No, this post is not about that lovely holiday ditty. Tomorrow's may be, though. ;) This post is about this list of the 10 Most Annoying Christmas Songs.

After perusing the list, I can safely say that, for the first time EVER, I completely agree with a list of this nature. Although, I'll give Xtina a little love; I have heard the unremixed version of that song, and it's lovely. She can sing like no one's business. But I'm sure the remix sucks ass.

More Christmas music to come, folks. Promise. Good stuff, too.

Labels: Christmas, lists

Hi.

Missed you all over Thanksgiving.

A big thanks to Michele for making us her "Site of the Day". Gracias. It's very much appreciated.

A quick playlist this morning, sans links because I'm pressed for time, as usual:

1. The General Specific - Band of Horses. Band of Horses is coming, people. You will be assimilated, trust me. Reach out and find this band, it'll be well worth your time.

2. Her Personal Vendetta - The Makes Nice. Okay, so I lied on the links thing. You can spank me later. The Makes Nice are a relatively new discovery for me, but I fully dig it. Check out the MySpace page.

3. Smile - Lily Allen. Crazy, English and an unreal entertainer. Yep, I'm hooked.

4. Foundations - Kate Nash. Okay, so I lied twice on the link thing. My daughters new favorite. Link to the track on the bottom of the page. Give it a listen.

5. Planet Earth - Prince. Did any of you know Prince released a new record in 2007? I'm guessing not a lot of you did. If you can find it, get it. It's called Planet Earth, shockingly.

6. Big Girls Don't Cry - Fergie. Yeah, so my daughter likes Fergie. She keeps sending me mp3's. What can I say, it seeps into your brain and takes you over. Fergie is funny because she's sort of stepping into the spot that I think most of us expected Britney to have at this point, but whatever.

7. Land of a Thousand Words - Scissor Sisters. Okay, so my daughter is completely powering this playlist, apparently. Either way, this band is just quirky and weird enough to be really enjoyable.

That's all I have time for today. Be well my friends. The best time of the year is upon us, pass some love along today.

Labels: The Eleven

Happy Thanksgiving, from MJ, and from Courtney.

We hope you are all well, surrounded by those you love and who love you, and that there is something in your life that you are thankful for.

Peace. See you when the tryptophan coma wears off.

Labels: arlo guthrie

Ok, there are reasons they call him the Boss. Sunday night was one of them.
Dear readers, do yourselves a favor.
SEE BRUCE AND THE E STREET BAND BEFORE YOU DIE.



I thought about writing a complete review for the show, but I'm reduced to tent-revival speaking in tongues. I leave you with these three things to consider:
Jungleland
She's The One
No Surrender.

Oh, and I took that picture from my seat. :)

Labels: Bruce Springsteen

No Surrender

Labels: Bruce Springsteen

Courtney: Top 100 Indie Rock Albums, According to Blender
Courtney: I feel an argument coming on, should we tackle this one together? 
MJ: oh, I’ll have to take this all in, believe me
Courtney: ok
Courtney: as will I
MJ: okay, on first glance, Violent Femmes at 27 is WAY TOO LOW
Courtney: right
MJ: for the life of me, and I know you sorta dig them, I DO NOT get the Sleater-Kinney love fest
Courtney: I would say as a rule, but I'll have to see if this happened, any album that ranks higher than the album that INFLUENCED it is a bad choice
Courtney: I'd have gone with a different SK myself
MJ: I’d rank Husker Du above Big Star and My Bloody Valentine, too
Courtney: Big Star were first, they were over and done with by the mid 70's
Courtney: and Bob[Mould] worships Kevin Shields of MBV
MJ: and I always thought Yo La Tengo was WAY overrated
Courtney: they are kind of
Courtney: as were Beat Happening
Courtney: gag
MJ: I love Double Nickels On The Dime though; glad to see it gets some love
MJ: I wore that record OUT
Courtney: great fucking album
Courtney: it's framed in my back room, right next to Zen Arcade
Courtney: as those 2 are kind of companion pieces in the indie rock canon, LOL
Courtney: you know that story, you must
MJ: here's a question
MJ: no Social Distortion?
Courtney: right. What up?
MJ: they had to have put out at least one or two before they got signed
Courtney: ok, there is an example of my theory of influences, The Replacements being higher than Big Star. When Westerberg WRITES A GODDAMN SONG about the lead singer of Big Star, I'm sorry Big Star should rank first
MJ: yeah, likely
Courtney: I knew there had to be an example somewhere there
Courtney: Social D is a great band

Courtney sez: Ok, part of me feels compelled to list which of these selections I have or have had in the past, just because. Then, I’ll start criticizing.

