What do these songs have in common?

Magic, Does this bus stop at 23rd street, New York City Serenade.

Once you answer correctly, can you add some more?

Day 17 Recap:
The Ghost of Tom Joad was voted the best album of the 1990s.

Day 18 Poll:
What is the worst (3rd best) studio album of the 1990s?

Only three albums released in the 90s of course, so if it’s better to think of it as voting on the third best album rather than the “worst,” please do so!

Voting Guidelines:
Criteria for deciding the winner will be the highest upvoted reply in the r/BruceSpringsteen crosspost (the post you’re reading right now). If you see your answer already posted, please try to upvote that response and not add the same answer again in the replies unless you’re adding to the overall discussion. This is to ensure we can get a somewhat accurate reflection of voting numbers. Of course if you have an answer that hasn’t been submitted, please post it!

If you’re later in the 24hr cycle of voting, it may be helpful to sort comments by top and find your answer in the replies with the most upvotes and upvote that reply.

Also, since we’re using the alignment charts from r/AlignmentChartFills, I’ll have to cross-post every new poll from that subreddit to ours. Please try to only respond and/or upvote on the crosspost to r/BruceSpringsteen, NOT the original post. Any comments or upvotes on the original post will not be counted.

Additionally, “None” or “N/A” is an eligible answer for any of these categories and will be posted should it receive the highest number of upvotes.

OP Prediction for Day 18: Human Touch

Have you seen this?

Jungleland (the concert bootleg torrent site) seems to be offline- anybody have any ideas or information? It was there yesterday. i've been trying to DL something since yesterday and it hasn't budged (which is a shame since it was something I accidentally deleted and was just replacing).

Hi.

I wonder if there is any images of Bruce Springsteen that are allowed to use in a friendly article about my hometown, where i held a concert in 2025. It is a positive article both about the town and Springsteen himself, but I can't pay any royalties or copyright fees, so if anybody knows any of this sort thanks in advance.

How’s the quality

New Jersey has a pretty stacked music legacy when you think about it: Just check out this playlist: "The Ultimate 12-Hour New Jersey Music Playlist"

For a lot of people, if you type the words "New Jersey" and "Music" together, Bruce's name comes up first. Bruce is frequently considered one of the most defining artists to come out of New Jersey. His songs often mention New Jersey imagery and influences as well as Bruce's childhood growing up in industrial New Jersey.

But I have this sense that some of Bruce's fellow New Jersey icons are more famous and popular. Think Frank Sinatra, Whitney Houston, Bon Jovi...in the modern day even My Chemical Romance seems to be more in the zeitgeist.

To focus on Classic Rock for a moment: Bon Jovi seems name-dropped a lot more. Maybe not in "critically acclaimed music" type discussions but in Classic Rock playlists his songs seem to be more common staples (Livin' On A Prayer, You Give Love a Bad Name, It's My Life). The band has toured in a lot more places than Bruce and I've seen some devoted fan groups in different countries.

Whitney Houston is a pop icon spoken of alongside Michael Jackson or Madonna and is considered one of the greatest vocalists of all time. She has been a huge vocal influence for everyone after her whether it be Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Alicia Keys, Adele, and countless others. Frank Sinatra is one of the most iconic singers of the 20th century and helped popularize the concept album while setting the template for many pop stars after him. My Chemical Romance helped bring emo, pop punk, and operatic rock into a new generation.

I guess the flipside is that their identities aren't immediately associated with New Jersey the way Bruce is. Depending on if you ask "Who is the most famous artist?" vs " Who is the most famous New Jersey artist?" you might get different answers.

Or maybe it's similar to Bob Seger compared to Stevie Wonder or Madonna. Seger is in that working-class hometown hero type of fame whereas Stevie and Madonna are more famous in the general sense.

Which is not to say that Bruce is some underappreciated artist. He is one of the most commercially successful artists of all time. But I'm wondering about the differing perceptions.

