With the newest work from Bruce Springsteen, it could have been as exciting as the Super Bowl or as humdrum as a tractor running down a line of grain.
Thankfully, it is the former, even though some of the songs are about the latter. Working on a Dream melds the gentler, more sensitive Devils and Dust material with the harder-edged intensity of Magic. It's appropriate that for this new era in the life of America, we begin a new era of the already epic Springsteen catalog.
The storytelling of The Boss is as dense as ever, earthy and aimed at the steelworkers and bandana-wearing rural roots
of America. He takes on his characters, like the rebellious Outlaw Pete and the bitter man-of-the-land in Good Eye. He emotes the experiences of the people he sings for and about, including the ash and dust of their hard lives.
The title track is true Springsteen, a worker's song that begs to be played while driving down the cornfield-lined road of the Midwest or the smoggy roads between the smokestacks in coal and steel towns.
Springsteen's voice is rougher with age, more like Cash than Dylan on this album, despite the density of the lyrical lines. But since The Boss's style is ragged, organic rock, it fits perfectly into the frayed material of his American anthems.
The energy of his younger self is still present, and the E Street Band is still going strong. Steven Van Zandt's guitar stands out, faithfully backing up his leader with the rest of the band.
The odd song out might be This Life
where he replaces his usual mumbled singing style with an overarching, almost rock musical type of vocal line, which doesn't fit him at all. Luckily that is the one song that the listener hesitates to enjoy.
Working on a Dream is only slightly below the wonder of Born in the U.S.A. because of the sheer innovation and unclenching power of that album. With Working on a Dream, he steps back a few times to become reflective, which adds a new and interesting facet to the music.
Springsteen is, always and forever, locked to his roots, and makes his latest album worthy of the Grammy Awards for which it's nominated this year. Not to mention, it will make for one hell of a halftime show. Try not to listen. 3
Culture
Susan Tebben
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