In regards to Mr. Springsteen for one last go around I actually own two records of his. The aforementioned "Born in the USA" purchased solely to placate my 3rd year university girlfriend at the time. My parents subsequently must have assumed I was a big Boss fan and several years later gave me my most WTF Christmas moment ever when they dropped his 5 LP live set in to my unsuspecting lap.

I have just recently read Ellen Willis' "Out of the Vinyl Deeps" primarily a collection of her writings on rock music from the late 60s through early 70s for the New Yorker.

Enjoyed the book very much and was amused by this piece near the end of the book on our man Bruce: "...he is not a great songwriter. His melodies tend to be shapeless and to sound alike. As a result his first album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., is virtually unlistenable...". This from a piece she wrote in November 1974. Granted this is before some of his so-called classic albums were cut but I tend to agree.

I sometimes get the feeling with artists like Springsteen that the mythology has surpassed the reality and that we're all meant to genuflect before his masterful body of work. Look at Allmusic for all the proof required. Albums 1-8 and all 4.5-5 stars so how can one argue with that. It was refreshing to say the least to get a perspective from someone in the thick of it while the music was being released.

OK enough from me on that topic.

As for Brian's list of coulda, shoulda, and never wills. I think as far as Genesis applies it's likely too late for them to make any impression on a non-believer. For me they were a late high school love primarily because the group of guys I hung out with counted amongst them some big fans of the band. They were also the first band I saw live when I was 17 at MLG. I don't really listen to them too much these days and that's not going to change going forward.

New Order on the other hand still does it for me and you should really give a listen to "Power, Corruption and Lies". Try the tracks "Age of Consent", "The Village" and "Your Silent Face" for starters. You could also go back to the 1st album which has (at least on Rdio) the bonus tracks of some sterling 12" single releases in "Ceremony", "Everythings Gone Green", "Temptation" and "In a Lonely Place".

As much as I enjoyed some of the songs on their next 3 or 4 records the initial Joy Division to New Order transition produced their most memorable music.

As for Frank Zappa I agree wholeheartedly.

Now you'll have to excuse me I'm off to see what Rush's "2112" has to offer.