Published on Aug 5, 2001
If I had written this review four years ago, I’d have been
awaiting an angry e-mail from fellow reviewer Jason Warburg. A
diehard Bruce Springsteen fan, he would have chided me for not
seeing
Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., the 1973 debut album from
The Boss, as a masterpiece.
Chances are Jason won’t agree with some of the things I say
here; the same goes for any diehard Springsteen fan out there in
the audience. But the years of letting this album sit, as well as
allowing myself to grow in understanding of what Springsteen and
his career have been all about, have led me to a deeper
appreciation of this album. Is it a masterpiece? No. Is it a good
album? Yes.
Maybe it’s because I grew up with the Manfred Mann versions of
“For You” and “Blinded By The Light,” but Springsteen’s original
versions just don’t have the organization or the punch that some
people have come to know. At times, one has to imagine Springsteen
sitting in the studio with a tank of oxygen as he breathlessly
delivered his poetic lyrics. If I had to choose between these two
songs, I’d pick “For You,” if only because it has a little better
song structure than “Blinded By The Light”. (I can imagine, though,
that Springsteen purists absolutely soiled themselves in disgust
when they heard Mann’s renditions.)
Okay, I can feel my e-mail box warming up already. My jabs at
Springsteen are out of the way. For the most part,
Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. turns into a loving
collection of folk songs and rock stories, delivered in the manner
that would win Springsteen worldwide acclaim in short time. I
won’t, however, go as far as to proclaim Springsteen to be the next
Bob Dylan as so many other people have. Truth be told, Dylan was
Dylan, going off in whatever musical tangent inspired his muse.
Springsteen, at least for a good chunk of his career, has always
been a storyteller.
Take songs like “Growin’ Up,” “Mary Queen Of Arkansas,” “Spirit
In The Night” and “Lost In The Flood”. These four tracks are prime
examples of Springsteen’s mastery of words and how he could deliver
more power in a four-minute song than some artists can muster in
their entire career. Yes, you might have to tamper your
expectations a shade; if you pick this album up expecting to hear
an early version of
Born In The U.S.A., you’re gonna walk away from this one
pretty quickly. (Come to think of it, maybe that’s why it took me
well over five years to give this album a second shake.) But the
young Springsteen had the power, even if he was still honing his
songwriting and delivery skills. (That doesn’t mean he did a bad
job. Gotta clarify that in case someone’s planning on sending me a
horse’s head in the mail.)
Maybe the expectation of the listener is what sets the mood for
Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. and what you get from it.
If you go in with high expectations, you might be disappointed – in
other words, the first time I listened to this record all those
years ago. If you go into it expecting nothing more than a way to
pass 40 minutes or so, the beauty of some of these songs will come
out and move you in ways you might not have expected. I still would
say to approach this one with caution – but I’m more willing to say
it’s worth your time and money now, with time, age and experience
on my side.