Summary

The author of "My Year of Bruce Springsteen" initially dreaded reviewing Springsteen's album The River due to its somber title track but found enjoyment in the majority of its upbeat and rocking songs, ultimately rating the album 4 out of 5 stars.

Abstract

In "My Year of Bruce Springsteen," the author embarks on a journey to review all of Bruce Springsteen's studio albums in chronological order. Despite initial apprehension about the album The River due to its title track's somber tone, the author discovers a preference for the album's more lively and energetic songs. The article highlights five favorite tracks from The River, noting their rock and roll spirit and fun listenability. Although not all songs resonate with the author, with "The River," "Stolen Car," and "Wreck On The Highway" being less favored, the overall experience leads to a high 4-star rating for the album. The author also references an April Fools' Day joke article that humorously contradicts the positive sentiments expressed in the current review.

Opinions

The author initially feared The River would be too somber due to the title track.
Despite concerns, the author enjoyed most of the album, particularly its rocking and upbeat songs.
"The River," "Stolen Car," and "Wreck On The Highway" are appreciated for their quality but do not personally resonate with the author.
The author rates The River 4 out of 5 stars, indicating a high level of appreciation for the album as a whole.
An April Fools' Day article jokingly presents Bruce Springsteen's music as overrated, including The River, which is a stark contrast to the genuine sentiments in the current review.
The author encourages readers to become Medium members to fully access their content, suggesting a value in the platform's offerings.

Bruce Springsteen Took Me Down to The River and It Wasn’t Too Dry

Part 5 of My Year of Bruce Springsteen

Image source: Columbia Records via Amazon.com

For My Year of Bruce Springsteen, I’m listening to and reviewing all of Bruce Springsteen’s studio albums in the order they were originally released. As I happily made my way through his first four albums, part of me was dreading the upcoming time when I’d have to take on Bruce’s fifth album, The River.

Why was that? Well, it was mostly because of the title track of the album. I’ve known the song since I heard it on the radio not long after The River album came out in 1980. While I’ve always appreciated that it has great lyrics and music in it, I’ve never particularly liked the song. Technically, it’s a great song, but it’s a bit too “somber sounding” for me.”

Because of it being the title track of the album, I was concerned that most of the rest of the album was going to be a bit of a bummer to listen to. While I can appreciate a good dark and somber song once in a while, I’m usually not in the mood to hear an entire album’s worth of depressing tracks.

And The River is a long album with 20 songs on it! What was I about to get myself into?

Other than the title track, the only songs I knew from the album before listening to it for my first time this month, were “Hungry Heart,” “Fade Away,” and “Out In The Street.” I’ve always liked those songs quite a bit, but I was a little concerned when I saw some of the other song titles on the album, such as “Point Blank,” “Stolen Car,” “The Price You Pay,” and especially “Wreck On The Highway.”

None of them were exactly screaming out “good time, happy music” to me.

However, I’m very happy to report that most of my fears about The River album sank away after I listened to it a few times. While I can’t say I like all of the songs on the album, I love (or at least strongly like) the majority of them.

Here are five of my favorite songs from The River. I’m going to let the music do the talking here and not give commentaries for each of the songs. However, I will say that these types of “Bruce songs” are usually my favorite kind of “Bruce songs.”

Simply put — they all rock and roll and they’re a lot of fun to listen to!

Sherry Darling

Two Hearts

Whoops! That’s an entirely different song called “Two Hearts” by Phil Collins. My mistake! Good song, though. It’s got a nice steady beat and it’s an exceptional song to listen to while running or cycling. But let’s get back to Bruce now, shall we?

Two Hearts

Crush On You

I’m A Rocker

Ramrod

It may seem that I only enjoy the rocking, upbeat songs on the album, but I also like some of the slower ones, especially “Fade Away,” “Independence Day,” “I Wanna Marry You,” and “Point Blank.”

As for my least favorites, well, “The River” is still on my list for the reasons I mentioned above. I can appreciate it, but it just doesn’t “do it” for me. The same can be said for the songs “Stolen Car” and “Wreck On The Highway.” They’re both good songs, but I just don’t connect with them, for one reason or another. I don’t mind hearing them, but I don’t ever see myself going too far out of my way to listen to them.

Here’s The River album on Spotify:

All in all, I think The River is an exceptional album. Out of 5 possible stars, I give it…drumroll, please…4 stars!

Image created by Penelope Mayfield in Canva.com

On a very related note, I recently published another article about Bruce Springsteen. In it, I wrote about how incredibly overrated I think Bruce is. I also say horrible things about The River album in the article.

It was published on April 1st of this year as an April Fools Day joke. It’s completely full of lies, but if you’d like to read it, click below:

Bruce Springsteen Isn’t As Good As A Lot Of People Say

He has some great songs, but a lot of his music is unlistenable

medium.com

My Year of Bruce Springsteen

I'm listening to and reviewing all of Bruce Springsteen's studio albums in 2022. This is where they'll be.

piercemcintyre.medium.com

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