77. Arctic Monkeys, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
67. Husker Du, New Day Rising
53. Smashing Pumpkins, Gish
48. Mission of Burma, Vs.
45. Fugazi, Repeater
35. Liz Phair, Exile in Guyville
30. Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
29. Violent Femmes, Violent Femmes
20. The Hold Steady, Separation Sunday
19. Sleater-Kinney, Dig Me Out
17. The White Stripes, White Blood Cells
13. Husker Du, Zen Arcade
11. The Minutemen, Double Nickels on the Dime
9. Big Star, Third/Sister Lovers
8. My Bloody Valentine, Loveless
7. The Velvet Underground, The Velvet Underground
5. Pixies, Surfer Rosa
4. REM, Murmur
3. The Replacements, Let It Be

Wow, that’s pitiful. MJ, make me turn my cred in RIGHT NOW. For someone who has claimed to have listened to as much good music as I have, that’s a pretty poor showing. Or is it? 60% of the top ten is nothing to sneeze at, certainly. And 13 and 11 are two of the finest albums to come out of the 80s. PERIOD.

The problem with lists like this is some band is always forgotten, some album overlooked for a less popular choice. Although really, the more I look at this top ten, I don’t necessarily have too many issues with the choices. Except the placement of Let It Be over Third/Sister Lovers. If the principal songwriter writes a song extolling the virtues of the other band’s songwriter, as is the case with Paul Westerberg to Alex Chilton, then the influential artist/album should rank higher. One could argue you couldn’t have had the one without the other. And Big Star? Come on. And seriously, if you’re going to have Double Nickels and Zen Arcade that close to each other on the list, just put them next to each other. They are a matched set, so to speak.

And as for the 13th Floor Elevators, sure Roky Erikson seems to be the indie godfather THESE DAYS, but five years ago it was Nick Drake, in the early nineties, with the twin streams of grunge and alt country, Gram Parsons was getting his due. And, speaking of Gram, is there a reason the Flying Burrito Brothers aren’t on here? Big Star and Alex Chilton are perennial favorite geezers on the scene. And lately, every time someone mentions Lou Reed, I think back to the scene in “Almost Famous” where Lester Bangs and William Miller debate the Bowie/Reed issue of the day, and William just ends the debate with, “if you LIKE Lou.” After reading, “Please Kill Me”, I’m not so sure I like Lou anymore, but All Tomorrow’s Parties is still a great song.

Bright Eyes, Le Tigre, Interpol, Snow Patrol, and the Shins all make me want to gouge my eyes out with a spoon. But not necessarily with Spoon. And choosing Bleach over Nevermind, I’ll take umbrage with that. Raise your hand if you’d actually heard of Bleach before Nevermind came out. Right. Bleach may have been first, but Nevermind broke it open, make no mistake about that. Regarding Guided by Voices, well, okay. The songs on Bee Thousand probably initiated you into the rest of that glorious drunken mess of a band, and it’s certainly one of their more accessible records.

MJ sez: Firstly, the ones that I’ve owned, or own now:
Dream Syndicate – Days of Wine and Roses
Dead Kennedys – Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
The Misfits – Walk Among Us
Feist – The Reminder (just got it, actually)
Meat Puppets – Up On the Sun
Nick Drake – Pink Moon
Husker Du – New Day Rising
Bad Brains – Bad Brains
Mission of Burma – Vs.
Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand
Black Flag – Damaged
Liz Phair – Exile in Guyville
Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Violent Femmes – Violent Femmes
Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures
Husker Du – Zen Arcade
Minutemen – Double Nickels on the Dime
The Smiths – The Smiths
R.E.M. – Murmur
Pavement – Slanted and Enchanted.

Now, I’m in total agreement with your assessment that lists like this always leave out a band or album that we as individuals think should absolutely be represented, and clearly, as an indie rock fan, I thought of a few. But, this is also Blender fucking Magazine’s opinion, and well, that is what it is. Blender isn’t exactly Rolling Stone or Spin in the credibility department. On the other hand, Rolling Stone has certainly issued some official “lists” that I’ve jumped all over, too, so yeah. What was my point again?

