Don't know if you guys have come across videos of people doing reviews or reactions to songs... They seem to be a huge trend in YouTube. I guess they can draw traffic to your site. I came across this black guy reacting to an artist he had never heard before, guy named Bruce Springsteen. Its cool seeing somebody tr Who never heard it before, I thought he might not like it at all but he digs it.

One of the greatest songs ever written and recorded in my opinion, and this guy hadn't heard it yet...you can tell when they are real about not knowing it too. No doubt he had never heard it.

Lets see this guys opinion lol and lets annoy couchgrouch...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8gELz-TwwEQ

Another hipster.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xsCiXt-lmW4


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SRXNNyTgm8U

Bryce Springteen LOL. That intro was one of the first things I learned to play on the harmonica. I could also play Clarence's solo on the clarinet because I didn't have a sax

I've seen a few of these reaction type videos about other things like Americans watching a British TV show they've never seen or vice versa. They're a bit silly, I suppose, but it must be related to that pleasure you get from introducing a friend to a musician, song or show you love.

Yeah, hey I can do the same thing with my niece and nephew they never heard most if his stuff, they usually tune out before its done.

I think it works for people who understand music at least , knowing something about music. The first guy seemed to definitely get it right away.

But I did enjoy their faces, they had same expression for same parts.

Its hard not to like thunder road it just grabs you and builds, there are some awesome musical parts going on. And it's got so much heart and drama in it. Great story .

The not so genuine thing is that the person may feel they have to say nice things about it cause they want followers. There is a guy who hates everything on there, he and couchgrouch should share a channel.

Its something to try. Do some of these, get some viewership, then over time tell them about your own music and they listen to that.

Basically what it is a traffic drawer. I might try it once I get my album done, if it ever happens!

Yes, I still remember the first time I heard the Born To Run album. It made a bigger impression on me than any record before or since. There are some great tracks on some of his other albums (and a few duds), but BTR for me will always be the greatest album of all time, barring something truly amazing coming along in the future. I envy anyone who still has the experience of hearing it for the first time awaiting them.

From what I understand, they had been playing btr in club gigs for a long time before they ever recorded it and it went through alot of evolution.

He was about to be dropped from his label, they basically said, big record, or you're done. That's why the desperation in the record is obvious, his characters needed a hit, and so did he!

That's why you won't get a real record like that from him again.

Its now harder to relate to a guy worth half a billion, for most people. At this point , people are in it for entertainment, whereas in the beginning it was much more.

The only group that had as big of impression was the who. The Who started my interest In guitar, music, and really the first rock band I was moved by. My Generation used to come on the radio, and it blew my mind, and it was about 15 years after it was released, I was hearing it for first time. I'm like wow listen to that, before that it was alot of pop radio, sweet, air supply, village people lol.

Thank God I heard The Who

They've been big for a while. At first I thought it was clever but then it just became spam to troll people who didn't realize it was just to bring in numbers. People faked big big reactions to stuff. They almost never dislike stuff, they overly like stuff and act like they've never heard stuff impossible to avoid if you live on planet earth and have electricity.

I just watched one OF Bruce Springsteen telling HIS reaction to hearing The Beatles' "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and one or two other Songs. He told how it made him want to play guitar. (Rolling Stone "article" I think.)
That element, someone you know of, as opposed to a random fan, had an appeal.
I saw news pieces recently on Paul McCartney seeing John Lennon on a bus before they met, and talking about it. I don't think I read the articles.
The random fan angle could work too for 'Promotion' purposes, for the unknown artist trying to rouse some curiosity.
We're in an alien world these days, beyond the drastic revolutions and evolutions in the market, technology, labels and publishers disappearing, the public 'stealing' music rather than buying it, and now the inability to safely gather audiences.
All that 'change' demands you figure out new tactics in strategies of Adaptive Response to the Threatening Change in your Natural environment, Coronavirus, causing Threatening Change effects in your economic modus operandi. This 'new' way of one fan arousing the curiosity of others, trending, might work for you on some scale. You of course would not put up the video of the 'fan' who panned your work with a bad review, but the one that said good things, especially if they themselves came across as an 'interesting' person, could serve that 'promo' purpose.
They're like the 'virtual' version of the friend who knocked on your door back when the world was young and said, "Hey! Crank up your stereo! I've got the new album by...!"
It wasn't a guarantee you were going to like it like they did, but you were willing to listen.

