Bruce Springsteen vs. Neil Young

I deny they were bad.

Also when I say 'undeniably bad for a period' I don't mean that entire decade.

I love Bruce. Love him live, love his albums, love his NJ/Philly rock. But I also love Neil Young. So hard to choose between them... it kinda comes down to my parents. My mother always played Young for me growing up, but my dad was always a Boss guy. Grrr. Cannot decide!

I guess it comes down to Born to Run V. Harvest.

fair enough. I saw Bruce solo acoustic in the '90s, and Neil with Crazy Horse in the 80's and that shit was world class.

I voted Bruce, and that is a hard choice.

dang, I think I saw Neil in the 90's, but who cares. If we were debating the best of the off decade, Neil might win.

Maybe Neil should always win.

Nils Lofgren

oh and TS within the TS
streets of philadelphia vs. philadelphia

Streets of Philadelphia. Definitely.

Springsteen will probably always mean more to me, because I buy into his persona. Both the miserable suicidal songs about broken dreams and the big tent rock and roll party. It's a great big show, but the sentiments are real.

Neil Young means so much to me as guitar player and a sonic architect, but fewer of his songs reach me emotionally. He does have a bigger body of work, and if i was picking favorite songs he might have many of them.

Maybe Bruce has depressed me more often than Neil.

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Whoa so has the 3 image limit been lifted or what

It is 10 now.

Bruce didn't break through to me until maybe two years ago, my love is too new. Time may change things, but gotta go Neil for the guitars alone (I think the Boss is sometimes under-recognized/underrated for his guitar playing but Neil just wins imo).

It's kinda metaphorical tho. Like the camera is Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen's crotch is Bruce Springsteen's crotch.

lol

If Neil Young had done that, it would have been Greendale.

And it would have been a return to relevance.

I expect Springsteen to lose this. I'm tempted to vote for him, but I still haven't convinced myself fully. The world he paints as an artist is obv 10x clearer than Young's, both on his basic radio friendly level - (it's fun being young but it's tough being working class) - and on a much deeper Darkness/Nebraska level, when he starts writing dark little short stories with a morally ambiguous endings. Sorta complex, but he's never really hiding the ball. OTOH, there's something to be said for Neil Young-esque wtf opaque lyrics and you could criticize Springsteen for being so obvious and hamfisted in comparison. BITUSA vs Keep on Rockin - Bruce is (yeah yeah duh) hiding the ball a little bit with the production, Neil Young is...uh...definitely saying something about America...I guess...

Another point in Springsteen's favor:
Neil Young's weirdo Reagan sympathy vs. Springsteen not letting em use BITUSA

I actually enjoyed the Super Bowl crotch slide and the guitar swinging around his neck more than the music

Yeah but Bruce having better thoughts politically doesn't really sell me his records whereas the fact that Neil Young is a total goon sorta does. xp

Neil fumbles more often and doesn't even seem interested in getting to the Super Bowl.

But that Super Bowl show was totally ace!! This is Springsteen all the way, bear in mind that Springsteen blowing up Jim Steinman's mind gave us a truckload of wonderfully bombastic albums, whereas Young's spawned shit like Yield.

it's Bruce for me though it's a tough one, i sorta feel like saying in the long run Neil might've done stuff that will (err) last longer throughout history. (though judging them on this decade i think Bruce would win too)

i also deny Springsteen was bad in the nineties though, what the heck did he do in the nineties? virtually nothing. + Streets of Philadelphia is classic and makes up for the Human Touch/Lucky Town crap.

Springsteen. I'm from NJ and it's impossible to overstate his popularity here. You could make an argument that The Boss is more popular in NJ than anybody, anywhere else. Maybe U2 in Dublin, but that's about it.

both undeniably bad for a period (in the 80s for Young, 90s for Springsteen) - and are now in their late career making enjoyable but rarely essential music.

Is this the consensus now? If so, I don't get it. Don't see what's so enjoyable about the music either is making now, and I'll take Reactor or Trans (and yeah, "Streets of Philadelphia" I guess) over anything either of them have done since.

that Super Bowl show was totally ace!!