I actually have to admit that there are some bands on this list I’ve never heard of. Obviously, that can happen, there are only so many hours in a day. I don’t dislike the Shins and Snow Patrol as much as you do, but that’s neither here or there, because I know you like Sleater-Kinney and I think they’re rubbish. I also LOATHE Fugazi, always have, always will. I’m pleased that Murmur is as high as it is, because quite frankly, R.E.M. defined an era of American music that I think gains more and more respect for it’s newness as we get farther and farther away from it. I think Violent Femmes, Double Nickels on the Dime and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot should be higher, but I guard those bands jealously in my heart. It’s hard for me to believe that Disco Volante from Mr. Bungle didn’t make this list, quite frankly, although for whatever reason, Mike Patton’s genius seems to get past most people. Maybe it’s just me, I don’t know.

I think I’m going to start writing lists here, and let people have their way with them. Having a go at lists like this is like shooting fish in a barrel. Speaking of which, time to load up the shotgun.

Back to you, Court.

Courtney closes: I went through some of the comments in this article, and the “masses” that read Stereogum feel the same as we do. Lists like this are designed to be trashed. Although I was amazed at some commentors glaring lack of actually having read the list, particularly when they began complaining about The Replacements being left out. Ah well…

(FYI, the snippet of IM conversation at the beginning? Now you all sort of see how this blog began. Or maybe needed to begin. Who knows? Accumulate about 1000 more of those, and you can see why we share the same brain.)

Labels: BFF, indie rock, lists

Mission of Burma, from the album Vs.

Labels: mission of burma

The Minutemen, From the album, Double Nickels on the Dime

Labels: the minutemen

Nick Drake, from the album, Pink Moon

Labels: nick drake

MJ and I have spent a lot of time over the years talking about music. And, like most great conversations about music between people who love music as much as we do, talking leads to sharing. I don't remember who sent who the first mp3 (was it that request for the Black Crowes?). I just know that they've flown back and forth across the interwebs for some time now.

After seeing all the shoutouts to me from my partner in crime here on his last Eleven, I wanted to see just how much music has directly come from him. Turns out, quite a bit. Gmail is a glorious thing, unless you're a cheating spouse, as it will save EVERY LAST EMAIL YOU EVER SEND. Seriously. So, a simple search filter later, and I counted 19 different mp3's from MJ to me. And I've only had that email address for a year. And, there were at least as many from me to him; in fact, just before I wrote this, Kanye West's "Golddigger" sailed off.

Here we are, in no specific order of significance, are my eleven songs. Also known as "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love MJ's iPod" ;)

1. Johnny Cash, "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?" He's probably laughing that I picked that one, as he's sent me no less than four Cash tunes, INCLUDING "Ring of Fire", which, the theory goes, I'm going to learn on the guitar. However, I picked this one because of the sheer coincidence. One of my beloved former parish priest's favorite hymns was this particular song. And I've always loved it.

2. Ricky Gervais as David Brent, "Freelove Freeway". I never laughed so hard in my life as I did when I heard that song on that particular "The Office" episode. The next morning, surprise in my inbox. I don't know if I'm really excited or a little frightened by the fact that MJ has this mp3. Probably a little of both.

3. Feist, "1,2,3,4" Such a cute little ditty. All I'd heard was the snippet in the iPhone commercial.

4. Christina Aguilera, "Mother". A John Lennon cover from a disappointing charity album for Darfur. However, I love her voice, and she does a nice job with this one.

5. Ana Nalick, "Breathe (2am)". I believe this came as a plea for me to do just that. Breathe.

6. Sun Kil Moon, "Salvadore Sanchez". A really great song that I need to listen to more. As well as this band in general.

7. Seamus Kennedy, "Belfast Town". A St. Patrick's Day gift. Read his profile and you'll figure out why.

8. Incubus, "Stellar". I believe this started with a conversation about the song "I Wish You Were Here". I could be wrong. This has become my favorite song by this band.

9. Ocean Color Scene, "The Loneliest Girl in the Whole Wide World". Trying to turn each other on to new music rather than revert to the standards. This may have come the same day as "Breathe". Unless gmail is lying to me.

10. Wilco, "Either Way". I was buying this one anyway, so this was sent as a tease.

11. The Editors, "Munich" I found this one a little dissonant, and not quite to my liking. Which was a relief, in a way. I was beginning to wonder if we shared the same brain.

