Bruce Springsteen – Working on a Dream (buy it)
I haven’t weighed in on my own blog about the new Springsteen. I’ve sat with it for a while and I’ve read more estimable reviewers than myself.
I’ve commented on the PopDose blog about it. I commented on The Screen Door blog. And I’ve called in to Sound Opinions.
I’ve also rated it on facebook and I’m here to tell you that I am not going to do a full review.
Because the album isn’t worth my time.
It’s almost execrable dog shit.
Instead of a full review I will give you my standard A, Blind and Down sides and I will point you in the direction of a much more forgiving review than I would like.
The Screen Door is an excellent blog and the author is a fan so he is more forgiving of the Boss than I think he should be.
That review is here.
In a fully self-aggrandizing way I direct you to that blog because the author also posted my comment as his “email of the day.” Here is that comment:
As often happens when a Springsteen fan reviews one of his lesser albums, the author is way to forgiving. I am a longtime Bruce listener. I came to his work just as BitUSA was cresting and I went deep into the back catalog after that.The bounty that was the earlier albums gave way to disappointment throughout the rest of the next two decades.The Rising was a shining beacon that RoboBruce had found his way.Magic was meh but then there came Working on a Dream.Traditionally, Bruce is at his worst when he is left alone or sans the E-Street Band. It’s when he depends on people that he has no real relationship with that his music truly suffers.On WoaD he is back with the E Street Band but there’s a difference. This sounds like nobody was in the studio at the same time.It sounds pasted together.And it sounds like nobody turned to Bruce and said, “Dude. You wrote Rosalita. You wrote Born to fucking Run. You wrote Born in the USA. Point Blank. Independence Day. Badlands. Atlantic City, and so many other. Dude. Outlaw Pete is the worst piece of shit you have ever recorded and you did a rendition of Pony Boy.” To open the album with this turd is to defecate all over the rest of the disc. It can never recover and it never does. But, sadly, most Bruce lovers will let him off the hook. I’m here to tell you that he shouldn’t be.
This is a terrible record. Made worse by the fact that it is callous and predictable AND employs the E Street Band. Queen of the Supermarket is so deplorable that Bruce should offer free tickets to shows if anyone can sing the entire song without laughing or throwing up. I am embarrassed by this mess. You are a terrific writer and reviewer. You shouldn’t let him off this hook. Beat him up a little. He deserves it for this one.
Grade D
A Side: My Lucky Day & The Wrestler & Working on a Dream. (By the numbers but they work
Blind Side: nothing, you’ve heard this before.
DownSide: Outlaw Pete, Queen of the Supermarket, Good Eye, What Love can Do……..