I dunno, "Tenth Ave Freezeout" blew me away & "Glory Days" was a lot of dumb fun, but I actually thought "Born To Run" (only one of the four songs he couldn't not do) was kind of underwhelming, and figured he was really lucky to have hired that gospel choir to salvage that half-assed new song.

Anyway, Neil vs Bruce is a real close call. Guess I'll take Bruce today since I like rock'n'roll more than folk music, and since I've been playing his debut album a lot the last couple of years. But I could just as well change my mind next time I vote.

Bruce sux , really hard. Neil Young all the way.

Reactor or Trans over anything either of them have done since.

Over anything Neil's done since, I meant, and over anything Bruce has done post-Born in the U.S.A. (though I do like Tunnel Of Love okay.)

Neil

God, the new song he played last night was awful.

Neil Young, because of the fiery electric guitar overloads, the sappy ballads, the swinging moods, the ridicolously bad albums he littered everywhere and the pleasure he took in destroying his own image (Reagan sympathy included) - also, I'd like to have an uncle like him.

The day Bruce Springsteen releases a one-track, 30 minute album of stitched-together feedback squeals, maybe I'll like him 1/10 as much as Neil Young.

I guess it comes down to Born to Run V. Harvest.

― Mordy, Monday, February 2, 2009 7:54 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i don't know any neil fans that think harvest is close to his best record.

anyway, love bruce mostly but yeah it's just not even close, neil is so fascinating to me.

Also, Neil wouldnt make a complete asshole out of himself at Super Bowl halftime like Springsteen did.

ah whatever it was fun, super bowl halftime shows are fun dude! the ref part was LOL i thought...

but neil is an asshole in a much deeper and complex way than springsteen

I like Broooce, sure, but Neil beats him every decade for me. Even the 80s, bros. I find Neil's 80s records to be kind of touching -- they seem so contrarian, so lost and angry. And I definitely RELATE more to Neil Young ... Springsteen seems more like a cartoon character (not a total diss, mind you) -- but it's the Boss's thing to be authoritative/voice of the people/populist, which is all well and good, but there are times when it wears thin. I love Neil Young for his faults as well as his incredible strengths.

I'm from NJ and it's impossible to overstate his popularity here.

Yeah, it's why I've always resisted him, successfully, from my hi skule days.

Both of these dudes write a lot of songs in character, but I've met a number of ladies who object to what they see as a persistent strain of misogyny in NY's music - mostly in songs that don't seem to be in character, like "Stupid Girl" "Down By The River" "A Man Needs a Maid" (yeah, these are all really old.)

Anyone on this thread find that a problem with Neil, or just a problem with oversensitive womens?

I can see ladies having issues with those particular songs ... but those are definitely of a time, as you note (not just for Neil Young but for singer-songwriters in general). I actually wish Bruce had more sort of "problematic" songs along those lines -- the women in his songs are usually sort of voiceless idealized angels.

the stuff i like by Neil (Buffalo Springfield -> the end of the 70's) >> the stuff I like by Bruce (first three or so records and a stray single her or there since)

the stuff by Bruce I could take or leave (evertyhing else he's done) >>>> the Neil stuff from 80s ->

I've met a number of ladies who object to what they see as a persistent strain of misogyny in NY's music

"Little girls" say hello. Remember this? Not sure where this was first published:
Springsteen termed "sexist"1/21/82
"The New York chapter of the National Organization for Women has instigated a letter and phone-call appeal directed at Bruce Springsteen, demanding that he stop referring to women as "little girls" in his songs. "He is writing and singing sexist music," said NOW's Executive Director, Virginia Cornue. The protest is the brainchild of Kathy Tepes, a national NOW consciousness-raising task-force member. "When you call us 'little girls,' reads one of the three letters Tepes has sent to Springsteen, "you perpetuate the myth that we women do things in a 'small' way." In a postscript, Tepes does some name-changing herself: "To counterbalance your rough and tough image with your nickname, "the Boss," I for one call you a Twinkie and Brucie." A spokeswoman at Springsteen's office defended his use of 'little girls," calling it a "rock and roll term."
The spokeswoman noted that no calls or letters had yet been received in connection with their appeal, except from a few NOW members wishing to dissociate themselves from the project."

hmmm ... must've been a slow week for NOW.

i don't know any neil fans that think harvest is close to his best record.