My version of the Eleven. Here's five from the list, the most illustrative of how ALL OVER THE PLACE our shared musical taste really is. Enjoy.

Labels: BFF, The Eleven

Seamus Kennedy

Labels: Irish, Seamus Kennedy

Sun Kil Moon

Labels: Sun Kil Moon

Ana Nalick

Labels: Ana Nalick

Johnny Cash

Labels: Johnny Cash, The Man In Black

Feist

Labels: feist

Friday afternoon, I was having a conversation with my friend Sean about how annoyed I was at people’s reactions to my attending Ani DiFranco’s concert by myself. People were calling me “brave”, and I was railing to the sky (gee, how unusual for me) about how it isn’t at all “brave”; I wanted to go to the show; no one else I hang out likes Ani nearly as much as I do, and I couldn’t afford to eat the price of a ticket should I not be able to find a friend to go with, so I went alone. Which turned out to be a really smart move on my part, because I didn’t have to explain to anyone why I was in tears by the third song of the night.

Ani’s made me cry before. Two years ago, I saw her at the Cape Cod Melody tent, and she pulled out a song, “Angry Anymore”, which is about an adult child finally coming to terms with a parent’s marriage dissolving, which, at the time, I was right in the middle of, and I sat there and sobbed. That was a little more of a direct hit; Friday night, it wasn’t any specific situation in my life that was causing the tears to flow, but just suddenly being awash in the emotion that fueled the songwriting. And, really, shouldn’t a live concert experience bring you to that point? The concerts I remember most in my life have fallen into one of two categories: mind-blowing musicality (Paul Simon’s Rhythm of the Saints tour comes to mind), or a visceral emotional connection (tears, excitement bordering on hysteria, or something along those lines). And you don’t get those moments often.

She played a solid set; there was a large chunk of new material in the middle, thematically centered on the birth of her daughter. And Ani’s albums have tended to track that way over the years; you can make an educated guess (pun intended) about what’s going on in her life by listening to the songs on her album. Usually, I tend to sit back and shake my head, and say to the speakers, stop writing about my life, please. So, with new material, and a tour to promote her career retrospective cd, I was pleasantly surprised by the songs that made the night. She opened with a song from “Little Plastic Castles”, called “Fuel”, which, as of late, I have fallen in love with again. And two songs later, I’m in tears. “You Had Time” is a poignant little number about the prelude to a breakup, and she’s singing about what the other person is going to say to her, along with her own perspective, and suddenly, I’m sucked into the futility of it all, and crying. When she moved almost immediately into “Grey”, I was done for a while. A quiet little number, with the incredible telling verse, “But as bad as I am/I’m proud of the fact/that I’m worse than I seem…”, this one, I could argue hit a little close to home for me, particularly after my recent summer, and specifically, that line. Later on, when she revealed that “Joyful Girl” was written for her mother, I was done. “I do it for the joy it brings/because I am a joyful girl/because the world owes me nothing/we owe each other the world/and I do it because it’s the least I can do/and I do it because I learned it from you/and I do it just because I want to…”

So, it was a wonderful night, the most surreal aspect of which was shaking Dennis Kucinich’s hand. Wow, is he a short man! I always feel so lucky when the artists I love can remind me of why with just a few notes.

Labels: ani difranco

Ani DiFranco

Ani DiFranco

Ani DiFranco

I was raised on a steady diet of Bowie, the Bee Gees, Fleetwood Mac, and Led Zeppelin. Clearly, I have issues. And cred. ;)

In the immortal words of Telly Savalas, who loves ya, baby?

Roxy Music

I know I haven't been holding up my end of the bargain lately, and I do have some stuff I want to write about (a Led Zep/Autumn/Lord of the Rings post leaps to mind) but it's not all fleshed out in my head yet. So, you're getting my best effort at some type of content before the weekend. Here's a new Eleven.

1. More Than This - Roxy Music. I had the damndest time coming up with this mp3. I think Courtney ended up finding it for me and passing it along. Of course, I'm sure if I hadn't been such a lazy-ass, I could have just bought it from iTunes. At any rate, I think Bryan Ferry was quite a fine showman in his time, and I'm still glad he's out there doing it in smaller venues. Good song. Good cover, too, by 10000 Maniacs (post-Natalie 10K Maniacs, I should warn you) if you can hunt it up.

