“He was the guy”: The one person who kickstarted Bruce Springsteen’s career
Every artist will find it hard to keep the fire burning for years. Most people only have enough firepower for a handful of songs, and sometimes they end up using most of it within the span of one album and never get it again. While Bruce Springsteen still had plenty left in the tank to work on a couple of masterpieces, he credited one producer for helping him get off his ass and get back into the game in the 2000s.
Granted, it’s not like ‘The Boss’ had gone anywhere since the days of Born to Run. He had always been the same rock and roller looking to make relatable stories that anyone could see themselves in, but around the time of Born in the USA, things started to look different.
He still had the best songs anyone could ask for, but something was missing that didn’t turn up until Tunnel of Love. After going through his divorce, Springsteen needed a pick-me-up, but while Human Touch and Lucky Town were decent forays into upbeat rock and roll, it doesn’t mean the audience is having fun because Springsteen is.
Since most of his best tunes talked about hope shining through the darkness, having songs with little to no darkness in them felt like someone shining empty platitudes in your eyes. Although The Ghost of Tom Joad put him on firmer ground, not even someone as battle-tested as Springsteen would be able to overcome the massive hole left in the country following 9/11.
By the time he got to making his response record, The Rising, he wasn’t going to settle for any old producer to bring him back. He needed someone who could make a band jump, and considering his track record with everyone from The Black Crowes to Pearl Jam, Brendan O’Brien was the perfect person to put some swagger back into Springsteen’s step from behind the glass.
‘The Boss’ may have still been the one crafting songs like ‘You’re Missing’ and ‘My City of Ruins’, but he knew that O’Brien helped him reach heights that no one else could have, telling Rolling Stone, “He was the guy that, when we went to do The Rising, I went down and cut two or three songs, came into the studio and immediately heard the band in a very fresh and different way. He kickstarted our recording career into another gear back in 2002, when we did The Rising.”
And that urgency is felt throughout every song on the record. Whether it was a stirring ballad or an anthem to get people back on their feet, there’s a certain drive that was missing for all those years, as if Springsteen finally has the gall to say what was on his mind and get people to rise to their feet after keeping their heads down low.
Regardless of the great songs that Springsteen made, there’s a certain X-factor that goes into making any masterpiece, and when he found O’Brien, this wasn’t someone who would hit record and hope for the best. This was someone willing to help Springsteen tell the story of those months in the dark, and while it’s not the easiest story to take in, it’s necessary for people to heal from something so gruesome.
