Play a little thought game with me.

I've been thinking about Sal Nunziato's excellent blog post on Max Weinberg and Vini Lopez. And I've been wondering: Suppose Springsteen hadn't made the strategic decision, at some point years ago, that he wanted a metronomic, unswinging power hitter on the drum riser. Suppose he'd opted to keep the nimbler, more polychromatic Lopez in the band. What would the E Street Band of that last 30 years or so have looked like? Would there have been a "Born To Run?" A "Darkness"?

...and here's a taste of what it might have sounded like.

It was probably Landau's decision to can Lopez and pluck Max out of the pit of Godspell. I certainly don't mind what came after the first 2 ESB records and my feeling is that the records would not have been much different. Live is a different story. Max is just uninventive. At times, he really seems like he just wants to go home.

Apparently he has a place in Tuscany. I'd just want to go home too.

Someone I know on the "inside" saw my post and told me Max auditioned for the McCartney 1989 tour and didn't get it. That Macca referred to him as "ham-fisted." MY EXACT WORDS Me and Macca, thinking alike.

So that must have been a fun backstage in Hyde Park.

Apparently, Max is still angry. I guess that's why he ruined "Racing In The Street" on Wednesday.

Remnick says that Vini was canned because he threatened Bruce, and I vaguely recall reading elsewhere that they thought that Max was a better drummer. And while it seems to me that of course the records would have sounded different, how many times did Bruce have Clarence record that long solo? My point is Bruce knew what he wanted and got what he wanted, and he probably got what he wanted from Max.

I don't doubt for a second that Bruce got what he wanted; I mean, it doesn't seem likely (or even possible) that a guy with his reputation for control freakery would have hired Max, or kept him, if he weren't exactly what he wanted. So yeah, I do think he decided at one point long ago that his vision for the band was that it be a mighty locomotive, not a -- what? A jazz quartet writ large, I guess. And in that light Max was the right choice. I'm just wondering out loud: What if he'd gone another way?

Parenthetically, I can't help thinking about that scene in "Wings For Wheels" when young Springsteen is sitting in the studio muttering despondently, over and over, about how the drum sound was stiff and lifeless. Hmm.

I think that's exactly right Bill. I think Bruce wanted to be the biggest rock star in the world. That was his dream and desire, and at some level maybe the only way he could really escape the physical and mental confines he thought existed. The swing of Wild Innocent (ahh, to this day my favorite record) and Spanish Johnny weren't grand enough poems (right - the poets of Born to Run stopped writing poetry even). His sound needed to be big and Max pounds harder than most. And symbolically that drum sound is now firmly physically placed center on a riser.

So it's almost impossible to imagine the other way. Maybe as interesting is what is the line from Goin’ Back To Georgia/Steel Mill to Incident on 57th Street?

Editing? I wonder if Bruce said the same thing after the ninth or 20th version of the "Badlands" solo.

Let's go back to the playing for a minute. Given what you and Jeff just said, re: "what he wanted," how is it possible that a control freak "wants" a stiff and lifeless and unimaginative drummer who more times than not live, screws up the tempo? Okay, I realize we are but a drop in the ocean of opinions, but I was truly surprised by the comments on my post and how all but 2 agreed with me.

Hey, Andrew. Welcome. Not sure I agree that a Big Sound was the path to being the biggest rock star in the world, however much that might have been his desire at the time... but it sure as hell was the path to delivering on his sonic ambitions. You don't get to build a new Wall of Sound with a subtle, swinging drummer. You need a power hitter for that.

Sal: I think the moment I referenced had more to do with the way the drums sounded on playback; his concern seemed to be with the miking. And yeah, he was doubtless exhausted. But in the context of your post and this conversation, it's tempting to posit an alternate scenario: "Landau stuck me with this guy and he's stiff as a board." But naah, I don't believe that.

I have a musician friend who used to run a drum school in New York. He's also a Bruce devotee, and I've heard him express admiration for Max but disdain for Tallent's bass playing. Maybe at this point, they're a family, and changing the personnel in the absence of a life-altering event just isn't possible anymore. Or maybe Max caught Bruce in the back of his car with a backup singer. Who knows?

I'm no expert but from where I listen, I've had a problem with the band's sound for years where on record, I think the sound is just too dense. They sound more like a corporation than a band, with all the guitars. And live, they've just sounded a half step slow. But then again, I've gotten slow and dense with age so maybe Bruce just goes with it.