While The Boss gets alternately skewered and lauded for his Super Bowl performance and his new album, his acolytes continue to spread the word. For the record, the Super Bowl performance was fantastic. Sure Bruce was a little winded and I've got a strong feeling the slide into the cameraman was choreographed, but compressing the greatest rock and roll show of the last 35 years into 12 minutes was a daunting task. He gave the biggest audience of his life the biggest thrill - just by reminding us that rock and roll should be F-U-N.
As for Working On A Dream, I think the jury is still out. Some days it seems like a sweet and optimistic homage to the 60's as well as a celebration of a new beginning, and other days it seems like a lyrical trite fest.
In an L.A. Times review on 1/24/09, critic Ann Powers wrote:
"More a pile of exuberant initial forays than a fully realized statement, Working on a Dream rejects the finer points of literary-minded album rock and aims for the instant effect of a string of hits."
Ms. Powers states the above like having a string of hits is a bad thing only to be aspired to by the likes of The Jonas Brothers (whose latest album is full of giddy, fizzy power pop). I truly don't undertstand that logic - the problem with most of today's albums is the dearth of hits. If more albums had 10-12 songs and clocked in under 40 minutes, we'd have better albums. The compact disc format has allowed and even encouraged self indulgence so that artists don't feel the need to edit themselves anymore, to hone songs to perfection. Textbook examples are Adams, Ryan and Collective, Animal - both would be served by more concise writing. As would Springsteen himself - Working on A Dream would be a much better album if it was shorn of three or four of its clunkier numbers.
WOAD is a middling Bruce Springsteen disc - it comes nowhere near the artistic sweep and abundance of great songs (and it's always about the songs) of his 70's and 80's output. But slowing down after that artistic run only puts Springsteen in the same company as every other major artist with more than half a dozen albums under their belt (OK, I'll give you Tom Waits). But WOAD still contains a clutch of great songs ("My Lucky Day", "Surprise Surprise", "The Last Carnival" and "The Wrestler" among others) while also containing arguably the worst song of his career in "Queen of The Supermarket" - "57 Channels" send its thanks.
Enjoy WOAD for what it is - a woozy C+ effort from the most consistently electrifying rock and roll performer of the last 35 years.
Oh yeah... those acolytes - check out The Hold Steady's powerful version of "Atlantic City" (courtesy of Stereogum, as is the picture at the top) from the upcoming War Child benefit cd, out 2/24. And here's Brian Fallon of The Gaslight Anthem and his spare take on "Backstreets" (don't forget, Gaslight Anthem at The Troc in Philly on 3/28):
As for Working On A Dream, I think the jury is still out. Some days it seems like a sweet and optimistic homage to the 60's as well as a celebration of a new beginning, and other days it seems like a lyrical trite fest.
In an L.A. Times review on 1/24/09, critic Ann Powers wrote:
"More a pile of exuberant initial forays than a fully realized statement, Working on a Dream rejects the finer points of literary-minded album rock and aims for the instant effect of a string of hits."
Ms. Powers states the above like having a string of hits is a bad thing only to be aspired to by the likes of The Jonas Brothers (whose latest album is full of giddy, fizzy power pop). I truly don't undertstand that logic - the problem with most of today's albums is the dearth of hits. If more albums had 10-12 songs and clocked in under 40 minutes, we'd have better albums. The compact disc format has allowed and even encouraged self indulgence so that artists don't feel the need to edit themselves anymore, to hone songs to perfection. Textbook examples are Adams, Ryan and Collective, Animal - both would be served by more concise writing. As would Springsteen himself - Working on A Dream would be a much better album if it was shorn of three or four of its clunkier numbers.
WOAD is a middling Bruce Springsteen disc - it comes nowhere near the artistic sweep and abundance of great songs (and it's always about the songs) of his 70's and 80's output. But slowing down after that artistic run only puts Springsteen in the same company as every other major artist with more than half a dozen albums under their belt (OK, I'll give you Tom Waits). But WOAD still contains a clutch of great songs ("My Lucky Day", "Surprise Surprise", "The Last Carnival" and "The Wrestler" among others) while also containing arguably the worst song of his career in "Queen of The Supermarket" - "57 Channels" send its thanks.
Enjoy WOAD for what it is - a woozy C+ effort from the most consistently electrifying rock and roll performer of the last 35 years.
Oh yeah... those acolytes - check out The Hold Steady's powerful version of "Atlantic City" (courtesy of Stereogum, as is the picture at the top) from the upcoming War Child benefit cd, out 2/24. And here's Brian Fallon of The Gaslight Anthem and his spare take on "Backstreets" (don't forget, Gaslight Anthem at The Troc in Philly on 3/28):