Yeah they have some that are on there who actually know alot about music not just random people. and they use it to promote themselves as a critic...which everyone is... but when I see an 18 year old black kid who listen to rap being asked to listen to an early 70s song by ANYONE, let alone a rock singer, I'm pretty sure they haven't heard it before . if I had a channel like that, I guarantee I wouldn't know 99% of ANY rap song or a good majority of songs released even this year.

But the glaring weakness is nobody is going to say something sucks, even if they think it does. a good chance they will never listen to those songs again.

I have seen one guy who hates everything and rips it and is funny doing it.

At the end of the day its to draw traffic to your channel.

"You have to hear this John", said Rob. The three of us "brothers" were at Mark's house.

I was told to lie back on the floor with head phones on

Right from the get go there was such a high energy and a sound I had not heard before, and as that began to build, I was enthralled. When Bruce hit that line "Baby We Were Born To Run" and the music crescendoed...I knew I was listening to someone special.

Sometimes band\musicians are immediately recognizable because of the voice, or the "sound" ....think Pink Floyd, Huey Lewis, Dire Straits....and Bruce can say the same. His voice, guitar and lyrics are simply "Bruce"

I had almost exactly the same experience, John, except without the headphones. I was at college and someone brought the record, we switched off the lights and let it wash over us. Unforgettable.

I didn't have that one defining moment, I started out as a casual listener, buying born in the USA, like 20 million other Americans. And I wasn't crazy about the song born in the USA, nor dancing in the dark, though I think the song transcends the corny dance video. I liked glory days, but it was songs like downbound train and I'm going down, that really got me interested. Going Down is still one of my favorite Tracks, straight rock, at a time period when it was missing , https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3fdZWbIsrFk

But before that I only knew hungry heart and born to run, not the album, just the song.

I remember how fanatical people were in new jersey in 1984. Trying to get tickets, cops driving by and blasting glory days over their car horns. And every body freaking out.

So what I did was go backwards, bought darkness on the edge of town, and being blown away, the intensity of it, candys room was a big favorite that gets little fanfare... Listened to it a thousand times. if that solo dont do anything for you, there's no hope for you, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CyPfb0vOVfo

Then eventually all of them. My only complaint about the sound was that it didn't feature guitar enough. Probably why darkness is my favorite record. Between Bruce, little Stevie and Nils Lofgren, they could have really made a ruckus with guitar, but his sound was more soul based...organ, sax, piano

I always preferred the sound tom petty got, much more guitar oriented, and wished Bruce would have done, but the songs were so good and the energy through the roof.

But in a nutshell, Bruce is part Dylan, part Van Morrison, part soul, part blues, while at the same time.... garage rock. He also dabbled in folk and country .

Somehow he managed to blend it all in.

He had lots of help, great managament and producers, and one of the greatest live bands in rock music. When I really saw him as special was seeing footage of him in concert, and I was able to see him 30 times in later years, not during 1984 though , slept out all night several times and couldn't get tix, thats when he switched to football stadiums.

I queued all night for tickets too one time and didn't get one. Then he had to cancel because of illness. To make up for it, he came back to Edinburgh at the end of the tour and played two nights instead of one. They had a ballot for the second night and I got two tickets. I was very popular with the ladies for a few days, an unusual experience for me, while I tried to decide who got the second ticker He played for four hours. I also saw him a couple of times in a stadium and a basketball arena, but nothing beat that first time in a relatively small theatre.

The difference is that you wouldn't like it when you "heard" it for the first time if you've 100% avoided it all these years. Popular music, regardless of style, is ubiquitous around us passively beyond our control. Massive hits like the chorus of "who let the dog's out" are impossible not to hear if you ever are near a TV, a public space. any radio or films where it's a cliche hook line.

