These days you don't wait on Romeos you wait on those BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN POLL RESULTS

http://www.snapgalleries.com/userfiles/image/MyHomeTown.jpg

Okay! Finally! Apologies for the delay in getting these out, been hugely busy away in Australia with bad internet results. Currently at Singapore airport using their free wifi so will get going with some album results and then tracks will start tomorrow once I get back to the UK - i'll do the top 60.

Overall I had 34 ballots - with 25 people also voting for their top albums.

140 tracks were voted for in total. Every album received at least one vote with the exception of Human Touch and Working On A Dream...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/43/Borntorun.jpg/220px-Borntorun.jpg
1. Born To Run (681 points, 20 votes)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/af/BruceSpringsteenDarknessontheEdgeofTown.jpg/220px-BruceSpringsteenDarknessontheEdgeofTown.jpg
2. Darkness On The Edge Of Town (593 points, 17 votes)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/31/BruceBorn1984.JPG/220px-BruceBorn1984.JPG
3. Born In The USA (527 points, 16 votes)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1f/TheWildTheInnocent.jpg
4. The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle (488 points, 15 votes)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e2/Springsteen_The_River.jpg/220px-Springsteen_The_River.jpg
5. The River (393 points, 12 votes)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/43/Nebraska1982.JPG/220px-Nebraska1982.JPG
6. Nebraska (381 points, 11 votes)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a7/TunnelOfLove1987.JPG/220px-TunnelOfLove1987.JPG
7. Tunnel Of Love (355 points, 10 votes)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/2f/Greetings_from_Asbury_Park_NJ.jpg/220px-Greetings_from_Asbury_Park_NJ.jpg
8. Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (192 points, 6 votes)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b6/Springsteen_The_Rising.jpg
9. The Rising (124 points, 4 votes)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/04/Bruce_Springsteen_Live_75-85.jpg/220px-Bruce_Springsteen_Live_75-85.jpg
10. Live 1975-1985 (97 points, 3 votes)

After the top ten, The Seeger Sessions had two votes, with Live At Hammersmith 75, Lucky Town, Ghost Of Tom Joad, Magic, Darkness Box Set, Devils And Dust and Wrecking Ball all receiving one vote each.

OH SHIT BROOOOOOCE!!!

bad internet results? i obviously meant bad internet access. brain currently fried from being in the middle of 24 hours or travel. anyway...

I'll just be over here with Lucky Town, all by ourselves.

woohoo Bruce!

surprised Nebraska didn't do better in the albums poll. i kind of mentally class it with other 'low-selling cult favorites by big stars' that tend to be beloved by ILM like Prince's Dirty Mind, Bowie's Low, Madonna's Erotica, etc.

I'll just be over here with Joad, Magic and Devils, all by ourselves. Ithappens popping over with a Seeger later.

BROOOOOOOOOOOOCE

I'll be over here gloating that Darkness is #2 yaaaay

sad i didn't get to vote. would have voted darkness #1. bruuuuuuuuuuuuuce imo.

can't believe darkness didn't win

ominous sign for what lies ahead

WiESS beating Nebraska is a bad omen for this

Didn't know the voting on this was done already--whoops

I still havent heard "The Wild, The Innocent..."

I was getting the impression in the talkback that ppl didn't like Darkness much? I'm hopeful it gets loads of love because it RULEs

all the voters for brooding brooce were too busy brooding :(

ban all brooders imo

non-voting brooders i mean

darkness is usually the fanboy favorite I think

Darkness is amazing but Born To Run is a very close #2 for me so i'm happy with the results. if anything I assumed Darkness would win just because it seems less divisive than BTR, i imagine there are more Bruce fans that are just kind of 'over' Born To Run and a lot of the songs on it.

for comparison: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN ALBUMS POLL

nebraska is the hipster fav and all the hipsters on ilx are gone or I guess they're just old now

id have voted for bitusa myself with darkness 2nd

Darkness has a couple of my all-time favorites but it's hard to get past ADAM RAIIIISED A CAIIIIIIIIIIN

i like nebraska fine but i think al said somewhere on ilx that having it as your favorite springsteen album makes it seem like you're not that into the whole springsteen thing, which i think is otm.

xpost but that guitar! it melts u face!

