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Tarfumes.com - The River
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List Price: $24.98
Our Price: $22.99
Your Save: $ 1.99 ( 8% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Sony
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0074643685429
Label: Sony
Manufacturer: Sony
Number Of Discs: 2
Publisher: Sony
Release Date: 1990-10-25
Studio: Sony
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Editorial Reviews:
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Despite the acclaim accorded Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town, this is the album that broke Springsteen into the big leagues, thanks to "Hungry Heart," then his most pointedly commercial song; it had new fans swooning but some old ones grumbling for the "poetic" Springsteen of days gone by. Not to worry--though more economical lyrically, The River had something to offer nearly everyone: There's old-time frat rock ("Sherry Darling"), empathetic character studies ("The River," "Stolen Car," "Independence Day"), passionate rockers ("Out in the Street"), dramatic ballads ("Point Blank"), and even a couple of good-natured goofs ("Cadillac Ranch," "Crush on You," "Ramrod"). A sprawling double-disc set, The River offers proof that Springsteen could do it all and could do it better than virtually anyone else. --Daniel Durchholz
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Not a perfect album, but pretty close.
Comment: This is the kind of album most artists would kill to have under their belt, and it's only when it's compared to the many other perfect records in Springsteen's catalogue that it comes up a bit short. Just by a hair, though. Strangely, the shortcoming that keeps this from being a straight five stars isn't the music, which is consistantly excellent, but rather how it's presented.
"The River" came about after Springsteen cancelled 1979's "The Ties That Bind" for being too short and too poppy. This was ultimately a good decision, and most of the songs from that album made it here (albeit some were composed/arranged differently). Instead, he turned "The River" into a parodoxial record, one that featured fun party rock numbers right next to somber emotional ones. Excellent idea, if you ask me.
Many reviews would have you believe that the album follows a fun song/emotional ballad/fun song/etc. in that order throughout the entire album. But that's only partially true, and that's really the biggest problem I have with this album (don't get me wrong, it's a minor complaint).
The first half is dominated by sing-along party rock numbers, though a few of the slower songs appear here and there; "Independence Day", "I Wanna Marry You", and "The River" all provide a deeper moment, and there are a few bits in the other songs ("Hungry Heart" isn't quite as happy as it first sounds, but then, the title gives that away, doesn't it?). For the most part, though, disc one is a perfect driving disc and mostly an easy listen.
Disc two is the opposite, it's made up of the somber ballads, with an occasional party rock song thrown in here and there. "Cadillac Ranch", "I'm a Rocker", and "Ramrod" brighten things up on what would otherwise be a far, far darker half. This part would also make a good driving CD, albeit one for dark, lonely nights (not unlike "Nebraska", actually).
And that leads to the only real problem with this album for me. It just doesn't flow quite as well as it could have. Had the songs been evenly divided into sides that featured happy song/sad song/repeat, it would have been mind blowing, and truly parodoxial; Just when you think it's going one way, it goes another, even more "River-like", as the title implies. Putting all the 'fun' songs on one half and all the 'deep' songs on the other wouldn't have worked, either, it would have made it seem like two separate records smashed together with no real connection, and as the album stands, it comes dangerously close to that anyway.
Still, it mostly flows okay, and all of the songs are so good, does it really matter where they are on the album? It'd be a bigger deal if this was a concept album, but since it's not, how or where the songs end up is pretty forgivable. You simply can't complain about the songs, there aren't any bad ones. Has there ever been anything as fun as "Sherry Darling" or "Crush On You" or "You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)"? Not to mention "Cadillac Ranch" and "Ramrod". Has there ever been anything as hopefully optimistic as "Out in the Street" (so optimistic, Bruce nearly cut it from the album!)? Or anything quite as purely brilliant as the title track? And the second half consists of some absolute essential Bruce. "Point Blank" is fantastic, as is "The Price You Pay". "Stolen Car", "Drive All Night", and "Wreck on the Highway" are simply three of the greatest rock songs ever, by Bruce or anyone else. "...Highway", especially, is a haunting masterpiece.
(I should mention, if any two of the three 'fun' songs from disc two would have been swapped with "Hungry Heart" and "The River" from the first half, this would have made an incredible single-disc album.)
As the last "pure" E Street Band record for quite awhile ("Nebraska" is just Bruce, "Born in the U.S.A." has a newer, more synth-laden sound, and "Tunnel of Love" only uses the band sparingly), "The River" is a true classic. If the flow of the album had been refined just a bit, it would be perfect, but that's my tiny complaint, and it may not necessarily be yours.
As it stands, though, "The River" is well, well worth a pruchase, and completely deserves it's spot on Rolling Stone's 500 greatest albums list. Highly recommended, this is truly a superb album.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Bruce Springsteen, one of the Masters
Comment: Let's face it, a lot of younger artists grew up with Springsteen's music, and his music was part of shaping their future. And he is still as magical as he ever was.
Customer Rating:
Summary: best wanking album
Comment: all mods and sods licked at this release. Now U C why. it's cheap sentemental shot-off nixed.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Best double album
Comment: Bruce's first top 10 hit was the song "Hungry Heart" the 2nd single was Fade Away, that only made it to no.20. There are a lot good tracks on here. Ramrod, I'm A Rocker, Out in the Street, Cadillac Ranch.[You can look,but better not touch] and Crush On You are rockin out tunes. Fade Away, I Wanna Mary You and Point Blank are slower songs on it. The Ties That Bind was origanlly supposed to be the lead single off The River. The title track "The River" was never released as a single in the U.S.A, but in got a lot of radio time on the rock charts. There are just different forms of rock on this record, it it a must have for any true ROCK fan
Customer Rating:
Summary: Too many mindless rockers detract.
Comment: Let's talk about double albums for a moment. The most popular comment from fans and critics alike is that a magnificent single album could have been created by the careful culling of the weaker tracks. Now, this is, of course, true of nearly all doubles. There will be the weaker half and then there will be the remaining "better" tunes. Naturally, unless all songs are necessary to the whole - Tommy, The Wall - the resulting and shorter album would be superior. This is only logical, isn't it? The problem is that you may think less of a track that I find particularly strong! Thus, in most cases, discussion of whether or not a double could have been a stronger single leads us nowhere.
I bought The River as soon as it was released. I must admit that although I have always had positive thoughts about the album I really haven't played it very often. As I listen to it a today I have the answer to the puzzle - there are a number of songs that don't appeal to me at all. They are the straight ahead rockers like Two Hearts, Sherry Darling, and Crush on You (yech) and You Can Look. For me these are not up to Springsteen's unusually high standards. I find them boring and uninspired. They interfere with the flow horribly. We have a couple of typically first rate Springsteen songs such as Independence Day and Hungary Heart followed by dreck. One reviewer noted that he recognized in this album the music that influenced Bon Jovi. This says it all! Brucie was heading down a commercial road and I wasn't aboard the bus.
So how do you evaluate such a piece of work? I could certainly create what would be for me a great single LP from the two discs. In fact, I could produce a pretty long (50 to 60 minutes) high quality single cd. Without doubt this would be a five star effort. Throw in the rockers and I guess that I have to deduct one star.
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