Whatever you think of Bruce Springstein you have to admit he can craft one hell of a song. For proof just listen to my favorite album of his "Tunnel Of Love".

But I can't get enough of this gem from "Born In The USA". So Good!

I was listening to Bruce the other night ... just kinda getting into the internet radio type stuff and someone shared "Spotify" with me .. so i was tuning into some ole Bruce .

I find most of Bruce's music depressing . When I am in that mood ... i do like it ... but after listening to some upbeat Bruce ... some great songs .... i said... ok ... I need some Prince (or some other type of music) .

I had "the Rising" and of course "born in the USA " ... i remember buying the one with "one step up and 2 steps back"... but I normally find his albums to be 1-3 great songs and then ... alot of boring stuff I really dont wanna listen to again ...

kinda like Prince lately ... .. probably just a sign of me getting old ... lol

It has certainly been better than Bruce.

I'm a huge Bruce fan, but I gotta say he hasn't really had a great album since The Rising. Magic, Working On A Dream, Wrecking Ball....good but too samey.

And there has most certainly been popular songwriting since Bruce's heyday that is at least as good as his pop stuff (if we're talking Born In The USA era).

You gotta look at Coldplay over the last few years...consistently manage to pull in the pop loving crowd but still write really great songs album after album (whilst staying humble and not disappearing up their own a*sses!)...

DaveT said:

You gotta look at Coldplay over the last few years...consistently manage to pull in the pop loving crowd but still write really great songs album after album (whilst staying humble and not disappearing up their own a*sses!)...

Yeah, fair play to them. A much hated band ('cos they're successful) but they've so far always delivered the goods.

Sorry but Coldplay is boring. Bruce is a much better writer. Even though I know you did not compare them, just my opinion.

I think he really gets to the essense of everyday, working class realness.

He paints a story you can visualize strongly and can relate to it like few I know.

Everyone loves "My Hometown" because it feels like EVERYBODIES hometown he's talking about.

People always mention the big three pop acts of the eighties as Michael Jackson, Prince and Madonna. I say either make it a big four, or nix Madonna on artistic grounds.

This is one of my favorite songs of his. I especially like the slower part in the middle. Bruce is one of my top 5 artists; though I've yet to hear an entire album post-Devils & Dust.

CynicKill said:

People always mention the big three pop acts of the eighties as Michael Jackson, Prince and Madonna. I say either make it a big four, or nix Madonna on artistic grounds.

CynicKill said:

Whatever you think of Bruce Springstein you have to admit he can craft one hell of a song. For proof just listen to my favorite album of his "Tunnel Of Love".

But I can't get enough of this gem from "Born In The USA". So Good!

Was listening to this album this morning. It's great song.

CrabalockerFishwife said:

CynicKill said:

People always mention the big three pop acts of the eighties as Michael Jackson, Prince and Madonna. I say either make it a big four, or nix Madonna on artistic grounds.

If you're gonna make it a big four with Bruce thrown in, Madge wouldn't stack up on songwriting grounds (even though I don't think she gets due props in that area)....but I think she'd still merit inclusion with P, MJ and Bruce on other grounds.

I think the reason Bruce doesn't get mentioned alongside the other three is that, popularity wise, he went off the boil abit after 1984/Born In The USA. He kicked the E-Street into touch, and only really had Tunnel of Love the rest of the decade (which I gotta say doesn't do it for me as an album). Meanwhile the other three were knocking out the likes of Bad, True Blue, Sign of the Times, Batman soundtrack, Like A Prayer, Parade, etc.

[Edited 6/3/12 7:17am]

DaveT said:

CrabalockerFishwife said:

If you're gonna make it a big four with Bruce thrown in, Madge wouldn't stack up on songwriting grounds (even though I don't think she gets due props in that area)....but I think she'd still merit inclusion with P, MJ and Bruce on other grounds.

I think the reason Bruce doesn't get mentioned alongside the other three is that, popularity wise, he went off the boil abit after 1984/Born In The USA. He kicked the E-Street into touch, and only really had Tunnel of Love the rest of the decade (which I gotta say doesn't do it for me as an album). Meanwhile the other three were knocking out the likes of Bad, True Blue, Sign of the Times, Batman soundtrack, Like A Prayer, Parade, etc.

