That Time Bruce Released Two New Albums On The Same Day

Bruce Springsteen had released a double album before, 1980’s “The River”, pictured here.  So it wasn’t a foreign concept to the man.  25 year ago this week in 1992, in an almost unprecedented move, he released two new single albums, “Human Touch” and “Lucky Town”.  I say “almost unprecedented” because Guns N’ Roses had released two new albums, “Use Your Illusion I” and “Use Your Illusion II” on the same day the previous year.  In Springsteen’s defense, his two albums were recorded almost a year apart, with “Human Touch” done in 1989-1991 and “Lucky Town” recorded later in 1991 into 1992.  So, unlike GNR, it wasn’t a way to make more money by selling two LP’s instead of a double album.  The original plan was to record an extra song for “Human Touch” so it could be released in 1991.  Instead, Springsteen ended up recording ten more songs, so he had a new album.  It had been almost four and a half years since his previous album, “Tunnel Of Love”, so his fans were hungry for new product.  It might not have been the best idea, but he released both albums on March 31, 1992.  Sales were not great, by his standards, and certainly not in the league of he GNR albums (both were certified 7x platium by the RIAA).  Of the two, “Human Touch” sold better, but “Lucky Town” was more popular with the critics.  A friend once told me the story of going to the record store when the albums were released with his Dad, who was a rabid Springsteen fan.  Even as a kid, he could tell how disappointed his Father was when they played the albums that day in the car.  That being said, there are good songs on both of them, so I will be featuring them on my show Monday, 12-4 PM CST at http://uicradio.org/ for their 25th anniversary this week.  I hope you can join me and I hope you will find some songs from the albums that you enjoy.