The Hold Steady Cover Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City”
Photo via Spin
Off the War Child: Heroes Compilation . Try to stifle the obvious, “b..b..but every Hold Steady song is a Springsteen cover,” cracks–the sonic breadth of Stay Positive proved they can do a lot more than replicate the E-Street shuffle. Besides, this track is from Nebraska, the Bruce album for people who don’t like Bruce, and one released without backing band. Predictably, The Hold Steady do their most salient influence justice.
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MP3: The Hold Steady (Springsteen Cover)-”Atlantic City”
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February 26th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
I always felt Nebraska was the Bruce album for people who really like Bruce. I refuse to listen to this.
February 26th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Most of the Bruce die-hards I know tend to choose one of the first four records as their favorite. I’m not nearly as well-versed in the Springsteen catalogue as you are, but in my experience, whenever a casual indie-angled fan talks about Springsteen, Nebraska is the first album they mention.
I can see why you wouldn’t like it, but I think this is a very powerful rendition of an already great song.
February 26th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
When I first read the headline my reaction was more along the lines of Disco, but I actually like this version. And the only reason it works is b/c I can see Craig Finn writing this.
Maybe Hold Steady can ghost write Bruce’s next album on some Pharoahe Monch, P.Diddy shiz.
February 26th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Man, the song was gorgeous until the whole band came in. “Atlantic City” is supposed to be spare, not gussied up like “Born to Run” or “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out.” This is why I don’t like the Hold Steady anymore–they’ve lost their instincts.
February 26th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
This now sounds like a song about kids from the Midwest visiting A.C. I like the Hold Steady a lot. I love Springsteen.
February 26th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
I listened. This is blasphemous.
February 27th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Craig Finn has a really annoying voice. And then when the band came in, the tempo rushed and muddied up the feeling. Fail.
February 28th, 2009 at 7:56 am
“Nebraska” is an amazing album, and “Atlantic City” is the best song on that album. It was amazing because it was completely raw and honest, a popular musician famous for over-the-top, showy performances created an album that was completely stripped of that. But it was a demo tape, the songs were supposed to have been turned into bigger, more epic songs, but Steven Van Zandt encouraged Bruce to release them as is. The result is music that is more intimate, honest and not entirely perfect (from an artist obsessed with perfection) and is one of the best albums ever made.
The Hold Steady version is good (not great), but for an entirely different reason. It is unabashed Bruce-worship. Springsteen’s music has always been about believeing passionately in something greater than yourself despite all of life’s hardship. Ultimately that’s what Atlantic City was about, the Hold Steady focused in on that aspect (”maybe everything that dies DOES come back?”). In the same way, “Born in the U.S.A.” is actually a patriotic anthem (even though it didn’t start that way).
The great thing about Springsteen is that his music is more complex than it seems to be. The Hold Steady are EXACTLY what they appear to be and that is in the same honest vein of the original. And that’s why it is good, but for a different reason.
February 28th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Not to say that the cover isn’t good — I’m going back and forth on it — but The Hold Steady’s cover is really not so much a cover of the Nebraska version but of subsequent live-band arrangements Bruce has done since the BitUSA tour. The sax riff which THS makes really prominent (a quiet mandolin on Nebraska) kicks in at the same point on synth in E. Street Band versions. Even the way Craig repeats some of the line for emphasis can be heard on the live versions post-1999 Reunion.
Springsteen’s catalog from Greetings from Asbury Park to Tunnel of Love is basically perfect. I think people who fall in the insane die-hard category (I include myself in this, Badly Drawn Boy would back this as well) would say that the first three albums are far and away his greatest accomplishments along with concurrent out-takes (disc one of Tracks). He was never better as a song-writer but the best years of Bruce were probably 1978-1981 — he was touring Darkness on the Edge of Town and The River (both great albums) and playing long enough shows that he was playing lots from all the early records. As far as Nebraska goes, it’s fully-loved by his fans but anyone who says that it’s their favorite Bruce album is probably not a Bruce fan.
August 16th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
stumbled upon this cover last nite when a football highlights show used it as the closing montage (the opening 30-45 secs of the song). listened long and hard and at first tot it was The Boss, thinking could he have re-recorded it lol. anyway wiki revealed song’s been covered by more than a handful of artistes.
my take on this cover :
i’ve never heard of The Hold Steady.
this cover sounds good … UNTIL … as mentioned before … the whole band kicks in and yes the tempo is muddled and rushed … and by the end of the song … one is left wondering if the band had considered not upping the tempo as quickly as they had done so …
but the bottom line is … this is a good cover that could have, and should have been better … but still nowhere as GOLD as the original Springsteen’s version
my 2 cents