The Rising (album)

The Rising
Studio album by Bruce Springsteen
Released	July 30, 2002
Recorded	January–March 2002
Genre	Rock, heartland rock
Length	72:52
Label	Columbia
Producer	Brendan O'Brien
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band chronology
Live in New York City (2001) The Rising (2002) The Essential Bruce Springsteen (2003) Singles from The Rising "The Rising" Released: June 24, 2002 "Lonesome Day" Released: December 2, 2002 "Waitin' on a Sunny Day" Released: April 22, 2003

The Rising is the 12th studio album by American recording artist Bruce Springsteen, released in 2002 on Columbia Records. In addition to being Springsteen's first studio album in seven years, it was also his first with the E Street Band in 18 years. It is centered around Springsteen's reflections on the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Upon its release, The Rising was a critical and commercial success, and hailed as the triumphant return for Springsteen. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of over 520,000 copies. With this, Springsteen became the oldest person to achieve a first-week sales of over a half of a million copies in the United States^{[citation needed]}. The album also garnered a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album in 2003; although nominated for the Album of the Year award as well, it was beaten by Norah Jones' debut album Come Away with Me. Title song "The Rising" was also a Grammy nominee and recipient.

For the year 2002, The Rising was one of only two albums to receive Rolling Stone's highest rating – five stars – the other being Beck's Sea Change. The magazine also ranked the album #15 on its list of 100 Best Albums of the Decade.

History

While most of the songs were written after September 11, 2001, a few of them pre-date the attacks. It's been rumoured that Springsteen got the inspiration for the album a few days after the 9/11 attacks, when a stranger in a car stopped next to him, wound down his window and said: "We need you now." Springsteen also told this story to journalist Mark Binelli in the August 22, 2002 issue of Rolling Stone. "My City of Ruins" was originally performed in, and written about, Asbury Park, New Jersey. After its performance by Springsteen on the post-September 11 America: A Tribute to Heroes telethon, however, the song took on an expanded meaning. "Further On (Up the Road)" was performed live in Madison Square Garden during the summer of 2000 at the end of the Springsteen-E Street Reunion Tour, and was professionally recorded, although it was not included in the HBO, DVD, or CD versions of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band: Live in New York City. "Waitin' on a Sunny Day" was originally written in the early- or mid-1990s and played in at least one soundcheck during the Reunion Tour. Springsteen has commented that "Nothing Man" was originally completed in 1994 but re-recorded for this album.

"Mary's Place" is directly inspired by Sam Cooke's "Meet Me at Mary's Place"; "Let's Be Friends" takes musical form from John Mellencamp's "Cherry Bomb" and Mariah Carey's "Dreamlover"; and the gospel-like "My City of Ruins" is organized around the melody line of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready".

Helped by a substantial marketing campaign — pre-release promotion was the biggest of Springsteen's career — and the concurrent Rising Tour, The Rising went on to become Springsteen's first #1 album on the U.S. pop albums chart since his 1995 Greatest Hits album and would go on to sell about 2,100,000 copies in the United States, making it Springsteen's best-selling album of new material since 1987's Tunnel of Love.

A re-recorded version of the song "The Fuse" with an orchestral backing features in the Spike Lee-directed film 25th Hour.

Rolling Stone ranked The Rising #15 on its list of 100 Best Albums of the Decade.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Blender
Allmusic
Rolling Stone

Initial critical response to The Rising was very positive. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 82, based on 21 reviews.

Track listing

All songs were written by Bruce Springsteen.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Lonesome Day"	4:08
2.	"Into the Fire"	5:04
3.	"Waitin' on a Sunny Day"	4:18
4.	"Nothing Man"	4:23
5.	"Countin' on a Miracle"	4:44
6.	"Empty Sky"	3:34
7.	"Worlds Apart"	6:07
8.	"Let's Be Friends (Skin to Skin)"	4:21
9.	"Further On (Up the Road)"	3:52
10.	"The Fuse"	5:37
11.	"Mary's Place"	6:03
12.	"You're Missing"	5:10
13.	"The Rising"	4:50
14.	"Paradise"	5:39
15.	"My City of Ruins"	5:00

Tour Edition Bonus DVD

1. "The Rising" [live, 2002 MTV Video Music Awards performance]
2. "Waitin' on a Sunny Day" [live, The Rising Tour, Barcelona, Spain, 2002]
3. "Lonesome Day" [music video]
4. "Mary's Place" [The Rising Tour, Barcelona, Spain, 2002]
5. "Dancing in the Dark" [The Rising Tour, Barcelona, Spain, 2002]

Chart positions

Year	Chart	Position
2002	Billboard 2002	1

Personnel

E Street Band

• Bruce Springsteen – lead guitar, vocals, acoustic guitar, baritone guitar, harmonica
• Roy Bittan – keyboards, piano, mellotron, Kurzweil, pump organ, Korg M1, crumar
• Clarence Clemons – saxophone, background vocals
• Danny Federici – Hammond B3, Vox Continental, Farfisa
• Nils Lofgren – electric guitar, Dobro, slide guitar, banjo, background vocals
• Patti Scialfa – vocals
• Garry Tallent – bass guitar
• Steven Van Zandt – electric guitar, background vocals, mandolin
• Max Weinberg – drums

Additional musicians

• Soozie Tyrell – violin, background vocals
• Brendan O'Brien – hurdy gurdy, glockenspiel, orchestra bells
• Larry Lemaster – cello
• Jere Flint – cello
• Jane Scarpantoni – cello
• Nashville String Machine
• Asuf Ali Khan and group
• Alliance Singers
• The Miami Horns

External links

• Audio and lyrics

Preceded by Unleashed by Toby Keith	Billboard 200 number-one album August 11, 2002 - August 24, 2002	Succeeded by Nellyville by Nelly
Preceded by By the Way by Red Hot Chili Peppers	UK number one album August 10, 2002 – August 16, 2002	Succeeded by By the Way by Red Hot Chili Peppers