Bruce Springsteen - Working on a Dream (Deluxe Version with bonus DVD)
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Free Music Notes for Working on a Dream (Deluxe Version with bonus DVD)
Free Music Review: Best Bruce Rocker Since Tunnel of Love
Hit: 5 Stars
I liked about half of The Rising, but I never play it any more. Same for Magic. WOAD, after 4 full LOUD listens in the car this week, seems to be the best Bruce rock disc since Tunnel of Love.
If nothing else, it makes me think of what TOL might have sounded like as an E-Street album. By the way, I think if WOAD was EXACTLY the same but sung by Johnny Cash and produced by Rick Rubin it would be hailed as an all-time great album. But so many Bruce fans are haters (that's a whole mental study waiting to be done) it even gets bashed on home turf.
I know there are a lot of folks who wish for 1970's retreads, and that's cool, but I like the fact that Bruce has changed his sound a lot lately and still has not produced duds of the magnitude Dylan and the Stones have. That's pretty remarkable.
Anway, haters click out. Open minders, read on for quick thoughts on a few tracks.
Outlaw Pete - This has been called an attempt at a murder ballad, and also has been ripped for the baby lyrics. If you follow American music pre-1960 you'll see the kind of bragging that leads to legends of diaper wearing baby thieves. It is not a murder ballad in the traditional sense, but it is a pretty iconic outlaw story. And I love how each time "Can you hear me" comes around it has a different meaning, from the young Pete seeking attention to the "ghost" Pete calling out for his daughter.
Queen - The same melancholy stalking that made "I Wanna Marry You" creepy fun is back. What guy hasn't seen a checkout girl he thought about taking home? It's just that most of us never turned the idea into art. By the time the high pitched backing vocals come in, this song is in a sonic swirl worthy of anything Bruce has done.
WOAD - It is a folk song. I bet it is the one from this album that people are covering 20 years from now.
Good Eye - I keep hitting replay to hear when Max and Garry come in. Damn that grooves!
Tomorrow Never Knows - Again, if it were Johnny Cash, we'd be bowing down.
The Byrds Set
Life Itself - Kingdom Of Days - Surprise, Surprise
This is one of the best three-in-a-row stretches he has ever had. Life Itself, with its twisting backtracked guitars has the burbling drone from verse 2 on that is classic late-era Byrds. Kingdom of Days continues the feel mixed with a little Beatles - is that Yoko signing?, while the incredibly catchy Surprise, Surprise sounds like McGuinn and Lennon replaced Lofgren and VanZandt.
I favor folksy Bruce, so Last Carnival and The Wrestler are comfy places for me.
But unlike Magic where i skipped tracks at almost every listen, this is a straight-through disc for me.
I cannot believe how much I love it.
Rob
PS: One of the neat things about Bruce's career is that he can change his sound. Greetings through The River dic 1 are relatively similar. From The River disc 2 you start a more folk-styled blend that streaks through his work up to The Rising. But then, BITUSA, TOL and WOAD make a great trio of pop records.
And thing is, even on the panned pair of LT and HT, there are just great freaking songs. With Every Wish and I Wish I Were Blind are enough to warrant HT. And LT, I dare say most artists would be happy to write If I Should Fall Behind and My Beautiful Reward in their CAREERS, lest have them both on a lesser album.
The man has never released an album without great songs. That is unreal.
Free Music Review: Another Winner!
Hit: 5 Stars
I listened to the "Sneak Peak" of this album on NPR. I couldn't wait to hear it on a proper setup as even on the PC speakers you could tell the sound so of this was "richer" than most of Springsteen's recent work.
Working on a Dream has a very different sound from the last two albums. The sound is lusher and the outlook is happier than the past two. It sounds like Bruce has been listening to a lot of the Byrds and the Beach Boys. Yeah, there are a lot of strings (heresy?) on this album, but I think it works on the songs that they are on. There is plenty of great guitar work. The only quibble I have is that there is not much of Clarence on this one (he only steps out on "Lucky Day" and "This Life".
This album has knocked the latest Derek Trucks Band CD off the system for now. I have listed to the whole thing several times and it sounds awesome on headphones on a proper system! It's hard to single out one song above the other, but if you told me to pick a few I'd go with "Outlaw Pete", "Life Itself", "Lucky Day", and "Surprise, Surprise" for a start. The two "extras" are a nice bonus. "The Wrestler"... what can you say? The Academy miseed the boat but at least they appreciated "Streets of Philadelphia". I am 50-50 on "Night with the Jersey Devil" but it may grow on me.
