#this was the most fun album of their catalog to do due to the sheer absurdity of it

[normanjdroid]

THE CRITTERS (THE SHITE ALBUM) - 1998

Known amongst casual fans as "The White Album" and by diehard "true" Critters fans as "The Shite Album" it was released on November 22nd, 1998 - Their only double album at the time before their various compilations in the 2000s, The Shite Album continues to be widely praised and celebrated by fans and critics alike.

Most of the music featured on The Shite Album was written (and in some cases recorded) during the band's visit to Indiana where they partook in various Midwest Oddities.

Exiled from their high-production, expensive equipment (and PUNCH) The Shite Album proved early one to be a much more thoughtful, laid-back, and well-hydrated album when compared to the triumphant Major Happy's Up And Coming Once Upon A Good Time Band - that was until they returned to Critland and their normal recording studios and the whole album went "Fucking bonkers!" according to Kickin McChicken.

Originally, it was actually planned to have the actual physical record be triangular. With the earliest known prototypes being perfect octagons. And with an image in the center of the record that was originally taken from a toilet bowel that the four looked down at.

Of course, being a TRIANGULAR SHAPE of all things instead of a normal circular record, initial pressings were known to have "technical glitches", with many copies actually missing key portions of songs, and there were mass returns. (Obviously).

While the intention was for the album to be named just The Critters, "true" fans soon gave it a different nickname: The Shite Album (inspired by both the song mixture quality and how the center looked like a flushing toilet if spun fast enough.

Because of the recall, the triangular shaped "Shite Album" pressings are the rarest Critter record to ever be printed, with most unsold copies being buried in a barren wasteland of misery with no redeeming qualities that no one dares go to unless all hope has been lost. Chicago, Illinois.

The Tracklisting!

Disc 1 - Side A.

We've Arrived! (And To Prove It We're Here)

Let's Be Natural

Glass Onion

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

Legendary

Wild Honey Pie

Little Wolf

While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Curses

Disc 1 - Side B

Martha My Dear

The Humbling River

Blackbird

We'll Be Fine

Rocky Raccoon

When You're Gone

Love In Paradise

Julia

Disc 2 - Side A

Birthday

Money Game Pt. 2

Dust In The Wind

Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey!

Hand Me My Shovel, I'm Going In!

God Games

Long Long Long

Disc 2 - Side B

The Way

Honey Pie

Say It Ain't So

Cry Baby Cry

Shangri-La

Good Night

Listen to the album here!

[rainbowvamp]

Willow

Modern Reincarnation AU. Merlin and Lancelot go through a photo album. ~1700 words. Lancelot/Merlin. No warnings apply. (Mention of car wreck that killed Lancelot in a past life.)

A late birthday gift for Mod @little-ligi, because I couldn't have made this fest work without her. You're the best Ligi 💗

--

There’s no need to print photographs anymore. It’s easy enough to look at a screen and and flip through thousands, hundreds of thousands of images. But there has always been something special about choosing individual moments, perfect snapshots, and cataloging them into a book whose pages he can flip through. Merlin has been alive for over 1500 years. Books are one of the most familiar things he knows. One of the only things that hasn’t changed much in 1500 years.

People changed, clothes changed, transport changed, but not books. Those had remained nearly the same. You open the front cover and you look at what’s inside, just like always.

After 1500 years of adaptations, it was nice for this one thing to remain the same.

So when Lancelot hands him the photo album, Merlin is about to break his own face in half with how much he smiles at it. It’s a good thing, no a great thing, that Lancelot has done. The photo album is a deep forest green, the cover embossed with “The Book of Us.” In silver letters that Merlin traces with his fingers.

“What’s the occasion?” He asked, almost unable to take his eyes off of the book.

“Today is the day we met in this life, 10 years ago. I thought it might be nice.” Lancelot’s voice is so sincere, that Merlin has to look at him, has to look at the face of the man that he has loved without end or conditions for 1500 years. Tears prick his eyes because of all the love he see’s in Lancelot’s.

“I love you.” Merlin’s voice is soft when he finally finds it, and Lancelot crushes him to his broad chest, giving him a stability Merlin didn’t even know he needed until he had it.

