The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story by Bruce Springsteen

The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story

Bruce Springsteen

2010

The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story is a Rock album by Bruce Springsteen, originally released in 2010. On Gatefold: 6 pressings tracked.

Sound DNA

  • Rock
  • Folk Rock
  • gritty
  • earnest
  • heartland

About

Released three years after the epic <i>Born to Run</i>, Bruce Springsteen’s fourth album is full of the literal darkness in the album title—but it also also crackles with power and intensity. <i>Darkness on the Edge of Town</i> wasn’t an easy album to make: It didn’t arrive until 1978, largely because Springsteen had signed a contract preventing him from working with any producer not approved by the singer’s management. Springsteen sued his manager; his manager sued him back; and, as a result, the Boss spent a year and a half fighting to defend everything he had worked for. That defiance can be found throughout <i>Darkness on the Edge of Town</i>, from the lyrics to the vocals to the instrumental performances. You can hear Springsteen’s anger—as well as the sheer relief of achieving his freedom. But you can also sense Springsteen’s very real fear that everyone had forgotten about him, and his awareness that this record was going to make or break his future. The material was powerful enough—but the emotional catharsis required to bring it together took <i>Darkness on the Edge of Town</i> to another level. So there’s the snarling saga of father/son dynamics in “Adam Raised a Cain”; the firecracker fuse of lust in “Something in the Night” and “Candy’s Room”; the dull mundanity of the 9-to-5 job in “Factory.” Springsteen’s writing was informed by a new interest in classical country music, as well as an increasing affinity with American cinema. The dignity of adult life, and the sharp jump-cuts of B movies, informed a record featuring Springsteen’s now-familiar cast of ne’er-do-wells. These are people who’ve evolved past their days of living hard and getting into trouble. Springsteen’s characters in <i>Darkness on the Edge of Town</i> are trying to get by—but they’re desperate and making bad decisions along the way. They’re running out of road. You can hear their desperation in “Racing in the Street,” or on the somber title track. But this is hardly a hopeless album. Springsteen also included beacons of light in the form of “Badlands,” “The Promised Land,” and “Prove It All Night”—a trinity that would expand far beyond their roles as lifelines on this record, and come to symbolize the universal quest for hope and redemption.

via Apple Music

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Tracklist

  1. Darkness On The Edge Of Town
  2. The Promise
  3. The Promise: The Making Of Darkness On The Edge Of Town88:00
  4. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band: Darkness On The Edge Of Town, Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park 200958:00
  5. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band: Thrill Hill Vault 1976-197859:00
  6. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band: Thrill Hill Vault Houston '78 Bootleg: House Cut176:00

Side CD

  1. CD1.1Badlands
  2. CD1.2Adam Raised A Cain
  3. CD1.3Something In The Night
  4. CD1.4Candy's Room
  5. CD1.5Racing In The Street
  6. CD1.6The Promised Land
  7. CD1.7Factory
  8. CD1.8Streets Of Fire
  9. CD1.9Prove It All Night
  10. CD1.10Darkness On The Edge Of Town
  11. CD2.1Racing In The Street ('78)
  12. CD2.2Gotta Get That Feeling
  13. CD2.3Outside Looking In
  14. CD2.4Someday (We'll Be Together)
  15. CD2.5One Way Street
  16. CD2.6Because The Night
  17. CD2.7Wrong Side Of The Street
  18. CD2.8The Brokenhearted
  19. CD2.9Rendezvous
  20. CD2.10Candy's Boy
  21. CD3.1Save My Love
  22. CD3.2Ain't Good Enough For You
  23. CD3.3Fire
  24. CD3.4Spanish Eyes
  25. CD3.5It's A Shame
  26. CD3.6Come On (Let's Go Tonight)
  27. CD3.7Talk To Me
  28. CD3.8The Little Things (My Baby Does)
  29. CD3.9Breakaway
  30. CD3.10The Promise
  31. CD3.11City Of Night
  32. CD3.12Silence
  33. CD3.13The Way

Side DVD

  1. DVD1.1A Commitment To Life
  2. DVD1.2Two Clouds
  3. DVD1.3The Sound Picture
  4. DVD1.4The Process
  5. DVD1.5Notebook
  6. DVD1.6Pop Songs
  7. DVD1.7Varying Opinions
  8. DVD1.8Adult Music
  9. DVD1.9Making An Album
  10. DVD1.10Sense Of Possibilities
  11. DVD1.11Credits
  12. DVD2.1Badlands
  13. DVD2.2Adam Raised A Cain
  14. DVD2.3Something In The Night
  15. DVD2.4Candy's Room
  16. DVD2.5Racing In The Street
  17. DVD2.6The Promised Land
  18. DVD2.7Factory
  19. DVD2.8Streets Of Fire
  20. DVD2.9Prove It All Night
  21. DVD2.10Darkness On The Edge Of Town
  22. DVD2.1Save My Love (Holmdel, NJ 76)
  23. DVD2.2Candy's Boy (Holmdel, NJ 76)
  24. DVD2.3Something In The Night (Red Bank, NJ 76)
  25. DVD2.4Don't Look Back (NYC, 78)
  26. DVD2.5Ain't Good Enough For You (NYC, 78)
  27. DVD2.6The Promise (NYC, 78)
  28. DVD2.7Candy's Room Demo (NYC, 78)
  29. DVD2.8Badlands (Phoenix, 78)
  30. DVD2.9The Promised Land (Phoenix, 78)
  31. DVD2.10Prove It All Night (Phoenix, 78)
  32. DVD2.11Born To Run (Phoenix,78)
  33. DVD2.12Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (Phoenix, 78)
  34. DVD3.1Badlands
  35. DVD3.2Streets Of Fire
  36. DVD3.3It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City
  37. DVD3.4Darkness On The Edge Of Town
  38. DVD3.5Spirit In The Night
  39. DVD3.6Independence Day
  40. DVD3.7The Promised Land
  41. DVD3.8Prove It All Night
  42. DVD3.9Racing In The Street
  43. DVD3.10Thunder Road
  44. DVD3.11Jungleland
  45. DVD3.12The Ties That Bind
  46. DVD3.13Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
  47. DVD3.14Fever
  48. DVD3.15Fire
  49. DVD3.16Candy's Room
  50. DVD3.17Because The Night
  51. DVD3.18Point Blank
  52. DVD3.19She's The One
  53. DVD3.20Backstreets
  54. DVD3.21Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
  55. DVD3.22Born To Run
  56. DVD3.23Detroit Medley
  57. DVD3.24Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
  58. DVD3.25You Can't Sit Down
  59. DVD3.26Quarter To Three

Credits

Performers

Rare pressing on Gatefold · 6 pressings tracked on Gatefold