Springsteen: Wrecking Ball Review

Bruce Springsteen's new album "Wrecking Ball" is, without a whisper of a doubt in my mind, the strongest, most cohesive, best-sounding album he has produced in the past 11 years.  That I would argue to anyone who cares to hear me rant, really.  What blows me away about this album is that it is probably my favorite Springsteen album post-"Born in the USA".


Nah, definitely.


The beginnings of my espousing to others the magic and the brilliance of Springsteen came when I became a convert in the late 90's, listening, re-listening, crying to, pouring over, and attempting sorry re-hashings of the core of his catalogue: "Born to Run", "Darkness on the Edge of Town", "Tunnel of Love", and, of course, "Nebraska".  Unfortunately (to me) the beginnings of my apostleship also coincided with his re-emergence with The Rising and his subsequent run of ho-hum albums since then.  Each new release brought with it the promise of being the new "Darkness" or the new "River", only to disappoint me when I didn't really enjoy the album as much as I thought I would or should and the rest of the world exalted his majesty and his brilliant touch again.


The albums since "The Rising" include: "Devils & Dust", "Magic", and "Working on a Dream", as well as the folk cover album "We Shall Overcome: the Seeger Sessions", and "The Promise", a release of unrecorded tracks from the late 70's.  I enjoyed them all, and have come to appreciate "Magic" especially, but each release left me feeling empty and with the thought that Springsteen was trying to stretch himself and coming up short.  Meanwhile, the critics would rave about how "eclectic" his new sound was now that he was incorporating drum loops or how "multi-cultural" he had become because he had some black folk singing backup about God.


It was all pretty annoying to me, because I knew deep down that he had more in him, and that now that I was a full-blown Springsteen apostle, I didn't have my "own" album to write about.


I think I do now.


"Wrecking Ball" is fantastic.  It is loud, fun, cynical, mean, tough, smart, pensive, and timeless.  Springsteen is penning lyrics like he always has, lyrics that speak to both the current time and all time.  Yes, the album is political.  Overtly political, even.  Get over it.  Springsteen has been writing political songs since the 70's and has been outspoken about his politics since the 90's.  Get over it, critics.  It is just a part of his music at this point, and you can take it or leave it as you choose.  I simply get sick of hearing the same review every time a new Bruce album hits - "Well, the songs are rockin', but be warned: he's a Demmycrat!".  So what.


I believe in the music - and I guess that's what hit me first.  Outside of "Rocky Ground" (admittedly weak) the songs ring true and genuine - not forced integration, but true homogenization.  He has taken his eclectic experiments from the past decade and welded them into a goddamn wrecking ball, and my jaded E-Street ears can tell.  


I have to admit there were times in the past few years where I thought that maybe Springsteen had truly past his prime and that while the earnestness and the intention were there, the craft and the passion were not.  This album takes that theory and blows it out of the water.  


It has it all (at least the things I like in a Bruce album):


1.  The Radio Rocker That Everyone Likes That I'm Kinda Lukewarm On - "We Take Care of Our Own"
2.  The Fucked-up Anti-Corpratism Mellow Nebraska-ish Song: "Jack of All Trades"
3.  The Glory-Glory-Hallelujah Ending Song: "Land of Hope and Dreams"
4.  The Boot-Stomper That You Don't Expect to Get Stuck In Your Head:  "Shackled and Drawn"
5.  The Sleeper Song That I Think Nobody Gets But Me:  "This Depression"
6.  The Ultra-Clever Throw-Away Pop Song Just Because He Can:  "You've Got It"


Simple formula, right?


"Wrecking Ball" is the first Springsteen album since, well, "Darkness", that made me feel the way "Darkness" did the first time I heard it. 


And that's about as high praise as I can give.

Artistic Intelligence & the Lack Thereof

I finally received the Springsteen box set re-release of 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' for Christmas. It is a truly magical thing: 3 CD's, 3 DVD's, a color lyric sheet/photo set, and a reproduction of the notebook that Bruce used throughout the period. Awesome. If you're into Bruce, it is an absolutely essential item - but you probably knew that already. If you don't get Springsteen, don't worry about it - it won't change your mind.

But if you're interested in songwriting at all, it is chock full of cool quotes from one of the best in the business. This one hit me pretty directly:

I go back to most of my writings before 'Greetings (From Asbury Park)', and, you know, it all appears simply terrible to me. You know, you're still writing a lot of...bad words, you know? You're writing a lot of bad verses. So you're trying to learn how to write well, but your artistic instinct is what you're going on - your artistic intelligence hasn't been developed yet. Hopefully, it increases and develops over a long period of time. That gives you an ace to play, down the road, as you get older.

At the time, I was going on artistic instinct...and that's a wide-open game. You know, I'm following all kinds of paths, and all kinds of roads, and all I'm going is, 'That doesn't feel right'. 'That doesn't feel right'. 'That doesn't feel right' - that's how I'm judging.

That pretty succinctly says something that I've felt but have not been able to articulate for some time (something that Bruce does for me all the time). It's refreshing to hear a songwriter as great as him speak of struggling with 'artistic intelligence'. I kinda assumed he always had it. But there is a very real difference between having 'artistic instinct' (having an ear, having style, being able to recognize quality) and having 'artistic intelligence' (knowing when to hold back, what to hold back, being tasteful).

And once again, He Who Can Do No Wrong in My Eyes (well, except for Human Touch - that album suuuuucked) shows that there is still hope for me yet.

Reason #28746 Why My Girlfriend is the Greatest

She got us floor tickets to see the Boss play 1st Mariner Arena! She knows this already, but in the pantheon of cool things that people have done for me, this has got to be top three. Of course, she is responsible for the other two things in the top three as well, so let's just say she's on a roll.

I love you baby!

Not seen in this photo: my girlfriend (must have gone to the bathroom or something)