“And I you,” Lancelot kissed Merlin’s cheek and Merlin’s fingers itched to open the photo album, but he didn’t want to leave the circle of Lancelot’s arms. He’s content to just listen to soft sound of Lancelot’s breaths, feel the pounding of his heart against his chest.

It’s Lancelot who finally breaks the silence. “Would you like to see the photos, my love?” His voice is soft and nonjudgemental. It’s obvious to Merlin that either a yes or a no would be acceptable.

“Yeah,” Merlin finally says, composing himself to pull away and walk with Lancelot to the couch.

They sit and Lancelot waits patiently for Merlin to feel ready to open the book.

The first few pages cover the span of over a year, with so few pictures taken before Lancelot knew him, before he remembered. Several of them are pulled from Instagram, captions included. There’s one of an empty seat and a drained coffee cup, and the caption just reads “I think I’ve met the man of my dreams.” It’s from their first coffee date, Lancelot’s post-date instagram update. Merlin laughed aloud, almost having forgotten it. The next is a candid shot of Merlin. They’d taken a weekend holiday a few months into dating and gone for a hike. The sun was setting behind Merlin, blurring out his features, but the silhouette was so obviously him.

The next was one of Lancelot cooking breakfast, looking over his shoulder to smile curiously at the camera.

Then the first selfie they’d ever taken together, complete with Lancelot pressing a kiss to Merlin’s cheek.

The photographs become more numerous, after that. Some of them and all their friends. There’s the photoset from Morgana’s birthday party (She’d rented a photo booth “because why they hell shouldn’t I spend Uther’s money on bullshit?”) There’s the Christmas photos for the dinner they always throw at Merlin’s because Lancelot doesn’t have any living family to go home to. Arthur and Morgana pop by when Uther becomes insufferable. Gwen and Elyan bring their father by to say hi. Leon stops by with gifts on his way to Mithian’s parent’s house. All these silly little moments caught on camera and made eternal, printed and carefully organized.

There’s the set they took at their third anniversary, a gift from Gwen and Arthur (who had recently gotten their heads out of unsavory places and started dating). There’s the picture of he and Gwaine standing side be side, smiling like old friends despite having just met twenty minutes ago. Merlin has a bruise forming on his cheek, but he’d insisted Lancelot take picture, to commemorate. “It’s not everyday I get in a bar fight, my love. Humor me.” And Lancelot always did.

There’s the terrible sledding disaster of 2015, where Merlin had crashed straight into a tree, and had been having too much fun to stop it with his magic. This is a still from a video, shortly before the actual disaster occurred. By the time the disaster was eminent Lancelot was no longer filming.

There’s the pictures he and Lancelot used to sneak of each other, just to have. Lancelot watching tellie. Merlin having a nap on the couch. Lancelot unclogging the sink. Merlin folding laundry. There was no rhyme or reason, then, for why they took the photos. It was a fun phase, each feeling challenged to take the most mundane pictures, always followed by a faked whining or griping.

There’s the picture of them from two years ago, in tailored suits, surrounded by friends, making their vows, followed by a series of all their friends dancing. A professional photographer had taken these photos, but Merlin always preferred the less polished pictures he and Lancelot took themselves that day.

Like the one Merlin had taken of Lancelot after he’d shoved cake in his face. Or Gwen’s candid picture of them gazing at each other like the biggest idiots in love.

Merlin doesn’t know when he started to cry, but he feels a tear roll down his face only when Lancelot pushes it away.

“I hope these are happy.” Lancelot puts his arm around him and Merlin nuzzles his shoulder. It’s enough, right now, to feel his warmth and smell his soap and just be near him. It’s grounding in a way only Lancelot ever was. The years with Lancelot, and there always seemed to be so many fewer of those than years without him, always made him feel the most alive. The most loved. The memories of Lancelot were good, but they didn’t sustain him, not like this would.

“Come here.” Merlins said, wiping his face and standing suddenly. He takes Lancelot’s hand and leads him out to the car.

“Where are we going?” He asked as they buckled the seat belts, but Merlin just shook his head.

“I want to show you something.”

—

The self storage place they pull up to is one of the last things Lancelot expects.

“Come on.” Merlin gets out and Lancelot dutifully follows, just like always. He lets Merlin take his hand again and watches as he pulls out a key ring that Lancelot’s never seen before and flips through them.

