By March 2 it became official: Bruce Springsteen will release a new album on April 25. The name of the album is
We shall overcome. The Seeger Sessions and it contains cover versions of traditional songs associated with
Pete Seeger. A lot of musicians has participated in the project but only two members of the E Street Band appear to
be among them: Patti Scialfa and Soozie Tyrell.
On November 15th Bruce Springsteen released a "Born to Run 30th Anniversary Edition" box set including a
remastered edition of the masterpiece itself
and two DVD films. Though first impressions may cheat it is hard not to shout it
out loud and immediately: The power and the promise! It is Springsteens third official release this year - following the
studio album Devils & Dust and a live take for VH1 Storytellers - and for the first time he is really represented
at his best (which happens to be: larger than life). Read the whole review!
Welcome onboard our little vessel at the sea of cyberspace - that soft and unbelievable element, in which everything travels with the speed of thought and the inertness of conviction. Did you come here from far away, from some strange and unpronounceable shore, where we would never appear in our fleshy density? We welcome you! Or where you here just yesterday? Did you maybe come back to clear up something that has puzzled your memory since then - a promising hint, an annoying remark? We welcome you even more! Everything in here is made with care, and we have only few requests: Turn on some music while you dwell in these surroundings, consider writing us a comment, and bear with our uncertain and yet high-flown English, which we shall do our best to control.
This site is about music that doesn't only rock your body. And it is about listening, not only with the auditory organs but with responsibility and reason as well. The philosopher Plato admonished his readers to be at least as cautious about the talk they lent an ear to, as they were about the food they ate. We take the same to hold true for music, and this site is our contribution to a more engaged, thoughtful and skeptical reception of rock. Our project is a kind of criticism focusing on the existential meaning of the music. Hopefully this project will be further elaborated in a lot of future writings, but our basic views are delineated in the explanation of the term "solidity".
We intend to publish writings of a variety of sorts in this place. They may be rough sketches or detailed treatises, pass on factual and historical information or polemize unrestrained against something we dislike, their topics may range from concrete songs to far-reaching ethical, political and philosophical questions. Still, we will try to keep a recognizable basic structure of the site by organising some larger groups of writings around a few eminent artists and bands.
These complexes of writings will be called "presentations", and they will essentially include: a) an introduction to the artist concerned and links to some relevant web sites, b) a brief survey of the history of the artist, c) mentioning and evaluation of the most important works of the artist, d) links to some online music shops, where one can buy these works. We hereby hope to provide practical guidance to people trying to expand their musical horizon, and in most cases our links to music shops will function as advertisements and thereby contribute to the financing of this site.
With all these noble declarations of intent we will leave the reader to explore on her own,
what solidrock.dk has really turned out to be. Fare well - and remember, that the only
true happening in art is, when something happens to yourself.