Latest news with #LandOfHopeAndDreams
Forbes
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Bruce Springsteen's Donald Trump Critiques Earn Him A New Top 10 Bestseller
Bruce Springsteen's Land of Hope and Dreams EP debuts at No. 8 in the U.K., becoming his fourteenth ... More top 10 on the Official Album Downloads chart. MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MAY 14: Bruce Springsteen performs during the first night of 'The Land of Hopes and Dreams' tour at Co-op Live on May 14, 2025 in Manchester, England. (Photo by) Bruce Springsteen kicked off the latest leg of his global tour in mid-May, bringing his show to the United Kingdom. The rocker launched the trek under the simple name Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band 2023-2025 Tour, but after a brief hiatus, the musician renamed the run the Land of Hope and Dreams Tour. Springsteen taped his opening night performance in Manchester on May 14 and recently surprise-released an EP featuring half a dozen tracks from that concert. That set has quickly become a bestseller in the United Kingdom, as attendees seek to relive the experience, while others are drawn in not only by the star's name, but by a bit of controversy. The appropriately-titled Land of Hope and Dreams EP opens this week at No. 8 on the Official Album Downloads chart. It becomes a fast top 10 bestseller after less than a full tracking frame. Springsteen earns his fourteenth top 10 on the Official Album Downloads tally with Land of Hope and Dreams. Most of the collections he's placed on the roster have reached the uppermost region, with a total of 22 projects making it to the list. The new EP marks Springsteen's first placement on the Official Album Downloads list in just over a year. His compilation The Best Of arrived in early May 2024. Before that, he last scored a new top 10 several years ago when Only the Strong Survive opened and peaked at No. 2 in November 2022. Part of what has fueled the success of Land of Hope and Dreams is that it includes not only music, but also commentary delivered during the May 14 concert. At the show, Springsteen criticized American President Donald Trump in very blunt terms. Some people love what he said, while others have shunned the musician. His rebuke drew a direct response from Trump, who called the musician 'highly overrated and dumb.' Springsteen doesn't appear fazed by the insult. In fact, he's leaned into the controversy by making his comments a public part of the EP's content, ensuring they are preserved and widely heard.
Forbes
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Bruce Springsteen Barely Misses Hitting The Top 10 With A Major Collaboration
Bruce Springsteen and The Killers' Encore at the Garden nearly returns to the U.K. top 10, landing ... More at No. 11 on the Official Vinyl Singles chart this week. MONZA, ITALY - JULY 25: Bruce Springsteen performs with The E Street Band at Autodromo Nazionale Monza on July 25, 2023 in Monza, Italy. (Photo by Sergione Infuso/Corbis via Getty Images) Just a few days ago, Bruce Springsteen surprise-released a new EP titled Land of Hope and Dreams. The six-song set features recordings from the Manchester opening night of the latest leg of his tour with the E Street Band. It arrives just a few weeks before the rocker is set to deliver seven full-lengths at once. Amidst all the excitement surrounding Springsteen's catalog at the moment, the superstar nearly returns to the top 10 on a pair of charts in the U.K. with yet another recently-shared project. Springsteen joined The Killers this past Record Store Day to release a very special short effort, Encore at the Garden. The project was recorded when the rock musician joined the band at a Madison Square Garden concert in October 2022. The vinyl single features just three live tracks: "Badlands," "Dustland," and "Born to Run,' and it becomes a bestseller again in the U.K. this frame. The collaborative project returns to a pair of tallies and nearly climbs into the highest tier on both of them. Encore at the Garden misses the top 10 on the Official Vinyl Singles chart by just one space, landing at No. 11. The same three-song EP, which is credited as a single instead of an album due to its length, reappears at No. 13 on the Official Physical Singles list. The set peaked at No. 3 on both the Official Physical Singles and Official Vinyl Singles charts, debuting in that position in late April. It barely budged in its second frame on the two tallies, dipping just one spot on the physical-only roster and holding steady at No. 3 on the vinyl ranking. Throughout its run, the project has spent just three frames on the Official Vinyl Singles chart and one more on the Official Physical Singles ranking. In just a matter of days, Springsteen might collect a new top-selling album in the U.K. with Land of Hope and Dreams. The EP reached No. 1 on iTunes' Top Albums tally in the country, and though it had only a few days to rack up purchases — since it was released midweek — it may still have managed to perform well enough to appear on a handful of lists. In a little over a month, Springsteen will also release the box set Tracks II: The Lost Albums. The project features seven finished full-lengths that were written and recorded at different points in his career, but never shared with the public.