‘I put everything away, every time I meet one of you.” Merlin explains. “I used to have to keep the houses, to keep the things, but these are more secure.” He finally finds the key he needs as they stop outside a storage unit. “This one is from when we lived in the 1960s. Found you in Wales, then, of all places.” He smiled wanly. “We had 10 years together before you died in 1968. Car wreck.”

Lancelot only ever remembers bits of pieces of his past lives, normally only the good bits. “You weren’t with me, I presume?”

Merlin laughed as he wrenched the storage room door open. “You wouldn’t let me.”

“Is that why you never let me ride in a car without you now?”

“Part of it. I also just don’t like to be away from you.” Merlin flicked a light on and Lancelot was surprised by the sheer volume of things that existed in the room. “This was all of your things. I usually give myself about a year to wallow before I pack it away. If it’s here I never have to forget it, but I can still come and see it, if I need to.” He drags Lancelot to the back. On a wire rack there are plastic containers that looks like they’ve been taped shut. Merlin mutters a quick spell to remove the taping and then digs through the box. There are books, folders, papers, but then Merlin pulls out a photo album.

“I want you to see this. Because… I don’t know. It feels important.” Merlin is a very very old man, but he still doesn’t always have all the answers. Sometimes he just has to trust his gut and hope for the best.

He takes the album gently. It doesn’t smell stale the way old books usually do, most likely due to Merlin’s magic, but he flips it open anyway, without question. The first picture is of him and Merlin, a different him, but the same Merlin, Merlin’s arm is slung over him and they’re posing much more like a happy couple than a pair of friends. “Who took this?” He asked, tracing the lines of Merlin’s face. He looks so much older here than the Merlin he knows.

“Elyan. He liked photography. Took well to most of the Arts that life, actually.” Merlin smile and flipped a few pages to show Lancelot a picture of Elyan with a painting. “Abstraction was sort of the thing, then. He does a good job of it.”

“I don’t know anything about art, but it’s very compelling.” Even in the dreamy old photo, which was saying quite a lot.

“I brought it, a few years after he died. It’s in one of the other units.”

“How many of these do you have?” Lancelot asked, turning the page and almost laughing aloud at the image of Gwaine holding Arthur in a headlock. The two of them never changed, apparently.

“Just a couple. There are quite a lot of units in each building.”

“You own this building?”

“I’ve been alive for 1500 years, my love.” Merlin kisses his cheek and Lancelot closes the album. “I have a lot of stuff.”

“We’re taking this with us.”

“That was always the intent.” Merlin closes the box and spells the tape back into place. “That was a gift from you, too, actually, birthday present.”

“I’m predictable.”

Merlin laughed and wrapped an arm around Lancelot, tilting his head up to kiss his forehead. “You’re sentimental, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

He pulled Merlin’s head back down to kiss hims squarely on the lips, making Merlin finally pause for the first time since they’d gotten in the car. “Neither would I.”

[montrosemavens]

The Prog Rock Titans Are Back- Distance Over Time Review

By: Luke Kirchner

     Dream Theater’s Distance Over Time is a fantastic album that was a much-needed release, following the last few albums. Distance Over Time is filled with heavy riffs, soaring melodies, and a very solid foundation, to make for an epic rally back to original form. Singer James LaBrie, bassist John Myung, keyboardist Jordan Rudess, drummer Mike Mangini, and guitarist John Petrucci deliver an excellent, energetic album that completes every task it set out to achieve.

     From the 1993 album Images and Words to 2005’s Octavarium and even 2009’s Black Clouds and Silver Linings, Mike Portnoy was the drumming backbone for a powerful, technical, and focused progressive rock band; Dream Theater. With his departure in 2010, the direction of Dream Theater began to change. After a series of auditions to fill the empty seat, they settled on drummer Mike Mangini (ex-Steve Vai) and released A Dramatic Turn of Events in 2011. While this album was already written before Portnoy left, the drumming style and production difference was immediately noticeable, and not entirely loved by longtime fans.

     In 2013, Dream Theater released a self-titled album, something bands usually do at the start of their career. This bold statement was made to show that the ‘new’ DT was born and Mike Mangini is now the permanent drummer. Once again, this album was met with mediocre to good reviews, with the most notable track, “Illumination theory”, clocked in at around 22 minutes. With a 2 year hiatus, they returned in 2016 to release The Astonishing, a two hour progressive rock-ballad concept album, written entirely by Petrucci and Rudess. This album was not met with positive reviews, with critics and fans claiming it dragged on and was not true to the typical Dream Theater sound.