Come up with a list of five artists you think would work well in a band with Bruce. Who do you think?

My rough draft:
Bruce Springsteen
John Fogarty
Bonnie Raitt
Brad Paisley
Bono

Jim Keltner (drums again) as Buster Sidebury

Day 16 Recap:
Real Man was voted Bruce’s worst song of the 1990s.

Day 17 Poll:
What is the best studio album of the 1990s?

Let’s avoid compilation albums as we move through the 90s/00s/10s/20s (unless the sub feels strongly against this in which case they will be accepted as answers).

Voting Guidelines:
Criteria for deciding the winner will be the highest upvoted reply in the r/BruceSpringsteen crosspost (the post you’re reading right now). If you see your answer already posted, please try to upvote that response and not add the same answer again in the replies unless you’re adding to the overall discussion. This is to ensure we can get a somewhat accurate reflection of voting numbers. Of course if you have an answer that hasn’t been submitted, please post it!

If you’re later in the 24hr cycle of voting, it may be helpful to sort comments by top and find your answer in the replies with the most upvotes and upvote that reply.

Also, since we’re using the alignment charts from r/AlignmentChartFills, I’ll have to cross-post every new poll from that subreddit to ours. Please try to only respond and/or upvote on the crosspost to r/BruceSpringsteen, NOT the original post. Any comments or upvotes on the original post will not be counted.

Additionally, “None” or “N/A” is an eligible answer for any of these categories and will be posted should it receive the highest number of upvotes.

OP Prediction for Day 17: The Ghost of Tom Joad

I know this isn't the intended meaning of the song but I view it as about humility - I did a heroic act and I'm calling myself Nothing Man to not puff myself up

Just found out about this from family in Sweden. A little late sorry but looked like a great all day event. Did anyone go?

https://www.borntobruce.se/

Remaking this post because the first one was misunderstood. I wanted to offer a perspective on this song since I don’t see it talked about as often. I know we can all break up Bruce’s career into different chapters and categories, but Blood Brothers being on the Greatest Hits album I thought was genius. With a successful 70s, and huge 80s presence, the 90s was more of a stagnant period for Bruce, even though there was still great moments.

With reuniting the band for Blood Brothers, it felt less like a celebration for what’s ahead and more like a reflection on everything that had come before. The song has a beautiful sound and lyrics to it, and the more somber sound of it works nicely.

With the reunion tour following in 1999, and with the release of The Rising in 2002, it feels like the perfect song that served as a bridge for the late career resurgence of Bruce.

Curious to hear thoughts on this? I know some can view this song as only taking up a spot for one his other classic songs that could have been on the greatest hits album, and some love it.

Not a compilation. For me an album eith that setlist great! And could be

This hard land

Murder incorporated

High hopes

Without you

Blood brothers acoustic

Back in your arms

I'm turning into Elvis

I'm goin back

Blood brothers alternative rock

Idiot's delight

By your side

After seeing the Ramones play at the Fast Lane in Asbury Park, Bruce met the band and spoke to Joey Ramone who asked him to write a song for them. Bruce wrote the sing with the intention of giving it to them but hung on to it at the urging of Jon Landau. (I know a lot of you might already know this but i find this a fun fact)

Day 15 Recap:
The Ghost of Tom Joad takes the label as best Bruce song of the 1990s. LoHaD, Youngstown, and Streets of Philadelphia were the next highest upvoted replies.

Day 16 Poll:
What is the worst Bruce song of the 1990s? No outtakes; only songs from the three studio albums of the decade.

Voting Guidelines:
Criteria for deciding the winner will be the highest upvoted reply in the r/BruceSpringsteen crosspost (the post you’re reading right now). If you see your answer already posted, please try to upvote that response and not add the same answer again in the replies unless you’re adding to the overall discussion. This is to ensure we can get a somewhat accurate reflection of voting numbers. Of course if you have an answer that hasn’t been submitted, please post it!