2. Since You Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson. America's sweetheart hasn't done very well with her latest record, but from what I understand it wasn't all that bad, just not very well promoted or received by the critics. I trust the judgement of my sister in these matters, and she said it was decent. Good enough for me, then.

3. Ex-Girlfriend - No Doubt. I have spoken on my all-encompassing Gwen Stefani obsession before. It borders on stalkerish. And yes, my hoodie is up over my head as I write this. I completely adore her, have I mentioned this? Fucking Gavin Rossdale. Jerk.

4. In The End - Linkin Park. Wow, this is kind of a poppy Eleven, isn't it? Nothing too obscure or out there. Anyway, yeah, LP is one of my guilty pleasures, and I've actually seen them twice in the past couple of years, once at Live8 and once this summer. They work hard, they entertain and they sound great live. You could do much worse for your concert dollar than this band. Plus, Chester is OUT-FUCKING-STANDING as a singer. Tell me different, I dare you.

5. Sympathy For The Devil - Guns & Roses. This version was the on the soundtrack to the perfectly awful screen adaptation of "Interview With a Vampire". Cover is good, and faithful, but man did that movie suck ass. The link isn't much to look at, but if you've never heard the cover, you can at least hear it there.

6. Nookie - LimpBizkit. Yeah, I know, Fred Durst. But honestly, I defy ANYONE to tell me that LB didn't put out at least ONE song that you don't have in some type of rotation somewhere. Honestly, don't lie to me, you do, admit it. This one, Break Stuff, Rollin', you KNOW you have it. Just admit it.

7. He Went To Paris - Jimmy Buffett. Now, here's another song, if you get to see Jimmy do it live, you will be BLOWN AWAY by the performance. I think he feels this one more than a lot of his older hits, save for maybe "Get Drunk and Screw", because, well, Jimmy IS Jimmy. See him before he hangs it up, and Courtney would totally agree with me on this one. It's a rite of passage, trust me. Jimmy Buffett in the summer time, tailgating, margaritas, fins, cocoanut bras, it's NOT to be missed.

8. Mary's Place - Bruce Springsteen. Courtney turned me on to this one, and honestly, it's in a regular rotation for me now. Great song, and it's very reminiscient of 70's Springsteen, which for me was the pinnacle of his career. I have a Springsteen post boiling somewhere around my brain, and it'll get out eventually.

9. Bat Out Of Hell - Meatloaf. I can't even begin to tell you the impact that this record and these songs had on me when I was a kid. I seriously thought Meatloaf was Elvis when I was a kid. I listened to this SO much I could sing every song without hearing music. I still to this very day have this record, cassette and CD available for listening at the drop of a hat. This is my "Stairway", and I'm not kidding.

10. Modern Love - David Bowie. I know Courtney loves Bowie, and so do I. He's been brilliant his entire career, and you can't say that about a lot of artists. 'Nuff said.

11. That Thing You Do - The Wonders. From the movie of the same name, this song was so incredibly catchy that it hit me right away that this absolutely COULD have been a one-hit wonder type song. Good movie, too, highly underrated in my book.

That's all for now. Enjoy your weekends, my friends. Cheers.

Labels: The Eleven

A long time ago, what sometimes seems like another lifetime ago, I was married. A scant two years later, I was no longer married. I relay this bit of information only to set the context of how I came to know Paul. My former husband, Kevin, had this band of eight friends. I met him through one of them, James, and as I got to know Kevin, I got to know Paul. He was a groomsman in our wedding, and throughout our short married life, we spent a lot of time with Paul. Whether we were out at a local bar, or he was over the house for dinner, or Kevin and Paul were away with the guys for a long weekend fishing and drinking (more of the latter than the former, I’d guess), he was a fixture in our short relationship. And it used to amuse Kevin to no end how well Paul and I got along. Paul was and is gregarious, sardonic, and wickedly funny. He is also as big a Bob Mould fan as I am, if not bigger. I remember one nefarious evening, the three of us, and Joe, heading out to see Sugar in concert. The band was loud enough to burn itself into my memory, which is good, because I remember precious little else of that evening. Joe puking in an alley, a cloud of smoke in the car, antics of twenty-somethings out to prove they could still hang. Paul and I loved all sorts of the same music, something Kevin and I didn’t share, and he and I would talk for hours about bands and songs and shows we’d seen. It was glorious.

