The Worst of the Best Podcast

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Welcome to the worst of the best podcast.
You wanted the best.
Well, they didn't freaking make it.
So here's what you get from Canada, Ryan and Ruben.
All right.
Welcome to the worst of the best podcast.
I am Ryan.
With me as always, Ruben.
Ruben.
Ryan.
Today.
All day.
We are talking about the boss.
That's right.
You know, he's the only boss I have.
Yes, you are a self-made man.
No.
I'm not employed.
Which means you just have a thousand bosses.
Every customer you come in is your boss, kind of.
So we have our dad to thank for our love for the boss, I think.
Remember his key chain?
Yep.
The little brass thing that said the boss.
That's right.
Was that reference to him or reference to the boss?
Either or.
Either or.
Our dad is a huge, and our mother is a huge Bruce Springsteen fan.
And when we were just we lads, they would listen to Bruce Springsteen and so did we.
When I was in the second grade, I spent a $2 bill on a Bruce Springsteen magazine.
Like those pop magazines you get at the grocery store?
I bought one and it had a poster in it.
Wow.
Yes.
My earliest member, Bruce, of course, was the Born in the USA album.
So in 1984, I think I was in grade five at the time, my dad had the cassette tape.
But every day, Ruben, after school, and I remember doing this, it was on Donview Crescent.
Yeah.
No, dad had that silver stereo.
Yeah.
Oh, I remember that.
So loud, I remember.
And the house was empty, so I was able to play the music loud.
So I'd come home, I'd put it on Born in the USA, and I just remember the chord and the drums and just the power.
Just as a 10-year-old boy, how much this thrilled me to listen to this.
Well, I put it in, I remember my memory of the album was putting in my Fisher-Price cassette player.
And I'd put the handle of it over the handlebars of my bike, and I put it up to 10, and I went up and down the street with it.
And I remember some grown-ups laughing at me.
That's too bad that they laughed at you.
They should have joined the power of Bruce.
Oh.
So we're big Bruce fans.
I saw him live only once.
I saw him on the Rising Tour with Mom and Dad, so that was pretty cool.
Yeah, I believe that's the only time I've seen him as well.
Yeah.
I just want to make a shout-out to our brother, Jason.
Hey, Jason.
He has moonlighted doing security.
So he was Bruce's personnel security for a whole entire concert.
That's pretty cool.
But not a Bruce concert.
A Foo Fighters concert.
He was Bruce Springsteen's security while Bruce watched a Foo Fighters concert.
There you go.
That's interesting.
And Jay was telling me that at one point, Dave Grohl does a guitar solo just for fun right in front of Bruce.
So there's Jay standing there.
Bruce, a foot or two, you know, beside or in front or whatever.
And then there's Dave Grohl right in front.
That's a pretty cool experience.
Isn't that an amazing experience?
Good job, Jason.
At the end of the night, Jay, you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure this is it.
At the end of the night, Jay accompanies Bruce as he gets into his SUV limo.
Okay?
I don't think they connected at all the night.
You know, you're just the quiet security guard.
Bruce is getting into his limo.
And just as he's like, the door's open, just about to kind of crouch out, you know, into it.
Somebody walks by Jason and goes, Bruce.
Nice and loud.
Bruce turns around to go look.
See, you know, he just heard his name.
By the time Bruce turns around, the guy's already gone.
And so Bruce looks at Jason.
Like, why did he just yell my name?
And Jay was like, that wasn't me.
You know, but he doesn't have a chance to say that.
And then Bruce is kind of like.
So Bruce's last moment with Jason that whole night was this guy that was watching the whole night.
Yes.
Just like called his name as he's leaving.
Like, why would you do that?
We spent the whole night together.
Why would you just yell my name?
Yeah.
Isn't that crazy?
That's so embarrassing.
That's great.
What a great story.
What a great time.
So really what I'm trying to get at is my brother saved Bruce's life.
Good job, Jason.
So for our first time listeners, Ruben and I, we do not pick the best.
We only pick that, which is the worst from the best.
Usually the best is the best selling.
That's right.
So in Bruce's case, we picked his six top selling albums of all time.
He's got quite a few.
So we picked his top selling five studio albums and then his top selling greatest hits album.
Now our duty, our job is to pick the worst song for each top selling album.
Because even amongst that, which is the boss and Mr. Bruce Springsteen himself, even amongst his most best selling records, Ruben, there are a couple of duds.
And it's our chance to say which one is the worst song on his best selling albums.
