Working On A Dream: Yet Another Take On Bruce's New CD
You know, it's not all about Bruce Springsteen. (yes it is) I mean, there are other great new releases out this week. (not really)
The similarities between Magic, Bruce's last release and Bruce's new record Working On A Dream, were unnerving at first. Musically, many of the new tracks are mirror images of tracks from Magic, at least to my ears.
"Surprise Surprise" is "I'll Work For Your Love." Listen to the intro of "Surprise, Surprise," and right before the snare smack, start singing "Pour me a drink Theresa...," the opening lyric from "I'll Work For Your Love." Same song.
Speed up "You'll Be Coming Down" from Magic just a little, and you have "My Lucky Day." As a matter of fact, right after the Big Man's solo in "Lucky Day," start singing the last verse of "Coming Down." You can do it. Really.
What about "This Life" and "Your Own Worst Enemy?" Here are two separate songs that evoke the baroque pop and grandiose production of The Left Banke and The Walker Brothers, with Beach Boys-inspired harmonies and string arrangements. It wouldn't be a problem if Bruce had written, say... a dozen or so songs in the last 30 years that sounded like this. But the beauty and wonder of hearing "Your Own Worst Enemy" for the first time is almost tainted (almost) now that another mini powerhouse in the shape of "This Life" comes so quickly. It's as if Bruce wrote these pastiches and put one in column A and one in column B.
Don't even get me started on "Queen Of The Supermarket," the song that one friend referred to as "a song that could be as classic as 'Racing In The Street,' if he only didn't say 'supermarket' so much" Well, I get it. I mean, no matter how good "Yonkers Joe" is, the movie is still called "Yonkers Joe." Still, "Supermarket" is another brilliant work of art.
But, what if I heard Working On A Dream first and Magic didn't exist?
That said, I can't stop listening to WOAD. It truly is the masterpiece that some, but not all, have been calling it. If you're like some who think Bruce's best work is behind him, nothing will ever sound satisfying to you again. Very few songs are "Thunder Road" & "Meeting Across The River" and few will ever be. But like Magic, Working On A Dream is filled with Bruce's love of melody, and the music that made him. If you're looking for a dozen sparse arrangements with lyrics about guys doing hard time, look elsewhere. Those days are over... for now.
One last thing about "Outlaw Pete." It is NOT "Jungleland." STOP saying "Jungleland" when talking about "Outlaw Pete."
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I'm from Philly, home of Hall & Oates, American Bandstand, McCoy Tyner, Stanley Clarke, etc. These and hundreds of other musicians cut their teeth in church choirs, street corners, little jazz clubs and neighborhood dance halls. They made their bones the old fashioned way - they earned it. No PR gimmicks.
With respect to Born To Run, you have to consider Bruce as the lead vocalist, circa 1975. It's pretty clear that the guy really had no idea of what he was doing as a singer at that point in his career. It's as if he wanted to be a country singer, a folk singer, a blues singer, a british rock singer, but couldn't settle on a style - and the result was a garbled hollering. Part of that has to do the record's amateurish, weak melody (not a lot you can do with the song.) The record is mono-rhythmic, without a hint of syncopation or groove. The sax solo, let's not even go there. Background vocal arrangements - embarrassing.
What Jon Landau presented as great in 1975 was so inferior to the many artistic geniuses at the time (Curtis Mayfield, Steely Dan, Tower of Power, Fleetwood Mac, Donnie Hathaway, just to name a few) that in retrospect it was really unfair to have placed Bruce in that position. Bruce however, should have had enough sense to refuse to play along.
Honestly I do not have Working on a Dream,,,yet. That being said, I have listened to Bruce from the days he was playing small clubs in the NY, NJ, Pa area. My first was at the Main Point in Bryn Mawr, Pa. In all these years since, some 30+, I have enjoyed the fact that he has been able to grow and remain fresh as an artist. Granted there was Lucky Town and other albums that were not widely recieved. However, I truly believe that to enjoy an artist you need to hear what (s)he is creating. Not all paintings by the great masters are liked either. Otherwise we would all be living in a top 40 radio world listening to the same songs over and over again. We all have grown and changed with time its nice that artists can also do the same and still be relevant. Sadly some are still living on "Glory Days", they were great at their time.
I agree wholeheartedly. As with all of my favorite artists, I ALWAYS have to listen to a new work several times before I move on from hearing what it ISN'T to appreciating and embracing what it IS.
"Working on a Dream" is a wonderful, rich, mature album from a master artist who is beginning to sum up what it all adds up to as he continues to move towards the finish line, picking up steam and continuing to grow and produce right up to the end.
I love this album. LOVE it!
If there are a few blemishes, so be it - Brush strokes are PART of the art.
"Kingdom of Days"? I've played it 20 or 30 times already - Makes me tear up every single time. It sings to me. It moves me.
Love The Boss, have seen him more times then I can count, but it's just a fact that his best is behind him as of late. You can't call this a GREAT album-I mean really. It's good, but do you WANT to love this album, or do you REALLY love this album. On a side note, funny how we still call them albums. When are we going to call them "files"?
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I have no problem not loving "Born In The USA" or "Lucky Town," so I have even less of a problem absolutely loving his last 5 releases.
I loved MAGIC and I love this album.
I also loved BORN TO RUN and TUNNEL OF LOVE and LIVE IN DUBLIN.
Five of my favorite albums of all time, by any artist. Do I love them all equally? That's like asking if I love all my children equally - You don't measure things that way. Love is not a finite emotion, allowing only a fixed amount of emotion to spread around.
I love those albums. That's all that matters to me. It should not matter to anybody else.
If you (any of you out there) do NOT love those albums (or any others), that is your business and it does not matter to me.
