Bruce Springsteen's
Magic has an official release date of Oct. 2, but the vinyl version of the album
is now in stores, which one can either see as a tribute to the format (a la Pearl Jam's week-early vinyl release of
Vs. back in the day) or a sneaky way for the album to get Grammy consideration (because the album is available before Sept. 30, it'll be eligible for the 2007 edition of the awards). Either way, I'm quite curious to see what sort of numbers
Magic will put up on next week's SoundScan chart—the
Times piece on
Magic's vinyl release says that copies of the album are available at the indie store Amoeba, but will superstores like Best Buy and Wal-Mart clear shelf space for the album? And what will those numbers say about Springsteen's fanbase, and where—or whether—its members are buying records these days?
Springsteen's 'Magic' out today in vinyl [LAT]
Idolator
The attention the media gives to Guns N' Roses and My Bloody Valentine may give young bands the idea that it'd actually be good for their legacy to record regularly for six years, then hold off for at least another 15 so that fan excitement can build and their myth can blossom. (Hey, if Sting and Joe Strummer had waited that long to record follow-ups to Synchronicity and Combat Rock, maybe people would have cared more about Brand New Day and Rock Art And The X-Ray Style!) So I looked at what would have happened to some of rock's most legendary figures if they, too, had waited 15 years to release new albums once their first six years of putting out records were done—and found that extended absences rarely make later projects look much better.
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Every week, we round up the all-important, all-summarizing last sentences of the biggest new-music reviews. Today's entry is Bruce Springsteen's Magic, which comes out on CD tomorrow:
