Springsteen Backlash Fever!

And they didn't ask me to write it? Bastards.

You want to topple a boring, pretentious canon, go pick on Fugazi. NOBODY does that.

You kidding me? I once sent Ian Mackaye a snarky postcard bitching about some Fugazi lyric that pissed me off. I might have a photocopy of it somewhere, but I can't even remember what song it was from, sorry.

I think it's one of the best of the eighties -- thanks to that ridiculously wonderful Frankie Goes to Hollywood cover.

I only just recently actually heard anything off of Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell, and I have to say I prefer that insane Springsteen-goes-Broadway equivalent to the Real Thing. It's just more fun to listen to, really.

(Also I'm pretty sure the band that spooked me is merely a second-rate whine-singin' knockoff. They are LIVE IN STUDIO, DUDE on radiok.org. And boy howdy do they sound pained.)

I wrote that Voice piece Scott quoted. I haven't gotten as much threatening feedback as I expected, although this made me smile:

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020902&s=alterman (Especially the part about failing to "engage the culture of the common people")

For the record, I LOVE Bruce up to and including Tunnel of Love, he's probably one of three artists who helped define my eighteen-year-old self, and he seems like an unflaggingly decent guy.

That said, The Rising is a sanctimonious bore, and his fans (especially the white collar media types) are unbearable anymore. Has anyone written a piece debunking the myth of Springsteen's "working class" fanbase? Last I checked, poor folks were listening to a lot more metal, rap, and country than "The Ghost of Tom Joad."

Yeah, why is everyone acting like if they say anything bad about Bruce, Anthony DeCurtis is going to make them clap erasers after school? I think it's worth noting, also, how many of the puff pieces are written by non-music writers (A.O. Scott in Slate!)

My other favorite response is that, if you don't like The Rising, you're not a "real" Springsteen fan. Creepy America First parallels there, huh? I'm waiting for the "Bruce Springsteen, love him or leave him bumper stickers."

That said, I've liked the album the few times I've spun it. And the quip about 9/11 making Springsteen very vague is k-brill and everyone I've repeated it too has laffed. I think its a far more cogent response to 9/11 than S-K's though, and I very much agree with Dave Q about the *ahem* problematized sexual lyrics running through it. I've been listening to the Live LP set lately though, and it occurs to me that Atlantic City is just as pre/post 9/11 as The Rising and resonates more on that level.

Also the album would have been *perfect* if it had American Skin.

Also, "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" is like the greatest book ever partly because you feel Agee finding his voice in a way we don't feel Bruce.

I'm offended by the fact that Eric Alterman is considered a lefty.

I'll buy that there's a mythos around Bruce's blue-collar audience, Keith. But generalizations are slippery: My cousin in Detroit is an auto worker and loves Bruce, the Clash, the Meters, and Pantera. Go figure.

Here's another lefty, also in Minneapolis, who says EVERYONE has Bruce wrong:

http://www.rakemag.com/coals/detail.asp?catID=58&itemID=642

Like the Perry piece a lot, but he left one important detail--The Rising is very, very boring.