Bruce Springsteen "Human Touch (Single & Video)"

"Human Touch" is a song recorded by the American rock singer Bruce Springsteen. It was the first single from his 1992 album of the same name and was released on March 9, 1992. The song features future American Idol judge Randy Jackson on bass guitar and Toto's Jeff Porcaro on drums. It is sometimes played by Springsteen and the E Street Band in concert despite their having been dismissed at the time of the original recording.

The song reached number one in Denmark, Italy, Norway, and Spain and was a top-10 hit in several other countries, including Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland. In the United States, the song reached number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100—charting as a double A-side with "Better Days"—and topped the Album Rock Tracks chart for three weeks. "Human Touch" was nominated for Best Rock Song at the 1993 Grammy Awards. The music video, directed by Meiert Avis, received an MTV Video Music Awards nomination for Best Male Video.

Track listings:

CD maxi

1. "Human Touch" – 6:28
2. "Souls of the Departed" – 4:16
3. "Long Goodbye" – 3:26

7-inch vinyl

1. "Human Touch" – 6:28
2. "Souls of the Departed" – 4:16

Bruce Springsteen "Brilliant Disguise (Single & Video)"

"Brilliant Disguise" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from his 1987 album Tunnel of Love. It was released as the first single from the album, reaching the No. 5 position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock chart in the United States. The follow-up single, "Tunnel of Love", also reached No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, giving Springsteen two consecutive No. 1's. The single reached the top 10 in four additional countries including Canada and Ireland and the top 20 in Australia, Netherlands and the United Kingdom. "Brilliant Disguise" was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 1988 Grammy Awards.

Like much of the Tunnel of Love album, "Brilliant Disguise" was first recorded by Springsteen at his home studio, called Thrill Hill East, in Rumson, New Jersey. On February 5, 1987, he recorded "Is That You", playing all instruments himself. He finished the song by month's end, retitling it "Brilliant Disguise". Several members of the E Street Band, including Roy Bittan on keyboards (where the 40th Roland D-50 internal patch "Rock Organ" was heard), Danny Federici on organ and Max Weinberg on drums, were recorded during March, and overdubbed to the master by engineer Toby Scott.

The lyrics of "Brilliant Disguise" represent a confession of self-doubt on the part of the singer. The emotions expressed in the song include confusion, jealousy and anxiety about whether the singer's wife has become a stranger to him. The song deals with the masks people wear and the bitterness that can ensue when we realize the darkness that may lie behind those masks. The parallels with Springsteen's personal life at the time are evident: he had recently married then-model and actress Julianne Phillips, and the two would divorce in 1989. The references to marital problems are quite direct, as in the lyrics: "Oh, we stood at the altar / The gypsy swore our future was right / But come the wee wee hours / Well maybe, baby, the gypsy lied."

The song's quiet power builds slowly. The sound is scaled back from the typical E Street Band sound. The singer struggles to do things right, but it doesn't help. He can't trust either himself or his wife. Both he and his wife continue to play their roles – he of a "faithful man", she of a "loving woman", but the singer is nonetheless wracked with self-doubt. A key line towards the end of the song—"I wanna know if it's you I don't trust/Because I damn sure don't trust myself"—sums up the emotions that resonate throughout the song, and indeed the entire second side of the Tunnel of Love album. Cash Box called it "a pleasing sampling of pop/rock."

Springsteen himself wrote about the song "after '85 I'd had enough and turned inward to write about men, women and love, things that have previously been on the periphery of my work."

The song was later released on the compilation album The Essential Bruce Springsteen.

"Brilliant Disguise" has been ranked as the No. 1192 best song of all time, as well as the No. 27 song of 1987 and the #214 song of the 1980s, in an aggregation of critics' lists at acclaimedmusic.net. The song has also been listed as one of the all-time great songs in Toby Creswell's "1001 songs" and as one of the 7500 most important songs from 1944 through 2000 by Bruce Pollock. It was also ranked as the No. 6 single of 1987 by the Village Voice and the No. 51 single of 1987 by the New Musical Express.

The photograph on the original release picture sleeve was taken by Springsteen's sister Pamela Springsteen.

Like several other music videos from the Tunnel of Love album, including "Tunnel of Love", "One Step Up" and "Tougher Than the Rest", the video for "Brilliant Disguise" was directed by Meiert Avis. It was filmed on October 8, 1987 at Fort Hancock, Sandy Hook, New Jersey.

The video of the song, shot in black and white, effectively reflects its emotions. The setting is the kitchen of a modest home, & the singer sits uncomfortably on the edge of a chair, facing the camera. He plays his guitar as he sings the lyrics about what it means to try to trust someone, looking straight into the camera, never flinching as it slowly pushes in, ending with an extreme close-up. This very personal performance can make it difficult to watch, but it effectively reflects the themes of the song.

