The Rising represents the first recording on which Bruce & The E Street Band are officially working together since Born In The USA. It also represents one of the first bodies of work by a major American artist responding to the September 11th terror attacks on New York and Washington.

If you are looking for a sycophantic review just because it comes from a site called the Bruce Springsteen Online Shrine, you are going to be disappointed. Though I own all of Springsteen's albums and consider him possibly the greatest rock and roll musician ever, I also recognize that he is capable of putting out bad work as well as good (see Human Touch and Lucky Town).

All in all, the Rising is a good album, at times touching greatness and at other times brushing up against the kind of tripe that made Human Touch and Lucky Town so lame. Since there is such a disparity in quality from song to song, I decided that a track by track review was the best format for The Rising.

Lonesome Day
This track kicks off the album appropriately, feeling like vintage Springsteen & The E Street Band with a twist. The violins in the song give the feel of something that's matured a bit, that's not quite the same as we remember it. Sort of like looking at a picture of the band in the height of the Born in the USA craze and then looking at a photo of them today. These are the same guys, but there are more lines on their faces. Hints of 9/11 are in this song if you are looking for them, but this track doesn't deal with it head on. All in all, a quality if unspectacular track that opens an album to which the same evaluation could be applied.

Into The Fire
The first song on the album that addresses September 11th overtly, Into The Fire is a slow moving inspirational song in rememberence of the firefighters lost in the towers that day. Warm and moving, the track's simple chorus reverberates like a prayer: "May your strength give us strength / May your faith give us faith / May your hope give us hope / May your love bring us love."

A very nice song, one that grows better as you listen to it and reflect on the courage of those men who climbed into the towers to save others at the cost of their own lives.

Waiting On A Sunny Day
A playful break from the album's heavy theme, Waiting On A Sunny Day features country-style vocals from Bruce that I don't recall hearing since Born In the USA's Darlington County. A light and bouncy track supported by doo-wop style backups and spry fiddling, this isn't something you'll hear standing alone on the radio anytime soon, but it's a nice song in the context of the album. Clarence Clemons gets his first sax solo here.

Nothing Man
A return to the darker 9/11 theme, Nothing Man happens to be my favorite track on the album. The song's sadness and sorrow washed over me, it's humbling theme and haunting music drove straight to my soul, recalling the feelings I had those first few days after September 11th, dealing with the emotions of that stunning day. It's a simple song, and perhaps I am bringing a lot of my own baggage to it, but for me this track is the album's best, in a class with slow but stirring Springsteen classics like One Step Up and Streets of Philadelphia.

Counting On A Miracle
A nice rock song, Counting On A Miracle starts off feeling like another cheery diversion from the 9/11 theme, and sneaks up on you. While fast moving and catchy, the lyrics speak from the perspective of one who has lost a lover abruptly, waiting vainly for a storybook ending that isn't coming.

The impact of the lyrics aren't felt until the tempo changes mid-song and Bruce segues into the track's finest moment, singing, "Sleeping beauty awakes / From her dream / With her lover's kiss on her lips / Your kiss was taken from me / Now all I have is this... / Your kiss, your kiss / Your touch, your touch / Your heart, your heart / Your strength, your strength / Your hope, your hope / Your faith, your faith / Your face, your face / Your love, your love / Your dream, your dream / Your life, your life."

All in all, the track is like a tart lollypop with a small, but deliciously sweet center that may or may not be worth licking your way to, depending on your mood at the time.

Empty Sky
Another drop down in tempo, and an obvious reference to the empty place in the New York City skyline where the towers once stood. The song has some nice lyrics but isn't at all catchy and is generally forgettable.

Worlds Apart
The first very good rock song on the album, Worlds Apart mixes African and Middle Eastern sounds (similar to those on the excellent Black Hawk Down Sountrack) beautifully with the kind of gritty, bitter sound found on the Tunnel of Love album. A story told from the perspective of lovers, a Muslim and an American, torn apart by a cultural gulf. On album that feels almost too much like what we've heard from Bruce in the past, this song is a splendid departure.

Let's Be Friends (Skin To Skin)
Pass. Not really my sort of thing. I read in some other review that this is a "great make out song." Barry White doesn't have anything to worry about.