A LOT of folks really are slamming "Queen of the Supermarket". Folks, it's supposed to be a fun song. I seriously doubt the man is really stalking Pathmark letching on checkout girls. He has written goofy tunes before, and he did it here.
I'd like to say a word to the "experts" who like to trash the Boss. It's a free country so vent. Thing is you are in the minority. Most of you have probably never accomplished a damn thing and slagging someone who has is what gets you off. If you don't like it, don't listen.
It seems that the objection seems to be that the "Old" Springsteen is missing. A lot of folks want to hear the "Born to run" or "Darkness" over and over again. That is not a bad thing as they are classics. However, the mark of a great artist is someone that doesn't keep re-cycling his "trademark" sound but branches out. "Seeger Sessions" and some tunes on this WOAD may not be everyone's piece of cake, but I find it awesome that age of 60, the man was/is still trying different.
I remember reading somewhere years ago in an interview where Bruce said that someday he'd like to do a whole album of love songs. No message songs, just love songs. Well, it looks like he finally did it. And while it may not be a "message" album like he has been making lately, it IS nice to hear him having "fun" on this one.
Bruce Springsteen has been a constant source of pleasure for me for over 30+ years. While other artists go on tour recycling he same old stuff, he is still out there trying new sounds at the age of 60. It doesn't always work but give credit for trying! Hey, and if he sounds "happy" on this album, why not, he's earned it. I, for one can't wait to see some of these tunes in concert.
Free Music Review: Working On A Dream - Bruce Springsteen
Hit: 5 Stars
Optimism and Springsteen haven't gelled well in the past. "Human Touch" and "Lucky Town", the 1992 two-fer that saw Bruce waxing truly optimistic for the first time in his career, rate among the least memorable efforts of his career; they weren't bad, per se, but they lacked a certain something. (The songs were recorded without the E Street Band, which was undoubtedly a contributing factor; but above and beyond that, the arrangements and lyrics suffered from a certain sameiness and genericism that left the majority of the tracks unmemorable.)
Fans will be pleased to know that, while "Working On A Dream" (Columbia, 2009) sees Bruce once again venture into the realm of the positive, he's both a) with E Street this time and b) kept his songwriting skills on top form.
The first thing longtime Springsteen fans will notice about this album is that the focus here is firmly on the music. The album is bookended by two of his more narrative-driven songs - eight-minute epic Western "Outlaw Pete" and Golden Globe-winning movie theme "The Wrestler" - but elsewhere, it's all about the sonic experimentation, rather than storytelling. The songs here hop across a veritable plethora of genres and styles: "My Lucky Day" is a foot-stomping rocker that sounds like it was written in the "River" sessions. "Tomorrow Never Knows" is a beautiful easy-listening tune that sounds more like the '50s than anything Bruce has ever written. "Working On A Dream" is an Orbison-esque plush pop tune. "Good Eye" is what can only be described as electronic rockabilly.
This variety makes the album one of the most enjoyable listens in Bruce's history. On first listen, you've no idea what will come next: harmony-laden "This Life" segues into the cacophonous "Good Eye"; the relentless joyful "Surprise, Surprise" - possibly the Boss' poppiest tune ever - fades into the melancholy, calliope-backed "The Last Carnival", a touching track clearly dedicated to dear departed ESB member Danny Federici.
"Kingdom of Days" is one of Bruce's finest ballads of all-time: the guy from "Born to Run" is all grown up now; no longer desperate to get out of this place, he's happy to lay on "the wet grass, as autumn breeze drifts through the trees", and "count the wrinkles and the grays" of his lover beneath the covers. Bruce's maturity pervades the album: reflecting on past lovers who were "life itself, rushing over [him]"; coming to recognise that "where the river flows, tomorrow never knows".
Not everyone will enjoy every track. Many have criticised the "trite sentiment" of "Queen of the Supermarket", and the "lyrical simplicity" of "Surprise, Surprise". These may be valid criticisms, but they did not hamper my enjoyment of the album even slightly.
The deluxe version of the album comes with a 40-minute DVD that includes some footage from the studio sessions creating the album, as well as the video for "A Night With the Jersey Devil", a Halloween song Bruce released for free via his website last year.
Free Music Review: "Rising" To New Heights
Hit: 5 Stars
Bruce Springsteen's `Working On A Dream' - An album that seems to have been a missing link in many ways from his catalog.
