On the other hand, I feel like there's also tons of enthusiasm from fans (I'm gleaning this primarily from being at concerts and lurking on their forums) right when a new one is released, and then somewhere along the line they turn on it. "Well the last one was no good, but now they're back on track!"...and then it's the same thing four years later. I think Michael talked about that a bit when he did his Counting Down feature on Pearl Jam, and I'm planning on digging into how varied the attitudes of their fanbase are in a different piece next week.
True, didn't mean to disparage it in that sense. It's definitely one of the catchiest, more infectious St. Vincent songs. I think it's just never made much sense to me on that album. Her music has always played with light/dark tensions, but that's such an ebullient (-sounding, at least) song, amongst a lot of weirder, moodier stuff that I find more rewarding. I like the song, and I'd never complain if I heard it out somewhere, but when it comes to the best stuff on Strange Mercy, I think the four above trump "Cruel." (As would "Champagne Year" and "Year of the Tiger.")
"Save Me From What I Want" and "Year of the Tiger" were much closer to making the list than "Cruel." I tend to agree with you—it's evidence that St. Vincent can do a cool pop song, but it doesn't hit the same as much of Strange Mercy.
They essentially owned up to that during 360, acknowledging that there was just no financial way possible to top that tour. I'd love it if they did as you suggested—take it back down to arenas, vary the show more. It was sort of heartbreaking to hear songs like "Zooropa" and "Your Blue Room" finally resurface only to have a stadium-size audience not really connect. I think we're all ready to hear deeper cuts these days after how much they've stuck to the singles, and down the line maybe smaller venues will let those lesser known songs breathe a bit more.
If you're talking about the T5 show from this past April, that's the same one I refer to a few times through the article. I was let down by that omission too, even with the great moments I mentioned above, like the ending of "Acts of Man."
That was the last song to get cut from the list. Just didn't feel right having 5 Midnight Organ Fight tracks and only two from Pedestrian Verse, given how great it is.
Great call on "Overfloater." I'm pleasantly surprised to see so many people riding for DOTU here. I didn't expect that at all, let alone multiple mentions for "Boot Camp" or "Tighter & Tighter." While we're at it, "Switch Opens" is awesome, too.
It was close, it was close! "4th of July" and "Like Suicide" are favorites of mine that were victims of the list originally being too Superunknown-heavy, I think. Maybe we should've sacrificed "Fell On Black Days" instead.
Seeing the "All My Life" video on Fuse or whatever (or maybe it was still MuchMusic then?) when I was about 12 years old was what got me into this band originally. Also, I was about to start playing guitar and definitely envied Dave's.
If it makes you feel any better, it's entirely likely that my top 15 would have "Sunrise," "Bad Cover Version," "The Trees," and "Wickerman." And "Bob Lind (The Only Way Is Down)" would make the Top 20.
"Acrylic Afternoons"—absolutely incredible song. If I was writing a very, very biased top 10 that'd be in there, but it got bumped by a few of the more "important" tracks.
That was one of the main recordings that got me into Springsteen. Those versions of "Lost in the Flood," "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City," and "Spirit in the Night" are what spoiled me for the studio versions on Greetings. "Backstreets," "She's the One," "Kitty's Back," and "The E Street Shuffle" are all great on there, too. I feel like I've seen some of the real hardcore bootleg fans write the Hammersmith recording off, but I recommend it to people all the time.
Oh, no, I totally agree. Sonically, Nebraska (and after that, maybe, Darkness) would be the obvious one to send indie-oriented listeners to. The National covered "Mansion on the Hill," Arcade Fire did "State Trooper" with him, and it's an easy spiritual antecedent to things like Dirty Beaches. It's just an interesting turn of events. Oddly, it seems Born in the USA might loom large as well—I know when Win Butler listed his favorite Bruce songs in Rolling Stone about half of them were off of that album, and I feel like I've heard other indie artists namecheck it. Matt Berninger (of the National, again) cited "I'm on Fire" as an influence on "Sorrow," for another example.
I definitely agree about the sax. I love the way Springsteen uses it and I love Clarence Clemons, but I think the instrument alone can be a turn off considering its prevalence in rock music is definitely rooted in the past. But you don't think a lot of Tunnel of Love sounds a bit dated in a different way? More so the production than the instrumentation.
While I'm on the topic of indie artists being influenced by Springsteen, I've always loved Junip's cover of "The Ghost of Tom Joad":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5j6IIbZFeU
At one point I was going to talk a lot more about Springsteen's influence and status within the '00s indie world, and connected to that was going to be a point about how Nebraska has become this kind of entry point for more alternative-minded fans. On the other hand, I actually have a friend who only knows that album and can't stand "Born in the USA," so she's avoided checking out his other stuff, lest she ruin her perception of Nebraska. Obviously I love the album, but it does strike me as an odd/interesting phenomenon, too.
I wanted to get a reference to that in here, just couldn't find the place for it. "Slug" is such a cool song, and I think "Your Blue Room" ranks amongst their strongest songs.
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