take a chance on winning something big. The one thing all of these numbers have in common is their unifying desire for human connection, where oddly enough, every tack flows together with the others regardless of its message. There are also some difficult moments, as on “World’s Apart,” where the question of religion is put to the test, but sadly not the concept of a god.

Then there are aspects such as “Lonesome Day,” or the twangy “Mary’s Place,” which sounds slightly outdated, directly inspired by the Sam Cooke masterpiece “Meet Me at Mary’s Place,” yet that outdatedness is entirely pleasing when juxtaposed to other tracks that nearly require the tension of something to step in and give them roots. Is this one of Bruce’s best albums? Certainly not, nothing can compete with those three initial outings, and yes, there is some filler here, causing me to wonder why Bruce would include those numbers, he certainly knew they were filler, making me feel that the man has intentionally not been giving us a dynamic perfect album for whatever reason. This leaves me wondering why it is that musicians seem compelled to comment on such personal and socially tragic events, as the records never gain any sort of longevity, with most folks preferring to compartmentalize the events, then tuck them away out of sight and out of mind. Of the songs that do aspire to greater things are, “The Rising,” “Mary’s Place,” “Further On (Up the Road,” “Let’s Be Friends’ and of course “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day.”

Review by Jenell Kesler

i get it, everyone was upset after 9/11 but it's fifteen years later and it's long past time to admit this album sucks

How rare is this LP? I sold one on ebay for $305 back in June and had people sending me angry e-mails because I wouldn't sell it to them at a low price. I didn't expect that kind of bidding action, especially since the CD is readily available for under $5.00