Irish Times
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Bruce Springsteen & E Street Band: Land of Hope & Dreams review – A roiling, righteous anti-Trump onslaught
Land of Hope & Dreams Artist : Bruce Springsteen & E Street Band Label : Columbia/Legacy Before Donald Trump 's return to the White House there was no lack of celebrities lining up to speak out against him. But since he was voted back into power that hubbub has stilled to a hush. All those fire-spitting advocates for freedom and justice, where are they now? Rock'n'roll's reputation for dissent is much diminished. The music of rebellion has been stilled to a whimper. Bruce Springsteen is an exception, as he confirmed when he kicked off his Land of Hope & Dreams tour, in Manchester on May 14, with a tirade against the Trump administration, condemning it as 'corrupt, incompetent and treasonous'. That speech and the music that followed immediately afterwards, spilling out in a roiling, righteous onslaught, have now been released as a six-track EP that packs a heftier punch than its 30-minute run time might suggest. Springsteen elevates four songs and two speeches with his theatrical, almost preacher-like turn of phrase, a rhetorical style no less authentically American than the Maga groundswell that propelled Trump to the Oval Office. READ MORE Coming before the arrival of a blockbusting set of 'lost' Springsteen records this summer, it's a relatively minor addition to the canon, but it feels far weightier than a throwaway live EP has any right to (and so scrapes in to be treated, for the purposes of this review slot, as an album). It captures an artist who, at 75, is both vulnerable and steadfast, fading and burning bright. His denunciation of Trump – it is too considered to be described as a diatribe – is by way of introducing Land of Hope and Dreams, a song he wrote in the late 1990s but did not lay down in definitive studio form until 2012. It appeared on that year's Wrecking Ball album – his call to arms in the wake of the great recession. Wrecking Ball was embraced in Europe but largely rejected in the US, where its plea for solidarity against faceless corporate overreach went largely unheeded. (Cynics will point out that Springsteen isn't above charging corporate ticket prices.) The singer was strident in the original. Now he sounds distraught. As recorded in Manchester, Land of Hope and Dreams replaces the optimism that burns through the 2012 version with dread and sadness, his love letter to the United States' perpetual powers of reinvention becoming a eulogy. He follows it with Long Walk Home, a folksy piece he originally wrote to articulate his dislike of George W Bush and his astonishment that friends and neighbours could have voted for Bush as president. This feeling is magnified a dozen times over as he reorientates the lyrics to Trump's presidency and the 50 per cent of American voters who concluded he was fit to be commander-in-chief ('This is a prayer for my country'). Springsteen delivers the lyrics from the perspective of a man returning to where he grew up and finding his old pals have changed for the worse. The community he remembered has been replaced by rancour and hatred. 'In that particular song a guy comes back to his town and recognises nothing and is recognised by nothing,' he explained to the New York Times in 2007. 'The singer in Long Walk Home, that's his experience. His world has changed. The things that he thought he knew, the people who he thought he knew, whose ideals he had something in common with, are like strangers.' Long Walk Home deals in abstracts: the hollowed-out town is a metaphor for the US. But Springsteen adopts a more plain-speaking tone as he introduces My City of Ruins, from his 2002 album The Rising. 'There's some very weird, strange and dangerous shit going on out there right now,' he tells the crowd. 'In America they are persecuting people for using their right to free speech and voicing their dissent.' If universal in its scope, My City of Ruins has its roots in the personal. Springsteen wrote it as an elegy for his hometown of Asbury Park, in New Jersey – though it was later embraced as a post-9/11 prayer for 'our fallen brothers and sisters', as Springsteen announced on a telethon after those 2001 attacks. Live, it is lifted up by a beautifully understated piano and by Springsteen's raw vocals as he reflects on the devastation of a place he once held dear. 'Are you ready to join together?' he asks the crowd, like a preacher; their assent has the quality of a secular hallelujah. A passionate EP finishes in an upbeat register with a cover of Bob Dylan's Chimes of Freedom, a song about a coming revolution that will lift the downtrodden out of the shadows. Springsteen sings it as if he truly believes dawn is on the horizon. Amid all the darkness in the world, the United States' great blue-collar bard has not yet given up believing that things can be turned around. His message is to hold on and stay true to what we believe in. Things will get better – sooner, perhaps, than we might dare to hope.