One very strange Saturday, the summer before my marriage ended, Kevin and I went out for a drink at our usual place. Paul was there, at the corner of the bar, and he looked miserable. We sat on either side of him, and asked him what was wrong. Literally crying into his beer, he told us he was gay. I can’t even describe to you what that statement took out of him, and if I’m not mistaken, we were among the first people he told. I was surprised by his statement, but it didn’t bother me. What did bother me was the emotional toll this admission seemed to be taking on Paul. Norwood, for all its lovely qualities, is not necessarily an easy place to be gay. And I remember him telling us he was terrified that people would shun him. Kevin and I promised him that would never be the case, at least with us, and that we would always be there for him. The night wore on in tears and beers, and eventually, Paul went home. I was so worried about him, I called him the next day. He assured me he was better, and not to worry. Soon after that, my marriage fell apart, and I went home to my parents. Paul was one of two of our circle of friends to contact me after I left Kevin, Joe being the other one. It did not end well, and I’m largely to blame, but Paul wasn’t interested in that. I remember him telling me that he and I had become friends, and whatever happened between “the Captain” and I, he and I would always be friends. And through the years, when I’d run into him around town, it was always that, friendly and warm and fleeting. So, it was with great pleasure I discovered that he lives mere YARDS from my sister’s new house here in town.

Through the magic of MySpace and a boozy trick or treat evening, we arranged to go to Bob Mould together. I picked him up at his house, and from the moment he got in the car, we hardly stopped talking, as if the last 10 years had not even happened. Music, hockey, family, townie gossip, flying furiously from our lips with that old familiarity, but also that urgency of cramming ten years into a half-hour car ride into the city. My face was hurting from the laughter; I had almost forgotten how funny he could be. And, during this high-speed conversation, we talked about Bob, how I’d met him several times, how I’d be happy to introduce him if the opportunity came up. We parked the car, and walked toward the club, talking about songs we’d want to hear during the set. Paul immediately brought up “Gift” a Sugar song from “File Under: Easy Listening”. He talked about that song being one of his favorite Bob songs ever, and I smiled. “You know, Paul, every time I hear that song, I think of you.” And this is true, although I did not elaborate why to him at that time.

You see, I think of Paul when I hear “Gift” because it makes me think of the night he came out. Of all the people he could have told early on, he chose me to be one of them. Still scared, fearing repercussions, he trusted me with that knowledge. And, I have always considered that moment a gift in my life. And, last night, it made me really happy to have reconnected with this friend, happy to actually make that introduction to his musical idol, happy to share that intimate concert with him, a fan on the same level as me.

If I was deserving, who am I to disagree
How can I refuse this, even if I don't deserve it



Watch here.

Labels: Bob Mould

Lyrics.

Bruce Springsteen does the rock thing well. I know, that statement isn't breaking any new ground, by any stretch, but it is true. Which is why, I suppose, it's taken me some time to want to write a review of his new release, Magic. In all honesty, there isn't anything I could say that will say anything new about his work.

I'm not alone in this one; much of the press surrounding this release is lamenting how much it sounds like other songs of his, almost derivitavely so. The question remains, then, is a work derivative if you're stealing from yourself? Or has the Boss just mastered his style like no other artist of his caliber and longevity?

Don't get me wrong; I really like this album. The songs are solid, expertly written and produced. The E Street Band shines on this recording. And one would hope so, as they are dancing in WELL familiar territory here. The title track, Magic, sounds like an E Street version of a Tunnel of Love-era composition. Nothing wrong with that, but not necessarily original, either. Two other songs that border on re-hash are Living in the Future and Last to Die. Last to Die could seriously have been an outtake from The Rising, with its theme and musical similiarity to Further On Up the Road. And Living in the Future, for all intents and purposes, is 10th Avenue Freeze Out, revisited. I know the album has left a lot of people disappointed because of this pervasive sameness throughout.

For me, I think of Magic like the working definition of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band--all the critical elements are present. Not the definitive Bruce, because for that, I point you in the direction of the Holy Boss Trinity: Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, and The River. Magic isn't there, by any stretch. If those three are the prime rib of Bruce's catalog, Magic is the cheeseburger. And quite honestly, there's nothing wrong with a good cheeseburger once in a while. Final word, if you like Bruce, you'll like this album. I'm hoping to like it a little bit more after I see him on the 18th.

Labels: Bruce Springsteen