And let's just go in order of units sold.
And I'm calling this units sold because when I went on Wikipedia, it was hard to tell.
Different countries have different standards for platinum.
Like Canada, I think platinum is 100,000.
But for America, platinum is a million.
But then for New Zealand and other countries and Britain, I had no idea.
And I'm not going to research all that.
It usually reflects the population of the country.
Right.
The ratio.
So, for example, the States have about 10 times the population as Canada.
So in the States, platinum is a million.
Diamonds, 10 million.
I just measured this in units.
So if I say the album Magic, for example, has eight units.
Approximately probably eight million copies or close to it.
So Magic was released in 2007.
So Magic is the 15th studio album by Bruce.
It was his first album with the E Street Band since The Rising in 2002.
It's always weird to me.
He always took such big breaks.
Yeah.
It seems like every time.
I don't know.
Why does he do that?
Why does he have such big?
So this is a...
But he did other albums.
I know.
He does other albums.
And they sound just as Bruce Springsteen-y to me in some ways.
It's never like Devils in Dust.
I understand that.
But, you know, you don't have Big Boy Clarence on the saxophone maybe.
But it's still...
I don't know.
To me, Bruce is Bruce.
And it's always a Bruce Springsteen album in many ways, I guess is what I'm saying.
But there's probably those who are listening to this episode and those who are Bruce Springsteen fans who feel that Bruce is only Bruce when he's got the E Street Band.
I don't know.
I hear what you're saying.
Because I'm a big Tom Petty fan.
And there's Tom Petty and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
I just finished recently, finished listening to the biography.
And one of the reasons why he would do a solo album was to have a break from those people.
You tour with them.
You record with them.
Decade after decade.
Sometimes you just need to hang around somebody different for a bit.
Was that a gypsy biker that just drove by, Ruben?
Yeah.
One of my favorite Bruce Springsteen songs of all time is actually on this album.
And that is Radio Nowhere.
It's fantastic.
I love that song.
So that is certainly not my worst pick from this album, Ruben.
I do have a worst pick.
What is going on?
So I have a worst pick.
I do.
All right.
So my worst pick of Springsteen's 15th studio album.
But his fifth best-selling album of all time.
Or sixth best-selling album of all time.
Kudos to him.
How old would he have been in 2007?
That was 11 years ago.
58.
He's 69 now.
So 58 and selling 8 million plus albums.
Yeah.
That's incredible.
But there is a song on this album that is my least favorite.
It is called Your Own Worst Enemy.
Is that a bad song?
It's actually a really good album.
Magix is a really good album.
But that's the one that...
Yeah.
That's my worst pick.
I think you were...
Maybe like subconsciously going for that.
Because worst is in the title.
Me.
That's right.
Ruben, what's your pick for the worst?
The next song I love.
And it's my worst pick.
I love it though.
Yeah.
Well, that's...
For our first-time listeners.
Keep in mind...
Well, that sounds terrible.
No, it sounds fine.
It sounds fine.
That does sound good.
But go on.
Sorry, I interrupted.
Go ahead.
I'm just saying that we don't hate...
We don't necessarily hate the songs that we pick sometimes.
If you listen to previous episodes, sometimes it is something we don't like.
That's on a good album.
Your Own Worst Enemy.
I'm never going to turn it off.
If I had to pick one song for me personally, that's the worst song on the album.
That's all we're saying.
All right.
Mine is Girls in their Summer Clothes.
Girl is the man of wine.
Big, black, hot, and shorts.
Off of the sweet, beautiful, push-ups.
Yeah, that was close for me too, Ruben.
I'm not going to lie to you.
That was close for me as well.
There was a reason why I brought up the age before.
Yeah.
I guess he's 58 and he's talking about girls in their summer clothes.
Maybe not the most age-appropriate song in the world.
You know, I was like, okay.
I don't know.
All right.
His fifth top-selling album of all time, and I am including the greatest album in this countdown,
is The Rising, released in 2002.
The Rising was Bruce's 12th studio album, and it was Springsteen's first studio album in seven years,
and it was also his first with the E Street Band again in 18 years.
A connection here between album sales and E Street Band.
Yeah.
What are the guys doing in those years?
18 years.
The older solo projects.
Clarence is pulsing his saxophone.
Wildly believed to have been based on Springsteen's reflections during the aftermath of September 11,
2001.
The album is predominantly centered upon themes of relationship, struggles, existential crisis, and social uplift.
It seems kind of sacrilege to pick the worst song on this album.
