Bruce Springsteen’s <em>Wrecking Ball</em> Bumps Adele’s <em>21</em> From #1 Spot

Congratulations are in order for Mr. Bruce Springsteen, who knocked Adele’s relentless 21 out of the #1 spot on Billboard’s Top 200 this week. And they said it couldn’t be done!

The Boss notched his 10th #1 debut with his new album Wrecking Ball, which sold 196,000 copies in its first week of sales, according to Nielsen SoundScan, scarcely bumping the Grammy-winning songstress out of her longstanding position on top. But the win didn’t come easy. In fact, Springsteen apparently squeezed out Adele by just over 1,300 copies, so the race was as tight as possible.

Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball is the first release to take Adele off the #1 spot this year. Even so, don’t shed any tears for Adele just yet, because 21 also surpassed the 8 million sales mark this week, making it the first album to top 8 million in sales since Usher’s hits-packed 2004 disc, Confessions. Moreover, Adele’s 21 sales totaled 195,000, which was plenty enough to secure her the #2 spot on the chart, just above NOW 41, which pushed 152,000 copies. Lady Antebellum’s Own the Night claimed the #4 spot on the list at 108,000 copies sold, and Coldplay’s Mylo Xyloto rounded out the top 5 with 100,000 in sales.

In other Boss news, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are set to tour North America in support of Wrecking Ball beginning this weekend.

View the original article here

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Announce Tour

The Boss is back with a vengeance in 2012. He’s releasing a new album. He’s giving the keynote address at South by Southwest. And now, he’s announced he’ll be hitting the road for a string of U.S. dates with the E Street Band, according to Rolling Stone.

Bruce Springsteen and pals will begin a 19-date tour on March 18 at Phillips Arena in Atlanta. The trek will wind its way up the East Coast, including multiple dates in New Jersey and at Madison Square Garden, before hitting New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and wrapping up May 2 in Newark. The group will tour Europe in the summer and return for another North American trek in the fall.

It will be the first E Street Band tour without saxophonist Clarence Clemons, who died last year. There’s no word on if Clemons spot in the group will be filled by another player. Springsteen’s new studio album, Wrecking Ball, will be released on March 6.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band tour dates:

March 18 – Atlanta, GA – Philips Arena
March 19 – Greensboro, NC – Greensboro Coliseum
March 23 – Tampa, FL – Tampa Bay Times Forum
March 26 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
March 28 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
March 29 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
April 1 – Washington, DC – Verizon Center
April 3 – East Rutherford, NJ – Izod Center
April 4 – East Rutherford, NJ – Izod Center
April 6 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
April 9 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
April 12 – Detroit, MI – The Palace of Auburn Hills
April 13 – Buffalo, NY – First Niagara Center
April 16 – Albany, NY – Times Union Center
April 17 – Cleveland, OH – Quicken Loans Arena
April 24 – San Jose, CA – HP Pavilion
April 26 – Los Angeles, CA – Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
April 29 – New Orleans, LA – New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
May 2 – Newark, NJ – Prudential Center

View the original article here

Bruce Springsteen’s New Album Due March 6

Recently we told you that Bruce Springsteen’s forthcoming album was produced by Ron Aniello (Jars of Clay, Candlebox) and would feature contributions from Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello and members of the E Street Band. Now, we can reveal that the Boss’s 17th studio album will be called Wrecking Ball and will be released on March 6 in North America.

“The lyrics tell a story you can't hear anywhere else and the music is his most innovative of recent years,” Springsteen manager Jon Landau said in a statement, via Rolling Stone. “The writing is some of the best of his career and both veteran fans and those who are new to Bruce will find much to love on Wrecking Ball.”

The album’s name comes from a song that Bruce and the E Streeters debuted in 2009 when they played some of the last shows at Giants Stadium. The record also features “Land of Hope and Dreams,” a song Springsteen and the gang have been playing live since 1999.