Really? I'm a huge Neil fan and I think Harvest is his best album. And I know a lot of people who feel that way too. In fact, I thought that was the common consensus.

Nah...Rust Never Sleeps or maybe Tonight's the Night in my crowd.

hm, really? I guess I'd think that most big Neil fans would lean either towards the Crazy Horse stuff or some of the darker albums -- On The Beach, Tonight's The Night, etc.

xpost

In my crowd it's Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere but there are many different Neils...

I mean, I'm not saying Harvest is obviously his best album, or that everyone has to like it, but for example, "After the Gold Rush" (my second fave album) is 71 on Rolling Stone's top album list, and "Harvest" is 78. Which isn't to say RS is right, but is to say that at least the predictable rock magazine ranks them the way I've always seen them ranked.

yeah i dunno, to me "goldrush" and "harvest" are pretty similar except goldrush is just way better

Both of these dudes write a lot of songs in character, but I've met a number of ladies who object to what they see as a persistent strain of misogyny in NY's music - mostly in songs that don't seem to be in character, like "Stupid Girl" "Down By The River" "A Man Needs a Maid" (yeah, these are all really old.)

But "A Man Needs a Maid" is so damn weird in its honesty, and I can certainly "relate" to it. This is what exhaustion sounds like (complete with rock excess in the arrangements): on tour everyone wants a piece of you, so it makes perfect sense that you'd want the least demanding creature taking care fo you.

yeah in that particular instance I have found the bio-background really illuminating

Yeah that interview in particular, for me, threw a whole new light on Neil's 80s records. I mean, I'm as wary of the whole autobio kinda thing as anyone, but I do think that Young's experience with his kid is a pretty intense experience that goes beyond heartbreak, etc. It's not the kind of thing that lends itself to you know, standard artistic expression. How he dealt with it in his music is pretty fascinating.

also, LOL at Bruce's People magazine days.

There's also Young's feud with Geffen. That surely influenced his 80s output to an extent.

Weirdest revelation from "Shakey" is where Nils (the link between Neil and Bruce!) claims he performed on the "Tonight's the Night" tour with weights on his legs under his pants to keep him from moving around so much. No wonder the dude just got new hips.

Another interesting parallel between the two very different acts is their sense of loyalty. Both have been essentially working with the same group of people both behind the scenes and up front, til death do they part, for the better part of 30+ years. Of course, Neil is prone to going decades between phone calls and Bruce is generous to a fault, but neither seems to forget the people that have had their backs over the years.

One big difference is their isolation, or lack thereof. Neil lives on his Broken Arrow ranch and doesn't socialize. Bruce is an engaged part of the community, popping up all over and even giving out Halloween candy. Very reflective of their respective musical personalities, I think.

I read Shakey a long time ago, but I seem to remember the 'decades between phone calls' aloofness sticking out more than his dedication to those people.

Bruce Springsteen. Going home from work one day (NJ to NYC), there was a German Tourist family on the 129 bus. This is Northeast NJ, which looks like Brooklyn, and a little German girl said in German, "Daddy, are we in New York?" and the father replied, "No, New Jersey." Then one of their friends said, "Ah! Bruce Springsteen!" (in a heavy German accent).

Could you ever imagine a story like that with Neil Young?

yes, except they would be traveling hippies somewhere on the campus of ohio state, and the little girl would be a dime bag.

burtst never sleeps

E STREET BAND DIDN'T PLAY LIVE AT SUPER BOWL OMG

WWNeilD?

This doesn't surprise me at all. Isn't this pretty much the norm now at huge, nationally televised events? At least Bruce didn't have to lip synch.

