“I’ll Fix This. I Can Make It Cool Again!” (Vol. 16)

In a new occasional series for paid subscribers. I’m going to take albums that need “fixing” and make them what they should have been…

Today’s fix is The River by Bruce Springsteen

I’m almost a fairweather Springsteen fan — but possibly just a little bit more than that, since I do know the major timelines, and all of the records, and I’ve read a couple of biographies, and watched the concert footage, even listened to a few bootlegs.

But where I’m definitely closer to “fairweather” than fanatic, is I’m no Springsteen apologist, whole albums and eras leave me cold, I do think — all up — he’s almost absurdly overrated. And then, at times, I’m blown away by certain songs, or moments within songs. But his band work lacks subtly and true dynamics, and The E Street Band sure gives the saxophone (in rock music) a mighty bad name. Enough already.

So, into that mess, I step. Because The River is one of the more difficult Springsteen albums to fully, truly love. And boy does it need a good “fix”. For a start, it’s a double album. And that means almost by default it’s too long. It was also a weird time when Bruce wanted to capture the energy of the live band but in the studio and he abandoned a possibly better studio single disc for the sprawling double. It means there are pop gems like Hungry Heart that have no business really even being a Bruce Springsteen song. And big-time brooders like the eventual title track, that are the Steinbeck-ian Springsteen at his finest.