Springsteen Back With New Album and Tour

I wanted to make an album that was essential, even if you have every single one of my other albums," says Bruce Springsteen of his new disc, The Rising, his first studio album with the E Street Band since 1984's Born in the U.S.A. "This is what the band sounds like right now." The disc, due out July 30th, was produced by Brendan O'Brien, who has worked with Rage Against the Machine and Pearl Jam. "We did things I couldn't have done producing it myself," Springsteen says. Following The Rising's release, Springsteen and the band will kick off a thirty-nine-city American tour on August 7th in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The U.S. dates will be interrupted by a European tour in October, and the band will play additional shows in the States next summer.

This story is from the August 8th, 2002 issue of Rolling Stone.