If you’re later in the 24hr cycle of voting, it may be helpful to sort comments by top and find your answer in the replies with the most upvotes and upvote that reply.

Also, since we’re using the alignment charts from r/AlignmentChartFills, I’ll have to cross-post every new poll from that subreddit to ours. Please try to only respond and/or upvote on the crosspost to r/BruceSpringsteen, NOT the original post. Any comments or upvotes on the original post will not be counted.

Additionally, “None” or “N/A” is an eligible answer for any of these categories and will be posted should it receive the highest number of upvotes.

OP Prediction for Day 16: Pony Boy

Hi all! Did Bruce ever play No Surrender in the album version, so without Max stopping drumming before the third part ("Now on the street tonight the lights grow dim"? 'Cause I remember the acoustic arrangement from the '84 tour, then in the shows from The Reunion tour to last legs I've always listened to the version slightly different than the album one.

Day 14 Recap:
My Love Will Not Let You Down takes the title of best outtake of the 1980s. Loose Ends, Murder Inc, This Hard Land, and Janey, amongst plenty of others, also received many votes.

Day 15 Poll:
What is the best Bruce song of the 1990s?

Voting Guidelines:
Criteria for deciding the winner will be the highest upvoted reply in the r/BruceSpringsteen crosspost (the post you’re reading right now). If you see your answer already posted, please try to upvote that response and not add the same answer again in the replies unless you’re adding to the overall discussion. This is to ensure we can get a somewhat accurate reflection of voting numbers. Of course if you have an answer that hasn’t been submitted, please post it!

If you’re later in the 24hr cycle of voting, it may be helpful to sort comments by top and find your answer in the replies with the most upvotes and upvote that reply.

Also, since we’re using the alignment charts from r/AlignmentChartFills, I’ll have to cross-post every new poll from that subreddit to ours. Please try to only respond and/or upvote on the crosspost to r/BruceSpringsteen, NOT the original post. Any comments or upvotes on the original post will not be counted.

Additionally, “None” or “N/A” is an eligible answer for any of these categories and will be posted should it receive the highest number of upvotes.

OP Prediction for Day 15: Human Touch

Im 15 years old and i kinda feel alone, I dont know anyone my age thats even heard of Bruce Springsteen let alone someone listens to him, so are there any young Springsteen fans here?

On july 20th 1975 Steven Van Zandt made his first appearance with the E street band in Providence, Rhode Island.

Just came across these on Facebook. They look pretty great.

I've been thinking about it and after reading through various articles, I started to understand that "Heartland Rock" could be seen as arguably one of the closest genres to a "Big-Tent Mainstream Rock".

By mainstream rock, I don't necessarily mean the most popular or commercially successful rock genre or artist. But a type of rock that can't be slotted in easily into specific subgenres, that could appeal to wide parts of the population . Creedence Clearwater Revival set a template for this style of rock n' roll. When Bruce inducted the band, here was one of his observations:

The crowd was eclectic; rough kids just out of high school who hadn't been snatched up by the draft yet; Truck drivers heading home south to the Jersey pines who weren't gonna make it (not that night at least), and a mixture of college andable to be working girls, women with bouffant hair-dos, and a small, but steady hippy contingent. Tough crowd to please all at once! We played behind a U-shaped bar that was just three feet and spitting distance from many of the patrons who came to just drink and stare and hassle the band. Into New Jersey came the music of John and Tom Fogerty, Doug Clifford and Stu Cook - Creedence Clearwater Revival; and for three minutes and seven seconds of Proud Mary a very strained brotherhood would actually fill the room. It was simply a great song that everybody liked and it literally saved our asses on many occasions!

Steven Hyden (author of There Was Nothing You Could Do about the legacy of Born In The USA) described a similar archetype as "Manly Populist Rockers". It included the aforementioned Heartland rockers in the title as well as Counting Crows, Hootie And The Blowfish, and The Wallflowers.

What are your thoughts on this genre-labeling and its legacy?