Nebraska became a favorite after a fan segment got turned off by the "overblown" BITUSA. As recently as 2000 I was still bumping into fans who thought BITUSA's popularity made assessment impossible.

'i dont like springsteen but i like nebraska' - me until 2004

i appreciate "Adam" and its place in the album more than i used to, but even when i hated it that didn't stop Darkness from being my favorite Bruce album

BITUSA's rep is definitely better now than it was 10 years ago. the early E Street reunion tours seemed to be very much about getting back to the '70s catalog and downplaying BITUSA -- did they ever start playing more from that album in recent years?

really the crime and tragedy here is the TUNNEL OF LOVE snub. should be top 3 at least.

It topped my poll. Then again, "i dont like springsteen but i like nebraska' - ILX until 2007"

er, TOL

tol is the new nebraska tho I don't think very many people say "I don't like springsteen but I like tol"

wait is that what alfred was trying to say

haha yes

even with BITUSA's correct repositioning in the canon, TOL's claque is a lot louder than BITUSA's.

"TOL didn't sell as many copies, but everyone who bought it formed an ILX thread."

hipsters in 2025 will refuse to listen to anything but 'the rising'

I love all you TOL'ers but that album is like Heijera for me with Joni Mitchell.

The *sound* on TOL is like a razor wire fence to my brain. I just can't relax into it. There's a couple of songs I like but even after re-listening a couple of weeks ago I was still making that being-force-fed-broccoli-face after a while :)

HIDDEN PREDICTORS: I generally approve of broccoli.

what's unattractive about it?

xpost

The River is the real fanboy pick, Darkness is too obvious

I think they're tied but it's def that era

the river has the advantage of having more songs

i had tol #1, darkness #2

xxpost Alfred: it's the synthy/fretless-bass sound I think. It just sounds really dated to me. And I guess a lot of that is maybe I don't have any really good nostalgia for other albums that sound like this? Like maybe it's my last frontier music-wise that I have not really reckoned with.

I mean, I dig Paul Simon's Graceland and that's a fretless bass free for all so I know that immediately makes me a hypocrite. I guess with Bruce on TOL, with the exception of Brilliant Disguise, there's no songs that can rise up enough to me lyric-wise to hook me into the music. Or vice versa. I come in lost and and I stay lost.

i have 2 tol tracks in my top 3, 4 on my ballot overall

my #1 is from tol

i guess what i'm saying guys is i like tol

ALOT

Great poll.

1. I'm on Fire (40)
2. Two Faces (36)
3. Brilliant Disguise (33)
4. Dancing in the Dark (30)
5. Prove It All Night (28)
6. Downbound Train (26)
7. Incident on 57th Street (25)
8. Born to Run (24)
9. 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) (23)
10. All That Heaven Will Allow (22)
11. Atlantic City (21)
12. Growin' Up (20)
13. Streets of Fire (19)
14. Tunnel of Love (18)
15. The River (17)
16. The Ghost of Tom Joad (16)
17. One Step Up (15)
18. Tougher Than the Rest (14)
19. Night (13)
20. Streets of Philadelphia (12)

1. Tunnel of Love
2. Born in the USA
3. The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle
4. Darkness on the Edge of Town
5. Born to Run

Song I most regret not voting for: 'Candy's Room'

1. Racing in the Street
2. The River
3. Independence Day
4. Thunder Road
5. Dancing in the Dark
6. Surprise Surprise
7. Wreck on the Highway
8. Born to Run
9. Darkness on the Edge of Town
10. Working on the Highway
11. Livin' in the Future
12. Jungleland
13. The Promised Land
14. The Ties That Bind
15. No Surrender
16. Brilliant Disguise
17. Across the Border
18. Prove It All Night
19. Land of Hope and Dreams
20. Sherry Darling

albums:

1. The River
2. Darkness on the Edge of Town
3. Born to Run
4. Born in the USA
5. The Rising

1 The River
2 Tunnel of Love
3 Atlantic City
4 Thunder Road
5 Born in the USA
6 One Step Up
7 Downbound Train
8 My Beautiful Reward
9 Nebraska
10 Darkness on the Edge of Town
11 I'm On Fire
12 She's The One
13 Tougher Than the Rest
14 Human Touch
15 Lucky Town
16 Spare Parts
17 Highway Patrolman
18 Brilliant Disguise
19 Jungleland
20 When You're Alone

lol i slept through the entire rollout

anyway gg jamie ty, great poll you're all stars

alfred i think you voted out in the street twice

Thunder Road (40)
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (36)
Land of Hope and Dreams (Live in New York City) (33)
Thundercrack (30)
Dancing in the Dark (28)
Fourth of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) (26)
Kitty’s Back (25)
Racing in the Street (24)
Fire (23)
Candy’s Room (22)
She’s the One (21)
Jungleland (20)
Born to Run (19)
Incident on 57th St. (18)
Wild Billy’s Circus Story (17)
Hungry Heart (16)
Does This Bus Stop at 82nd St.? (15)
The Promised Land (14)
For You (13)
Crush On You (12)

Albums:
1. The Wild, the Innocent, and the E-Street Shuffle
2. Born to Run
3. Darkness on the Edge of Town
4. Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.
5. The River

Final results, geography division:

Street 5
City 3
Highway 3
River 2
Town 1
State 1
Avenue 1
Road 1

(USA 1)

i haven't listened to a note of ToL since this thread started, except for a single click on the "one step up" youtube, but just reading the thread has made me fall in love with that album hard. the only song i voted for was the title song ("brilliant disguise" was a very last minute drop, and probably a mistaken drop.) i'm almost scared to listen now 'cause i'm not sure it can live up to all your insights and reactions.

ok, i just listened to ToL straight through for the first time in many, many years. in short: all of you are right. also: " two faces." i'm going to have a lot to say about this album at some point. not now though. for now it's just wow.

Genuinely surprised that "The Ties That Bind" didn't make it!

― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Wednesday, March 6, 2013 12:50 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The Ties That Bind was #31.

― EZ Snappin, Wednesday, March 6, 2013 12:53 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ahh i was thrown off because it's missing from the spotify playlist for some reason

i'm kind of shocked Jackson Cage didn't get one vote, i've
always adored it and yet stuff like Ramrod and You Can Look which i can totally take or leave got multiple

xxpost

*anticipates furiously*

My crucial ballot:

1. “Tunnel of Love”
2. “Badlands”
3. “Nebraska”
4. “She’s the One”
5. “Radio Nowhere”

Call it a reluctant compliment. I've skipped polls where I couldn't even get that many songs together, either because I knew very few or just didn't like the artist. Springsteen and U2 were the shortest ballots I submitted. I really, really love #1, like all the rest.

ahh i was thrown off because it's missing from the spotify playlist for some reason

I just whiffed on it, I guess. It's there now.

can we get a straight-up list of the results?

Was just thinking that after Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney die, Weird Al is probably third in line as most beloved guy in music. Probably.

You're forgetting Zamfir.

Man, I did totally forget about Zamfir. Is he still alive or did he retire on that next level Master of the Pan Flutes infomercial shit?

Wow, Zamfir is only 71. Best sentence ever in his wiki:

Although Zamfir is considered the most important person to popularize the pan flute worldwide, he has also received significant criticism, mostly for his propinquity with easy listening and kitsch

propinquity!

I have never used the word "propinquity," and feel a little ashamed to say I didn't even know such a word existed--belongs on some future Alanis Morissette album.

it does not mean what they think it means

"And isn't it propinquitious?
Don't you think?
It's like 10,000 Zamfirs, when all you need is a Vangelis."