But let's say you hadn't heard it. It's unlikely you'd become "all in" loving and respecting it. If you think you WOULD, then why avoid it all these years?

Fair point Brian. There is definitely an amount of pretentiousness, its a bit like paying to have a song critiqued, nobody is going to shoot it Down While charging money to do so. They are gonna make you feel good.

But I wouldn't necessarily be avoiding the music, it just wasn't my style and therefore never put myself i n a position to hear it. But I could still find something to appreciate about it. " love that groove" "that singer is great" " I like the title, I like that line, I like that bass

But its not really a music idea, its a YouTube idea, designed to attract people to you, your channel, your talents, youre personality.

If these guys go to a Springsteen concert, I'd be shocked, I'd even be surprised if they ever listened to it again .

How many listen to a song here more than once? But they give an initial reaction, same thing, you just don't see their face when listening!

It's just the initial reaction people are interested in, even if its a quirky response.

These things get tons of views.

There's always a new gimmick out there. If it works, more power to 'em. I did meet Bruce Springsteen once. Well, I shook his hand. I got around to washing it about a week later. Ha!

He walks around new jersey often and is spotted by people all the time, pictures usually end up online. I've never met him cause he lives down south I'm up north. But I do know a guy who was security for him at one benefit concert, when he walked in my friend says " do you have a pass" as a joke. he kind of snickered he says, lol

But most people who have met him say he treated them nice.

This was in 1995 or '96 when I was pulling two weeks duty at Ft. Monmouth. At a bar in Red Bank. He went in there to listen to a local band, fans expected him to play, but the only thing I saw him play was his air guitar. Sister of his ex-girlfriend introduced me (his ex was tending bar). Springsteen was after my time (Stones, Dylan, Beatles, Creedence, S&G). I knew of only two of his songs. I was in uniform and said, "It's nice to meet you." He grinned a big grin. I'd say he was very polite, maybe even a little shy. Gave away lots of beer, after fans must have given him about 7. He only drank one that I saw.

Well his 70s stuff was before my time I was between 5 and 10 when his debut came out and even born to run . I was a teen in the 80s when I really discoverd him. I can say the same for most 60s bands I hadn't heard of them till early 1980s when I started playing guitar

But your story sounds consistent, even at the height of his fame he walked around new jersey without bodyguards . and would often stop in local pubs and check out bands . They almost always insist he join them in playing. He helped out alot of local bands , and if you had a band and happened to run into him and you asked nicely , he'd show up.

Later years he said it got harder and harder to pull off cause everybody has a phone and they film every move you make . You have zero privacy .

And yes, very shy guy offstage. Very quiet and soft spoken and really seems uncomfortable even in interviews after all this time.

Cool. He was at that bar for a few hours. It was crowded, and I didn’t even drink. He seemed to like the b’ball game on TV. Springsteen would glance up every time Michael Jordan had the ball.

Who says Springsteen is not relevant any more? They still name drop him for football plays...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6QxQfyRImfU

I think it actually means Boss... His nickname, which in football means... back on strong safety.

But these young guys still know the boss!

Bruce was a great ambassador back in the day. He made America cool all over the world. This video popped up in my Facebook news feed today.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2806876546248045

I think Bruce's concert in East Berlin might have shaken the foundations of the wall and made it easier to tear down the next year. At any rate, it seems to have given thousands of people there something to smile about - real actual communism of the non-democratic kind didn't offer a whole lot of those opportunities.

Bruce may have done some wall shaking...but I thought it was Bowie's concert by the wall that was given lots of credit for it coming down. The German government gave him an official thak you for it. Now there is a school ogf thought that it would have happened anyway, but it did spawn the first of the East Berlin "riots" and unrest that intensified and ultimately lead to the wall coming down....dismantled by the people themselves.

My sister in law was there...partook in its teardown, and brought me a piece as a souvenier. I have it in sight now.

https://www.wearethemighty.com/music/david-bowie-berlin-wall/

There are sites that work on a system to where streams and thumbs up thumbs down per individual can be done only once per submission. At least outside of cheating their location and route address. I don't know where you tube is with that.
The notorious no doubt will have the run on that.