Category: Bruuuuuuuuce!!

Springsteen Spiffs Up ‘Dust’ for Spring
NEW YORK (Billboard) – Bruce Springsteen’s new album, “Devils & Dust,” will be released in DualDisc format on April 26.
In addition to the standard audio tracks on one side, the DVD side will sport acoustic renditions of the title track, “Long Time Comin’,” “Reno,” All I’m Thinkin’ About” and “Matamoras Banks,” filmed last month in New Jersey.
In addition, Springsteen has added his extensive introductions to the tracks. The DVD also boasts a 5.1 Surround Sound mix of the album.
“Devils & Dust” will be available as a deluxe edition, with exclusive photographs and what the label describes as “unique, song-specific elements” for each of the 12 tracks. This version also will be issued as a DualDisc.
The new album follows the format of Springsteen’s ’90s studio work, in which he eschewed the presence of the full E Street Band and was instead surrounded by a rotating cast of collaborators. The core band features only Springsteen on guitar, producer Brendan O’Brien on bass and Steve Jordan (Steely Dan, Keith Richards) on drums.
An acoustic tour is in the works, but no dates have yet been announced.

Springsteen Stares Down ‘Devils’ on New Album
NEW YORK (Billboard) – Bruce Springsteen has re-teamed with producer Brendan O’Brien for his 19th album, “Devils & Dust,” which Columbia will release on April 26.
The 12-track set follows the format of Springsteen’s ’90s studio work, in which he eschewed the presence of the full E Street Band and was instead surrounded by a rotating cast of collaborators.
The core band here features only Springsteen on guitar, O’Brien on bass and Steve Jordan (Steely Dan, Keith Richards) on drums. The latter also produced Springsteen’s wife Patti Scialfa’s 2004 Columbia studio album, “23rd Street Lullaby.”
The title cut has been in Springsteen’s catalog for several years, and was dusted off in soundchecks for the E Street Band’s run on last fall’s Vote for Change tour, but never performed at a show.
Two of the tracks — “Long Time Comin”‘ and “The Hitter” — date back at least 10 years and were performed during the tour in support of the 1995 album “The Ghost of Tom Joad.”
Like much of the material on that set, the songs are both first-person narratives, using details and fragmented scenes to sketch out a life’s story. The first is about a father celebrating the optimism that comes with an awaited child; the second about a street fighter nearing the end of an unenviable career.
Springsteen will tour acoustically in support of the new album, but no details have been announced as to who, if anyone, will back him or what size venues he will play.
“Devils & Dust” is the Springsteen’s first studio album since 2002’s O’Brien-produced “The Rising,” which debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 2.1 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The tour in support of the set grossed $221.5 million from 121 shows reported to Billboard Boxscore.
Springsteen won a Grammy on Sunday for best solo rock vocal performance for the “Code of Silence,” which was released on the 2003 collection “The Essential Bruce Springsteen.”
Here is the track list for “Devils & Dust”:
“Devils & Dust”
“All The Way Home”
“Reno”
“Long Time Comin”‘
“Black Cowboys”
“Maria’s Bed”
“Silver Palomino”
“Jesus Was an Only Son”
“Leah”
“The Hitter”
“All I’m Thinkin’ About”
“Matamoras Banks”

Springsteen draws 100,000 to cheer Kerry
Bruce Springsteen sent megastar wattage pumping through John Kerry’s presidential campaign Thursday, rocking crowds of over 100,000 people in swing states Wisconsin and Ohio.
“The Boss,” famed for hits including Born in the USA, said the Democratic candidate had lived his country’s history and was a guardian of the gritty working folk and American fables that people his songs.
In Madison, Wisconsin, thousands of spectators packed balconies on neat wooden houses along a mile-long stretch of road climbing up the Midwest state’s white Capitol, packed with what fire chiefs said was at least 80,000 people.
“As a songwriter I’ve written about America for 30 years, tried to write about who we are, what we stand for, and what we fight for,” said Springsteen, who has never before endorsed a presidential candidate.
Springsteen said Kerry shared his fight for “human principles” of economic justice, healing the sick, healthcare, feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, and a “sane foreign policy.”
“I believe that Senator Kerry honors these ideals. He has lived our history over the past 50 years. He has an informed and adult view of America and its people.”
“He’s shown us starting as a young man that by facing America’s hard truths, both the good and bad that that’s where we find a deeper patriotism,” the rocker said, as golden leaves floated from the trees onto his stage.

Springsteen’s ‘Plugged’ Grows a Little on DVD
NEW YORK (Billboard) – The Bruce Springsteen home video title “MTV Plugged” will be reissued Nov. 9 on DVD with the addition of one performance not included in the original 1992 concert broadcast.
“Roll of the Dice,” which stems from that year’s Columbia studio album “Human Touch,” joins “Living Proof” and “If I Should Fall Behind,” which were not broadcast but appeared on the now out-of-print VHS release of this title.
“Plugged” stems from what was to be Springsteen’s appearance on MTV’s popular “Unplugged” series, which placed major artists in an acoustic setting in front of an intimate audience. Admittedly not rehearsed well enough to perform in that forum, Springsteen broke the rules and performed electric, leading the network to market the broadcast with the “Un” crossed out in the “Unplugged” logo.
Joining the Boss for the performance were guitarist Shane Fontayne, drummer Zachary Alford and bassist Tommy Sims, sometimes referred to by fans as his “fake band,” as they were the players with whom Springsteen performed during an extended break from working with the E Street Band that included the release of the simultaneously released “Human Touch” and “Lucky Town,” selections from which make up the bulk of the “Plugged” selections.
Also joining Springsteen for the taping were E Streeters Roy Bittan (keyboards) and Patti Scialfa (vocals/guitar), and multi-instrumentalist Crystal Talifero and backing vocalists Gia Ciambotti, Carol Dennis, Cleopatra Kennedy, Bobby King and Angel Rogers.
Springsteen is in the midst of the multi-artist Vote for Change tour, which will stage its all-star finale Monday night in Washington, D.C.. He’ll headline one additional show Wednesday in East Rutherford, N.J., with R.E.M., John Fogerty and Jackson Browne also taking part, among others.