Retro Spins: Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel Of Love

I wouldn't call myself a fan of Bruce Springsteen. While I was pleasantly surprised by his album Born In The U.S.A., and had several of his albums up until my latest purge, I never honestly got around to listening to anything else. It was more so out of the question, do I need to get rid of anything else, that I finally came around to listening to his follow up album, Tunnel Of Love.

Yawn....

Sorry, I think I fell asleep for a moment. Okay, I really didn't, but that may have been better time spent.

Simply put, Tunnel Of Love is boring. It has none of the rocking sound of Springsteen's prior album. It has none of that top ten sound, and it has none of what I expected coming after Born In The U.S.A. It was incredibly disappointing.

If what I read was true, and nineteen songs were written for Tunnel Of Love, with twelve making the cut, I can only imagine how bad those other seven were. The title track was mildly recognizable from the 80's, but nothing worth writing home about. I certainly wouldn't have titled an album after it. Then again, I wouldn't have used any of the songs which made the cut for this record.

Also recognizable from the record was Brilliant Disguise, a song I had completely forgotten was from Springsteen. Granted, while it's not my favorite, I think it's a stronger track than Tunnel Of Love. I dare say the album may have turned out better if more songs were completed in this style versus the grass roots fashion of the majority of them.

In light of this album, I'm kind of glad I went ahead and dumped everything post 80's. I'm also not too excited to dabble in anything more from his 70's and 80's years, but I suppose I eventually will. If for nothing more than to keep whittling down albums in my collection which I don't want. Keep trimming the fat, so to speak.

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Retro Spins: Bruce Springsteen - Born In The U.S.A.

With over 30 million copies sold, Born In The U.S.A. is not only Bruce Springsteen's most commercially successful album, but also cited as one of the best albums of all time by critics. The album was also nominated for album of the year at the 1985 Grammy Awards, but ended up losing to Lionel Richie's Can't Slow Down. That's a tough album to compete with.

Though he continued to press values and meaning in his lyrics, Born In The U.S.A. introduced the world to a more mainstream sounding Springsteen. It's a quintessential pop album, while at the same time staying rooted in 60's rock style. A defiant rock 'n roll album, as Roger Scott called it.

The album became the very first one to be produced on compact disc in the USA when CBS and Sony opened their CD manufacturing plant. With an option of cassette, CD and vinyl, it went on to become the best-selling album of 1985. This was most likely helped in part by the massive worldwide tour which Springsteen went on to promote it.

Thirty plus years later, does the album stand up to the test of time? Yes. Yes it does. It's as fantastic to hear today as it was in 1985. It's got raw emotion, solid rock music, and most importantly, it's just good.

It's difficult to turn your nose up at tracks like Born In The U.S.A., Cover Me, I'm On Fire, Glory Days, Dancing In The Dark and My Hometown. They lead the charge, and set the groundwork for high expectations.

Those expectations don't disappoint. The remaining tracks may not have been acknowledge as chart toppers, but they're still fantastic. Downbound Train is probably one of my favorites from the remaining songs. I honestly think you have to want to hate this album to actually do so.

Born In The U.S.A., the album, is definitely one I'm going to keep in frequent rotation in my 80's mixes. It's a fantastic album from start to finish, and definitely belongs in the collection of any 80's fan or audiophile.

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