     Understanding this feedback, all the members secluded themselves in a barn in upstate New York to write, record, and produce their new album. Their main goals were full band inclusion, powerful energy, and a more concise outing. And they absolutely fulfilled their goal; and more. The album is full of heavy, powerful riffs and catchy choruses, an ode to many of the fan favorite albums.

     The album's opening track “Untethered Angel” is a great ‘mood setter’, basically because it is a preview of the entire album. Its slow chugging verse riff creates tension that gets unleashed with the vocals in the chorus. Although it is a great album opener, I found myself not revisiting this particular track after the full album release, because it was released as a single beforehand. Next up is “Paralyzed”, the shortest song in the album, at just around 3 minutes. It starts out with a riff that sounds like something out of the 90’s grunge scene, breaking down into a slower, headbanging riff to then cut out into an emotional guitar solo. Although this song was great, it was my least favorite on the album, due to the fact the overall atmosphere and phrasing wasn’t too original, as if I had heard it before.

     Thankfully the next track, “Fall Into the Light” is a spectacular song with a new, Metallica-esque ‘thrash’ riff, something I did not expect. The chorus vocals have an incredibly melodic sound to it and is one of my favorites. At around three and a half minutes, the song cuts out into an acoustic guitar build up, almost reminiscent of the song title. After an accumulation of energy, the song fires back into the fast riff, with one of the best Jordan Rudess keyboard solos on the entire album. Following this song is “Barstool Warrior” and, besides the name, is easily one of my favorite dream theater songs- period. The intro follows a more typical progressive guitar and keyboard harmony, with the polyrhythmic drumming and bass playing providing a solid base. The small drum interlude shows the speed and technicality from Mangini is his short “prodigy section”, which then transitions into a very enticing melody from Petrucci. Just when you think the song ends, Rudess plays a short, clean piano interval while the guitar comes back and the powerful solo fades out until the end of the song.

     “Room 137” is next, with a heavy and pounding guitar riff chugging along. While the vocals don’t take long to come in, I wasn't a fan of the vocal melody following the guitar riff in this song. The different solos, on the other hand, were by far some of the most creative I have heard in a while, as they incorporate different genres of music and rock. “S2N” follows, starting with a Rush-type bass riff and the rest of the band dynamically jumping in. This track has my favorite chorus on the entire album as well, as it is catchy and follows the instruments extremely well. The many solos on this song are purely insane, as they are technical but suit the overall theme of the track. Then comes “At Wit’s End”, easily my favorite song on the album. The fast intro with Petrucci and Rudess in sync erupts into a perplexing main riff, in a sudden burst of energy. This is the album’s longest song, at just over 9 minutes. The lyrics address recovering from domestic violence, which really fits the dark and gloomy tone of the song. The band plays through many different chord progressions and rhythmic patterns, changing up the mood of the song. They finally end on a very melodic and tranquil guitar melody/solo which fades out and soon fades back in, recorded using only room microphones.

     “Out of Reach” is the next track, which is a short and soft ballad. It does a fine job of creating a good standalone song, but its real beauty is the power to perfectly set up the final song, “Pale Blue Dot”. This 8 and a half minute album closer is the type of progressive metal power that you can expect from a band like Dream Theater. Although it is not the 20 minute closer we usually get, it does a spectacular job of showing off fast, virtuosic, and very fast styles of playing, for all the instruments. After the short drum intro, it gets into a militaristic march- Imagine Darth Vader marching down a hall- very fitting. The soundscapes used on this song are staggering and the amount of times it changed into something completely different is astounding. With odd time signatures and polyrhythmic playing, this song can be compared to some of the genre’s greats. Although “Pale Blue Dot” is technically the album closer, the bonus track is fantastic. This jam session of 5 amazingly creative musicians shows off that they really can have fun making this complex music. Its blues-inspired riff reminded made me think about what Deep Purple would sound like if they had figured out how to crank up the distortion. The organ playing from Rudess provides a solid background melody for a chorus that flies high. And both the guitar and keyboard solos are just spectacular in this bonus track.   

