Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run

The albums released up until now have been filled with artists on the decline and up-and-comers who have a ways to go before they secure the spotlight. Bruce Springsteen, however, has paid his dues for a couple years, releasing two albums in 1973 and heavily touring to promote both of them. There will not be another release this month, or even this whole year, that will be able to touch what Springsteen has composed for Born to Run .

The opening harmonic, piano driven "Thunder Road" builds from the first second until the band surrenders to hearty guitars that lay subtlety over the rhythm section. The addition of Max Weinberg on drums exhibits his fortitude as he positions himself to be the backbone of Springsteen's writing. In the opening drum trac,k it is Weinberg who sets the stage for the shortest song that appears on Born to Run , motivating the feel as Springsteen hurls vocals into the microphone.

This is the first reference to Clarence Clemons being 'the big man' in the lyrics of "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out." Clemons's haunting fills on "Meeting Across the River" meet the song's need, giving quiet reflection to the lyrical content. He is invaluable to Springsteen's writing as he has the ability to touch those same places the composer envisions.

The piano needed some life, and Roy Brittan is the perfect extension of the sound Bruce Springsteen writes toward. Brittan keeps the pace as Springsteen delivers declarations in "Backstreets" where he tells the story of two friends who meet and tear up the town with misspent youth. The final verse leaves the story open to the listener's own interpretation. "Laying here in the dark, you're like an angel on my chest", could this mean that Terry (the friend) is lays dead over Springsteen while he drifts in thought of the things they have done? Up to now the record has forged a storyline, with each track advancing the adventure between two friends.

This record, as with those that went before, is a dedication to one name and although this release scatters different names in each song, it is clear that 'Mary' is the female counterpart to the Springsteen character. Every character's name that appears rhymes with Mary such as Wendy, Terry and Eddie. It is "Born to Run" that switches gears as Terry is now possibly gone, and Bruce looks to find the girl that is as ravaged from life as he and begins to court her with thoughts of getting out. This is another theme that most storytellers only wish they could pen as well as Springsteen, touching on emotions of those whose life may never get past the factory line. ANTHEM ANTHEM ANTHEM!

Now finishing up the first half, of the second side "She's the One" is a young boy's visual beauty of a girl that he can not turn away from. She's the girl that is between tomboy and princess who is out of reach but continues to dwell in the subconsciousness of the writer. He dives deep to compose this passionate love song that the male character insights his female counterpart to take the bull by the horns "to leave it all behind, And to break on through, Oh she can take you, But if she wants to break you, She's gonna find out that ain't easy to do" he knows that no matter if she chooses him or not, it will always be her. She will hold his heart until he takes his last breath. Whether it be today or 50 years from now, her face will be his last thought.

The nine minute, thirty-four second finale "Jungleland" is like the final chapter in a book or the or last scene in a movie. It is a storyteller's dream ending with some good guys surviving and some bad guys getting what they deserve. When the piano diminishes to where the listener is barely able to hear it, Springsteen verbally visualizes the slow motion each character takes.

Nowhere in 1975 will there be a better release than Brice Springsteen's storytelling genius on Born to Run .

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Songs That Opened With Threats and Ended Up As Hits

My favorite radio station has adopted an all-Christmas format for the Holidays, even though it is still early November. While I appreciate an occasional jolly tune, I cannot listen to carols and jingle bells for the next two months.

Before I could turn away, I heard the opening lines of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town." That threat of "You better watch out" makes me want to direct a similar one to the station. It might read something like, "You better watch out, You better not try, Your all-Christmas format will make me leave you dry."

Then it dawned on me how strange it was that a festive song like "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" opens with a series of threats. You can certainly understand beginnings such as "Dashing through the snow" or "Up on the rooftop reindeer paws." It is quite another thing to start a Christmas tune by warning, "You better watch out."

That realization led me to consider the popular non-Christmas songs that open with threats or warnings. The most obvious one is Tom Petty's "You Got Lucky" from Long After Dark. He opens that hit with the line, "You better watch you say, you better watch what you do to me."

Here are nine of the most well-known threatening first lines and the songs from whence they derived.

"Watch out, you might get what you're after"

David Byrne issues this threat to open the Talking Heads' well-known hit, "Burning Down the House."

"Stop thief, you're gonna come to grief if you don't take a little more care"

The debut album My Aim Is True is the source of this first line by Elvis Costello in the track, "Pay It Back."

"Please take this as a warning"

A heartbroken narrator's hurt turns to anger in the John Gorka song "Armed with a Broken Heart."

"Oh Glenn, don't come to the house tonight"

The shortest track on the Smiths' last album, Strangeways Here We Come, opens with Morrissey making this plea on "Death at One's Elbow."

"Instant Karma's gonna get you, gonna knock you right on the head"

Shortly after the breakup of The Beatles, John Lennon hit the charts with this jaunty tune titled after its first two words.

"Wake up, Maggie, I think I've got something to say to you"

Rod Stewart serves as the alarm clock on "Maggie May," one of his most enduring hits.

"Well I've told you once and I've told you twice"

Mick Jagger sounds completely fed up with his romantic situation, as evidenced by this opening line from the Stones' classic "The Last Time."

"Hey get out of their way"

The Stranglers warn of a society taken over by robots on "Hey! (Rise of the Robots)," a quirky track from the excellent Black and White album.