Hmm, that's interesting. I think propinquity could work, at least sort of metaphorically, even if they mean it like propensity, predilection or any number of other words that start with P.

propinquitous people popularizing panflutes, painfully.

There was a band called Propinquity whose album was rereleased via Numero -- it's pretty good but I bought it for like $4 so it's $4 good.

Internet down today, just catching up.

WOW to LL's TOL story.

My Ballot:

40: State Trooper
36: Candy's Room
33: Atlantic City
30: Something In The Night
28: Spirit In The Night
26: Cadillac Ranch
25: Johnny 99
24: The Promised Land
23: Incident On 57th Street
22: Darkness On The Edge of Town
21: Cover Me
20: Kitty's Back
19: Livin' In The Future
18: The Ties That Bind
17: Sherry Darling
16: Open All Night
15: She's The One
14: Gypsy Biker
13: Meeting Across The River
12: Held Up Without A Gun

I equal-weighted my ballot so it's presented chronologically.

Biggest revelation for me: Tunnel of Love. I remember some of the singles (even voted for 1) but never owned the album. Gonna have to do something about that.

Biggest disconnect with other voters: Nebraska. It may be heresy on this thread but, try as I might, Nebraska doesn't do much for me. Tried again with the results rollout. Still not getting it.

Growing Up
Spirits in the Night
For You
Blinded by the Light
4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
Incident on 57th Street
Rosalita
New York City Serenade
Kitty's Back
She's the One
Thunder Road
Tenth Avenue Freeze Out
Backstreets
Candy's Room
Racing in the Streets
Point Blank
My Hometown
Dancing in the Dark
Tougher Than the Rest
Streets of Philadelphia

Albums:

Wild Innocent
Born to Run
Greetings
Darkness
Born in the USA

Because of this thread, I wrote this about Racing in the Street. Not quite what I wanted, cos I had to bash it out in a 20-min window. Hat tip to zachlyon for the Camaro observation.

wonderful article!! i expect royalties.

tbh i never even noticed the crystals reference. but i'm horrible with that sort of thing.

Great piece. 20 minutes! Gravitas only slightly undermined by the linked video being by sgtpepperspeepee.

I think the only reason he put the Camaro first was so that it would scan and rhyme.

sssssshhhhhhh

xpost Fortunate to be a very quick writer. Been thinking about the song all poll, so I knew what I was going to say. No blank paper in my head.

Roy Bittan's piano picking out a phrase adapted from the Crystals' Then He Kissed Me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0GfHJGmLQ8

Would pay to see Bruce do anything, but a whole Phil Spector set would be ... wow ...

Huh, just saw this, which is not so hot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve1BUGpatDk

But what a lovely song this one is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiD378AgSds

Kathryn Jean Lopez ‏@kathrynlopez

i confess, if @chucktodd asked me "Bon Jovi or Springsteen," I would not answer "Springsteen, of course"

Hi - can someone put up another link to the Spotify. xx

Jamie, could you post the whole list?

great piece ithappens

Thanks for the nice words.

Clarence's family suing his doctors for malpractice.

tol is the new nebraska tho I don't think very many people say "I don't like springsteen but I like tol"

― iatee, Monday, February 25, 2013 6:11 PM (five years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

tbh this is mostly me. i like nebraska quite a bit, and then out of nowhere i started listening to tunnel of love obsessively, over the last year. that's my favorite now. "brilliant disguise" was the way in, but almost the entire album is very good. i do like a few other springsteen songs (no one is going to deny something like 'dancing in the dark') but in general i like when the e street band is either not there or they tone it down a little

I would like to distance myself from
the 2013 VG who all but dismissed Tunnel of Love in its entirety

https://tenor.com/wq8K.gif

i am here to say that i have revisited TOL since that time and love it start to finish. My ears, they seem to work now

https://media1.tenor.com/images/4c7118532426337f032fe0750baa43cb/tenor.gif

welcome to the fold

<3

Hooray!