Straits Times
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Singer Bruce Springsteen releases surprise EP, including scathing Trump criticism
The EP, titled Land Of Hope And Dreams, features recordings of four songs performed live by Bruce Springsteen in Manchester on May 14. PHOTO: AFP Washington - American rock star Bruce Springsteen released a surprise EP on May 21, with the six-track album including scathing criticism of US President Donald Trump that prompted an online diatribe from the Republican billionaire last week. The EP, titled Land Of Hope And Dreams – the name of his ongoing tour – features recordings of four songs performed live in Manchester, England on May 14. Two tracks feature Springsteen, 75, describing his disappointment with Mr Trump's 'corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration', although he does not name the president directly. The comments had prompted the right-wing populist to label Springsteen an 'obnoxious jerk' last week, and on May 21, Mr Trump posted a video edited to make it seem like he had hit the New Jersey rocker with a golf drive. On May 19, Mr Trump had gone further than mere rhetoric, calling for a 'major investigation' into Springsteen, genre-smashing music icon Beyonce and other celebrities. He alleged – without evidence and in the face of denials by those involved – that the celebrities had been paid millions of dollars to endorse Ms Kamala Harris, his Democratic opponent in the 2024 presidential election. The collection of tracks released on May 21 featured Springsteen's full comments as he introduced the songs Land Of Hope And Dreams and My City In Ruins. 'In my home, the America I love, the America I have written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration,' he said, addressing the Manchester crowd. 'Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experience to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring.' In the second introduction track, he decried 'some very weird, strange and dangerous s*** going on out there right now'. 'In America, they are persecuting people for using their right to free speech and voicing their dissent,' he said, while also taking aim at the 'sadistic pleasure' some were taking in launching crackdowns on migrants, the poor and workers. Springsteen then launched into a spirited rendition of My City In Ruins, ending with a rousing repetition of the words: 'Come on, rise up.' AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Euronews
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Trump shares fake clip of him hitting Bruce Springsteen with golf ball
The strange back and forth between Donald Trump and Bruce Springsteen continues, as the US president has shared a fake clip on social media of him attacking The Boss with a golf ball. Yesterday (21 May), Trump took to the Truth Social platform to share a clip of himself playing golf, aiming for Bruce Springsteen. The ball eventually hits Springsteen, who falls to the ground onstage. He has since shared the clip on X, which has gone to be reposted more than 57,000 times with over 400,000 likes... and counting. The post has drawn heavy criticism and mockery online, with many posting 'reality shots' of Trump on the golf course, and others commenting on how 'this is not what a president does.' The now-viral video clip is the latest shot that the President has targetted at The Boss, ever since Springsteen's criticism of Trump on stage during the opening night of his European tour. His comments sparked the following rebuttal from Trump: 'This dried out 'prune' of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied!) ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country, that's just 'standard fare.' Then we'll all see how it goes for him!' This post drew the attention of The American Federation of Musicians (AFM), which issued a statement defending both Springsteen and Taylor Swift, after Trump attacked them both on social media. Since then, Trump has called for an investigation into Springsteen. Numerous musicians have come to Springsteen's defence, including Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder and veteran rocker Neil Young. On Trump's side, long-time supporter Kid Rock appeared twice on the Fox News Channel, saying: 'Bruce Springsteen is another one of the liberals who has mountains of money who so desperately wants to keep his good standing in the eyes of Hollywood and the elite.' While Bruce Springsteen has yet to respond to the golf post, he has released a live EP, 'Land Of Hope And Dreams' from the aforementioned opening night of his EU tour. The new EP contains four live tracks – 'Land Of Hope And Dreams', 'Long Walk Home', 'My City Of Ruins' and a cover of Bob Dylan's 'Chimes Of Freedom' - as well as The Boss' scathing speeches criticising the Trump administration before the tracks 'Land Of Hope And Dreams' and 'My City Of Ruins'. 'In my home, the America I love, the America I've written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration,' you can hear Springsteen say. 'Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experiment to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring!'
