Maps of Music

Wrecking Ball (2012)

Where the lyrics of Wrecking Ball take you, and where it was really made.

The title track was first written for a New Jersey stadium that was about to be torn down, and the album as a whole grew out of anger at the 2008 financial crisis.

Key places

Springsteen's home studio (2012)

Recording site Stone Hill (Springsteen's home recording studio) — Stone Hill is Springsteen's home recording studio in Colts Neck, New Jersey. The album was recorded at this location. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at MSR Studios (2012)

Recording site MSR Studios — MusicBrainz lists MSR Studios as a recording location for this album. The listing places the studio in New York, but the exact building is not confirmed here. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Wrecking Ball: 17th studio album by Bruce Springsteen, the American singer-songwriter
• Released 6 March 2012 in the US on Columbia Records; 5 March in the United Kingdom
• Named best album of 2012 by Rolling Stone
• Nominated for three Grammy Awards, including Best Rock Album and Best Rock Song for "We Take Care of Our Own"
• The opening track was also the album's first single

Background

• All but four songs were written in 2011
• The title track was first written in 2009, before a series of E Street Band shows at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, as a tribute to a venue set to close and be demolished
• The song is written from the stadium's point of view, but in the album context it became a defiant anthem about economic adversity
• Clarence Clemons, who died in June 2011, plays the saxophone solos on "Land of Hope and Dreams" and backing sax on the title track
• Springsteen reportedly wrote the album after the 2008 financial crisis convinced him it was time to write about the people and forces behind it

Recording

• The tour behind the album featured the full E Street Band lineup, but only Clemons, Steven Van Zandt, Max Weinberg and Patti Scialfa appear on the album
• Adjunct members Charlie Giordano and Soozie Tyrell are also heavily featured
• Members of the Sessions Band, including the horn section, appear, with special guests Tom Morello and Matt Chamberlain
• The album was recorded at Stone Hill, Springsteen's home recording studio in Colts Neck, New Jersey
• Producer Ron Aniello said "American Man" and a re-recorded version of "American Skin (41 Shots)" were recorded but not released; the latter came out two years later on High Hopes

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born September 23, 1949 in Long Branch, New Jersey; grew up in Freehold, New Jersey.
• Inspired by Elvis Presley and the Beatles, began playing with local bands in the 1960s, including the Castiles, Steel Mill and the Bruce Springsteen Band.
• Formed the band that became the E Street Band in October 1972; the name came into use in September 1974.
• Signed to Columbia Records in 1972 by John Hammond; debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. released January 1973.

Members

• Performs solo and with the E Street Band, his backing band since 1972.
• Long-time members include Clarence Clemons, Danny Federici, Steven Van Zandt, Roy Bittan, Max Weinberg and Patti Scialfa.
• Clemons died June 18, 2011; Federici died in 2008.

Career

• Born to Run (1975) brought worldwide fame; Born in the U.S.A. (1984) became one of the best-selling albums of all time.
• Won an Academy Award in 1994 for "Streets of Philadelphia"; inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.
• Has sold more than 140 million records worldwide; holds 20 Grammy Awards and a Special Tony Award.
• The 2023–2025 tour with the E Street Band was among the highest-grossing tours in history.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• David Fricke of Rolling Stone gave the album a rave review, calling it the most despairing, confrontational and musically turbulent album Springsteen has ever made
• BBC Music's Ian Winwood called it a work of commanding range and masterful execution with varied and surprising music
• The Guardian's Alexis Petridis wrote that its bombast rarely seems hollow and serves an anger that feels righteous and genuine
• Andy Gill of The Independent found it much darker than any of Springsteen's earlier blue-collar tirades
• Slant Magazine's Jesse Cataldo called Springsteen borderline jingoistic and his perspective rose-colored
• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine found the album cumbersome and top heavy
• Chicago Tribune's Greg Kot criticized the music as sterile
• The New York Times' Jon Caramanica found the energy in service of deeply nebulous ideas

Reappraisal

• At Metacritic the album received a metascore of 78, based on 41 reviews, a generally positive reception
• In The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics poll for the year's best albums, it placed at No. 15
• Robert Christgau named it the tenth best album of 2012

Records

• Debuted at No. 1 in 16 different countries, including the US and UK charts
• The US debut was approximately 196,000 copies and the UK approximately 74,000
• Springsteen's tenth No. 1 album in the US, tying Elvis Presley for third-most No. 1 albums of all time
• By November 2013, 506,000 sold in the US according to Nielsen SoundScan
• Sold 1.5 million copies worldwide in 2012, the 22nd best-selling album of that year
• Ranked the number-one album of 2012 on Rolling Stone's Top 50 list

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• President Barack Obama used "We Take Care of Our Own" as one of his top campaign songs, and the song's use in the campaign helped boost its sales by 409%
• The album was nominated for three Grammy Awards, and Springsteen performed at the ceremony with the E Street Band
• Robert Christgau called the album his best since Tunnel of Love, if not Born in the U.S.A.
• The album was released as a two-LP set, a single CD and a digital download, with a Special Edition that added two bonus tracks
• Springsteen's Wrecking Ball World Tour was where he talked to the crowd about the state of the economy, which inspired the song "Jack of All Trades"

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact