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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
The Rising
EMAILPRINTby Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
Universal acclaim
Based on 21 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 75 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Sony
Release Date: 30 July 2002
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Rock
Summary
The Boss' first studio album with the E Street Band since 1984's 'Born In The U.S.A.,' 'The Rising' contains 15 new Springsteen songs produced by Brendan O'Brien.
Also By This Artist: Live In New York City Magic Working On A Dream
Also On Metacritic
MUSIC: Bruce Springsteen: Devils & Dust
Also On The Web: Bruce Springsteen Mailing List Official Artist Site (Sony)
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Uncut
A brave and beautiful album of humanity, hurt and hope from the songwriter best qualified to speak to and for his country.... A towering achievement. [Album of the Month, Sep 2002, p.102]
Rolling Stone
Even for him, though, The Rising, with its bold thematic concentration and penetrating emotional focus, is a singular triumph.
Read Full Review >E! Online
Over the years, it might not stand up to classics such as Nebraska or The River, but the The Rising gives us something more important right now: a reason to believe.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
Springsteen's words may be weighted with the aftershocks of death, but the music, ironically, is animated; unlike ''Joad,'' ''The Rising'' is a pleasure to hear.
Read Full Review >CDNow
Both sober and celebratory, The Rising makes a strong case for the transcending power of rock and roll.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
Any suggestion of a musical crisis of confidence, however, vanishes with the album's first chord, which picks up pretty much where Born In The U.S.A. left off 18 years ago.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
In one fell swoop Springsteen has released an album that is chillingly relevant even as much of it, especially the over ballyhooed "Mary's Place", is unabashedly anachronistic.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
The Rising is one of the very best examples in recent history of how popular art can evoke a time period and all of its confusing and often contradictory notions, feelings and impulses.
Read Full Review >Blender
Beginning with "Further On (Up The Road)," Springsteen finds his footing and rides out the album on a stirring high note. [#9, p.140]
New York Magazine
Springsteen refuses to allow himself either vengefulness or excessive pride, and he avoids too-literal musings on the tragedy that ultimately undermined songs like Neil Young's "Let's Roll."
Read Full Review >Spin
The most eloquent artistic response yet to the World Trade Center tragedy. [Sep 2002, p.130]
Neumu.net
Like all his best work, the whole of The Rising is better than the sum of its individual songs.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
In size and texture it's closer to 1980's The River than anything since. [Sep 2002, p.111]
Nude As The News
The Rising somewhat falters in its middle third, as Springsteen struggles to make this a cohesive record.
Read Full Review >New Musical Express
Too many of the 15 tracks are padding and the entire record is neutered by a production that brushes everything up to a mediocre gloss.
Read Full Review >Mojo
There are more retro-sounding pop-R&B numbers with "sha la la" backing vocals than the subject matter might indicate, a stadium rocker, some soulful ballads recalling early Van Morrison, and stirring gospel. [Sep 2002, p.94]
Austin Chronicle
Lyrically, Springsteen walks a fine line on this outing, filling songs with descriptive if somewhat pedestrian tidbits.
Read Full Review >Launch.com
Anyone hoping that this reunion with his old band would mean Springsteen's found his focus and was ready to rededicate himself to the freewheelin' spunk of his "classic" period will surely be disappointed with The Rising.
Read Full Review >Village Voice
He sounds as genuinely hurt and confused as any of us, but if he's gained any insight into that hurt or confusion, he's not about to express it.
Read Full Review >CultureDose.net
The Rising is a tiresome battle between the sheer spirit that Bruce and his sidekicks invest in their work and the material itself, which is underwritten and overproduced.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 75 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Zack A gave it a10:
Eloquence in music and lyric that comes from no other master than Bruce Springsteen.
Scott H gave it a10:
Bruce does it again.
Scott Y gave it a10:
I reserve the coveted 10 for masterpieces, and this may be the album of the decade. Bruce is truly an American rock poet and this CD really captures a lot of moods surrounding 9/11 and beyond. The production is excellent, the band sounds great, and I don't think it can be compared to his other top albums. BTR, et al, are 10s, too, but a 10 from a different time.
Mike A gave it a9:
Historical release. 9/11 lived through one of contemporary music's most relevant songwriters.
Ryan M. gave it a10:
It seems uncanny how many great songs are on this record. One of the few albums where I never skip a track.
Matt J gave it an8:
It feels a little bloated - there are a couple of mediocre cuts that weigh the CD down. But, you take the ten best cuts, and you have a tight, excellent 50-minute album that's arguably one of his best. "Worlds Apart," "Empty Sky," and "Into The Fire" were later given much better arrangements in concert, but the original versions here are still good. The title track, "Lonesome Day," "Mary's Place," "Nothing Man," "Paradise," and "You're Missing" are good to great songs, and "My City's In Ruins" is a great closer (though I prefer the acoustic version on the TRIBUTE TO HEROES 9/11 charity CD). The rest is mediocre stuff and the crowd-pleasing "Waiting On A Sunny Day" is annoying with really bad lyrics, but you can program those out.
Dave J gave it a10:
Bruce's best since Born in the USA.