     After listening to this album many times, on both vinyl and through earbuds, I can say that the production and mix is superb. The bass is clearly heard throughout (finally!), and the drum sound is a breath of fresh air. It is very natural and fluid, unlike previous Mangini Dream Theater recordings. While, in the past, James LaBrie has had a tough time keeping his vocal range, after coaching he sounds much improved. The (almost) over-processed vocal effects production works in creating a sound that suits the band, but I couldn't help but notice times when the vocals almost felt buried. The guitar tone is massive, partly due to the fact that John Petrucci himself produced the whole album. Like Petrucci said during an interview “...it jumps out at you. It has a huge voice, it has a ton of character, it's very bold - just like Five Guys - it's very rich, definitely not cheesy, and it has a lot of layers”.

     In Summary, Distance Over Time is a very welcoming addition to Dream Theater’s vast catalog. From beginning to end, it makes for an incredibly interesting listen, due to the focus on melody, energy and sheer skill. This is by far the best Mangini era Dream Theater album, really showing off his technical prowess as a drummer and as a bandmate. The mix is remarkable and is very clear, truly displaying just how proficient these musicians are at their instruments. Because of this original writing style, this album almost is a rebirth for Dream Theater and their energy, promising an extremely bright future for a band that has already been around for 30 years. It, in no way, is re-imagining progressive rock/metal, but really building off of the foundation of a genre they essentially pioneered.

Rating- (5/5)

[thebandcampdiaries]

Coyote Grooves is back on the scene with a brand new studio release: California’s Coasting

Coyote Grooves is a solo project based in Atlanta, Georgia. What makes his sound special is the fact that he combines different genres in order to create a one-of-a-kind original sound. From folk to soul, to dream-pop and indie-rock, anything goes here! The artist’s most recent track, “California’s Coasting,” is a great taste of this mix of influences. This is the kind of track that will surprise you for it sonic variety, and it will keep you on the edge of your seat due to its rich, yet minimalistic arrangement.

Clocking in at slightly under the 5 minutes mark, this song feels immediate and easy to relate to, yet also quite punchy and direct. going for a more engaging twist. The combination of strummed acoustic guitars and electric guitar soundscapes give the song a psych-folk vibe, which makes me think of bands such as The Flaming Lips, Bon Iver, as well as classic acts such as The Byrds or The Beach Boys. The verses are held back, going for a more minimalistic approach. However, the hooks are incredibly deep and uplifting. The vocals acquire an anthemic mood, with some beautiful harmonic layering and a thick layer of guitars, percussive sounds, piano, and other details. In addition to the personable and edgy performance value, this release is also quite distinctive because of the sheer quality of the production. I am a big studio geek myself, so I like to focus on this particular aspect of the music I listen to, as production can really define the sonic signature of a song! The prevalent reverberation effect allows all the sounds to blend in together, creating a blurry, yet still defined effect - kind of what you can expect to hear on some of the earlier Phil Spektor production, where the main goal is to create a uniform, ambiance-driven piece of music that features some exciting dynamics. The melodies are really well-arranged, blooming seamlessly around the bare-bones rhythm section. This allows the song to have a pulse, but it still allows the vocals to pop out at the forefront to the mix. Speaking of vocals - a great singing performance is really at the core of greatness in this particular genre. The voice is what tells the story, it is the element that people focus on the most, and that’s how they find the “human” qualities that drive the music. In this case, Coyote Grooves does not fail to impress with a masterful vocal delivery and some poetic, heartfelt lyrics.

This song is a really good add-on to the artist’s already excellent discography, and it showcases his willingness to keep exploring new ideas and grow with his sound and vision. When compared to his previously released tracks, “California’s Coasting” seems to be even more focused on storytelling, as well as creating a production aesthetics that is thicker, richer and has more depth than what you would expect from an acoustic singer songwriter. Having said that, the music still retains a very special sense of intimacy, despite the biggest soundscapes that fuel the arrangement. The song has multiple layers that really add life and character to it. The resulting outcome is something that speaks to the audience, connecting with listeners on a more profound level and creating a lasting impression from the very first notes.

