The Rising (album)

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The Rising
Springsteen The Rising.jpg
Studio album by
Bruce Springsteen
ReleasedJuly 30, 2002
RecordedJanuary–March 2002
Southern Tracks Recording Studio, Atlanta, Georgia
GenreRock, heartland rock
Length72:52
LabelColumbia
ProducerBrendan O'Brien
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band chronology
Live in New York City
(2001) 		The Rising
(2002) 		The Essential Bruce Springsteen
(2003)
Bruce Springsteen chronology
Live in New York City
(2001) 		The Rising
(2002) 		The Essential Bruce Springsteen
(2003)
Singles from The Rising
  1. "The Rising"
    Released: June 24, 2002
  2. "Lonesome Day"
    Released: December 2, 2002
  3. "Waitin' on a Sunny Day"
    Released: April 22, 2003

The Rising is the twelfth studio album by American recording artist Bruce Springsteen, released on July 30, 2002, on Columbia Records. 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.[1] Based in large part on Springsteen's reflections during the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the album predominantly centers upon themes of relationship struggles, existential crisis and social uplift.

Upon its release, The Rising was a critical and commercial success, being hailed as the triumphant return for Springsteen. The album became Springsteen's first to top the US Billboard 200 since Tunnel of Love in 1987. It also garnered a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album in 2003; although nominated for the Album of the Year award as well, it was beaten by Norah Jones' debut album Come Away with Me. The title song "The Rising" was also a Grammy recipient.

History and influence[]

While most of the songs were written after September 11, 2001, a few pre-date the attacks. Springsteen got the inspiration for the album a few days after the 9/11 attacks, when a stranger in a car stopped next to him, rolled down his window and said: "We need you now."[2] Springsteen also told this story to journalist Mark Binelli in the August 22, 2002 issue of Rolling Stone. The title song tells the story of a firefighter going up in the World Trade Center, while others try to escape, then it evokes the image of peoples' spirits rising up together, through the air like angels, with a "dream of life". "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 during at least one soundcheck during the Reunion Tour. Springsteen has commented that "Nothing Man" was originally completed in 1994 but re-recorded for this album. "Worlds Apart," the most experimental song on the album, features a heavy Middle Eastern influence along with Qawwali singers in the introduction.[3] "The Fuse," another experimental track, features a subtle hip hop beat and vocal looping. A re-recorded version of the song, with an orchestral backing, features in the Spike Lee-directed film 25th Hour.

"Mary's Place" is directly inspired by Sam Cooke's "Meet Me at Mary's Place";[4][5] The gospel-like "My City of Ruins" is organized around the melody line of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready".[6]

Release[]

Helped by a substantial marketing campaign — pre-release promotion was the biggest of Springsteen's career [7] — and the concurrent Rising Tour, The Rising went on to become Springsteen's sixth #1 album on the Billboard 200.

Critical reception[]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic82/100[8]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic4/5 stars[9]
Blender4/5 stars[10]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[11]
The Guardian3/5 stars[12]
NME7/10[13]
Pitchfork8.2/10[14]
Q4/5 stars[15]
Rolling Stone5/5 stars[16]
Spin8/10[17]
Uncut5/5 stars[18]

The Rising received widespread acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 82, based on 21 reviews.[8] In Rolling Stone, Kurt Loder said it was a triumphant and cohesive album that possessed a "bold thematic concentration and penetrating emotional focus".[16] Thom Jurek of AllMusic called the record "one of the very best examples in recent history of how popular art can evoke a time period and all of its confusing and often contradictory notions, feelings and impulses."[9] David Browne, writing in Entertainment Weekly, felt that Springsteen's message has a renewed relevance, while his occasionally overburdened lyrics are overcome by lively and vivid music.[11] Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club wrote that the musically confident album showcases Springsteen's strength as an empathic songwriter.[19] Uncut magazine called The Rising "a brave and beautiful album of humanity, hurt and hope from the songwriter best qualified to speak to and for his country ... A towering achievement."[18]

In a mixed review for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis found the music awkwardly old-fashioned and said that its best songs are highlighted by good melodies rather than lyrics, which he felt are generally simplistic and unambiguous.[12] Keith Harris of The Village Voice found most of the songs too vague and unworldly, and lacking in real-life characters "responding in their idiosyncratic ways."[20] In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau cited "Paradise", "Nothing Man", "The Rising", and "My City of Ruins" as "choice cuts",[21] indicating good songs on "an album that isn't worth your time or money".[22] He felt that The Rising is unmistakably patriotic to the point where it is "dragged down, with a few magnificent exceptions, by the overburdened emotions and conceptual commonplaces of the great audience that inspired it."[23]

