The River - Bruce Springsteen

One of Bruce Springsteen's most varied, exciting records, "The River" is often overlooked in lists of the all-time great albums in favour of critical darlings "Born to Run" and "Nebraska". But to brush over "The River" is to brush over some of Springsteen's absolute best work, and one of the best double-albums of all-time. CD1, containing 11 tracks, is the more upbeat of the two discs presented here. "The Ties That Bind", "Jackson Cage", "Two Hearts" and "Hungry Heart" are archetypal Springsteen pop-rock - irresistibly catchy pop with more than a touch of heartland rock also ...  Read the complete review

I bought The River back when it first came out (was it REALLY 20 years ago?) and to me it has the "Classic Album" status usully bestowed on "Born to Run". It's a diverse 2 album set, that changes musical styles and tempo from one track to the next. I've played it on and off throughout the 80's and 90's (which I suppose makes me a bit of a dinosaur!) Like a lot of Bruce's material, many tracks sound a lot better live, than they do in the studio and one or two tracks, in hindsight could be better recorded. Listen to this album 20 years on and its true that some tracks sound a little dated but a good two thirds of the 20 ...  Read the complete review

Personally, this is the greatest record Springsteen will ever make - Although dwarfed by the enormous success of Born to Run and Born in the USA, The River sits as a high watermark inbetween the two, effectively showcasing the wide range of Springsteens talent Split between fun rock and roll tracks (Sherry Darling, Two Hearts) and more introspective material (The River, Independence Day), this double disc effort would appear to be the work of a conflicted artist, stuck between two stools - Thank god that the material is so strong then. There are hints of what would occur with 'Nebraska' here (especially on the title track) where the lead charecter ...  Read the complete review

it says genre american folk which is wrong this american rock. anyway this a 2 cd double album that was 1 pretty much all over the world, and contains the classic the river and the hit hungry heart . released in 1980 springsteen was trying to go for a more live sound in the studio and this album was the result. its very live sounding and raw to a certain extent. its a mix of upbeat short catchy rockers and downbeat dark ballads. in 2008 the sound is very low and this album seriously needs to be re mastered then it woould sound fantastic, if you listen to the 11 or so tracks that were left of this album that are available on the tracks box set, then ...  Read the complete review