Bruce Springsteen – The Rising (2002/2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

Bruce Springsteen – The Rising (2002/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:12:57 minutes | 1,44 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia

The Rising is the twelfth studio album by American recording artist Bruce Springsteen, released in 2002 on Columbia Records. In addition to being Springsteen’s first studio album in seven years, it was also his first with the E Street Band in 18 years.[1] Widely believed to have been based on Springsteen’s reflections during the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the album is predominantly centered upon themes of relationship struggles, existential crisis and social uplift.

Upon its release, The Rising was a critical and commercial success, and hailed as the triumphant return for Springsteen. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of over 520,000 copies. With this, Springsteen became the oldest person to achieve a first-week sales of over a half of a million copies in the United States.[citation needed] The album also garnered a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album in 2003; although nominated for the Album of the Year award as well, it was beaten by Norah Jones’ debut album Come Away with Me. Title song “The Rising” was also a Grammy recipient.

The set opens with “Lonesome Day,” a midtempo rocker with country-ish roots. Springsteen’s protagonist admits to his or her shortcomings in caring for the now-absent beloved. But despite the grief and emptiness, there is a wisdom that emerges in questioning what remains: “Better ask questions before you shoot/Deceit and betrayal’s bitter fruit/It’s hard to swallow come time to pay/That taste on your tongue don’t easily slip away/Let kingdom come/I’m gonna find my way/ Through this lonesome day.” Brendan O’Brien’s hurdy-gurdy cuts through the mix like a ghost, offering a view of an innocent past that has been forever canceled because it never was anyway; the instrument, like the glockenspiels that trim Bruce Springsteen’s songs, offers not only texture, but a kind of formalist hint that possibilities don’t always lie in the future. Lest anyone mistakenly perceive this recording as a somber evocation of loss and despair, it should also be stated that this is very much an E Street Band recording. Clarence Clemons is everywhere, and the R&B swing and slip of the days of yore is in the house — especially on “Waitin’ for a Sunny Day,” “Countin’ on a Miracle,” “Mary’s Place” (with a full horn section), and the souled-out “Let’s Be Friends (Skin to Skin).” These tracks echo the past with their loose good-time feel, but “echo” is the key word. Brendan O’Brien’s guitar-accented production offers us an E Street Band coming out of the ether and stepping in to fill a void. The songs themselves are, without exception, rooted in loss, but flower with the possibility of moving into what comes next, with a hard-won swagger and busted-up grace. They offer balance and a shifting perspective, as well as a depth that is often deceptive.

The title track is one of Springsteen’s greatest songs. It is an anthem, but not in the sense you usually reference in regard to his work. This anthem is an invitation to share everything, to accept everything, to move through everything individually and together. Power-chorded guitars and pianos entwine in the choruses with a choir, and Clemons wails on a part with a stinging solo. With The Rising, Springsteen has found a way to be inclusive and instructive without giving up his particular vision as a songwriter, nor his considerable strength as a rock & roll artist. In fact, if anything, The Rising is one of the very best examples in recent history of how popular art can evoke a time period and all of its confusing and often contradictory notions, feelings, and impulses. There are tales of great suffering in The Rising to be sure, but there is joy, hope, and possibility, too. Above all, there is a celebration and reverence for everyday life. And if we need anything from rock & roll, it’s that. It would be unfair to lay on Bruce Springsteen the responsibility of guiding people through the aftermath of a tragedy and getting on with the business of living, but rock & roll as impure, messy, and edifying as this helps. –AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek

Tracklist:

01. Bruce Springsteen – Lonesome Day (04:08)
02. Bruce Springsteen – Into the Fire (05:04)
03. Bruce Springsteen – Waitin’ on a Sunny Day – The Song (04:18)
04. Bruce Springsteen – Nothing Man (04:23)
05. Bruce Springsteen – Countin’ On A Miracle (04:44)
06. Bruce Springsteen – Empty Sky (03:34)
07. Bruce Springsteen – Worlds Apart (06:07)
08. Bruce Springsteen – Let’s Be Friends (Skin to Skin) (04:21)
09. Bruce Springsteen – Further On (Up the Road) (03:52)
10. Bruce Springsteen – The Fuse (05:37)
11. Bruce Springsteen – Mary’s Place (06:03)
12. Bruce Springsteen – You’re Missing (05:10)
13. Bruce Springsteen – The Rising -The Song (04:50)
14. Bruce Springsteen – Paradise (05:39)
15. Bruce Springsteen – My City of Ruins (04:59)

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