Optimistic, yet brazenly honest. Fun, yet hauntingly beautiful. It's nothing short of the most sentimental and endearing record Bruce has ever made. His vocal range is the best I have ever heard, hearkening back to the 'Born To Run' tonality and quality with his thunderous and textured style trademark, yet tempered and complimented with the best control he has ever displayed, like a smooth and mellow 20 year old Scotch. He really opens up in a more rounded way, by far the best he has sounded vocally since the 'Darkness On The Edge Of Town' album.
The essence of this record is really the dichotomy in all of the song's characters who strive for divine intervention all the while realizing their own vulnerability and contradiction as human beings. No brainers if you already know that these are constant hallmarks of his music over the years. Yet, this record delivers in a way that was a risk for him at a time of so much cynicism within pop music. With widespread anxiety, uncertainty and heartache in the world today heightened by the economic and emotional crisis of the last 8 years for so many people, this record serves as a blanket of solace, and a word of encouragement for the listener. The songs as simple as they may be at times, help us transcend above our own realities with a touch of grace rarely found in other Springsteen records. Especially noteworthy for me are 'Kingdom of Days' (my favorite), 'This Life', 'Life Itself' and the title track from 'The Wrestler' a Tom Joad like epilogue that really hits home, as does the ode to Danny Federici in `The Last Carnival' that is very moving as well. He even goes Beatlesque on us, with an unabashedly child like sing along in`Surprise, Surprise'. Yet, you don't care, because after all the dark roads, dusty highways and crucibles over the last 40 years, this almost feels like a reprieve, so you love it, especially if you are cruising down PCH on a Saturday morning with the top down...
`Working On a Dream' also features two of the best romantic rockers of all time that should join the Springsteen canon in 'Lucky Day' and 'What Love Can Do'. This is the most diverse record he has ever made, with the oily blues growl of 'Good Eye' which feels like an extension of the Magic Tour's rendition of `Reason To Believe', to `Outlaw Pete' the album's 7 plus minute opener with the main character's howling cry moaning "Can You Hear Me", which is as powerful as the story itself...almost like a penitent confessional...
Well done and bravo Mr. Springsteen, BRAVO! You have done it again! At 59 years of age, you have not lost your step at ALL! Reader, you will NOT be disappointed, run to get this record...or better yet...err...click on this fine web site and order! In my Springsteen top 5 records of all time!
Free Music Review: The Dream is much more, its real.
Hit: 5 Stars
With the release of Springsteen's new album Working on a Dream, Springsteen shifts gears towards more pop-rock. Much of this album sounds like the song, "Girls in Their Summer Clothes." I don't feel as much of the rock part of magic on this album, although songs like "My Lucky Day," "Working on a Dream" and "Life Itself" do stick out almost instantly. This album has me baffled because at first I was not very impressed, I was expecting a more rock album much in the vein of Magic, but as I listen deeper and explore that wall of sound that Springsteen produces, I think the album clicked for me. This isn't worse or better than Magic. Its an extension of it, that plays off it, and the sound change works perfectly. Listen to them back to back.
This album starts off strong with an 8 minute long song, about a rough ridin' cowboy of the, "Appalachian Trail." The song is a decent opening to the album, but doesn't really place the mood of the album. You then get a dosage of strait rock, with "My Lucky Day." The drums power through the wall of sound, and it is by far one of the best songs to use the whole E. Street Band. "Working on a Dream" is a perfect pop song. Followed next by "Queen of the Supermarket" and another winner, although even I questioned it at the beginning, the use of the studio and sounds make this blend together great. We then get a song that sounds like it comes from The River, "What Love Can Do" and then a definite Magic song, "This Life." At this point Bruce has an almost flawless album going. "Good Eye" just doesn't do it for me, but the next three songs are amazing and include my favorite song from the album, "Life Itself." "Surprise, Surprise" just doesn't do anything for me, and is lyrically very bland. The last two "The Last Carnival" and "The Wrestler" are both somber ballads that end the album in a quiet way. Saddened by the loss of a group member (Danny Federici), and the sadness of a once great, now torn and worn Wrestler are the subjects of these songs. The whole theme of the album seems to be Time, Love, and Hope for the future.
Buy this album, you won't be disappointed with it at all. It has an epic flow that allows it to just somehow click after a few times through, and if you have the Deluxe Edition you get a great 35 minute video, that shows you the evolution of some songs. From acoustic creation, to whats on the album. I'm loving it, and it will be playing in my car for the next week, if not months, and will hold a spot well with all my other Springsteen albums.