After his hard rocking energetic performance at the Super Bowl, Bruce Springsteen is likely to find some new fans. Fortunately for “The Boss,” he has a new album to offer.
Since reuniting the E Street Band in 1999, Bruce Springsteen has brought the lineup to the studio and recorded two critically acclaimed albums. Both ”The Rising,” (2002) and “Magic,” (2007) came from painful inspiration. The first in an effort to heal after Sept. 11 and the other a Bush-era protest. The third E Street album of the new millennium is the best yet.
“Working on a Dream” picks up where “Magic” left off, but is more up-beat and energetic than Springsteen’s previous efforts. Many of the songs reflect the working class Americans that have always populated his lyrics.
The youthful energy of the album's music combines neatly with the truthfulness of Springsteen’s lyrics. ”Working on a Dream” takes the band back to a more domestic and personal feel after the global appeal of the past two records. The songs for the album were written and recorded while the band toured for ”Magic.”
Some of the best songs on the album aren’t the hard rocking, ”Born to Run”-type tracks, but the more simply arranged folk-style recordings. ”The Last Carnival” tells the story of a trapeze artist who has fallen in love with her partner just in time for the carnival’s run to reach its end. The song is melancholy and lonesome, and Springsteen conveys perfectly what it feels like when you are separated from a loved one.
The album's opener, “Outlaw Pete,” is an eight minute folk saga, touching and slightly witty, and it's interesting arrangement of sound is a throwback to the music Springsteen made in the 70s. The tale of a pony stealing cowboy unfolds with rising violins and emotional vocals as Springsteen asks, “Outlaw Pete can you hear me?”
One quality that Springsteen has always possessed is the power to try something different or unusual. ”Good Eye” is an unexpected blues track, with Springsteen alternating between his harsh, deep sounding voice and an intense harmonica. Crafted on top of a loop, the song feels timeless and modern.
“Life Itself” is a song that is both intriguing and disturbing. It’s an ominous tale of love that uses backwards guitar and distorted vocals to reflect what it means. It can be perceived in different ways: Is it a celebration of love, or an admission that it’s inherently dangerous? Springsteen has shown he has the ability to spark some thought and creativity into the mind of his listeners.
The most fully engaged and best song on the album is the final track, “The Last Carnival,” which was written for Danny Federici, the E Street Band’s longtime guitarist who died last year from melanoma. Springsteen is heartfelt and honest as he sings, “We won’t be dancing together on the highwire / Facing the lions with you by my side anymore.”
Another excellent track is the bonus track, ”The Wrestler,” a song written for the movie of the same name, which Springsteen won a Golden Globe for Best Original Song. The song is both haunting and hopeful as Springsteen croons across its melody. It’s rare for a songwriter to bring new life into clichés, but “The Boss” does it with ease. Springsteen uses both a ”one-trick pony” and a ”one-legged dog” in his tale of a man who has no choice but to admit he’s a has-been.
Both familiar fans and newcomers alike will find something worth listening to in this album; be it the fast-paced rock songs and the slower ballads.
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