Library Rock's Backpages

Bruce Springsteen: The River (Columbia)

Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, January 1981

A SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE sketch of a few seasons back poked fun at Roy Orbison by reducing him to a caricature: motionless stance and ever-present shades. With this overdue collection — given added weight by being a double album — Bruce Springsteen has proven himself to be equally typecast. Unable or unwilling to cast off the cliches of his past records, The River's attempt to Make a Statement is buried in an avalanche of repetition and evident lack of inspiration.

Total word count of piece: 820

Subscribe

Becoming a member is easy. Membership gives you access to all the thousands of articles in the library.

Click here to go to Subscribe page.

Click here for academic and other group subscriptions.