I would definitely recommend listening to this release if you're a fan of artists such as Death Cab For Cutie, Fleet Foxes, Father John Misty, as well as Elliott Smith, Iron & Win, DIIV, or Simian Ghost, only to mention but a few. This track will conquer you with its soothing, ethereal tones and down-to-earth arrangement. If this is an indication of what’s in store for this artist next, we are in for a true treat!

Find out more about Coyote Grooves and listen to California’s Coasting on Spotify, or on any of your favorite music streaming platforms on the web.

https://open.spotify.com/album/20YqfE1VDyf2tC8TvElyDT?si=rUSefqT0S9akiS2WrK8NBw

https://youtu.be/L7quWOdr9A8

coyotegrooves.com

Instagram: @coyotegrooves

We also featured this song on our playlist on Spotify. Check it out via the following link, and discover a selection of amazing independent artist from all over the world:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3vCtmkPDbpE9pj5DfJnycU?si=WD-7VG3eS6Sv_stFrw25_w

Additionally, we had the chance to chat with the artist. Keep reading to learn more!

I love how you manage to render your tracks so personal and organic. Does the melody come first, or do you focus on the beat the most?

Answer: The melody is usually the first thing I come up with just because it’s the easiest thing to mess around with and come up with something on the fly, then as I solidify the idea the groove just comes hand in hand. I often am singing silly songs around the house just as a fun little expression of freedom of self, but then some line will catch me or phrase will entice me enough to say, “ooo, I better record that for later.”

Do you perform live? If so, do you feel more comfortable on a stage or within the walls of the recording studio?

Answer: I have performed live many times with different bands over the years, but I was always the one pushing to get into the studio and record. After a while I just looked around and realized that I have this massive catalog of ideas and songs, and I have just been waiting for the “right” people to come along to create and record together but it just never happened. So I hit the point where I said I don’t need anyone else to do this and I jumped right in to the studio life. As far as comfortability, I love creating in the studio, even if it is in isolation. There is a creative sense of purity that comes with building everything yourself from the ground up. I feel so connected to the music I have been making regardless of its quality and I don’t ever want that to stop. I miss the stage though… it’s more about playing with energy if anything, and with this new music, I know I could really make an impression.

If you could only pick one song to make a “first impression” on a new listener, which song would you pick and why?

Answer: If they had the time, probably “Love is Bad.” It pushes 7 minutes, but I really feel like it shows off a lot of my unique songwriting, diverse instrumentation and lyrical/melodic style. It’s also one of my most streamed songs that I have released on Spotify thus far, so you’ve gotta listen to the masses!

What does it take to be “innovative” in music?

Answer: HAVE FUN. I don’t know how many times I have put in some random sounds, burps, wind blowing, cars running, ect, ect, ect just because it made ME laugh, or go “that’s going to mess with people for sure!” I’ve seen artists fall into the trap of only working to please the masses so many times, not wanting to offend or create something too crazy and out there. Every time the production ends up sounding just like everyone else out there. Innovation requires boldness, uniqueness and uninhibited creativity. The easiest way that I’ve found so pass the barrier of popularity is to relax, open up, and HAVE FUN!

Any upcoming release or tour your way?

Answer: “Deja Vú” which is the next track in the Heading West saga will be released at the end of the month. Our main character having chased the setting sun to his imaginary promise-land and having rejected the place that he had hoped to call home, finds himself for the first time questioning his path in life and recognizing the similarities of starting over with a new perspective of acceptance toward the uncertainty of the path forward.

Anywhere online where curious fans can listen to your music and find out more about you?

Answer: You can stay in the loop by following me on Instagram, subscribing to my Spotify channel, or visiting my website at coyotegrooves.com. Right now I’m focusing on getting the 1st album out but I hope to expand my media into a podcast shortly, some writings and who knows what else. I just want Coyote Grooves to stand for something I can feel proud to believe in.

[borntorun75-blog]

30 Most Underrated Springsteen Songs: #25. Roll of the Dice

Human Touch (1992)

"I’ve stumbled, and I know I’ve made my mistakes / But tonight I’m gonna be playing for all of the stakes!”

One of the very, very few songs off the unpopular “Human Touch” album that Bruce ever really plays nowadays, “Roll of the Dice” earns this bit of focus, could do with a bit more, and stands as both a fun song and one of the most sincere off the inferior 1992 release. More thoughts below the cut.