But there is a worst song.
And for me, this was an easy choice.
When this album came out, even when it was hot, hot off the shelves, and I played this song.
It's probably my most played Bruce album next to Born in the USA in my life.
This song never left any impression on me, even when it was out.
And it sounds...
My guess is going to be the same.
I don't know.
That's fine.
And again, he would have been probably...
Let's see.
This is five years previous.
So now he's 53.
He's married, right?
And he's talking about Let's Be Friends Skin to Skin.
That's the name of the song.
I don't know.
It's not a very good song to begin with.
Let's be friends.
Let's be friends.
I don't know if they're different.
You and me.
Got a different way of walking.
Time has come with the best big history.
It's actually a boring song.
The whole idea of Let's Be Friends Skin to Skin.
Like, what are we talking about here, Bruce?
Come on.
Does Priscilla approve of this?
I'm sorry.
I submit that that is the worst song of the album.
Really?
I'm not saying that it doesn't improve, but I disagree with you completely.
I love that song.
You like Skin to Skin?
Yes!
Are you serious?
It's a fun party song.
And I don't even mean this is a moral objective.
I don't care about that.
I just...
I think this is writing a song.
I know, but I think it's silly.
I like the beating of that one.
I like the move and the groove.
No, no, no.
I love it, man.
It's like...
It's the Lion King of Bruce's album.
Oh.
All right.
It's like we're surviving 9-11, and yet we can still appreciate the Middle Eastern vibes that
their artistry brings.
And I will unite the world with the song.
There's a reason why those Middle Eastern songs have never...
Sounds have never crossed the pond.
It's terrible.
All right.
He's got a tie, pretty much, for his fourth best-selling album of all time.
Born to Run.
We'll talk about that one first.
Born to Run is his third studio album.
It was his effort to break into the mainstream.
The album was a commercial success, peaking at number three on the billboard, and eventually
selling six million-plus copies in the United States alone.
The album itself, Ruben, only has eight tracks, and they're all pretty darn good.
Hey, yeah.
Let me just read out the tracks here.
Sure.
Just read them out.
Thunder Road, 10th Avenue, Fries Out, Night, Backstreet's, Born to Run, my goodness.
She's the One, Mean Across the River, and Jungle Land.
This, however, is actually an easy pick for me.
There is actually one song on this album that does nothing for me.
I say nothing for me.
It's actually quite...
I would say it's almost, dare I say, boring.
Now, again, it doesn't mean it's a bad song in the sense that it's Bruce, but he's got some
duds.
And I think this one is such a strong album.
This one is probably as big as duds on the album.
Okay, I don't want to lose listeners.
And it never really...
See?
Yeah.
It never really picks up.
It has a piano and everything.
That horn part.
The horn sounds like...
I don't like that sound of that type of horn playing.
Anyways, it never really picks up.
You know, some of these songs have that piano intro that picks up.
It never picks up.
It pretty much sounds like that the whole way through.
And there's no crescendo.
So, on Born to Run, the worst song on one of his best-selling albums and best albums of
all the time is Meeting Across the River.
Ruben, what's your choice?
Of the best?
Oh, no, I agree.
Oh, you agree with that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Okay.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Sorry, I thought I said I agree earlier.
So, Ruben and Iron Agreed is Meeting Across the River.
Worst song on Born to Run.
Now, tied for the same amount of sales, more or less, was Tunnel of Love.
I love Tunnel of Love.
Tunnel of Love is a great album.
Absolutely.
So, this was the follow-up.
But there was a double album that was done.
Was there not?
Am I getting my history re-written here?
Yeah, because this album came out in 87, three years after Born.
And between all this touring and everything.
Yeah, he had a live album.
No, I was thinking of Human Touch, Lucky Town.
Yeah, that came out out.
I was thinking that double, well, not double album, but two albums at the same time.
So, Tunnel of Love is the eighth studio album by Bruce.
Released on October 9th, 87.
And although members of the E Street Band occasionally performed on the album, Bruce recorded most of the parts himself, often with drum machines and synthesizers.
And while the album's liner notes list the E Street Band members under that name, Springsteen's public relations firm does not count it as an E Street Band album.
Again, 2002's The Rising was advertised as his first studio album since Born in the USA.
That's how much of a gap there was.
I didn't think about that.
So, from Born in the USA to The Rising was the gap of no E Street Band album.
Yeah, but you would have toured forever with it.
And then you would have, okay, I'm taking a break.
Probably taking a break from the guys for a bit.
