.Records
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Bruce Springsteen Darkness on the Edge of Town The world is divided into two groups: those who remember Bruce Springsteen, and those who have never heard of him. The former may have got hooked on his first album, which immediately produced critical comparisons with Bob Dylan, or his second, a jazztinged East Coast R&B urbanization with distinc_t moments of genius, but it’s more likely that they became acquainted with Springsteen through his certified masterpiece, that opus of steel and fire called “Born To Run” - whose title track was a hit single in the U.S. in fall of’1975. Legal wranglings and injunctions resulting from a falling-out with his previously devoted manager, Mike Appel, forced him to delay recording a followup until last March - almost three years, in a business where the artist’s livelihood depends on the whims of a capricious public - while the hopes of the faithful rose to an almost unbearable pitch. The other group doesn’t know any of this, and as a consequence has missed the power and empathy that no other performer of the ‘70’s has been able to deliver. The wonder of Springsteen lies in his ability to meld the music and lyrics into a unit that reaches straight for your soul. Nevertheless, as is usually the case, the two groups are going to view this album differently, which makes this review very hard to write. Comparisons with BTR are immediate. The first thing one notices is the sound. This record was also co-produced by Springsteen and Jon Landau, the “Rolling Stone” former editor and unfortunate author of the oft-misused quote “I have seen the future of rock’n’roll, and his name is Bruce Springsteen.” But the removal of Appel also removed the fuzzy “wall-ofsound” mix that was used on the earlier discs: the E Street Band can finally be heard as the individuals they are. The album thus retains many of the qualities that make Springsteen one of the best live performers around. Weinberg’s drums and Federici’s organ are sheer delights; sadly, Clarence Clemmons’ brilliant saxophony is present only in tantalizing, small quantities. The dogged optimism of BTR seems to have been replaced by a sense of fatigue and defeat fostered by such grim songs as the title track, “Factory”, and “Racing in the Street”. It is left to the more perceptive to detect the lift underlying tunes like “Badlands”, “Something in the Night”, and “The Promised Land”. The new words are not as heavily redolent with eargasms as, say, the earlier “Jungleland” or “Backstreets”, but this could be because Springsteen’s focus has shifted from the streets of New York City to the junkyard-infested small towns and desolate marshes of the New Jersey coastline. Indeed, the whole
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philosophy of the music seems to have changed: gone are the R&B elements, the quasi-orchestral overdubs of “Jungleland” and “New York City Serenade”. Two of the best songs on the album are first takes. Springsteen is more uninhibited in his vocals; never really suited for singing, the raw richness of his voice on “Adam Raised A Cain” forces one to admit no one could do these songs any better. As an introduction to Springsteen, “Darkness” or “Born To Run” will both serve; both take a little while to sink into your consciousness as you discard first impressions. Prabhakar Ragde
Elvis This
between Buddy Holly and Terry the Tiger from American Graffiti, his songs are riddled with slashing hooks and barbs delivered in a nasal, sneering voice. The music is relentless, sophisticated punk, coming at you from all directions, an aural form of the stripped-down paranoia worthy of the ten years ahead. My Aim is True was raw and unsettling, partly because it was recorded on an eight track console. This Year’s Model raises its sights a little: the enemy is now fashion, finance, and romance on a more cerebral level. There are two instant classics on this album: This Year’s Girl, a contemptuous putdown of beauty contests, and Radio Radio, a scathing denunciation which is making many FM play lists despite its complaints about “the fools and jerks trying to anaesthetize the way that we feel.” The rest of the album holds to a consistently excellent level. The sound has been upgraded somewhat, the sinister organ of Steve Naive expanding to cover Costello’s shoppy riffs, the Thomas brothers continuing their primeval work on drums and bass. But make no mistake: stardom hasn’t affected Costello any. These are refinements, like the concealment of the C&W roots in his work. His newfound fame (and that of Stiff Records) merely places technological tools at his call, and he uses them mercilessly. If you’re getting tired of the gradual slide of the mainstream into the Fleetwood Mat / Peter Frampton / Steve Miller mould, pick up this album. It’ll serve as a barometer to tell you how much spirit you’ve got /left. Prabhakar Ragde
Costello Year’s Model
In case you’ve been on another planet, we’ve got sixteen months left in the Seventies, and a handful of decent musicians are trying .desperately to save the music of this decade. An equally small group has given up and started playing the music of the Eighties. I am referring, of course, to the “New Wave” bands such as Television, Talking Heads, The Clash, The Tom Robinson Band, Ian Drury, Patti Smith, and the self-proclaimed King of it all, Elvis Costello. Costello was a computer programmer until a short while ago, when he formed a band, released two critically-acclaimed singles and then stunned listeners on both sides of the Atlantic with his debut album, My Aim Is True. The quickly released follow-up album, This Year’s Model, appears to be the best album so far released in the musical desert that is 1978. Costello has no friends. Looking like a bizarre cross
It was the Deltas against the rules lost!
the rules..
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Thursday
September
14,1978.
Imprint
15 -
Lisa Dal Bello
I
Returning to
/
at the
Breslau
Hotel
Lisa Dal Bello
A Juno award winnerreturned from Las Angeles for THREE NIGHTS ONLY Sept. 14, ,115and 16 - -Upstairs at
STUDIO7 A comedy THE NATIONAL
Wrinen
MAllY
from
SIM’vfONS
Universal IVAN
krures REITMAN
PRODUCllON
LMVQON’S ANIMAL HOUSE 5x1 v JOHN DELUSHI TIM MATHESON JOHN VERNON VERNA BLOOM THOMAS HULCE ond DONALD SaHERLAND .,> ~tw-~; Produced by MATfY SIMMONS and IVAN REITMAN Mux by ELMER BERNSTEIN by HAROLD RAMIS DOUGLAS KENNM G CHRIS MILLER Dlreoed by JOHN LANDIS
Second
hit at Sunset
only -
Heby
Winkler
in Heroes
Wednesday nights are 50’s nights! Returning. to Coming
next:
Harbinger and 2 shows nightly MatIneeSunday
-
7&9pm
at 2pm I
Box office opens 7pm “Heroes” at 8pm “Animal House” at 9:45pm
Ronnie
Hawkins
I
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