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Tom Petty or Bruce Springsteen?


Texas King
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Tom Petty or Bruce Springsteen?  

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  1. 1. Tom Petty or Bruce Springsteen?



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To put it simply, Petty's music and grooves(for lack of a better word) pick me up and make me feel happy...

 

The boss isn't known for his happy music. Outside of Nebraska, of course.

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Bruce by far! I like Tom Petty and think his guitar work is better, but his voice has always bothered me. I think Bruce Springsteen's songwriting is heads and shoulders above Petty's as well.
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To put it simply, Petty's music and grooves(for lack of a better word) pick me up and make me feel happy...

 

The boss isn't known for his happy music. Outside of Nebraska, of course.

My point although I do love the movie Philadelphia and the theme song attached to it...
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Bruce by far! I like Tom Petty and think his guitar work is better, but his voice has always bothered me. I think Bruce Springsteen's songwriting is heads and shoulders above Petty's as well.

I know it all comes down to personal preference, but do you really think Springsteen's songwriting is "heads and shoulders" above Petty's songwriting? I think Petty writes songs with hooks and melodies that stand up to any of his contemporaries. The man is a master tunesmith.

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They're similar in the fact that they're both what I would call "heartland rock" (along with Seger and Mellencamp, another good debate), but they're frankly totally different kinds of artists.

 

Listening to Petty puts me in a good mood. He's a master songwriter who never really fails to catch your ear with some line or another, and he's just got this cool personality that acts like a stamp of authenticity. Not that Petty only writes good time music, but that's the kind of vibe you expect from him, even if the lyrics are a bit depressing. Unfortunately as well, Petty is one of those artists where sometimes I might be more satisfied just playing his greatest hits again than one of his studio releases.

 

Listening to Springsteen is a much deeper and more involved kind of experience, sort of like listening to Rush. He is also a master songwriter, but not in the Beatles/pop sense like Petty, more in the Dylan/folk sense. Springsteen's music and lyrics are meant to inspire some kind of emotion, and hopefully to reveal some deeper truth about life. It's often very dramatic, cinematic kind of stuff, filled with imagery and suspense, like Red Barchetta. I have to be in the mood to listen to Springsteen, but I never question if I still like him or not. Now granted, I can infer from my readings about his career and latter day albums that he just doesn't have the kind of consistency that makes an artist like Petty so great, but I'll probably take Springsteen's highs over Petty's any day, or at least on a desert island disk.

Edited by Entre_Perpetuo
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Segue hasn't seen this yet ??

 

I wonder if he'll feel the need to post. We can pretty accurately predict his answer after all.

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Either choice is a winner.

 

For me, Springsteen. But I don't see Petty in any way the inferior artist.

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Bruce by far! I like Tom Petty and think his guitar work is better, but his voice has always bothered me. I think Bruce Springsteen's songwriting is heads and shoulders above Petty's as well.

I know it all comes down to personal preference, but do you really think Springsteen's songwriting is "heads and shoulders" above Petty's songwriting? I think Petty writes songs with hooks and melodies that stand up to any of his contemporaries. The man is a master tunesmith.

 

I do think that Bruce's best works are better than Petty's in that they convey real emotion, stories, beauty and heartache. But Petty has a much more consistent output for me, and he never falls into the offputting arena that Bruce frequently falls into.

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For me Springsteen has not been on good form in the studio since 2007's late career defining masterpiece Magic. That album lived up to its name, and may actually be my second favourite album of his (behind The River). Wrecking Ball was very good. No real flaws just never stood out to me. But Springsteen has also in the last seventeen years released stinkers such as Devils And Dust, Working On A Dream and the embarrassingly woeful High Hopes. On top of that he has become too politically focused, and his music seems to speak a lot less powerfully about such matters, as they are too forward and often musically too cliché to evoke much emotion from the listener.

 

Has Petty released any weak albums to rank at the bottom with with these? If he has I've never heard one. Also I've played most of his classic works (a lot of them!), and I enjoyed them all more than Born In The USA, which remains one of the most annoying sounding records I've ever heard (not a fan of the eighties drum sounds).

 

I wouldn't be surprised if Petty has a more consistently great discography, but at the same time I've never been moved by Petty as I am Springsteen. But I love what I've heard a lot. It's a matter of taste and I can say this poll is won by the best, whoever of the two comes top.

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Petty.

 

and i enjoy Bruce. but he gets SOOOOO heavy handed after a while,

 

and the working man persona is now complete bullshit. and he thinks he's woody guthrie. lol.

 

Mick

 

I agree. Honestly I do and you know how much I love Springsteen.

 

And I've missed you. Sorry I've been off the rails lately. I'm having a mellow evening and I'm glad to see you pop up!

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Springsteen writes novels, Petty writes short stories.

Not a bad way to sum it up. But as a novelist, Springsteen comes acrossto me like Melville, heavy-handed and overwrought.

 

Blinded by the Light is clever, though.

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Petty.

 

and i enjoy Bruce. but he gets SOOOOO heavy handed after a while,

 

and the working man persona is now complete bullshit. and he thinks he's woody guthrie. lol.

 

Mick

This. Out of work, pregnant girlfriend...life's so hard I just want to go drive my truck.

 

Zzzzz...

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Petty.

 

and i enjoy Bruce. but he gets SOOOOO heavy handed after a while,

 

and the working man persona is now complete bullshit. and he thinks he's woody guthrie. lol.

 

Mick

 

I agree. Honestly I do and you know how much I love Springsteen.

 

And I've missed you. Sorry I've been off the rails lately. I'm having a mellow evening and I'm glad to see you pop up!

 

i've taking a break too, lol

 

but i'm back.......missed you too bud.

 

Mick

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Bruce by far! I like Tom Petty and think his guitar work is better, but his voice has always bothered me. I think Bruce Springsteen's songwriting is heads and shoulders above Petty's as well.

I know it all comes down to personal preference, but do you really think Springsteen's songwriting is "heads and shoulders" above Petty's songwriting? I think Petty writes songs with hooks and melodies that stand up to any of his contemporaries. The man is a master tunesmith.

Not to mention his secret weapon, mike Campbell.

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