[Edited 6/3/12 7:17am]

Why no "Tunnel" love?

Too somber?

I think it might be his best.

CynicKill said:

'Will Popular Songwriting EVER Get This Good Again

you mean after 1984/Born in the USA???

YES:

Prince

RUN DMC

Depeche Mode

U2

Sting (solo)

Madonna

Guns N' Roses

Metallica

Megadeth

Public Enemy

George Michael

Sade

87-93 MJ

Late-career Clapton

Dwight Yoakam

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Pixies

Nirvana

Pearl Jam

Blur

Suede

Oasis

NiN

Bjork

97-06 Dylan

Erykah Badu

Eminem

Coldplay

Arcade Fire

Amy W.

Adele

and I could add a few more...

[Edited 6/3/12 8:37am]

DaveT said:

CrabalockerFishwife said:

If you're gonna make it a big four with Bruce thrown in, Madge wouldn't stack up on songwriting grounds (even though I don't think she gets due props in that area)....but I think she'd still merit inclusion with P, MJ and Bruce on other grounds.

I think the reason Bruce doesn't get mentioned alongside the other three is that, popularity wise, he went off the boil abit after 1984/Born In The USA. He kicked the E-Street into touch, and only really had Tunnel of Love the rest of the decade (which I gotta say doesn't do it for me as an album). Meanwhile the other three were knocking out the likes of Bad, True Blue, Sign of the Times, Batman soundtrack, Like A Prayer, Parade, etc.

I agree

for some (many?) fans, Tunnel of Love was the first step into the wrong direction (Human Touch, Lucky Town). Half of the album is great, but the rest is meh And the double (or was it triple?) platinum sales in the States were "kind of" disappointing after the +Diamond sales of Born in the USA...

now, if the we're talking about 1984/85, then it was all about MJ, Prince, Madonna, The Boss, Tina Turner, Phil Collins, Duran Duran, Lionel, Van Halen, Billy Ocean and Huey Lewis...

...and Whitney, Janet and Bon Jovi just around the corner...

[Edited 6/3/12 8:52am]

ColAngus said:

I find most of Bruce's music depressing .

yep, and many of his lyrics are...nevermind The Promise is a despicable album

Yeah I should probably clarify:

I really meant his songcraft in general with specific reference to this song as an example.

Many groups try to write like this but fail because it seems simple to just write about the everyday.

But yeah I get it there have been good songwriting since but I'd be hard pressed to find an artist today that I'd consider an exceptional pop songmaker.

"Boyfriend" is no "Billie Jean" for example, or am i being woefully unfair?

CynicKill said:

But yeah I get it there have been good songwriting since but I'd be hard pressed to find an artist today that I'd consider an exceptional pop songmaker.

"Boyfriend" is no "Billie Jean" for example, or am i being woefully unfair?

yes, and nonsensical

CynicKill said:

DaveT said:

If you're gonna make it a big four with Bruce thrown in, Madge wouldn't stack up on songwriting grounds (even though I don't think she gets due props in that area)....but I think she'd still merit inclusion with P, MJ and Bruce on other grounds.

I think the reason Bruce doesn't get mentioned alongside the other three is that, popularity wise, he went off the boil abit after 1984/Born In The USA. He kicked the E-Street into touch, and only really had Tunnel of Love the rest of the decade (which I gotta say doesn't do it for me as an album). Meanwhile the other three were knocking out the likes of Bad, True Blue, Sign of the Times, Batman soundtrack, Like A Prayer, Parade, etc.

[Edited 6/3/12 7:17am]

Why no "Tunnel" love?

Too somber?

I think it might be his best.

The 80s/synthesiser sound really didn't sit well with Bruce's music for me...sounded to me like he was jumping on the bandwagon sounds of the time a bit too much. Not a bad album by any stretch, it just never grabbed me like most of his others did...

CynicKill said:

Yeah I should probably clarify:

I really meant his songcraft in general with specific reference to this song as an example.

Many groups try to write like this but fail because it seems simple to just write about the everyday.

But yeah I get it there have been good songwriting since but I'd be hard pressed to find an artist today that I'd consider an exceptional pop songmaker.

"Boyfriend" is no "Billie Jean" for example, or am i being woefully unfair?

