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The Rising
by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band reviews


7.9

based on 21 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 72 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

MUSIC:

Bruce Springsteen: Devils & Dust

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.

LABEL:	Sony
RELEASE DATE:	30 July 2002
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Rock

NOTES: Also available on vinyl. Also available as a limited edition CD in hardcover package with book.

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...

100

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]

100

Rolling Stone

Even for him, though, The Rising, with its bold thematic concentration and penetrating emotional focus, is a singular triumph.

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.

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.

Billboard

Impassioned and bold, this record is a triumph.

CDNow

Both sober and celebratory, The Rising makes a strong case for the transcending power of rock and roll.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The average user rating for this album is 7.9 (out of 10) based on 72 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.

The Rising by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

The Rising
by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band