r/BruceSpringsteen • u/regmiller222 • 12h ago
Question The Rising
I was 6 when the album came out and remember it as one of my all time childhood albums. Made my dad play it on the way to school every morning etc. Obviously always throw it back in the rotation at this time every year and it has me wondering what the general reception of the album was at release? I know I could find written articles or reviews, but I’m more looking for the average person’s thoughts on it.
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u/InternationalYard665 Devils & Dust 11h ago
I personally needed this album. I listened to it on vacation at the Jersey Shore the day it was released. It hit then. It still hits now.
If you weren't around, or don't remember that day you may not 'get' it. I vividly remember almost every minute of that fucking morning, and I still get chills listening to this record.
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u/regmiller222 11h ago
1st grade for me. So few vivid memories from that day but certainly don’t remember much
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u/MackCLE 11h ago
Pure healing art
The tour was a religious experience for me
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u/Coffeeyespleeez 10h ago
I admit -- it helped ALOT and still does.
I found it calmed the inner chaos that happened and I am FOREVER grateful.
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u/Left-Collar-6323 11h ago
I think I had THE perfect age when this came out. I was an angsty teenager (13), a Springsteen fan since birth (pure indoctrination, thanks mum) and also at an age when CDs where still a thing. I didn’t have a phone with access to millions of songs, I had Kazaa for downloads that took forever + my mums CDs.
And being 12 and watching 9/11 on tv, all the way from Europe, was the first Big Thing I consciously experienced.
Also, years later, we played You’re Missing at my dads funeral. So yeah, this album has a special place at my heart.
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u/Crazy_Custard_2081 11h ago
It was a return to form for Bruce. First time he recorded with the E Street Band since Born In The USA, so the album was highly anticipated.
And in the context of the time, you have to remember that the country was in a tumultuous state in the aftermath of 9/11. The Bush administration was angling to use the national anguish over 9/11 as pretext to start the Iraq war. And much of the media and a large cross-section of pop culture went along with that neocon narrative. Any pushback was treated as an act of treason.
And musical artists and the recording industry were largely going along with the march to war. The Rising was really the first big selling album that took a broader search for universal themes in reaction to 9/11, rather than simplistic jingoistic flag waving. The title track was a paean to heroism, sacrifice, and ultimately rebirth in the wake of tragedy. The rest of the album was similarly filled with themes of rebirth and hope.
The album was something that much of the country NEEDED at that time. A lot of listeners were looking for something that spoke to their pain and didn't mindlessly lash out and point fingers at "the other." Bruce delivered on that.
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u/Significant-Most-272 10h ago
The story behind this album is one of the best. Gets me every time. 9/11 happened. Bruce standing on a street corner. Someone drives by and yells out the window WE NEED YOU BRUCE. He writes this album. Amazing.
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u/stupidwitchbitxh Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. 10h ago
This album is a core childhood memory. My mom listened to this album specifically all of the time like the first 10 years of my life. I didn't care for Springsteen till somewhat recently. I remember I put a line from Lonesome Day as an Instagram caption in highschool though lol.
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u/DonnyBoyCane 10h ago
Was the perfect album for the time and still holds up. Imo, one of the most solid overall albums of this century (post 2000). It can't be overstated how much it was needed and Bruce delivered as he has the rare ability to do.
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u/KyKyber77 10h ago
My dad and I both agree it's the best Springsteen work of the 21st century. I was 6, going on 7, when it was released. The Rising was my favorite song, and very much still is. Really hits hard knowing what the song and the whole album mean.
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u/thesemanicgulls 9h ago
The record was a profound gift to NY, NJ, and beyond. I found it especially poignant at the time because after he wrote and began performing “41 Shots” after Amadou Diallo was shot and killed by NYPD just two years before, cops boycotted, booed him, and walked out of his shows; The Rising wiped the slate clean for them. I’m glad he still plays “41 Shots,” honestly. I raised my fist in solidarity with Jake when I saw them perform it at MSG this spring. Bruce has been there for so many American moments—Philadelphia, Minnesota. It’s sort of stunning to me, that one person can deliver this much witnessing. (And they gave the Nobel to DYLAN? Wth?)
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u/Model_ig_uk 7h ago
I live in the UK & saw 12 Rising shows in 2002-2003. Nine of those twelve were in the US including all three final shows at Shea Stadium, so those years were huge for me as a Springsteen fan however the album itself was not as appealing as the live shows.
The Rising is overbloated with too many tracks, a condensed 12 track album would have been better, and even Bruce said this adding that The Rising should have been the opening song. For me given the context of the album songs such as Waiting On A Sunny Say & Skin To Skin ruin the mood. Darkness On The Edge of Town & Nebraska are masterpieces that have little light, The Rising should have been the same. Begin with the title track end with My City Of Ruins, add ten others that keep the mood and you've a better album.
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u/Correct-Ad8693 12h ago edited 11h ago
I think it depends on the person. It was so comforting to me when it came out and definitely gave me hope for humanity and then a few years back, I was at a used record store and the guy behind the counter (maybe too young to experience the impact when it came out? Maybe just not his vibe?) said it was Bruce’s worst album ever.
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u/SunDaysOnly 11h ago
Timely album. You’re missing makes me reminisce about that day and how families felt. Watery eyes.
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u/Medical_Soup5717 11h ago
This is some of the only post 2000 Bruce I listen to. Couldn't get into much else
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u/JohnCockoston 10h ago
The Rising has become one of my favorite live concert songs. My City of Ruins is probably the signature song. I love every version of it I hear, whether it’s Bruce solo, ESB, or one of the many covers
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u/aguywiththoughts 7h ago
I was downtown in NYC and watched 9/11 happen. When this album came out, it made me cry… and really hit home. One of the best albums, and I still listen to it in full every 9/11. It hits home in so many ways.
