The Rising (album)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Rising
The Rising cover
Studio album by Bruce Springsteen
Released July 30, 2002
Recorded January-March 2002
Genre Rock
Length 72:59
Label Columbia
Producer Brendan O'Brien
Professional reviews
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band chronology
Live in New York City
(2001)
The Rising
(2002)
The Essential Bruce Springsteen
(2003)

The Rising is the 12th studio album by Bruce Springsteen, released in 2002. In addition to being Springsteen's first studio album in seven years, it was also his first with the E Street Band in 18 years. It was released as Springsteen's reflections on the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Upon its release, The Rising was a critical and commercial success, and hailed as the triumphant return of "The Boss". It garnered a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album in 2003; although nominated for, and widely favored to take, the Album of the Year award as well, it was bested by Norah Jones' debut album Come Away with Me. Title song "The Rising" was also a Grammy nominee and recipient.

In 2002, The Rising was one of only two albums to receive Rolling Stone magazine's highest rating - five stars - the other being Beck's Sea Change.

Contents

[edit] History

While most of the songs were written after September 11, 2001, a few of them pre-date the attacks. "My City of Ruins" was originally performed in, and written about, Asbury Park, New Jersey. After its performance by Springsteen on the post-September 11 America: A Tribute to Heroes telethon, however, the song took on an expanded meaning. "Further On (Up the Road)" was performed live in Madison Square Garden during the summer of 2000 at the end of the Springsteen-E Street Reunion Tour, and was professionally recorded, although it was not included in the HBO, DVD, or CD versions of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band: Live in New York City. "Waitin' on a Sunny Day" was originally written in the early- or mid-1990s and played in at least one soundcheck during the Reunion Tour, and Springsteen has commented that "Nothing Man" was originally completed in 1994 but re-recorded for this album.

"Mary's Place" is directly inspired by Sam Cooke's "Meet Me at Mary's Place"; "Let's Be Friends" takes musical form from John Mellencamp's "Cherry Bomb" and Mariah Carey's "Dreamlover"; and the gospel-like "My City of Ruins" is reminiscent of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready".

Helped by a substantial marketing campaign — pre-release promotion was the biggest of Springsteen's career[1] — and the concurrent Rising Tour, The Rising went on to become Springsteen's first #1 album on the U.S. pop albums chart since his 1995 Greatest Hits album and would go on to sell about 2,100,000 copies in the United States, making it Springsteen's best-selling album of new material since 1987's Tunnel of Love.

[edit] Track listing

All songs were written by Bruce Springsteen.

  1. "Lonesome Day" – 4:08
  2. "Into the Fire" – 5:04
  3. "Waitin' on a Sunny Day" – 4:18
  4. "Nothing Man" – 4:23
  5. "Countin' on a Miracle" – 4:44
  6. "Empty Sky" – 3:34
  7. "Worlds Apart" – 6:07
  8. "Let's Be Friends (Skin to Skin)" – 4:21
  9. "Further On (Up the Road)" – 3:52
  10. "The Fuse" – 5:37
  11. "Mary's Place" – 6:03
  12. "You're Missing" – 5:10
  13. "The Rising" – 4:50
  14. "Paradise" – 5:39
  15. "My City of Ruins" – 5:00

[edit] Tour Edition Bonus DVD

  1. "The Rising" [live, 2002 MTV Video Music Awards performance]
  2. "Waitin' on a Sunny Day" [live, The Rising Tour, Barcelona, Spain, 2002]
  3. "Lonesome Day" [music video]
  4. "Mary's Place" [The Rising Tour, Barcelona, Spain, 2002]
  5. "Dancing in the Dark" [The Rising Tour, Barcelona, Spain, 2002]

[edit] Chart positions

Year Chart Position
2002 Billboard 200 1

[edit] Personnel

[edit] The E Street Band

[edit] Additional musicians

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Set List: Springsteen's 'Magic' Sitting Outside Grammy's Window: Might A Back Door Plot Be Devised?

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Unleashed by Toby Keith
Billboard 200 number-one album
August 17 - August 30, 2002
Succeeded by
Home by Dixie Chicks