CD CHOICE: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Working on a dream SONYBMG ****Cometh the hour cometh the man. With his Boss safely in the White House, how does Bruce Springsteen reflect upon the world at this monumental crossroads in time? The answer is a return to basics; to the simple values and virtues of love and friendship; to a slew of great melodies, fine playing and powerful production rooted in the great American pop/rock tradition of Brian Wilson, Phil Spector and, of course, Springsteen himself.
Many of the songs on Working on Dreamreference earlier work and themes, but the album lays down a mark for a new era of hope, realism and solidarity while openly celebrating the sense of change with a striking bounce in the playing and the music. It's no accident that it goes on release during Inauguration week.
On his website, Springsteen says that the origins of this album lie in its uneven predecessor, Magic(2007). One of the songs left over from those sessions, What Love Can Do, prompted him to write a new series of songs mostly in the same vein. He described What Love Can Do as a meditation on "love in the time of Bush".
And he is true to his word - this record is about love. But Working on a Dream kicks on from Magic with a vengeance and purpose – “A blackness then the light of a million stars”, as he puts it in This Life. Watching the compelling DVD of the recording in the “deluxe” package, one is struck by the intimacy between Springsteen and Patti Scialfa, his wife and backup singer.
The bulk of these songs could be about Patti, but they also have a public resonance. My Lucky Day, the title track, What Love Can Do, This Life, Life Itself, Surprise, Surpriseand especially Kingdom of Days rejoice in the power of love and hope despite our imperfection, our "mark of Cain".
The album also includes some peculiarities, none more so than the opening cartoon epic Outlaw Pete; raucous blues stomper Cold Eye; a beautiful if unlikely ballad about loneliness and alienation, Queen of the Supermarket; and The Last Carnival, a moving song for Danny Federici, the E-Street band member who died last year and to whom the album is dedicated.
The remaining E-Streeters rise to the occasion. Where last time out they sounded a mite detached and predictable, they are now a band renewed. That said, there are a few false notes, such as the superfluous electronics that dent the soft country simplicity of Tomorrow Never Knows. And I'm still not convinced by Bruce's whistling solo on the title track. The jangling 1960s British pop sound of Surprise Surprise will also, er, surprise many, but on this return to top form Springsteen is entitled to his little indulgences.
As he approaches his 60th birthday in September, Working on a Dreamproves that Springsteen and his doughty crew remain a vital positive force in a changing world. Even the title indicates that his glass is half-full. Springsteen's sense of hope will help keep us warm in the chilly days ahead. www.brucespringsteen.net
Download tracks: My Lucky Day, This Life, Kingdom of Days