Although the studio recording of the music was used in this video, Bruce Springsteen sang the vocal live, a technique used in later Springsteen music videos including "Better Days", "Streets of Philadelphia", and "Lonesome Day". The video was later released on the VHS and DVD Video Anthology / 1978–88.

Despite the personal nature of the song, it has been reasonably popular in live performances. From the Tunnel of Love Express Tour that supported the initial release of the album through July 2005, the song received 184 live performances in concert, although most of these were in solo concerts rather than with the E Street Band.

Bruce Springsteen "Cover Me (Single & Video)"

"Cover Me" is a song written and performed by American rock singer Bruce Springsteen. It was the second single released from his 1984 album Born in the U.S.A.. Springsteen wrote the song for Donna Summer. However, his manager, Jon Landau, decided the song had hit potential, and so he kept it for the upcoming Springsteen album. It has been certified Gold in the US.

The song was first recorded on January 25, 1982 at the Hit Factory in New York City, as a demo version with the E Street Band, during sessions where Springsteen was doing recording for Gary U.S. Bonds' On the Line. Jon Landau's friend David Geffen had asked whether Springsteen could compose a song for Donna Summer (newly signed to Geffen Records), and Springsteen had written "Cover Me". However, Landau felt Springsteen's composition was too good to give away. Although Springsteen did not have a high opinion of the song at the time, he agreed to write and record another demo for Summer, resulting in "Protection". The singer re-recorded "Cover Me" on May 12 at the Power Station, also in New York City, for the version that would later appear on Born in the U.S.A.; he did nine takes. In the couple of years leading up to Born in the U.S.A.'s release, Springsteen recorded about 70 songs as the pool of tracks considered for the album.

The song peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in October 1984. It was the second of a record-tying seven Top 10 hit singles to be released from a single album. No music video was made for the song.

Cash Box called the song "a driving, emotional display of classic Boss."

Bruce Springsteen "Devils & Dust"

Devils & Dust is the thirteenth studio album by American recording artist Bruce Springsteen, and his third acoustic album (after Nebraska and The Ghost of Tom Joad). It was released on April 25, 2005 in Europe and on April 26, 2005, in the United States. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 album chart.

Springsteen was very open about the fact that many of the songs from Devils & Dust dated back a decade or more. Springsteen wrote the song "All the Way Home" for Southside Johnny to use in his album Better Days which was released in 1991. The songs "Long Time Comin'" and "The Hitter" were written and performed during Springsteen's solo Ghost of Tom Joad Tour in 1996. "Devils & Dust" is also known to have been written previously, and was featured in soundchecks during The Rising Tour beginning in the summer of 2003 and the following year during the Vote for Change Tour in late 2004. (Springsteen had "Devils & Dust" on his set list for at least one Vote for Change show, but at the last moment decided to perform a 12 string guitar rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner", which he would later release for free through his official website).

Devils & Dust received acclaim from music critics. On March 28, 2005, the title track was featured as an exclusive "first listen" on AOLmusic.com. The next day it was released for purchase on the iTunes music store. The album was also released in the DualDisc format. This puts the regular album on one side of the disc, and special content, like 5.1 surround sound and videos on the other side of the disc in DVD format. The DVD side of the disc features Springsteen performing and commenting on the writing/creation of "Devils and Dust", "Long Time Comin'", "Reno", "All I'm Thinkin' About", and "Matamoros Banks". Lyrics to the songs accompany the playing of the Surround Sound portion in a karaoke style. Springsteen's solo Devils & Dust Tour commenced upon the release of the album.

The marketing was successful. It granted Springsteen his seventh number one—and fourth number one debut—on the Billboard album chart, his second for an album containing only previously unreleased content and his first ever without the E Street Band. After the initial release period, however, sales quieted down; as of February 2006 it had attained gold status in the United States, where it had sold 650,000 copies as of November 2008.

Starbucks had been considered a possible retail outlet for the album, as it had accounted for about a quarter of all sales for the recently successful Ray Charles's Genius Loves Company. Starbucks, however, declined to sell copies of Springsteen's new album, sparking some headlines. Starbucks rejected the album not only because of the song "Reno", but because of stances that Springsteen had taken on corporate politics and Springsteen not granting approval for a cobranded disc and promotional deal that prominently featured the Starbucks name. Springsteen's label, Columbia Records, balked when the idea was floated, citing the blue-collar champion's well-known opposition to merchandising his music. "There were a number of factors involved...[Lyrics] was one of the factors, but not the only reason," Ken Lombard, president of Starbucks Entertainment, told Reuters. At a concert at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia, Springsteen introduced "Reno" by joking that the album would be available "at Dunkin' Donuts and Krispy Kreme stores everywhere."

