B Idol 'Rebel Yell' vs B Springsteen 'Born in the USA'

'Born in the USA' is kinda terrible. the synths really make me puke.

Some of the Generation X stuff was pretty good 'though.

Generation X were terrible.

Of all the tracks on that record, that one dates the worst. Whether you like that whole big-ass, whoop-it-up E Street Band sound that is overdone all over the place is another matter entirely. I go back and forth. "Working on the Highway" makes me want to put my eyes out, but "I'm Goin' Down" is brilliant.

Er... sometimes.

Ah c'mon: Wild Youth, Ready Steady Go, No No No, 100 Punks, Day By Day, Friday's Angels, King Rocker, Running With The Boss Sound.... a bit blatant and a bit formulaic maybe, but surely not *terrible* (and certainly a bloody sight better than anything "Gen-X" did after Bob Andrews and Mark Laff left or indeed anything that either Mr Idol or Mr James have done subsequently!)?

Secondly, both the track "Rebel Yell" and the album that shares the title are fucking * L I G H T Y E A R S * better than *ANYTHING* Springsteen has ever wheezed out of his pie hole, not least his perpetually misunderstood paean to disenfranchised Vietnam vets. Springsteen's heart's always been in the right place, but "Born in the USA" was fucking dead on arrival ("Stillborn in the USA"?). "Rebel Yell," meanwhile, apart from being entirely silly, is simply a great fuckin' tune. Don't really know precisely what Sir William is talking about therein ("She said 'Come on baby I got a licence for love And if it expires pray help from above'"), but dang if it ain't a whole lot of stoopid fun. DO YOU HATE FUN? (.....at last an opportunity to turn that question around!)

I'll give the Boss the nod (esp. with all the hating going on here), if only because I mix up "Rebel Yell" with "White Wedding" in my head some times. If it was "Catch My Fall" vs. "Born In The U.S.A." then Mr. Whiplash Smile might have taken the trophy.

Of course that's what it means. That's half the appeal of Idol anyway, I mean WTF is the guy thinking dressing like that and riding motorcycles around and naming himself 'Billy Idol'? He's the white Prince of egomania - completely nuts. Hence: Grebt.

And, yes, Generation X were amazing. Is this some leftover Class of '77 punk realness thing--I just don't get it. How can you argue with such terrific pop songs? And Derwood's hair! What a fabulous!

That said, if we're just going by the songs, then Billy by a wide margin. I can't help but see Reagan re-election rallies in my head everytime i hear that particular cut by Broooce.

But i still like _Nebraska_ a whole lot, even if it's a totally calculated move before crashing into the mainstream.

I listened to the whole BORN IN THE USA LP again last night, and was reminded of how ambivalent I have always been about it, how odd it is. Supposedly big and iconic, but it features waff bar-room cornball tat like 'Darlington County'? What's that all about?

I wonder if a lot of it was recorded live - might explain the odd roughness of the arrangements / performances (despite the supposedly 'smooth' / 1980s keyboards).

I didn't much care for the Springsteen album when it came out except maybe for "I'm On Fire" single which still holds up pretty well. It was so sparkly and clean and wussified that it really made my flesh crawl.

I certainly played the shit out of Rebel Yell. Billy's hedonistic lyrics detail the excessive mind-set of his drug and sex-addled disposition in a very honest and believable portayal. Stevens guitar work is so impressively precise, he could make diarea sound galvanically cleansed. The material has a grit and purity that made the 80's so much better.

I would have gotten along just fine if BITUSA never even saw the light of day; i can't make that same statement for Rebel Yell.

I wonder if a lot of it was recorded live - might explain the odd roughness of the arrangements / performances (despite the supposedly 'smooth' / 1980s keyboards).