CD Choice: Rock

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Magic Columbia Records ****

There is a photograph on www. brucespringsteen.net that strikes a chord. Against a nondescript urban backdrop, the current E-Street Band poses for the camera. In the centre is the 58-year-old main man with his talented moll, Patti Scialfa, as befitting the leader of the gang.

Thirty-four years ago, on the sleeve of The Wild, the Innocent and the E-Street Shuffle, there was a similar photograph with only a slightly different cast. But the message was the same. This was not just a band, but a gang who shared more than a stage. Theirs was a bond forged on the mean streets of New Jersey and the heated atmosphere of clubs along the Jersey shore. It was also a lot more believable then.

Now, the E-Street Band have become optional extras in the unfolding Springsteen story. Though the band were retired in 1990, their leader brought them back together in the late 1990s for a series of tours and, of course, the epic post 9/11 album The Rising.

Since then they have got on with their lives - Miami Steve Van Zandt playing Silvio Dante in The Sopranos, Max Wineberg leading the house band on Conan O'Brien's US talk show - while their leader bathed in the glory of the Seeger Sessions.

But the umbilical chord between the band and Springsteen has been cut. Springsteen has visibly grown, both in his solo material and adventures such as the Seeger Sessions, and while Magic may not be his strongest work to date, it is very much his album. The band literally have walk-on parts.

There's nothing wrong with their playing - big and brash or soft and sensitive, they're a class bunch of musicians who serve Springsteen's radio-friendly material diligently. But the gang is no more than a memory. It is no surprise to learn that they came down to play at weekends after Springsteen and producer Brendan O'Brien had laid the groundwork during the week.

There are echoes of Springsteen's recent foray with folk, such as the wonderful hidden 12th track. There are also good performances and songs - the surprising baroque pop of Girls in Their Summer Clothes, the foreboding of Devil's Arcade, and the rich reflection of Long Walk Home.

But Magic's big trick is that, beneath the intensity of the sound, this is actually Springsteen lite. www.brucespringsteen.net

JOE BREEN

Download tracks: the "hidden" track 12; Magic; Devil's Arcade