If you mean the specific Bruce vibe, I think the Killers got close to it with "Sam's Town" whilst still retaining their own style and sound.

I still think Coldplay are the only ones whose songwriting has been consistently great in the pop arena whilst still being well written, well played, accessible, touching, and ageless. In comparison alot of other pop music over the same period is gonna age like cheese in the sun...!

JoeTyler said:

CynicKill said:

'Will Popular Songwriting EVER Get This Good Again

you mean after 1984/Born in the USA???

YES:

Prince...yeah. Prince is not in my personal top 5 of the best songwriters ever, I will not deceive anyone ... He wrote a lot of weak songs, IMHO ... I think he is somewhere between 7 and 10 for me.

RUN DMC

Depeche Mode...Martin Lee Gore - one of the best songwriters ever. He is stunning

U2

Sting (solo)

Madonna...After 1984 Madonna did not write any songs on their own, she constantly needs help co-authors. I wonder why?difficult to take seriously an author who can not write himself a handful of songs.

Guns N' Roses...Rose - mad as hell, but he is my favorite author in the group.

Metallica...James Hetfield - God

Megadeth

Public Enemy

George Michael

Sade

87-93 MJ...Why is 1987-1993? Bad was released in 1987, Dangerous in 1991
In 1992 and 1993 MJ did not do anything to write songs. IMHO, his peak as a writer - History

Late-career Clapton... he was good before, too.

Dwight Yoakam

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Pixies

Nirvana...not one of my favorite ... not even close .. but Kurt was a decent songwriter

Pearl Jam

Blur

Suede

Oasis

NiN

Bjork...never understood and never loved her work, but I think she is genius ... weird, huh?

97-06 Dylan...he sucks as a vocalist, but as a songwriter - one of the greatest ever.

Erykah Badu

Eminem...always loved this guy.

Coldplay

Arcade Fire

Amy W.

Adele...she needs help in every song

and I could add a few more...

[Edited 6/3/12 8:37am]

Good list.
Very rock-oriented as a whole.
With some I don`t agree, some I might add, the selected artists have included in my list, too.

CynicKill said:

I think he really gets to the essense of everyday, working class realness.

He paints a story you can visualize strongly and can relate to it like few I know.

Everyone loves "My Hometown" because it feels like EVERYBODIES hometown he's talking about.

People always mention the big three pop acts of the eighties as Michael Jackson, Prince and Madonna. I say either make it a big four, or nix Madonna on artistic grounds.

I didn't buy the album because I can't stand that song.

'Glory Days' is only tolerable on certain days.

Bruce had one big album, two, if you count 'The River.' 'Nebraska' is largely unknown outside of Bruce fans and '80's fans I'd guess.

DaveT said:

CynicKill said:

Yeah I should probably clarify:

I really meant his songcraft in general with specific reference to this song as an example.

Many groups try to write like this but fail because it seems simple to just write about the everyday.

But yeah I get it there have been good songwriting since but I'd be hard pressed to find an artist today that I'd consider an exceptional pop songmaker.

"Boyfriend" is no "Billie Jean" for example, or am i being woefully unfair?

If you mean the specific Bruce vibe, I think the Killers got close to it with "Sam's Town" whilst still retaining their own style and sound.

I still think Coldplay are the only ones whose songwriting has been consistently great in the pop arena whilst still being well written, well played, accessible, touching, and ageless. In comparison alot of other pop music over the same period is gonna age like cheese in the sun...!

Try Live's 'Throwing Copper' album.

Songs such as 'Shit Towne' and 'White, Discussion,' 'Lightning Crashes' and 'Selling the Drama.'

SUPRMAN said:

DaveT said:

If you mean the specific Bruce vibe, I think the Killers got close to it with "Sam's Town" whilst still retaining their own style and sound.

I still think Coldplay are the only ones whose songwriting has been consistently great in the pop arena whilst still being well written, well played, accessible, touching, and ageless. In comparison alot of other pop music over the same period is gonna age like cheese in the sun...!

Try Live's 'Throwing Copper' album.

Songs such as 'Shit Towne' and 'White, Discussion,' 'Lightning Crashes' and 'Selling the Drama.'

Cheers dude....I'll track these down and have a listen....