Mellencamp vs Springsteen (1 Viewer)

Springsteen's 1970-1978 catalog, performances, and history is pure greatness.

...rock ballads, Dylanesque lyrics in the 1st half of the decade, mastery of rock and jazz rock, a unique sound and branding with his band that emanated from playing the small clubs of the Jersey shore, the hunger and rise to stardom fueled by radio broadcasts of his shows, revelations by DJ's in NY, Cleveland, and Philly, and Dave Marsh's writing in the iconic music magazines of that era, the marathon shows and the storytelling within it, the drive of writing hundreds of unreleased songs that fueled an underground following and intensity of bootlegging and collecting, the dual Time and Newsweek mag covers, and the conflicts he faced - fighting his former manager for the rights to the songs (which sidelined Bruce from publishing from 1976-fall 1978), and the living with the luck of not getting drafted to Vietnam in the 1960's when so many of his friends did.

By 1980 - my opinion - Bruce and his manager Jon Landau took a wrong but understandable turn with The River, a double album that was a mishmash of attempts to create superficial pop hits (which was not his strong suit given his eclectic talent), some great late 70's songs that were loved in concert but had not made it onto records (Point Blank, Ties That Bind, Sherry Darling), an overfocus on synth keys as other 70's supergroups had succeeded with, and in general the leap to building a worldwide audience, making big money, and then appealing to the MTV craze.

If in 1980 you saw the No Nukes movie with Bruce on the big screen playing Thunder Road, The River, and Quarter to Three - i personally wish Bruce would've put out a concert film instead of The River album, and taken his place in the pantheon of Midnight Movies like Song Remains the Same and Rocky Horror.

But we got the River, and the 80's, and while still incredible to go to his shows, it was a step down from the 70's quality with the weird Nebraska solo album (a precursor album to folk alt-country), Born in the USA (a song that was originally called Vietnam), the way too late mid-80's concert album with some lyrics that changed R-rated lines to PG,, and then the melancholy 1988 Tunnel of Love, where he was already pushing aside his band-mates, The 1990's were more a decline, where he took up a new band, and then dove more into folk alt-country. Of course there were still good songs coming out, but he seemed to be in a long identity crisis.

He did not right the ship until he brought the band back together for the Reunion Tour in 1999, and I consider all of his full band tours since 1999 to just be one-long 17 year Reunion Tour.

Back to the The River album, this song Drive All Night which Where Yat Brah posted the 1980 version on page 3 was surely a nice melodic slow ballad on its own, but earlier in 1978 shows it was a far more riveting attachment to Backstreets, a sequel called either Drive All Night or Sad Eyes about an attempt to re-unite with the partner in Backstreets, that failed. This is exhibit A in my belief that a concert movie would have been a better release in 1980. Thank God we do have 1978 arena-produced videos of shows in Phoenix, Houston, and Passaic - and radio broadcasts of shows in Cleveland, Atlanta, Passaic, and L.A. And the official The Promise box set of music, show video, and a Thom Zimny documentary, chronicling the anniversary of the Darkness on the Edge of Town anniversary box set phenomenal.



As for John no longer Cougar Mellancamp, I have no words to offer or compare. I heard his early 80's hits, dismissed him at the time as a Springsteen-copying poser, and never listened again.





You guys in this thread all tried, and in various ways, mostly failed , to make compelling arguments for BS…. but this guy , Jefe, did a good job……. I disagree with his take that JM basically has no merit, but i like his take on The Boss’ musical output, in general.
 
Interesting thread idea (but would never work)
What songs could withstand constant radio play
Sure maybe you took a break from the song, but you came back to it and found it as strong or stronger than originally
Top of my head vote would be Fast Cars
I never got tired of Big Country's In a Big Country
 
Is there a Tacoes option?

This. I respect those musicians, but definitely not my style.

I would say, John Denver would be preferred over them two, if it's like heart and Americana soft rock. Not sure if that's a genre, but I would stick all them in there, if it was.

I like Bob Dylan, just not as much as most. Joey Ramone vs. Kurt Cobain would be more of my type of thread.


If had to pick between Springsteen or Mellencamp, probably fall asleep at the wheel in boredom having to decide. Let me know who wins though, don't know how exactly you would pick a winner.
 
I would say, John Denver would be preferred over them two, if it's like heart and Americana soft rock. Not sure if that's a genre, but I would stick all them in there, if it was.




Apples and airplanes…. I like John Denver, but he would definitely be lumped in with the ’sensitive singer/songwriter’ types that were especially popular in the 70s and early 80s, like Fogelberg and James Taylor, both of whom, IMO, would get the edge over John Denver in that genre.


