Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Ties That Bind
2. Sherry Darling
3. Jackson Cage
4. Two Hearts
5. Independence Day
6. Hungry Heart
7. Out In The Street
8. Crush On You
9. You Can Look (But You'd Better Not Touch)
10. I Wanna Marry You
11. River

Disc 2:

1. Point Blank
2. Cadillac Ranch
3. I'm A Rocker
4. Fade Away
5. Stolen Car
6. Ramrod
7. Price You Pay
8. Drive All Night
9. Wreck On The Highway

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #190 in Music
• Released on: 2003-05-05
• Number of discs: 2

Amazon.co.uk Review
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 bar-room 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

CD Description
Only Springsteen could have got away with releasing a double album with 19 tracks of what was basically the same song. Such was his standing that he did, and it worked like a dream. Almost all the tracks hit you in the stomach, with burning saxophone from Clarence Clemons and piercing wurlitzer organ. Bruce, meanwhile, sings of cars and girls and girls and cars, but at no stage does he forget that this is rock 'n' roll. With this release Springsteen completed a rite of passage. Described as the "new Dylan" early in his career, the singer proved this tag a fallacy, drawing on Dansette pop - Phil Spector, Gary US Bonds, Mitch Ryder - rather than the folk tradition. The singer articulated the dilemmas of America's blue-collar workforce, encapsulating a generation trapped in a post-60s malaise. He does so with sumptuous melodies which draw in, rather than confront, the listener and show Springsteen not just as a magnetic showman, but as a pensive, literate songwriter.

Customer Reviews

one of the greatest
These songs have a power it is difficult to articulate, words are a bit inadequate. As far as this relates to his other albums, it is perhaps more colourful and varied and obviously longer than the ones that run it close, Born To Run, Darkness On The Edge Of Town. but i havent heard a better album opener than 'The Ties That Bind', except maybe 'Thunder Road' on Born To Run and 'Badlands' on Darkness...(!)
Ok i'm running close to contradiction. Buy this anyway! To start with i thought 'Jackson Cage', 'The River' and 'Point Blank' were what it was all about, but later other songs hit me such as 'Drive All Night' and 'Out In The Street'. He delivers some lines better than Dylan, and he is often far simpler about it. For example 'All those nights when i dream of a better world/I wake up so downhearted girl'. He fires seemingly uninspiring lines with a power and immediacy that is sometimes beyond belief, for example 'I got a job working in construction' sounds as stunning as anything any of your long-winded romantic poets could manage. I think that is partly the point as well, Springsteen is as bluntly realistic as he is romantic. They will call me an idealist, but I find it difficult to believe that anyone could dislike this!

Essential Bruce
This is the Springsteen album that I always go back to. If you've only got one of Bruce's albums, make sure it's this one. You get everything: the raw energy of the first two tracks set you up for something special. There are rocking tracks to make you feel good and there are more soul-searching songs that make you feel grateful. The title track is probably one of the best songs he's ever written. Get inside the Boss's head by wearing this ablum out first, and then build your collection - that's what I did. That way you'll also appreciate the subtlties of 'Tracks' when you get that far down the line.

MAJESTIC ROCK
These songs are no less than majestic, lyrically and melodically. The singing and playing are equally impressive and convey the various moods of the album so well. The ecstasy, the joy and the sadness of life are captured here with an honesty very rarely matched in the annals of rock. The Ties That Bind, Sherry Darling and Hungry Heart are passionate rockers, while Independence Day is a mournful ballad full of reminiscences and regret. Point Black is a slow ballad, whilst Cadillac Ranch and I’m A Rocker are blistering slabs of energetic rock. Fade Away is a slow and anguished rock ballad with beautiful piano work and a stirring arrangement, while the sad and fragile Stolen Car almost sounds like something from Nebraska. Traditional rock ‘n roll rears its pulsating head on Ramrod, while the next three songs all have cars and driving as their theme: The Price You Pay is sombre and melancholic, Drive All Night is sad and soulful, and this masterpiece of an album concludes with the sorrowful Wreck On The Highway, one of Springsteen’s most moving songs. In its dignified resignation, acceptance and the renewed appreciation for loved ones that it inspires, it reminds me of Lou Reed’s The Bed or Song For My Father by The Angels Of Light. This album is so great, it’s almost too much to digest in one uninterrupted session.