Idolator

Hey, Roger Friedman - 1992 called. It wants its "Springsteen to save music industry" headline back.

(Remember how delusional Boomer reporters treated Human Touch and Lucky Town like the second coming back when? And Kris Kross kicked Bruce's ass?)

@dennisobell: Those Springsteen albums also were released in the wake of "Nevermind", "Ten", etc. I recall post-release press coverage to the effect of "Whatever Happened to Bruce Springsteen?"

Funny, the Human Touch/Lucky Town albums get a lot more play from me these days than they did when they were new.

Remember Kris Kross? No. Is it newsworthy when Bruce puts out an album 30 years into his career? Yes.

@brasstax: Same here - especially Lucky Town, which turned out to include a couple of classics after all (there's a reason why "If I Should Fall Behind" remains in the setlist to this day...). Also, Tunnel of Love gets more plays in my house nowadays than Born in the USA.

@antistar: You're missing the point. Newsworthy? Yes. (I like Bruce.) Does it merit a "Bruce to save Sony/BMG's year" headline? No. Bruce stopped selling consistently multiplatinum literally decades ago. The Rising went double-platinum five years ago in a healthier sales environment (spurred in part by its 9/11 relevance, and good for him), but that's not going to happen again unless he hits a Born in the USA-size home run. Could happen, but I wouldn't bet the farm.

The point of my Kris Kross quip was that it didn't take much to embarass Bruce on the charts in 1992. That year Bruce himself used to crack jokes about it live onstage, quipping about how his #2 album would someday beat those Kris Kross whippersnappers and go to #1. (He was joshing, and no, it never did.)

@Thierry: Word on playing Tunnel more often than USA - the former has aged better than the latter.