ETA Kenny Loggins would also be in that genre, and he also did it better than John Denver
 
Apples and airplanes…. I like John Denver, but he would definitely be lumped in with the ’sensitive singer/songwriter’ types that were especially popular in the 70s and early 80s, like Fogelberg and James Taylor, both of whom, IMO, would get the edge over John Denver in that genre.


ETA Kenny Loggins would also be in that genre, and he also did it better than John Denver
How can you be so correct here and so wrong in the OP?
 
Apples and airplanes…. I like John Denver, but he would definitely be lumped in with the ’sensitive singer/songwriter’ types that were especially popular in the 70s and early 80s, like Fogelberg and James Taylor, both of whom, IMO, would get the edge over John Denver in that genre.


ETA Kenny Loggins would also be in that genre, and he also did it better than John Denver

As soon as a find out who Fogelberg and James Taylor is I will have a point of reference.

Kenny Loggins? That is commercial rock, Denver shouldn't be insulted this way.




This is classic, does that make Springsteen the winner





This one has a good beat, but which song is better? Maybe this will settle the debate?!?!
 
As soon as a find out who Fogelberg and James Taylor is I will have a point of reference.

Kenny Loggins? That is commercial rock, Denver shouldn't be insulted this way.




This is classic, does that make Springsteen the winner





This one has a good beat, but which song is better? Maybe this will settle the debate?!?!

You’ve intimated that your preferred style is 3 chords and yelling into a mike (which is fine)
I don’t think you’ll pick up what James Taylor is putting down
 
You’ve intimated that your preferred style is 3 chords and yelling into a mike (which is fine).....Exceptionally fine!
I don’t think you’ll pick up what James Taylor is putting down

Taylor kinda reminds me of Eric Clapton. Yeah, probably not my cup of tea, but at least putting effort in trying to hear what people listen to.




Quick add...

Just looked at guitar tab of Born in the USA, that is a two chord song, yelling in the mic. Why the animosity to three chord rock?!?! Seems so, On n’est pas sorti de l’auberge ! lol
 
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As soon as a find out who Fogelberg and James Taylor is I will have a point of reference.

Kenny Loggins? That is commercial rock, Denver shouldn't be insulted this way.



Being 100% serious , if you honestly dont know who Dan Fogelberg and James Taylor even are.. then you should probably sit out any thread even remotely connected to anything musical… unless you’re under like 25 yrs old i guess, but even then…



Also, yes , KL did have some mega hits from movies- Top Gun, Footloose, Caddyshack… but the first thing I think of when i think of him, and im guessing most folks who know a thing about music think of- are his singer/songwriter classics, both with Loggins & Messina, and solo: Danny’s Song, House at Pooh Corner, This Is It, Whenever i Call You Friend, Heart to Heart, and on and on and on…. If anything, KL definitely bleeds over into the Yacht Rock genre.. but he is primarily a singer/songwriter, then YR/soundtrack god….
 
Taylor kinda reminds me of Eric Clapton. Yeah, probably not my cup of tea, but at least putting effort in trying to hear what people listen to.




Quick add...

Just looked at guitar tab of Born in the USA, that is a two chord song, yelling in the mic. Why the animosity to three chord rock?!?! Seems so, On n’est pas sorti de l’auberge ! lol

What animosity? I said there wasn’t anything wrong with it

anyway, lighting a candle instead of cursing your lack of candle



while I can’t say I’m the biggest fan folgeberg fan, I am a sucker for father/son songs and this is a good one

 
anyway, lighting a candle instead of cursing your lack of candle



while I can’t say I’m the biggest fan folgeberg fan, I am a sucker for father/son songs and this is a good one






For anyone unfamiliar with Fogelberg, the best move would be to click off of this thread, click onto the youtubes and type in Run for the Roses and Same Auld Lang Zyne (sp?).. May not be everyone ‘s cup of tea, but will definitely give you an idea of what this guy (RIP) was all about.

As for JT- i mean, Fire & Rain, Carolina in my Mind, the aforementioned Sweet Baby James- all would be a good start.
 
For anyone unfamiliar with Fogelberg, the best move would be to click off of this thread, click onto the youtubes and type in Run for the Roses and Same Auld Lang Zyne (sp?).. May not be everyone ‘s cup of tea, but will definitely give you an idea of what this guy (RIP) was all about.

As for JT- i mean, Fire & Rain, Carolina in my Mind, the aforementioned Sweet Baby James- all would be a good start.
But if we were making recommendations, I’d offer Cat Stevens, Harry Chapin, Gordon Lightfoot, Jim Croce, and Don McClean before Dan Fogelberg
 

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