While Santana's Supernatural scored with crossover tunes featuring young artists like matchbox twenty's Rob Thomas, Springsteen seems to be appealing mostly to his boomer fans. Even so, MTV exec Tom Calderone says his net is eager to play a video from The Rising (though there are no immediate plans to release one) and has booked Springsteen on Aug. 29's Video Music Awards along with Pink, Eminem, and Shakira. "MTV is taking a snapshot of the pop culture moment, and in this case it's coming from a guy who's been around for a while," says Calderone. "When Springsteen performs 'The Rising,' [teens are] gonna say, 'I get it now.'"
But even some Jerseyites were put off by the hard sell for the album. "Last week's publicity bath made it seem as if Springsteen was capitalizing on the Sept. 11 tragedy," wrote columnist Mike Kelly in Bergen's Record on Aug. 4. Although no proceeds from The Rising have been publicly earmarked for charity, Springsteen has performed at numerous fund-raisers since 9/11, including last September's Tribute to Heroes telethon. He also made unpublicized personal donations to victims' families in Monmouth County, N.J., says Rick Korn, who organized two Red Bank, N.J., benefits that the rocker played last October. "He's definitely done his part," says Korn, noting that Springsteen met individually with all of the victims' relatives who attended. And Anthony Gardner, chairman of the 800-member WTC United Family Group (his brother, Harvey, died in the attacks), scoffs at Kelly's charges. "In no way do I think he's commercializing it or capitalizing on it at all," says Gardner. "[The album] makes people think about it, and that's doing a service for the families."
For many fans, the biggest service is having Springsteen back at center stage (he kicked off a four-month, 39-city barnstorming U.S. tour on Aug. 7). "We're in a sea of new and developing faces, which is great for music, but there comes a time when the country looks toward that comfort factor," says MTV's Calderone. "And Springsteen fits that mold."
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