There is no RIGHT answer. Only individual preferences.
Sal,
Bruce has always been a derivative songwriter, always refining and trying to perfect his work from song to song...how many different versions were there of say Backstreets (at one time AKA Wings For Wheels0? How about Point Blank and Drive All Night from the live radio broadcast to The River. The best way to see this process for me though is on the Tracks CD's.
With that said-I too love what I've heard on WOAD, it just "sounds" better, not all pumped up to distortion-it almost has a sound like the old Beach Boys and like you said The Left Banke records on vinyl. What I don't "get" about producing new work to that level is this: who are they competing against? Is it like there are different records being played all at the same time and the loudest one wins? Dial it back and let us hear the nuances. Bruce and Brendan have done that here and it's the best record I've heard (sound and production-wise) in a long time.
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I thought "Wings For Wheels" was an early "Thunder Road." Either way, "Wings..." remains unreleased. In a little over a year, Bryce has released two full records with many similar sounding songs. Interesting, not a crime.
I still don't get when someone says, "I really love it, but I don't like the production." That's like saying, "I love 'Be My Baby" by The Ronettes. I just wish it was in stereo, had less percussion and less backing vocals."
Yup you're right Sal, Wings WAS an earlier version of Thunder Road NOT Backstreets... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9RCt4c2MTs
I think Bruce was aiming to get back to a retro "sounding" record with this in terms of production clarity and backing away from the compression. Neil Young has been on the "digital music sucks" bandwagon too...it's no surprise that vinyl is making a comeback.
Bruce fan here from 1974-75 when I saw him jam with Billy Joel at Rutgers in the first row while he was recording BTR. I swear that guy had a visible aura around him..."shake it up baby now, twist and shout"
Anybody besides me out there who can remember the summer of 1975? The Boss on the cover of Time AND Newsweek. I nearly wore out my record player that year. THAT was a time!
I love this new CD. You could bookend it with "Born to Run" - in that one he is innocent. In this cd, he is older and wiser but still the same person. I love the stories he tells - it is rock and roll opera. I also love the fact that after all these years (saw him for the first time in 1974 and have seen him 40+ times since), he is still making wonderful music - not just playing his old stuff over and over.
I'm a little confused. The album is great AND it's a retread of Magic? I'm certainly looking forward to checking it out. But I just don't like the production of Brendan O'Brien. I hate how he captures Springsteen's vocals on The Rising and Magic and the songs I've heard from the new album. There's something antiseptic and strained about it -- it's a truism that everything Bruce sings live sounds better than the album but in the case of these songs, it's the difference between not liking and liking them. And what's wrong with saying his best work is behind him? Most artists have a peak period of creativity. Saying that Scorsese was on fire from Taxi Driver to Raging Bull is just true, not some cop out. Doesn't mean he can't make another really good/great movie, but that was his era. Same with Woody Allen from Annie Hall to Husbands and Wives. Sting has more great songs in him, I hope, but that doesn't mean you're wrong to pinpoint the Police through Nothing Like The Sun as his peak. I love Bruce, but yes, his creative peak ended 20 years ago from The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle through (maybe) Tunnel of Love.
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Hey M. Giltz,
Yes it's great. Many people aren't thrilled with Brendan O'Brien's dense production. But I must say, "Magic" was the first Bruce album where I thought the songs suffered live, with the exception of "Gypsy Biker" and the title track. Maybe some will read that as "that must mean the songs are weak," but I think the opposite. The big sound, backing vocals, and strings seemed to be exactly what Bruce was looking for with these mini-trips of nostalgia. (although, he never said that to me, so I can't prove that) The songs on "Magic," and now the new CD, absolutely need that production if Bruce was to execute this throwback to his past.
And there's nothing wrong with saying an artist's best work is behind him, if that's the case. Your Scorsese and Woody examples are perfect. I just take offense at the many...and there are many...Bruce fans who blatantly admit to not being open to anything since "Tunnel Of Love." You go in expecting to be disappointed, you will most likely leave disappointed.
Great take S Nunziato! Especially about all those fans expecting Bruce to turn out a collection of songs that sound just like Born to Run...it is truly all about expectations.
Clearly, either you haven't listened to anything post Tunnel of Love or you are still stuck in the 80's sporting a Flock of Seagulls coif. Seriously. The Rising stands as one of Springteen's greatest songs...ever. Even Bruce thinks so. Check out the Story Tellers DVD. That album was a tremendous commercial risk-dealing with the emotional and spiritual aftermath of 9/11??? Bruce pulled it off. Then there's Devils and Dust-filled with great character driven stories. Everytime I play The Seeger Sessions disc, people want to know what it is...and then can't believe it's Bruce! And Magic-another great CD; a complete musical reinvention dealing with BushAmerica. Puh-Lease.
It's fine to say someone's best work is behind them. As long as it's true. Springsteen is perhaps the most enduring artist ever. He isn't dependent on his old stuff. He just writes from a different perspective. One that is lined up with being a 59 year old husband and father.
My ONLY problem with Bruce is Brendan O'Brien. His over producing at times sounds like it is suffocating the music. That said, since Brendan, Bruce has been hugely productive. I think the productivity has more to do with Bruce settling into a songwriting groove and not being as much of a perfectionist. I would really love to see the next album sound sonically more like the live soundstage sound of The River...
Badlands is a song.
The man is right. Badlands is a song off the Darkness On The Edge of Town album.
Trivia point: The album was originally intened to be titled Badlands, but as coincidence may have it, another New jersey based artist, Bill Chinnock, had just released his own album named Badlands, so they opted to give the album Darkness title to avoid any confusion.
Been a boss fan for years. Born to Run and Badlands are both incredible albums.
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