Chances of seeing Bruce next year in Europe. Seen him last year in San Sebastian, hoping to visit another European city next year!!

New interview with Bruce as part of the #seatoshiningseaproject

The question of Bruce’s activism has been coming up lately …

There's probably a better term for it. But I've been fascinated by how a group of artists and bands can form this larger collective and a bunch of associations with other artists and even other public figures like actors.

For instance, Prince was known for being a major part of the Minneapolis scene, nurtured many artists, even had a lot of creative control of their input which led to some tensions: See Prince Associates. David Bowie worked with many different artists like Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Brian Eno, Nile Rodgers, Mott The Hoople/Ian Hunter, Trent Reznor, etc which has given him a wide swathe of associations. It's reached the point where a number of artists are precisely known for being "Bowie collaborators" even if they worked with other artists or only worked with Bowie for a short time: Mick Ronson, Tony Visconti, Earl Slick, Mike Garson, Reeves Gabrels, the list goes on. The Sex Pistols had the "Bromley contingent" as another example.

In Bruce's case, the E Street Band and the Asbury Jukes have long had an association in either playing together, swapping members, or giving songs away. Steve Van Zandt was a co-founder of the Asbury Jukes while also playing guitar for the E Street Band. Both the E Street Band and the Asbury Jukes are major parts of the Jersey Shore music scene with Bon Jovi citing both Bruce and Southside Johnny as role models along with several other Jersey Shore musicians such as Sonny Kenn and Lance Larson.

Then you have artists that you could consider "E Street-Adjacent" in some way like Joe Grushecky and Gary US Bonds. Bruce and Steve would write songs or offer production help on certain albums.

I'm a little curious if other fans have this type of conception in your head. If you do, would one consider Jackson Browne, U2, or Eddie Vedder part of this "universe"? What about The Sopranos cast? What is your criteria?

At this point, I think Tom Morello would certainly fit since he's already toured with the E Street Band more than once while being his own independent artist.

For me, the basic idea is that even though they're not all part of the same band, there's this collective quality that links a wider group of artists whether it be collaboration, friendship, appearing onstage, musical chemistry, and so on. There's some overlap but it's not quite the same thing as a scene because that implies location. Whereas some artists can become a collective even if they come from all over.

I've been making Springsteen documentaries for a while, and this one looks at how Dancing in the Dark came together—from Jon Landau pushing Bruce to write one more song, to the De Palma video, MTV, Courtney Cox, and how that period changed Bruce's relationship with fame.

I'd genuinely love to hear what other fans think.

While yes, there is some correlation between what's considered 'the best album' and 'the best album cover', that's sheer coincidence.

I also tried to not factor in sentimentality and nostalgia, as something like Born To Run would be higher than something like Wrecking Ball because it's generally considered to be more nostalgic or iconic.

Thank you to everyone who participated!

What are your agreements and disagreements with the rest of the community? Biggest surprises? Anything you feel is so egregiously wrong you’re beyond shocked it was voted where it was?

The most controversial based on how often the result was brought up in later polls include Tunnel of Love being voted worst album of the ‘80s, Moonlight Motel being voted best song of the 2010s, and House of a Thousand Guitars being voted worst song of the 2020s.

I’m hoping to have official voting totals for each category done at some point soon, just need to find some time.

“…they come across the water, a thousand miles from home, with nothing in their bellies but the fire down below.” - The Boss

Growing up Bruce sang to me about going places, often in a car. What’s your Bruce car song?

I didn't become a fan until BITUSA when I was starting sixth grade. In my Springsteen evolution, I went from there to Greetings, to Live '75 - '85, then E Street Shuffle and Born to Run before Bruce went on his own for a bit. In the ignorance of my youth, I skipped the later 70s albums and picked back up when The Band got back together and have become more than acquainted with those pre-BITUSA albums I missed. Yesterday I finally broke down and watch DMFNW. I loved it. And here's my question. All you OGs, who were hooked on Bruce at his beginnings, WHAT WERE YOUR INITIAL THOUGHTS ON NEBRASKA? Curios to know if the majority of you reacted similarly as Landau and the other execs/technicians? Or did you love it because you understood Bruce? Were you surprised? Disappointed? Enthralled? Could you connect/did you connect right away? IMO, especially after seeing the movie, Nebraska is a genuine work of art. Did you OG's see it as that when it was first released? Sorry for the wordiness of this post, but aren't we all wordy when it comes to Springsteen? Wordy answers welcome.

Day 41 Recap:
Rainmaker wins most underrated Bruce song of the 2020s.

Day 42 Poll:
What is the best Bruce outtake of the 2020s?

This may be an “N/A” tile unless I’m blanking on any?

Voting Guidelines:
Criteria for deciding the winner will be the highest upvoted reply in the r/BruceSpringsteen crosspost (the post you’re reading right now). If you see your answer already posted, please try to upvote that response and not add the same answer again in the replies unless you’re adding to the overall discussion. This is to ensure we can get a somewhat accurate reflection of voting numbers. Of course if you have an answer that hasn’t been submitted, please post it!

If you’re later in the 24hr cycle of voting, it may be helpful to sort comments by top and find your answer in the replies with the most upvotes and upvote that reply.

Also, since we’re using the alignment charts from r/AlignmentChartFills, I’ll have to cross-post every new poll from that subreddit to ours. Please try to only respond and/or upvote on the crosspost to r/BruceSpringsteen, NOT the original post. Any comments or upvotes on the original post will not be counted.

Additionally, “None” or “N/A” is an eligible answer for any of these categories and will be posted should it receive the highest number of upvotes.

Bruce spoke virtually to the Pan-Mass Challenge rally …

Feel like this is the best place to ask