Band: Bruce Springsteen
Album: Tunnel of Love
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: Argh.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: "Born in the U.S.A" has its moments, but the follow up is very, very bad. Written largely about Springsteen's failing marriage, the album is disjointed and tortured. It's "Nebraska," but about love.
Best song: Blah.
Worst song: Just about all of them. Tons of horns, fast silly tempo.
Is it awesome?: Nope.
Divorce albums always have something to enjoy on them, but, because I can;t stand Springsteen, all I can find is junk on "Tunnel of Love." I know album covers aren't important, but Springsteen's ridiculous suit and bolo tie combo is indicative of just how dumb this record is.
I realize I'm not the person to judge this album, but I will say this: Springsteen's prescence on this is too great. As we've examined, the last 50-100 or so records on the list are basically throw-ins from the RS editors. There are a lot of random-ish bands or bands with no other albums on the list.
Look, I know I am not the average RS reader or musico. I understand that my disdain for Springsteen is atypical. And, honestly, my taste is my taste; It's not universal. And I'm not a moron. I know that Springsteen is a huge foigure in rock music. Having his albums on this list is reasonable.
But, "Tunnel of Love?" Please.
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From a conversation I had with a huge Springsteen fan yesterday:
RJG: What can you tell me about Tunnel of Love?
Springsteen Fan: Not much. It's one of the only ones I don't own. It's not on the list, is it?
RJG: It's tomorrow.
SF: Whoa. I always thought it was generally considered to kind of suck. I remember my mom had it when I was maybe 10. Someone got it for her. Neither of us liked it much at all.
That sums it up very well.
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Just to get the other side, I'll link to Robert Christgau's review
1 comment:
"Tons of horns, fast silly tempo"
You could at least make the effort to actually listen to the album. There's three up-tempo songs and no horns save for the Big Man's sax solos. Among fans it ranks as one of his highest rated collection of songs because of the sheer quality in song writing even though the production is hopelessly outdated. Anybody who's ever been in love and seen it go sour will find recognition in this album. If they're willing to listen that is.
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