And then he also went through a divorce.
So, songs on this album, Ruben, again, amazing songs.
The big ones are Tougher Than the Rest, of course, Spare Parts, Tunnel of Love, Brilliant Disguise, One Step Up.
But I have a worst pick.
And ironically, on this album, and this might be a worst to best podcast episode first, the worst when it comes to music.
The opening track, Ruben, should be the one that draws you in.
It should be kind of like, you know, like Magic has Radio Noir.
Sure, yeah.
Well, the opening track to Tunnel of Love is a horrible song.
I don't even like it.
I'm going to go over with you right now.
I don't even like it.
I got the fortunes of heaven and diamonds and gold.
I got all the bonds, baby, that the bank could hold.
Well, I got houses across the country, honey, in the end.
And everybody but it wants to be my friend.
Well, I got all the riches, baby.
I got all the riches, baby.
But the only thing I got in the end.
You got in the end.
I mean, it's all right.
It's all right.
But when you compare it to the rest of the album, that's how this show works.
When I compare it to the rest of the album, that one for me, it's a bit of a dud compared to when you have the next song, for example, is tougher than the rest.
You just go from that to tougher than the rest.
You just realize how much greater of a song or less of a song, I should say, Ain't Got You is.
Ruben.
I agree and disagree.
Okay.
I agree that that is the weakest one on the album.
But I like how the album starts.
I like how the vibe is going.
Okay.
I like hearing the power of his voice.
It is the worst on the album, though I don't think it's a bad song.
Yeah, it's not as bad as Skin to Skin.
So, of course, his best-selling album of all time is Born in the USA.
Really?
More than his greatest hits?
Yeah.
More than greatest hits, actually.
How many units does it say?
Well, 30 units measured for greatest hits, 49 for Born.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
Wow.
So, let's just do Born, though, and we'll go back to greatest hits.
So, Born in the USA released in 1984.
This album is his most popular album for a reason.
Yeah.
It was actually extremely hard, even though the nature of our show is to pick a worse song.
I went through this album a couple times thinking, which one of my children do I sacrifice to the worst of the best gods?
Yeah.
But I picked one, Ruben.
I picked one.
Well, mine is an easy one to pick.
Okay.
Well, don't tell me yours.
Don't look at mine, either.
I'm going to hit play on mine.
You tell me if we chose the same.
So, this is Ryan's pick.
Worst song on Born in the USA.
Oh.
Okay.
Now, again, let me just make this clear.
I even feel sick providing this song.
Actually, I felt gross inside that my brother would pick that as his worst.
Okay.
Which one's yours?
You just looked, didn't you?
I didn't.
I don't know which one it is.
And I can defend it easily.
I knew you were going to do a hot take.
A hot take?
It's a hot take.
I didn't know the terminology.
A hot take means it's kind of like, it goes against what many people would consider.
No.
This is an easy one to defend.
Listen to it.
It sounds dated.
I will give you that.
It sounds so dated.
I love other renditions that don't have that.
His acoustic renditions, which I believe is on the Greatest Hits album.
No, it's not.
It's not?
Maybe on some versions.
Okay.
I don't necessarily disagree with you.
The reason why I can't is nostalgia.
It would kill my childhood to say it.
Because this is the song I would put on and it just filled me with such glee and joy as a child.
I love the song, but I'm saying...
I understand.
The aging of the song.
I understand the little sound in the background doesn't sound that great.
Neil's...
Neil's...
What's his head?
I'm guessing that's him.
But his vocals, though, is hard to beat.
That's...
The way he yells a song on the album is so powerful.
The vocal part.
I know.
Like, if you're just taking away the music and just hears vocal, there's probably a vocal-only track for this, maybe.
I remember when I read the lyrics for the first time, or at least understood them, and realizing it wasn't a pro-USA song.
No, it's not.
And it took a whole new meaning.
One of the things I love about Bruce is his lyrics.
Yeah.
For me, that's the worst one.
Is that fair?
My goodness.
Imagine if the worst song was a song that fantastic.
Yeah.
That's...
This was a near-impossible choice.
So, on the Greatest Hits album, released in 1995, I actually had an easier choice.
Here we have, in 1995, he released the Greatest Hits album, selling near 30 million copies, or something to that effect per ratio in the countries.
Greatest Hits was Bruce Springsteen's first compilation album, if you can believe it,
released in February 27, 1995.
It's about 20 years into his career, 22 years into his career.