The other nine songs on Wrecking Ball are completely new. Springsteen is streaming kickoff track “We Take Care of Our Own” on his website. Check out the tracklist below:

Bruce Springsteen, Wrecking Ball

1. “We Take Care of Our Own”
2. “Easy Money”
3. “Shackled and Down”
4. “Jack of All Trades”
5. “Death to My Hometown”
6. “The Depression”
7. “Wrecking Ball”
8. “You’ve Got It”
9. “Rocky Ground”
10. “Land of Hope and Dreams”
11. “We Are Live”

View the original article here

Tom Morello Plays on New Bruce Springsteen Album

Although Bruce Springsteen’s forthcoming album still doesn’t have a title or a release date, some details about the record have come to light, via a Rolling Stone interview with the Boss’ manager Jon Landau.

The new album was produced by Ron Aniello, who has also helmed records by Jars of Clay, Candlebox and Springsteen’s wife and E Street Band member Patti Scialfa. Landau said that various E Streeters contributed to the album, as did Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello.

“It was an experimental effort with a new producer,” Landau said. “Bruce and Ron used a wide variety of players to create something that both rocks and is very fresh.”

Lyrically, Landau said that the album has “social overtones.” There has been talk of the album dealing with economic justice and that Springsteen views it as the angriest work he’s ever delivered.

Although no U.S. dates have been announced, Landau confirmed that Springsteen and the E Street Band will tour North America in the spring and fall, with a European stretch in between. No one knows what the lineup will look like, following last year’s passing of saxophonist Clarence Clemons.

View the original article here

Bruce Springsteen Named SXSW Keynote Speaker

Bruce Springsteen will give the keynote address at the 2012 South by Southwest Festival in Austin, TX, according to Stereogum. The Boss will speak at the Austin Convention Center on March 15. Former keynote speakers include Johnny Cash, Neil Young, Robert Plant, Smokey Robinson and Bob Geldof.

Next year is shaping up to be a big one for Springsteen. He’s already announced that he’ll be taking the E Street Band out on tour in North America and Europe for the first time since the death of saxophone player Clarence Clemons. U.K. dates in June and July are already confirmed. He also is finishing work on a new album with the E Streeters.

View the original article here

Bruce Springsteen Inspires ‘Nugent-esque’ Tom Morello

Former Audioslave and erstwhile Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello has re-donned the guise of his alter-ego, The Nightwatchman, for a new CD. Set for release on August 30, World Wide Rebel Songs once again finds the guitarist sharpening his lyrical blades for social injustice. As opposed to his earlier Woody Guthrie-style acoustic efforts, though, Morello has embraced his inner guitar hero on the new album—a move largely inspired by a recent collaboration with Bruce Springsteen.

“On this record,” Morello told MusicRadar.com, “I felt much more comfortable melding the worlds of Tom Morello, 'electric guitar hero,' and Nightwatchman, 'brooding folk singer.’ [laughs] Where that evolution first happened was when I played the electric version of “The Ghost of Tom Joad” with Bruce Springsteen. That was the first time I ever sang on stage with an electric guitar. At first, I wanted The Nightwatchman material to stand in very stark contrast to Rage and Audioslave. But I've mellowed a bit on that now. I enjoy playing big riffs and guitar solos. That's who I am as an artist. So I finally got to a point where I could put it all together. There's plenty of grim folk tales of retribution on this record, but there's also big, 'Nugent-esque' guitar solos all over it.” [laughs]

He continued, "It wasn't so much that I needed confidence; it just never really occurred to me that I really could blend those worlds. I love the idea of the lone, guerilla-style acoustic singer…but playing with Bruce was kind of an epiphany moment for me. I'm going to do it both ways now: some nights will be the big rock band with the Freedom Fighter Orchestra, and other nights will be solo acoustic nights."

View the original article here

Dave Grohl, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young Team with Pearl Jam

Rock stars of the highest order are contributing to Pearl Jam 20, a book that looks back on the grunge band’s two decades of existence. The tome will be available September 13, and will coincide with the release of the Cameron Crowe-directed documentary of the same name, according to NME.com.

The book was put together by editors/authors Jonathan Cohen and Mark Wilkinson and is being called an “aesthetically stunning, definitive chronicle of the band’s past two decades.” It will feature interviews with Pearl Jam’s friends and collaborators, such as Bruce Springsteen, Dave Grohl and Neil Young. Crowe wrote the foreword and selected songs for a companion album.

Earlier this year, Crowe said that Pearl Jam 20 will include, “the best souvenirs of the past, some fabled footage you’ve heard exists but have never seen, and some interviews.”

View the original article here