Springsteen received five Grammy Award nominations for this work, three for the song "Devils & Dust", Song of the Year, Best Rock Song, and Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance, and two for the album as a whole, Best Contemporary Folk Album and Best Long Form Music Video. His sole award came for Best Solo Rock Vocal, an award he garnered in previous years for "Code of Silence" and "The Rising". During the February 8, 2006, Grammy telecast, Springsteen gave a live solo performance of "Devils & Dust", adding on "Bring 'em home" at the finish, then immediately turned and left the stage without staying to receive his partial standing ovation.

Track listing

All songs are written by Bruce Springsteen.

1. "Devils & Dust" 4:58
2. "All The Way Home" 3:38
3. "Reno" 4:08
4. "Long Time Comin'" 4:17
5. "Black Cowboys" 4:08
6. "Maria's Bed" 5:35
7. "Silver Palomino" 3:22
8. "Jesus Was an Only Son" 2:55
9. "Leah" 3:32
10. "The Hitter" 5:53
11. "All I'm Thinkin' About" 4:22
12. "Matamoros Banks" 4:00

Bruce Springsteen "Greatest Hits"

Greatest Hits is Bruce Springsteen's first compilation album, released February 27, 1995, on Columbia Records. It is a collection of some of Springsteen's hit singles and popular album tracks through the years along with four new songs at the end, mostly recorded with the E Street Band in 1995. The latter constituted Springsteen's first (albeit very partial) release with his backing band since the late 1980s. Some of the songs are shorter versions of the original album releases.

The incorporation of the "new" tracks was portrayed in the 1996 documentary Blood Brothers. "Murder Incorporated" and "This Hard Land" were, in fact, unused 1982 songs from the Born in the U.S.A. sessions, with the latter being re-recorded here more than a decade later, and both subsequently became Springsteen concert staples. "Blood Brothers", on the other hand, was played only as the final closing song of both the 1999–2000 Reunion Tour and 2002–2003 Rising Tour, both times with an extra verse added. "Secret Garden" achieved notoriety via the soundtrack of the 1996 film Jerry Maguire. Alternate versions of several of these new tracks were released on the 1996 Blood Brothers EP.

The compilation was commercially successful, hitting the peaks of the U.S. album chart and UK Album Chart and selling more than four million copies in the U.S.

The reception by music critics of Greatest Hits was rather negative upon the album's release, as were more contemporary reviews. David Browne of Entertainment Weekly felt that the album was released when it was because the Grammy Awards were coming up and "Streets of Philadelphia" was up for five awards and that the songs on the album were selected because of charting success, which means that several important songs were overlooked. He also felt that "Murder Incorporated" (in reference to the 1930s Murder, Inc.) was the only good new song on the album and that overall the album felt as if Bruce did not believe in himself any more.

The Rolling Stone review of the album by Parke Puterbaugh was rather unfavorable, which is surprising as most of Springsteen's albums were praised by the magazine. Parke felt that the songs on the collection belonged on their original LP releases, that songs from before Born to Run should have been included and that the new songs weren't that good. A more contemporary review by Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine was also unfavorable, saying that a lot of Bruce's hits and popular album tracks were missing, that "Murder Incorporated" was better than the other new songs, and that The Essential Bruce Springsteen was much better than Greatest Hits.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Bruce Springsteen.

1. "Born to Run" Born to Run (1975) 4:30
2. "Thunder Road" Born to Run 4:48
3. "Badlands" Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978) 4:03
4. "The River" The River (1980) 5:00
5. "Hungry Heart" The River 3:20
6. "Atlantic City" Nebraska (1982) 3:56
7. "Dancing in the Dark" Born in the U.S.A. (1984) 4:03
8. "Born in the U.S.A." Born in the U.S.A. 4:41
9. "My Hometown" (Early fade-out) Born in the U.S.A. 4:12
10. "Glory Days" (Early fade-out) Born in the U.S.A. 3:49
11. "Brilliant Disguise" Tunnel of Love (1987) 4:15
12. "Human Touch" (Edited radio version) Human Touch (1992) 5:10
13. "Better Days" (Edited version) Lucky Town (1992) 3:44
14. "Streets of Philadelphia" (Single edit) Philadelphia soundtrack (1993) 3:16
15. "Secret Garden" New song: Recorded in January 1995 at The Hit Factory, New York City 4:27
16. "Murder Incorporated" New song: Recorded at The Power Station in April/May 1982 3:57
17. "Blood Brothers" New song: Recorded in January 1995 at The Hit Factory, New York City 4:34
18. "This Hard Land" New song: Recorded in January 1995 at The Hit Factory, New York City 4:50