The darkness that envelops the town keeps the characters in and the rest of the world out. Where the characters in Born to Run were racing against death, the characters here are cursed with the burden of survival. So like all Springsteen records in the early part of his career, there are many songs about cars and driving, but these people seem to be going in circles, idly moving from one place to the next.
With no chance of escape, you have to figure out how to deal with what's in front of you. The stark reality of the songs is reinforced by the album's production. Darkness is in its own way as sonically consistent and coherent as Born to Run ; but where that album drew inspiration from Phil Spector's Wall of Sound, Darkness tries to do as much as possible with a minimum of embellishment.
A few tracks break from this dry and barren template. As for the remastering, I'm not hearing a lot of difference here, but Darkness always sounded good. From the opening drum fill of "Badlands" to the grim fade of the title track, there's not a weak song on the album and it deservedly ranks with Springsteen's classics.
Which means that it ranks with rock's classic albums, full stop. And it took a long time to get it that way. The music on the 2xCD set The Promise , which was written during the Darkness sessions, shows what Springsteen had to leave behind to get the record that he wanted. That meant no big pop songs. There's "Because the Night", given to Patti Smith before being completed, which she then improved and turned into her biggest hit. It also means no songs about easy times, hope, and escape. So "Gotta Get That Feeling", an appealing mid-tempo track with horns and sweet backing vocals and lines like "We ain't got no money but we don't care" was shelved.
In Darkness , people have no money but they do care, a lot. The Promise is also a good demonstration of how Springsteen mines his unused songs for material, and shows how many ways he tried to record things before figuring out how they worked best. The set kicks off with "Racing in the Street '78 ", a version that begins as an austere ballad but builds into a rock song. It's nowhere near as effective as what came to be on the record, but it is riveting, showing just how elastic Springsteen's melodic and thematic ideas could be.
An early version of "Candy's Room" is here, too, and it's called "Candy's Boy"; instead of the original's dark and explosive sensuality, here it's a clean, shuffling guitar-pop tune, charming but without a lot at stake. The tracks on The Promise CD aren't left out just because of subject matter or tone-- they also sound different. As with some songs on Tracks , some of these songs had parts added later. In other places, the vocals and music sound fundamentally different from the recordings of the era.
Still, despite the lack of consistency, the 22 new songs there are 21 tracks, but "The Way" is a hidden bonus track at the end are mostly very good and occasionally great. None feel like they should have been on Darkness , but almost all of them hold up to repeat plays and stand on their own as very good Springsteen-- easily on the level of mid-level stuff on The River , say. I suspect that this decision was inspired in part by the notion that the album is about loneliness and open spaces, but there's something off about seeing this band, known so well for its deep connection to its audience, playing by themselves in a large room without people.
More interesting on the same disc are the live odds-and-ends from rehearsals at Springsteen's rented Jersey home in the 70s. The band is packed into what looks like a small bedroom, Springsteen is shirtless, with the familiar guitar around his neck, standing before a microphone taped to a stand. And the band is running through a couple new songs in an intimate space with no sense at all of posterity.
They are so casual, Steve Van Zant isn't even wearing a hat! Also on this disc are songs from a show in Phoenix, including the famous clip for "Rosalita" that got some play in the early days of MTV.
These Phoenix performances are generally superior to the three-hour set from a show in Houston included on a separate DVD. The video comes from the arena's video feed and, given the quality of video in , quality could be better. But it is a multi-camera shoot with good coverage and Springsteen and the E Street band were in amazing form throughout that year. So no complaints about more live Springsteen.
Which leaves the documentary, which in one sense serves as the centerpiece of the project. Introspection Late Night Partying. Rainy Day Relaxation Road Trip. Romantic Evening Sex All Themes. Articles Features Interviews Lists. Streams Videos All Posts. My Profile. Advanced Search. The Promise Review by Thom Jurek. Track Listing - Disc 1. Racing in the Street.
Bruce Springsteen. Gotta Get That Feeling. Outside Looking In. Someday We'll Be Together. One Way Street. Because the Night. Wrong Side of the Street. The Brokenhearted. Candy's Boy. Track Listing - Disc 2. Save My Love. Ain't Good Enough for You. Spanish Eyes.
It's a Shame. Come On Let's Go Tonight. Talk to Me. The Promise. City of Night. Stream or buy on:.
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