Further On Up The Road
An interesting song, which feels like a track taken from the outtakes of The Ghost of Tom Joad and transitioned from a a gritty folk song to a bitter rock song. It also feels like its melody might have been hijacked from a Mamas and Papas tune and bent to a Joad-like pessimism. Not a great song, but far better than the two tracks it finds itself wedged between.

The Fuse
Nothing special. Another song rife with sexual themes, I could see this more as a make out song than Skin To Skin, but it's still not my sort of thing, at least not from Bruce (with the notable exception of I'm On Fire from Born in the USA). Much better than Skin To Skin, but that's like saying it's better to french kiss your sister than your grandfather -- neither are desirable options.

Mary's Place
This track feels like an old Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes song geared for a crowd of 50-somethings. I mean that as a detraction, but considering Bruce's age and the age of much of his audience, that may not be too far off from the mark. This is my mother's favorite track on the album, but it's not for me.

Your Missing
A welcome return to the album's darker side, Your Missing is a chilling track that beautifully channels the tale of one who has suddenly lost their soulmate. "Pictures on the nightstand / TV's on in the den / Your house is waiting / For you to walk in / But you're missing / When I shut out the lights / You're missing / When I close my eyes / You're missing / When I see the sun rise / You're missing." A gutwrenchingly stark chronicle of despair, Your Missing is also the finest track on the second half of the album.

The Rising
The title track and first single from the album, the Rising is a soulful yet somewhat lackluster song, some parts classic Bruce and other parts, specifically the chorus of "la, la, la, la", seem hollow. This song, like the final track on the album, My City of Ruins, finds Springsteen in preacher mode. You can almost picture him in a white collar leading a chorus of the faithful.

A solid track that served its purpose well in letting the world know that Bruce and the band were at it again, The Rising is, thankfully, only about the fifth or sixth best song on the album even though it will likely get the most radio play.

Paradise
While Worlds Apart touched on the Muslim point of view, this song goes much further, coming from the perspective of not just an ordinary Muslim, but in fact a suicide bomber.  The imagery in the dreary song are the final thoughts of the suicide bomber, calming himself with thoughts of his love, thinking only peripherally about what he is doing, thinking mostly of the peace of paradise.

It's an interesting attempt to humanize the attackers and reconcile how a person might be able do what was done on 9/11. Definitely controversial, the song, though soft and soothing in rhythm and melody, is uncomfortable to listen to because of the subject matter. Whether or not it is a necessary discomfort to subject oneself to is a discussion I'll leave to the politicians.

My City Of Ruins
An ode to New York City, this song received radio play shortly after 9/11 when Bruce debuted it in the all-star concert for the City. A beautifully descriptive and moving song, its only flaw is that it suffers from the same problem as title track itself -- a lackluster chorus.

After the breathtaking imagery Bruce crafts for the portions of the song (Now there's tears / On the pillow / Darlin' where we slept / And you took my heart / when you left / Without your sweet kiss / My soul is lost, my friend / Tell me how do I begin again?", a chorus like "C'mon rise up / C'mon rise up / C'mon rise up" seems glib.

That aside, it's still a pretty song and it lives up to the billing Bruce gave it at Concert For New York as "a prayer for our fallen brothers and sisters."

Final Thoughts
An album with strengths and weaknesses to be sure, The Rising is in its totality a therapeutic work and perhaps Bruce's most socially important record to date. When future historians look back to the year 2001, and to the United States in the aftermath of the September 11th terror attacks, they'll do well to use this album as a barometer of how that day emotionally impacted the lives of most Americans, and more specifically those from the greater New York metropolitan area.

There is of course the renewed sense of patriotism that is hard to miss and extremely refreshing to see, that is obvious to see everywhere we look. But The Rising drives to something else, something that renewed patriotism is being used to help us cope with. The sense of loss and the sense of resolve: loss of invulnerability, loss of the people who died that day, loss of the towers that stood defiantly in the sky as a testament to our dominance over nature, the resolve to recover, the resolve to never let it happen again and the resolve to destroy those who foolishly thought they could get away with it.

Like a great champion boxer downed by a surprise blow from a challenger underestimated, America rises back up to her feet, brushes herself off and steels herself with a determination to make that punk wish he never got into the ring that day. The Rising is about getting back up and brushing yourself off.

- Chris Kivlehan