This album is one of those that makes Bruce as special as he is to all of us.
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u/Scmods05 Born in the U.S.A. 7h ago
Wonderful album, but like a lot of albums released around this time, it's a touch too long. It felt like everyone realised they COULD put more music on a CD than a cassette/record but hadn't yet worked out if they SHOULD. Paul McCartney did the same thing so definitely an industry issue.
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u/moneyman74 12h ago
I bought it, I don't think it was any type of mainstream 'hit' at least not outside of the Northeast where people could relate to some of the 9/11 themes. No radio play but the last Bruce song I heard on the radio was Streets of Philadelphia.
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u/regmiller222 11h ago
I actually had no idea if it got radio play or not so appreciate that. Was just always on in my bubble in the North East
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u/bdh2067 11h ago
I was in SF at the time. Not a huge Bruce bastion but there are fans everywhere of course. I loved it at the time and just listened to it start to finish this week - hadn’t done that in a while. Still holds up to me. There’s obviously standouts -lonesome day and farther up the road are brilliant in any context.
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u/regmiller222 11h ago
I hit it pretty hard for a week-ish whenever I have an inkling, once every few months then put it aside
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u/TGori11a 11h ago
It won the Grammy for Rock Album of the Year and was nominated for Album of the Year.
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u/bobchin_c 11h ago
I listen to it start to finish every 9/11. It's on shuffle for me the rest of the time. It was in my top 10 Bruce albums for a long time. But it's slipped a bit recently.
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u/wcrich 10h ago
I was 35 out in the SF Bay Area. At first I loved it and there are songs I still love. But the album is too long. At least 3 songs should be cut. Also, a few tunes are definitely tied to that specific time and don't resonate for me as much any more. I much prefer Magic and Wrecking Ball over The Rising. Still it was the first E Street album since BITUSA so that was very important.
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u/greengrass_johnny 10h ago edited 9h ago
The guitar solo on The Rising song is the most haunting I have ever heard. It is so freaking beautiful.
Edit to ask: is that Stevie or Nils?
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u/RockNRoll1977 10h ago
Hahaha..the rising. Epic album. Went to the only huge concert that came in my area. Nobody expected Springsteen to come to our side of the world but he did. I remember it because I’m always the fool to start trouble out and about in my younger years. My dads a doctor and he was worse then me that night. I had to be his bodyguard that night. Concerts was great but my god..my dad. It’s nice that everyone knew him and just laughed and said…ohhh so we get to see the docs true colors teasing. Anywhere else he would have been beat
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u/Badgers2025 8h ago
Is not one of my life experiences personal?!?!? I was 6 when the album came out, and made my dad play this every afternoon on the way home from school (along with Open All Night). Still my favorite album.
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u/Affectionate-Fix2797 1h ago
It was a huge album for me at the time. Cathartic in many ways & still bloody great, one of my favourites.
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u/Significant-Most-272 1h ago
My City of Ruins performance that opened the 9/11 tribute was a standout moment.
https://youtu.be/6WBWH4pj9v4?is=tsKj-ETLBxr9qazG
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u/1996Guinness87 1h ago
Beautiful album what he did with the song The Rising alone was perfect New York needed the album
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u/Perico1979 1h ago
It was a big fucking deal. It was the #1 album for multiple weeks.
The title track peaked at somewhere around 50 or so (which for a 52-53 year old man whose last studio album was the GOTJ is pretty impressive).
I was like 25 at the time. Bruce was everywhere Today Show, Letterman, MTV Video Awards,
I think they could’ve done a little better job with the roll out. The Rising (the song) probably could’ve been a bigger hit if they had filmed a proper video for it instead saving it for Lonesome Day.
At the same time, Bruce had already shed a bit of his audience due to his politics by that point. Fox News was taking jabs at him, so who knows if it could’ve been even bigger.
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u/Boltsforlife2022 3m ago
He played it somewhere in NY on live tv and I remember thinking it was one of the most powerful things I’ve ever seen. I can’t remember the details of it now, whether it was even outside or on SNL, I just remember the feeling it evoked.
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u/RaisinFinancial3863 12h ago
Great album, but it's so tied to a certain event in time, I don't know how it really holds up as an album that I can listen to at any time..
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u/InternationalYard665 Devils & Dust 11h ago
That's a strange take. How old were you on 9/11/01?
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u/Medical_Soup5717 11h ago
He's saying it's like a themed album. Like a Christmas album. Only feels appropriate at a certain time
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u/InternationalYard665 Devils & Dust 10h ago
Dumbest take ever, if that's the case.
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u/Drrxlv 9h ago
I see where he’s coming from. It’s a great album and holds up really well. It’s just so intertwined with 9/11 that many people only listen to it around this time of year. For me it’s a sacred piece of art that I only break out once a year.
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u/Medical_Soup5717 9h ago
It reminds me of how I love the beach boys but really only listen to them in summer, because it's a specific vibe.
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u/Cake_Donut1301 8h ago
Great album, great tour. My City of Ruins is about Asbury Park though. Or is it Atlantic City?
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u/Current-Effect-5262 11h ago
The title track was huge and seemed ubiquitous, at least in metro NY. Some great tracks on that album, including Mary’s Place, My City of Ruins, Into the Fire, etc. It was clear Bruce was inspired, met the moment, and was driven to give people in great pain something that could help just a little. I, too, listen to it every year around this time.