Bruce Springsteen - Only The Strong Survive (Soul Covers Album)

FetchFugly

FetchFugly

Pregnant
Joined
Feb 2, 2005
Messages
24,678
When I saw this had been announced I wasn't feeling terribly keen, but Bruce certainly seems enthusiastic about it:



Lead single:



Tracklisting:
  1. “Only The Strong Survive” (Jerry Butler)
  2. “Soul Days” (Featuring Sam Moore) (Dobie Gray)
  3. “Nightshift” (The Commodores)
  4. “Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)” (Frank Wilson)
  5. “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” (The Walker Brothers)
  6. “Turn Back The Hands of Time” (Tyrone Davis)
  7. “When She Was My Girl” (The Four Tops)
  8. “Hey, Western Union Man” (Jerry Butler)
  9. “I Wish It Would Rain” (The Temptations)
  10. “Don’t Play That Song” (Aretha Franklin)
  11. “Any Other Way” (Jackie Shane)
  12. “I Forgot To Be Your Lover ” (Featuring Sam Moore) (William Bell)
  13. “7 Rooms of Gloom” (The Four Tops)
  14. “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” (Jimmy Ruffin)
  15. “Someday We’ll Be Together” (Diana Ross and the Supremes)

​

 
As prolific as he is with the original stuff I can’t complain if he wants to do something like this. I SUPPOSE.
 
When I saw the tracklist I thought this was one of the songs that had a high cheddar risk but it is quite lovely, classily done, and his voice sounds really good on it:



I definitely prefer it to Do I Love You.
 


Well Bruce is in good voice but the arrangements are very faithful, too faithful I would say in many cases. I would have liked a few more interesting reworkings and some of those strings sweeten things a little much.

For what it is, none of it is actively bad, though I am not really feeling the knees up vibe on Don't Play That Song. The run towards the end of the album is probably the best. I Forgot To Be Your Lover really suits him, a few more southern ballads might have been a good idea. What Becomes of the Brokenhearted looked like the biggest chestnut of them all when I read the tracklisting but he does sound excellent on it. Someday We'll Be Together always had a country thing going on so it is a good fit, even if it does sound like Bruce has never heard the song before for the first verse.
 
I’ve been getting into Bruce lately so I’ll give this a listen. I know it’s a covers album, but I don’t recognize almost any of the track names
 
RJN said:
I’ve been getting into Bruce lately so I’ll give this a listen. I know it’s a covers album, but I don’t recognize almost any of the track names
Click to expand...

I suppose he has steered clear of some of the most obvious soul classics, even though most of the selections were big hits.
 
Only playing the snippets, those classics like What becomes of the brokenhearted or Someday we'll be together sound so weird in his voice. I love a bit of Bruce but this is not for me.
 
The mild indignity of missing out on number one album in the UK to Louis Tomlinson, though that somehow shifted 35k.
 
FetchFugly said:
The mild indignity of missing out on number one album in the UK to Louis Tomlinson, though that somehow shifted 35k.
Click to expand...
What happened there? His last album didn't make #1, and he hasn't had a hit, has he?

How did he pull that off when Liam Payne couldn't even manage top ten despite having genuine hit singles? Although I seem to remember it was backfilled with genuine hits which were old by the time the album was released. Perhaps people had lost interest in Liam - but who was EVER interested in Louis?
 
Liam Payne got to #111 in the US, and this is looking like it’ll be number 5 or 6?
 
Maybe Harry styles being so big has led to some interest in his former bandmates?
 
lolly said:
What happened there? His last album didn't make #1, and he hasn't had a hit, has he?

How did he pull that off when Liam Payne couldn't even manage top ten despite having genuine hit singles? Although I seem to remember it was backfilled with genuine hits which were old by the time the album was released. Perhaps people had lost interest in Liam - but who was EVER interested in Louis?
Click to expand...

It is a bit odd. Apparently sold more than twice as much as his first album too. I see he is on BMG now so maybe their magic (exhaustive formatting) rubbed off?
 
Louis is selling a few variants of his new album. His last album debuted top ten in the US but fell out of the top 200 the next week. I imagine this one is on a similar trajectory in the US/UK.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top Bottom