"Southern Man, better keep your head, don't forget what your good book said"

This line from the track on After the Gold Rush would get Neil Young immortalized in Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama."
By Doug Poe

LAX-The-Game

Game seemed to fall off a bit since his last album. He doesn't seem as hungry as the last one and he's really not saying a whole lot on this record. We could have done without the interludes and it seemed there was too many little guest spots. Some of the tracks are unlistenable but some of them are really good. As usual Game had a good ear for the beats and for the most part he got some respected names on the production. For once he got something good from Kanye West after their previous two bombs (I can't stand "Dreams" and "Wouldn't Get Far"). Hi-Tek did it again, 3 for 3 on Game albums, delivering another soft percussion number with intense bass that takes over the whole track, he seems to invent everytime around, I like what he does. Nottz came through as usual but he was 1 for 2. "Ya Heard" got a great beat but I was not liking "Cali Sunshine" for some reason, very lame. JR dropped a couple worth keeping and even Scott Storch popped up with something. I have to mention "House of Pain" by DJ Toomp because it's the worst on the album. Talk about boring, this will put you to sleep, why do they leave this on the cd? On the lyrics side he doesn't seem to always stand out though, which is what you want from a rapper like Game, rhymes with energy. I listen to "State of Emergency" and he's ripping it apart, then you turn to "Ya Heard" and he's got a terrible flow while getting killed by Ludacris on his own tape (Luda is the only reason along with the production to listen to it). He seems lazy at times and or drunk/high.. He must have been high to try and recreate the deaths of big rappers on one song, I get tired of that stuff, not to mention he ruined a good beat. My main review of the album is that when he's good he's good, when he's bad he's bad. A handful have been on constant replay and others have quickly found the trash can on my computer.

3 Doors Down

I'm a huge fan. I love these guys, and I've been hooked since the day I bought The Better Life years ago. 3DD, in my opinion is the most talented band out there. I have always related to their music - they're just average guys who are passionate about the music.

But having said that, I'm disappointed in the new album. It's hard to explain what I don't like about it, other than it's too clinical. It just sounds like the band went from music as their lives to music as a job. The talent is there, but I'm not feeling the power or the flow that they've spoiled me with the first 3 albums. My wife said that the album sounds rushed. I'm not so sure what it's missing, other than it's missing something. I put on a song like Father's Son from their last album and I just FEEL it.

I heard a live version of "It's not my time", and this new studio version doesn't compare. They made it more "poppish" and it lost something in the translation. It's a great song but it could've been so much better. Everyone else seems to love this version though, so I know I'm in the minority on this one.

"She don't want the world" is my favorite on the new album. It reflects their evolution but still keeps to their roots. "When it's over" almost channels their first album, and it's growing on me.

The rest of the album sounds like they showed up to work one day and cut a bunch of tracks. The songs *almost* do it for me, but they just fall short. They're still my favorite band, but this album could've been better than it is.

Hopefully the new album will grow on me over time, but for now I'll be getting my fix from the previous albums.

By Some Guy

OneRepublic - Dreaming Out Loud

The good outweighs the bad on 'Dreaming', March 28, 2008
It's not very often that a band from my home state of Colorado hits it big, but that's precisely what OneRepublic has done. With the help of Timbaland, the band scored one of the biggest hits of this decade to date with the remix of "Apologize", which spent 25 weeks in the top ten of the Hot 100, is one of only three songs to date to surpass three million in U.S. digital downloads, and spent 14 weeks at #1 on the United World Chart to name a few of its accomplishments. Needless to say I had to check out the band's debut album, especially considering how addicted I was to "Apologize." The album is one of those "singles" albums in my opinion, where about 5 of the songs are great and sound like big hits, but a lot of the album is filler.

Unsurprisingly to me, I did not find another song I liked as much as the Apologize remix, which is a bonus track on the album. Although I dislike that the remix is credited to Timbaland featuring OneRepublic (it should be vice versa), I have to admit there's something about the remix that sends the song into that upper echelon of mega hit that only happens rarely, and the original version of the song just can't compete. The song is much more than just a hit though, as everything about the remix is the total package of lyrics, beat, hooks, and vocal performance that seamlessly meshes to make it one of those universally likable songs. Enough about that song though, the rest of the album has some other tracks that are worth talking about, starting with second single "Stop and Stare." The song seems to be about evaluating your life and questioning why it is the way it is. The song has a big chorus and is one of the most re-playable tracks on the album. "Mercy" is a more rock tinged affair that first gained the band notice when they put it on their MySpace. It is somewhat reminiscent of a song U2 would do, and is well written and produced. My favorite track besides "Apologize" would have to be "Say (All I Need)" a song that crescendos from a gorgeous soft rock ballad into a soaring melodically layered piece of music. Most definitely a hit, but more importantly a superb song, and I have to also note that lead singer Ryan Tedder gives an exceptional vocal as well on it. The album isn't all good news though, as about exactly half of the tracks are filler that go in one ear and right out the other. Songs such as "Prodigal", "Tyrant", and "Won't Stop" to name a few just leave no real impression on me.

What saves "Dreaming Out Loud" from being disappointing is that the good half of the album overshadows the unmemorable portion. It's been a while since I've heard tracks as overall well put together such as "Apologize", "Stop and Stare", and "Say (All I Need)." Other highlights are "All We Are" and Coldplay esque ballad "Come Home." The band also seems to be talented lyrically as well, and Ryan Tedder might be quite the up and coming producer/songwriter already having huge production/writing hits for other artist such as Natasha Beddingfield's "Love Like This" and the mega worldwide smash "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis. "Dreaming Out Loud" is a promising debut that is satisfying but leaves plenty of room for future growth. 4/5 Stars

My Top 5:
1. Apologize (Remix)
2. Say (All I Need)
3. Mercy
4. Stop and Stare
5. All We Are