The Rising was voted the sixth-best album of 2002 in the Pazz & Jop, an annual critics poll run by The Village Voice.[24] Kludge included it on their list of best albums of 2002.[25] Christgau, the poll's creator and supervisor, ranked the title track as the year's tenth best single in his own list for the poll.[26] In 2011, Rolling Stone named it the fifteenth best album of the 2000s.[27] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[28]

Legacy[]

Although "The Rising" was a response to 9/11, many see it as a more universal anthem of resilience and hope. On the 10th anniversary of 9/11, Dan DeLuca of the Philadelphia Inquirer said: "The songs make contextual sense in the aftermath of 9/11, but the specific details that give them power are allusive. 'Lonesome Day,' 'You're Missing,' and 'My City of Ruins' are about the hollowing devastation of that day, but the language is universal, so the sentiments are by no means frozen in time."[29] The song "My City of Ruins" has been used in response to tragedies other than 9/11, such as the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. In 2006, while on tour supporting his We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions album, Springsteen performed the song at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The song received an emotional response from the crowd given its refrain of "Come on rise up!"[30] "The Rising", given its message of hope in the face of adversity. The song "The Rising" also featured prominently at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

Track listing[]

This album was published as a double LP. Track 1 - 4, 5 - 8, 9 - 11, 12 - 15 were recorded respectively on side A, side B, side C and side D (written on label as side 1, side 2, side 3 and side 4 respectively).[31]

All tracks are written by Bruce Springsteen.

No.TitleLength
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

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]

Personnel[]

Adapted from the liner notes:

Additional musicians

  • Soozie Tyrell – violin (tracks 1-3, 7, 8, 10-13, 15) , background vocals (tracks 1-3, 8, 10-13, 15)
  • Brendan O'Brien – hurdy-gurdy (tracks 2, 6), glockenspiel (tracks 2, 3), orchestra bells (track 3)
  • Larry Lemaster – cello (tracks 1, 12)
  • Jere Flint – cello (tracks 1, 12)
  • Jane Scarpantoni – cello (tracks 2, 11, 13, 15)
  • Nashville String Machine (tracks 5, 12):
    • Carl Gorodetzky – contractor, concert master, violin
    • Pam Sixfin, Lee Larrison, Conni Ellisor, Alan Umstead, Dave Davidson, Mary Kathryn Vanosdale, David Angell – violins
    • Kris Wilkinson, Gary Vanosdale, Jim Grosjean, Monisa Angell – viola
    • Bob Mason, Carol Rabinowitz, Julie Tanner, Lynn Peithman – celli
    • Ricky Keller – strings arrangement, conductor
  • Asif Ali Khan and group – vocal guests (track 7):
    • Asif Ali Khan – lead singer
    • Karamat Ali Asad – harmonium
    • Haji Nazir Afridi – tabla
    • Manzoor Hussain Shibli, Sarfraz Hussain, Raza Hussain, Imtiaz Shibli, Shahnawaz Hussain Khan, Bakhat Fayyaz Hussain, Omerdaz Hussain Aftab, Waheed Hussain Mumtaz
  • Alliance Singers (tracks 8, 11):
    • Carinda Carford – contractor, choir
    • Michelle Moore – choir solo
    • Tiffeny Andrews, Antionette Moore, Antonio Lawrence, Jesse Moorer – choir
  • The Miami Horns (track 11):

Technical

  • Brendan O'Brien – production, mixing
  • Nick Didia – engineering
  • Karl Egsieker – second engineering
  • Billy Bowers – additional engineering
  • Toby Scott – additional engineering (track 8)
  • Melissa Mattey – second engineering for Nashville String Machine (track 5)
  • Chuck Plotkin – recording engineering for Asif Ali Khan and Group (track 7)
  • Dave Reed – engineering for Asif Ali Khan and Group (track 7)
  • Bryan Humphrey – second engineering for Asif Ali Khan and Group (track 7)
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering
  • Laurie Flannery – digital editing
  • Chris Austopchuk – art direction
  • Dave Bett – art direction, design
  • Michelle Holme – design
  • Danny Clinch – photography

Charts[]

Certifications[]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[65] Platinum 70,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[66] Gold 15,000*
Belgium (BEA)[67] Gold 25,000*
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[68] Platinum 50,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[69] Gold 28,121[69]
France (SNEP)[70] Gold 100,000*
Germany (BVMI)[71] Platinum 300,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[72] Gold 40,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[73] Platinum 15,000^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[74] Platinum 40,000*
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[75] Platinum 100,000^
Sweden (GLF)[76] 2× Platinum 120,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[77] Gold 20,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[78] Platinum 300,000*
United States (RIAA)[80] 2× Platinum 2,100,000[79]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also[]

References[]

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External links[]

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