First Yo Yo Ma, now this. WHO CAN I STILL BELIEVE IN :'^(

It doesn't matter if Springsteen is actually singing about his own life or not, it's that he meticulously markets himself as the man who can legitimately sing about the working man's troubles, because he's been there and he understands.

― the maximum value that ZS obtains given its constraint is 8 (Z S), Wednesday, February 4, 2009 4:25 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

really? he does?

does he market himself that way or has he been there and he understands?

I dunno. I'm probably way off as usual, but does no one else get that vibe? I feel like from the day I was born it has been drilled into my skull that Springsteen = an everyday unpretentious guy that I'm supposed to understand. It's possible that I had an evil preschool teacher who brainwashed me into believing this.

First Yo Yo Ma, now this. WHO CAN I STILL BELIEVE IN :'^(
The weird thing about Yo Yo Ma is that he actually had a backup cello, made of carbon fiber, in case it got too cold. A company near my home makes them, and supposedly they're not affected by extreme climate changes.

Yes, I noticed that the military band at the inauguration all had black string instruments, which I presumed to be some non-wood material.

Methinks Yo-Yo wanted the option to not even bring his normal cello out if it were colder, not that it mattered from a sonic perspective which instrument he was miming with.

I sorta sympathize with people trying to do good sound reinforcement of acoustic instruments outside in a big venue, particularly in winter. Though, why is it so bloody important that there be the illusion of live music? Veering way off ye topic, of course.

Illusion vs. Reality

http://www.imperiodamagica.com.br/fotos/outros_assuntos/doug_henning.jpg

lock thread

What's Graham Nash doing on this thread?

i mean if ppl are really getting up in arms about bruce sullying the gritty, intimate "real" experience of the super bowl fucking halftime show they really outta get the fuck out

thought the referee part was awesome btw. super bowl halftime shows are something that can't be stagey and goofy and over-the-top ENOUGH, ever.

So is Bosscocked the new "Rockrolled"?

> Rickrolled

I really like some of those old Springsteen chestnuts, but his sound of 'rock and roll' is just not one that I get obsessed about. Even for all of the stripped down stuff, there is just something Vegas or Neil Diamond about it all like he is having to bite his hand to not have three keyboard players and a horn section. That sound works on Rosalita and Born to Run, but is just isn't visceral enough for me. Neil Young singing about the Astrodome or salmon going to spawn while spacey as hell is delivered in a much more matter of fact way that appeals to me. Even when Neil goes Devo, it seems earthy. Then again, if given the choice, I'd probably choose Pearl Jam over Bon Jovi.

Going back to contenderizer's (great) post about neil's isolated world vs. bruce's social world.

NY = love vs. BS = companionship

Has Neil written more love songs or songs about love? (Will to Love, Only Love Can Break Your Heart, Razor Love, Love is a Rose, Love and only Love, Look out for my Love, A Little Thing Called Love, Hold on to your Love etc. etc. etc.) So, intensely fascinated by the idea of love - but doesn't really like people?

vs.

Does early Bruce Springsteen really love that chick or does he just really need someone else in the car? A solid bro would also do, and it wouldn't be too gay (Backstreets)

Should this be factored into the argument?

http://www.heggle.com/item/2220584/Adam_Sandler_-_Dancing_in_the_Dark

It all comes back to Adam Sandler in the end.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

sonned in the usa

damn

Makes sense. A lot of people hate Springsteen's music. Just about everyone likes some Neil Young at least.

haha wow hadn't seen these results

they're about right ....

this was a good thread - not sure who is the more challopsy vote (ie, who is more canonized)

so wrong

u mad

shouldn't have let british people vote

u mad

shouldn't have let british people vote

is Brooce huge in England or something?

nobody understands me but bruce

I wish he were here to write a song about the results

It would be a heartbreaking song. Sadface.

Well Greasy Johnny lost to
Harmonica Frank
in the contest of their lives
And now the boardwalk's filled with trash and paper
and there's a
darkness growing in the light

another american job lost to nafta :(:(

A+ Mr. Que

lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9adAljIaKYc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1Ncuu8MfBk