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UncutA 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]
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Even for him, though, The Rising, with its bold thematic concentration and penetrating emotional focus, is a singular triumph.
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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.
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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.
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Both sober and celebratory, The Rising makes a strong case for the transcending power of rock and roll.
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Impassioned and bold, this record is a triumph.
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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.
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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."
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SpinThe most eloquent artistic response yet to the World Trade Center tragedy. [Sep 2002, p.130]
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Like all his best work, the whole of The Rising is better than the sum of its individual songs.
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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.
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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.
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BlenderBeginning with "Further On (Up The Road)," Springsteen finds his footing and rides out the album on a stirring high note. [#9, p.140]
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Q MagazineIn size and texture it's closer to 1980's The River than anything since. [Sep 2002, p.111]
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The Rising somewhat falters in its middle third, as Springsteen struggles to make this a cohesive record.
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MojoThere 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]
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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.
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Lyrically, Springsteen walks a fine line on this outing, filling songs with descriptive if somewhat pedestrian tidbits.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 76 out of 90
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Mixed: 3 out of 90
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Negative: 11 out of 90
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ScottHFeb 13, 2006Bruce does it again.
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RyanM.Apr 29, 2005It seems uncanny how many great songs are on this record. One of the few albums where I never skip a track.
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May 1, 2018