| Darkness on the Edge of Town | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Bruce Springsteen | ||||
| Released | June 2, 1978 | |||
| Recorded | October 12, 1977–March 19, 1978 Record Plant Studios (New York, New York) |
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| Genre | Rock, heartland rock, hard rock | |||
| Length | 42:55 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, Steven Van Zandt | |||
| Bruce Springsteen chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
| Billboard | (favorable)[2] |
| Robert Christgau | B+ [3] |
| Rhapsody | (favorable) [4] |
| Rolling Stone | (very favorable) [5] |
| Rolling Stone | (classic) [6] |
| Rolling Stone Album Guide | [7] |
| Sounds | (favorable) link |
| Sputnikmusic | (4.5/5) [8] |
| Yahoo! Music | (favorable) link |
| Zagat Survey | link |
| This table needs to be expanded using prose. See the guideline for more information. | |
Darkness on the Edge of Town is the fourth album by Bruce Springsteen, released in the late spring of 1978. The album marked the end of a three year period of forced hiatus from recording brought on by contractual obligations and legal battling with former manager Mike Appel.[9] Although the album did not produce high charting singles it nevertheless remained on the charts for 97 weeks.[9] In September 2010 a documentary film chronicling the making of Darkness was first shown at the Toronto International Film Festival. Quoting Springsteen as saying “More than rich, more than famous, more than happy – I wanted to be great”, reviewer Stephen Whitty of the Newark Star-Ledger commented: "For many fans, that long journey pulled onto the Turnpike here."[10]
Contents |
Recovering from legal troubles and the stress of the breakthrough success of Born to Run, Springsteen released a somewhat less commercial album, Darkness on the Edge of Town.
In terms of the original LP's sequencing, Springsteen continued his "four corners" approach from Born to Run, as the songs beginning each side ("Badlands" and "The Promised Land") were martial rallying cries to overcome circumstances, while the songs ending each side ("Racing in the Street", "Darkness on the Edge of Town") were sad dirges of circumstances overcoming all hope. Unlike Born to Run, the songs were recorded by the full band all at once, frequently soon after Springsteen had written them.[11] Steven Van Zandt received a credit for production assistance for helping Springsteen tighten the arrangements from Born to Run's epic sound.[11]
This collection of songs, each of which Springsteen sang in the first person, was given unity by several recurring themes. The words “darkness” / “dark” appear in six of the tracks, while nine of them feature the “night” / “tonight”. “They” are mentioned in eight songs, with a general suggestion of nameless people who exert a negative influence. “Work” / “worked” / “working” form part of six songs, and so do the words “dream” / “dreams”. Six is also the number of songs in which Bruce and his characters are found “driving” / “racing” / “riding”, or mentioning the names of cars. There are references to “blood”, "born", "love" / "loved" in four of the tracks. In the song "Racing in the Street," Springsteen alludes to Martha & the Vandellas' Dancing in the Street with the lyric "Summer's here and the time is right for racing in the street," which is similar to the Rolling Stones similar appropration of the lyric in the song "Street Fightin' Man".
The album failed to generate any hit singles, with "Prove It All Night" barely making the Top 40 in the U.S. and follow-up "Badlands" not charting in the top 40.
At the time, Darkness claimed the number one slot on NME album of the year ranking. In 2003, the album was ranked number 151 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[12] The same year, the TV network VH1 named Darkness on the Edge of Town the 68th greatest album of all time.
The cover shot and inner sleeve photo were taken by photographer Frank Stefanko inside Stefanko's Haddonfield, New Jersey home.[13] Springsteen says, "...when I saw the picture I said, 'That's the guy in the songs.' I wanted the part of me that's still that guy to be on the cover. Frank stripped away all your celebrity and left you with your essence. That's what that record was about." http://www.kshe95.com/musicnews/Story.aspx?id=1287219
A reissue box set was released in November 2010.[14][15][16] This had initially been planned for 2008, to mark the 30th anniversary of the original album's release, but was delayed presumably due to Springsteen's numerous other 2008 projects.[17] By January 2009, Springsteen's manager, Jon Landau, was saying the project was still in the works: "When we can find six weeks to sit down and finish it I'm sure we will."[18]
A documentary entitled "The Promise: the Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town" has been produced for the box set. The documentary premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in the fall of 2010 and aired on HBO on October 7, 2010.[19]
All songs written by Bruce Springsteen.
Side one
Side two
During the Darkness sessions, Springsteen wrote or recorded many songs that he ended up not using on the album. This was to keep the album's thematic feel intact, even at the expense of not having hits on it.[20]
Some of the unused material became hits for other artists, such as "Because the Night" for Patti Smith, "Fire" for Robert Gordon and The Pointer Sisters, "Rendezvous" for Greg Kihn, "This Little Girl" for Gary U.S. Bonds, and several tracks for Southside Johnny (including much of the Asbury Jukes' Hearts of Stone album). Other songs such as "Independence Day", "Point Blank", "The Ties That Bind", and "Sherry Darling" would turn up on Springsteen's next album, The River, while still others became bootleg classics until surfacing on Springsteen's compilations Tracks, 18 Tracks and The Promise. The Promise features 21 tracks from the Darkness sessions and was released in November 2010 compilation (and also included in a box set). Some of these Darkness outtakes were performed by Springsteen in concert during his 1978 tour and later.
A box set reissue, entitled The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story, was released on November 16, 2010.[21] The six-disc set includes three CDs and three DVDs. This contains a remastered version of the Darkness on the Edge of Town album, a new two-CD album, The Promise containing 21 previously unreleased outtakes from the Darkness sessions, a documentary titled The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town and 2 DVDs of live performances.[22][23] The deluxe box set contains an 80 page spiral-bound reproduction of Springsteen’s original notebooks documenting the recording sessions for the album, containing alternate lyrics, song ideas, recording details and personal notes.
The box set was in production for several years, and was originally expected to be released for the 30th anniversary in 2008. On August 4, 2010 it was announced that Springsteen was putting the finishing touches to the box set. The documentary received its première on September 14, 2010 at the Toronto International Film Festival.[24][25] The Promise album is also available separately.
CD 1 – "Darkness On the Edge of Town" (Digitally Remastered)
CD 2 – "The Promise" (Disc 1)
CD 3 – "The Promise" (Disc 2)
DVD 1 – The Promise: The Making of "Darkness On the Edge of Town"
A documentary directed by Grammy- and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Thom Zimny. The ninety-minute film combines never-before-seen footage of Springsteen and the E Street Band shot between 1976 and 1978—including home rehearsals and studio sessions—with new interviews with Springsteen, E Street Band members, manager Jon Landau, former-manager Mike Appel, and others closely involved in the making of the record. An edited version of the documentary was broadcast by the BBC.
DVD 2 – "Darkness on the Edge of Town": Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park & Thrill Hill Vault: 1976–1978
An intimate and complete album performance of "Darkness on the Edge of Town" at Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, NJ shot in 2009. Never before seen archival footage from the Thrill Hill Vault including complete song performances taken from private band rehearsals, studio sessions, and live concerts during the “Darkness” era.
Thrill Hill Vault (1976–1978)
DVD 3 – Houston '78 Bootleg: House Cut
Previously unreleased complete concert performance from the historic Darkness on the Edge of Town Tour.
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | U.S. Billboard Pop Albums | 5 |
| 1985 | U.S. Billboard 200 | 167 |
| 2010 | U.S. Billboard 200 | 16 |
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | "Prove It All Night" | U.S. Billboard Pop Singles | 33 |
| 1978 | "Badlands" | U.S. Billboard Pop Singles | 42 |