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Darko's avatar

Loved Bruce since “The Wild, The Innocent..”. Liked him from “Greetings From Asbury..” but that album didn’t latch on to me as much as “The Wild..”. I’ve been a fan since 1974 and always look forward to any recording that he opts to put out. So, Tracks II, with its 7 albums, will be a treasure to listen to….slowly and most certainly at a measured pace. I would hope that each of the 7 will be reviewed with the same lack of pressure. No need for quick keyboard typing…please. I’ll be looking forward to a long space of time between reviews. Mr Springsteen opted to sit on these particular recordings for a while. Why the rush for opinionating and hastily concocted verborrhea?

Please. No rush. The 7 albums will be there, waiting for the depth of thought they’re due.

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Tom Moon's avatar

Thank you for this. That is precisely my instinct. The prospect of wending through 7 albums from Bruce has me questioning everything about the hot take machine.

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Brad Riesau's avatar

Hi TM, Brad from Big Bear here. Im excited to hear the Bruce box. Been reading about it and while I was one of those long-time Bruce heads that always looked fwd to any new creativity, I was also one of those Lucky Town/Human Touch naysayers who grew to like those records after initial doubts. But I was also a set of ears who loved Neil Young’s TRANS experiment and Lou Reed’s METAL MACHINE MUSIC for the main reason that they WERE so out there and different. I talked to Bob Belden and Phil Lesh both about our first listens to Miles’ BITCHES BREW and just being so ready for more. Or Dylan’s electric albums and SLOW TRAIN lp. Hey great artists are great BECAUSE they’re open minded, take chances, try things on for size. Looking fwd to hearing this Bruce on Friday!

Hope all is great with you old friend. Keep up the good work. Cheers.

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Tom Moon's avatar

Hey wow and thanks for this….I never made the journey back to Lucky Touch but always respect the artist’s right to any/all weird stretches. and like you, receive them as opportunities to recalibrate my thinking. that, too, takes time. so far the Bruce that has me wrenched is the country/Mexican ballad one…didn’t have that on any radar. hope all is well out there….

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Carl Wilson's avatar

Here's how I tried to strike a balance in my own coverage - with a kind of general essayistic beginning and then summarizing about the albums, with my two or three favourites getting the bulk of the attention and short shrift on the rest. There was more to that second half, but my editor cut a lot of the drilling down on discs and songs, and I don't really blame him. I might try to follow up with a little more in my Substack this weekend. https://slate.com/culture/2025/06/bruce-springsteen-lost-albums-songs-lyrics-hip-hop.html

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Carl Wilson's avatar

Btw I listened through the box in full twice before writing this, and then went back to the parts I found more interesting two or three times each. Definitely it could be argued that I didn't give the albums I didn't like initially enough time to grow on me - but it was in line with the aspects of Bruce that I know I like and those I've never found effective.

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Tom Moon's avatar

Thanks for the link! Will read for sure, and not bc you shared your listening strategy. When I think about the time/effort needed to arrive at something insightful about a single record, that is one kind of work; multiplying that by 7, and describing each of these clearly thematic/intentional projects, is another thing. under the circumstances I understand an editor's thinking about limiting the drilling down. and at the same time understand that some readers will want the detail and description almost song by song.

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