It's a collection of some of Springsteen's hit singles and popular album tracks for the years,
along with four new songs at the end, mostly recorded with the East Street Band in 1995.
The latter constituted Springsteen's first, albeit very partial, release with his backing band since the late 80s.
Some of the songs were shorter versions of the original album releases.
Okay.
So, some of the new songs were Murder Incorporated,
This Hard Land, and the Jerry Maguire song, Secret Garden, and of course, the Philadelphia song from the movie Philadelphia.
My worst pick.
And I had a hard time picking the song on here.
I mean, it's obviously his greatest hits, right?
But I'll say this about this pick.
I'm going to give you a hint.
It's one of the movie song soundtracks, songs.
The two are Secret Garden from Jerry Maguire and Philadelphia from the movie Philadelphia.
So, I had to decide which song would I...
Yes.
I'm sorry, Ria.
Sorry.
I know the podcasters are not getting any of the disgusting look on my face.
Oh, my gosh.
This is my worst pick from his greatest hits album.
There's a secret, God, she has.
Now, let me defend this.
That's what I'm saying.
Oh, stop.
I don't like flowers.
Oh, stop.
Let me explain.
This song worked really well in the film.
Yeah.
The sequence in the film, when it kicks in, Jerry Maguire...
It's beautiful.
It's beautiful.
Yeah.
I totally agree.
But outside of the context of the film, and just listening to my car driving down the road...
Oh.
Yeah, she has a secret garden.
Okay, so what's your...
I love this song.
I love this song.
I'm not saying I don't love it.
It doesn't matter.
This song...
The whole point is...
You're cruising down the street.
Are you putting it on Cedar Garden?
Are you putting it on Murder Incorporated?
It depends on what mood I'm in.
Well, that goes for everything, yes.
If I was into...
I understand.
Okay, okay, okay.
If I had a choice...
That I could have the greatest album with me on our desert island...
Right.
This is my only album.
Right.
But I had to take off one song.
Yes.
I would take off Murder Incorporated.
I love this song.
I love...
I don't know what it means.
I don't get it.
I love how it's Murder Incorporated.
That's like a great death metal band name.
Murder Incorporated.
I think...
The title alone I love.
It talks about the gun under his pillow.
That opening line.
Bobby got a gun under his pillow.
No, it's great storytelling.
Great lyrics.
That's what I mean to me that I find that...
A visceral experience where a secret garden is just like...
Maybe the weird way all I can think about is Jerry Maguire.
I can't get past that.
I forgot that it was in the movie until he said something.
And then same with Philadelphia.
I just...
All I see is a dying Tom Hanks.
I love the...
I never saw the movie.
But...
I saw it in theaters.
The video that Bruce does for it when he's walking through the streets of Philadelphia.
Very effective.
Very effective.
He does it live.
It's a live performance.
Yeah, it's good.
Love the boss.
Love the Bruce.
The Bruce.
So which album, Ruben, of all the top selling is the worst albums?
I meant to do this before.
Easy peasy.
Okay, before you get there.
I meant to do that for our previous episodes.
I always forget.
So now we've picked the worst song from the best selling.
Sure, sure.
So which is the worst?
Now you have to get rid of one of these albums.
You can never listen to it again.
That's easy peasy.
You gotta throw it away.
Easy peasy.
Before you get there.
Okay, I've got mine.
Oh, I don't know.
Well, if you're just gonna say the Greatest Hits album.
Well, yeah.
That's what I'm gonna go for.
Okay.
Take away the Greatest Hits album.
Which one do you think?
That's not fair.
I gotta give this a thought.
Yeah.
I think at the end of the day, I'd probably throw away Magic.
I'd hate to do it.
Actually, no.
No, I think I would do it.
Rising.
Really?
I think so.
Because I've heard it so much.
I think if I had to throw away.
Look, this game sucks.
I know.
We're talking about I don't want to do this.
Yeah.
But you put me in the universe where I have to choose a non-Greatest Hits album.
Okay, fine.
The Rising, I'd go for Born to Run.
Why?
Because there's eight songs on it.
And seven are good.
So I'd rather get more.
Yeah.
More bang for your buck.
Yeah, absolutely.
But thankfully, Ruben, we haven't had to make that choice.
No, no, no, no.
We get to listen to all this again.
So again, thank you to all our new listeners.
We hope you enjoyed our format.
And if you did listen to and like our shows for previous, please like us on Facebook.
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And remember, in front of every silver lining, there is a cloud.
Ding, ding.
We'll be right back.
Thank you.