Review: Wrecking Ball – Bruce Springsteen
I have spent some quality time listening to Springsteen’s latest, Wrecking Ball. After having read David Fricke’s five star review of the album, I began, once again, to fear that we’re being given a album that some will love, and others will hate. While I despise any overflowing album recommendation by David Fricke, I am finding the latest album by Bruce Springsteen to be of notable merit.
Bruce typically never pales in the lyrical department. I’ve never had any problem with him there. Where I begin to falter with Bruce is that the immense power that we all know that Bruce was capable of in the early years has recognizably not been there. While that might seem a flimsy excuse to write off a lot of Springsteen’s works, I believe it isn’t. One of the more powerful aspects of Bruce is/was his passion and anger, his heartfelt pain. From his dad’s work at “Factory” to the escapism of “Born To Run”; from the bleakness of “Streets of Philadelphia” to the anger of “American Skin (41 Shots)”, Bruce Springsteen has exhibited a string of genuine passionate anger that we not only heard but felt.
In much of the post Nebraska work, that anger has felt diluted. My ideas as to the reasons for this dilution are my own and would only encourage unbalanced discussion if I were to reveal them, so I won’t. However, it remains that I have been less than pleased with much of the music from Springsteen after Nebraska. Although my feelings about The River are contentious, I still hear and feel the intensity in that album in much of the music contained in it.
For Wrecking Ball, I am feeling a strong resurgence of interest in what Bruce might have in that soul of his.
I’m still a little miffed that the powers that be (Bruce included) are pushing a Deluxe Edition of the new album out with two bonus tracks (and not bad ones at that) given the content and heart of the album. But who am I but a lowly consumer with less dollars in my pocket and feeling that Bruce might be worth them for the extended version. Still…
Wrecking Ball starts off with “We Take Care Of Our Own”, a tune that gives the right impression of the album from the the opening notes. Bruce peppers a fair portion of the first half of the album with music that doesn’t leave a great taste. While songs through the anthemic “Death To My Hometown” leave a feeling that Bruce hasn’t regained much passion (although he has hopes that the contents of his lyrics might prove otherwise), it is the remaining songs that are the bright spots. The song, “This Depression”, found halfway through the album, is the gateway track, very good in its own right. It leads into the brilliant second half of the album that begins with the stunning replayer, “Rocky Ground” (I have no use for “You’ve Got It”). ”Rocky Ground” is a gem throughout its magnificent 4 minutes and 40 seconds. It is also a song that I return to much of the time. It leads into the beautiful bluesy gospel number, “Land of Hope And Dreams” that is a piece of magic leaping from the Darkness/River era. ”We Are Alive”, which finishes the standard album release, is a piece sounding as it belongs on Nebraska that sticks with you for a long, long time with its bluegrass musical style.
The two bonus tracks are unique in that they are clearly Springsteen but in different veins. ”Swallowed Up (In The Belly Of The Beast)” is a tune crafted after the heart of “Streets of Philadelphia”. You can feel the anger in it because the words impact Bruce’s sensibilities as well as the rest of us. Without getting into a government rant, it is clear to Springsteen, as it should be to the rest of us, that the world governments, including the US, has forsaken its people for all the wrong reasons. This song epitomizes that in a stark, almost religious intonation of a sadness that is far deeper than the blues can communicate. It’s actually sad that the song ends when it does because there’s an involvement that you find yourself slipping into that’s almost hypnotic. ”American Land” is a grand Irish tune that will capture your attention easily enough.
Did Bruce Springsteen deliver the goods with this album? I have to say that he did. Although I could have been more appreciative had some of the early songs been excised and replaced with the final two tracks. Instead, Wrecking Ball, is, in a much different way than we’re accustomed to hearing Bruce Springsteen with The E Street Band, a very, very good Springsteen album. It grows on you in a good way. And some of the songs contained therein are classic Springsteen compositions to be forever remembered.
But is Wrecking Ball essential Springsteen? I don’t think so. But there is no denying that some of the songs are passionate a la the Springsteen as we used to know him.
Release Date: March 6, 2012
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This entry was posted by Matt Rowe on March 12, 2012 at 6:00 am, and is filed under CD, Reviews. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0.You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.
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Wow, hell has frozen over. LOL
I’ve been very, very busy the last couple of weeks and pre-occupied with other things. So I picked up the cd but I have not even had a chance to give it a fair listen yet. Your review will spur me on to make the time.
Bill…like on The River, I feel this could have been a better album with more thought. I feel like Bruce understands that some of us miss his ability to inject a feeling into an album instead of just a collection of Springsteen-written songs.
While this album cannot reach the lofty statuses of his early works (and I almost feel it might have gotten close), it does a lot to let me know that he still has the ability. But then, “Streets of Philadelphia”, and “American Skin” did that well.
We just need to get him pissed. He was at his best when he felt the same financial squeeze as most of us did. When you’re distanced from that, it’s very difficult to get angry.
I think it’s frustration over both political parties inability to connect with their constituency that prompted this album…and you can feel it in some of the songs.
Bruce is about injustices right now…and rightfully so. Music is as much a communication as it is about sounding good. It’s difficult for most artists to join the two together.
Matt thanks for a good solid review (glowing but not gushing). I have been listening to Wrecking Ball daily for the past week and although it is not as…grab you by the throat…one would want but we can’t always get what we want. The older songs although fitting nicely within the album’s theme should have been the bonus tracks while the bonus tracks should have been part of the regular release.
All in all I have just about given up on getting another album like BTR, Darkness, The River (my all time favorite), Nebraska and Tunnel of Love. However I have always said that if you have a songwriter of this caliber still very much active in their craft you have to understand that not every single song is going to match the gold standard. Not too many others can produce such a high ratio of wheat to chaff.
As long as Bruce continues to release albums I will be buying them because I don’t want to miss the hidden gem.
Just from listening to the previews on Itunes (not a complete listen, I know), it doesn’t sound like a bad album, but I have always missed the energy from his first four albums. I can’t listen to any of those without turning the stereo up full blast. I just haven’t gotten that from any of his other albums.
Agreed!
I’m having lots of trouble liking this album. His vocal delivery on the last couple of albums is getting on my last nerve. Sounds like he is trying too hard to connect with the working class (ME); almost twangy to the point of Camp;W (Yeeech!) I’m kinda sick of his political preaching. I’m ready for a fun album by Bruce. The River had a lot of serious stuff goin’ on, but there was tons of humorous and just plain old rock and roll fun songs on there too. I’m sorry, it’s just too heavy for me. This one’s probably going on the shelf for good.
Dean, I can understand the feeling that he’s trying to reconnect. I believe those days are gone for him. I’m sorry folks, but get plenty of money in your pocket and you get a sense of comfort that is not shaken by those falling around you. I don’t fault Bruce for having the money; I fault him for attempting to convince us that he can still be angered by the things that unseated him when he was younger. Still, there are some gems in this album that bear repeat listening.