Human Touch and Lucky Town are two fairly interesting albums, even if they’re not the most positively regarded: released on the same day in the wake of Bruce’s disbanding of the E Street Band, a big theme of these two albums is Bruce’s newfound domestic joy and fulfillment - particularly coming out of the much darker place he was in around the time of 1987′s Tunnel of Love. While writing Tunnel of Love, Bruce was in an unhealthy marriage that would soon end in divorce, and so the album focuses largely on anxiety and self-inflicted romantic turmoil; by the time of HT/LT, Bruce had gotten into a healthy marriage that’s still going strong over two and a half decades later, he had become a father, and he was finally feeling happy and almost confident. The best songs from either 1992 album are typically the most directly personal, and “Roll of the Dice” is one such song.

“Roll of the Dice” is also notable as one of the first songs Bruce played around with and found himself inspired by after the dissolution of the E Street Band: Roy Bittan came in to show Bruce an instrumental song he’d written that centered around a catchy piano riff, and within seconds of hearing the song, Bruce fell in love with it, wanted to collaborate with Roy on it, and felt that with this new song, he’d found the direction for this E Street-less album. That song soon became “Roll of the Dice”, and you can see its influence on some of the album’s other songs; to me, it sounds especially similar to the B-side “30 Days Out”, one of my favorite songs from the era.

Now, sure, there are other songs (Better Days, Lucky Town, Real World) from the era that get at the same themes in more powerful ways - I mean, pretty much all the lyrics of Roll of the Dice are condensed to one line in Real World (”We’re going with the tumbling dice”). On the other hand, pretty much no song in the Springsteen catalog is as emotionally honest as Real World (especially the live Christic versions, of course), so that’s hardly a fair bar, and what Roll of the Dice lacks in subtlety or nuance, it makes up for in sheer exuberance - the reason it’s a little more over-the-top or a little less complex than those songs is it’s because it’s a song of pure excitement, and that has its place on an album like this, too. The songs that are a little more honest or lyrically inspired are a little better as a result, but there’s a need for a more simplistic song like this. And with that simplicity comes a really attractive confidence in his delivery.

And ultimately, the song ends up pretty fun: the simplicity makes it purely uplifting, and any flaws I may have in the recording of the song on the album (I think the vocals could be a little less... shout-y), in addition to being remedied in live versions, are pretty easy for me to ignore in favor of how fun the melody is and how great the piano is. It’s just a fun and to me infinitely catchy song, with a decent bit of emotion to it as well, and.. I mean, it’s really not trying to be anything else. It’s effective at what it’s trying to be - and a big reason why I included this song on the list is because, honestly, I’m in love with this song as a live rarity and would really, really like to get it live. There’s a 1992 version I love and should really upload to YouTube, I think it made a perfect opening for the last show of the High Hopes Tour, and I’m thrilled that he’s seemingly taken to playing it once a year for the past few shows - and I hope it gets even more plays than that. I’m happy that he’s taken this song out of the vaults, dusted it off, and continued to recognize it as a high point of an album that didn’t get too much love, and every time it’s played I think it’s a delightful little nod to an era most fans wrongfully want to forget, happy trip down memory lane for him as one of the songs he was probably happiest with at the time of its completion, and fun song in and of itself that adds a lot to a live show. I love that he’s taken to doing this song live a little more often, I think it’s surreal that nearly any Human Touch song gets attention but that this is nearly as good a pick as any, and I’d be one of the happiest people in the crowd if he suddenly played this at a show I was attending.

Bruce has said that he feels Human Touch was unpopular because fans rejected the idea of Bruce Springsteen writing happy music. I disagree. I think Human Touch is a lesser Bruce album mostly due to its lack of focus with some weird (57 Channels, Pony Boy) and mediocre (Real Man, Cross My Heart) songs - but that in some parallel universe not too far from our own, Bruce had his wits about him and kicked those songs in favor of more “Roll of the Dice”-inspired material like 30 Days Out, and Human Touch ended up a more well-received album as a result.

The vocals on the album version are as I say a little more.. gravelly than necessary, and the backup singers maybe get a little excessive, so can I blame Human Touch critics for probably finding this song a little too overproduced? Probably not - but fuck it, it’s still fun, and it’s great that he plays it live, and that’s enough for me to feel comfortable giving this happy song from a forgotten album a spot on this list.