I took a spin with a friend in his vintage 1980 Camaro Z28 — chromewheelfuelinjectedandheadingoutovertheline — the other day with an advance of Magic, The Boss’ new-and-about-to-drop album with the E-Street Band, in the back pocket of my best ripped jeans. “Radio Nowhere”, which sounds too close to Tommy Tutone mining one of Graham Parker’s 3rd-rate music industry rants for comfort, was no great shakes. The next song, “You’ll Be Comin’ Down”, was pretty cool. It’s anthemic but very poppy. I could see my girlfriend digging this one. And then there was The Big Man! Where’s this guy been all these years? What’s The Boss been doing keeping him relegated to tambourine. I got no beef with Patti and Little Steven, but we’re talkin’ The Big Man, Boss. Good to hear him wail again.
The Boss, “Livin’ in the Future”
And does The Big Man ever wail on “Livin’ in the Future”! “10th Avenue Freeze Out!” I yelled, and my buddy floored it. I like the way The Boss drops the “g” in song titles with gerunds and spells ‘em as he says ‘em. We almost got a speeding ticket for this one. (Which reminds me of that line from The Departed, where Matt Damon gets transferred into plainclothes and offers to help his State Trooper buddy get transferred to plainclothes as well. “You got any other clothes, or do you like coming to work looking like you just invaded Poland,” he says.) I haven’t been listening to The Boss’ albums closely for some time, but I haven’t heard The Big Man step forward and blow his patented scale like this in years. Damn, the song even features that heavy-handed tambourine, the glockenspiel, the Farfisa organ, and a “nah-nah-nah” chorus of Iwo Jima proportions. The Boss may not be healing the nation this time, but it was clear he’s back with a vengeance.
I wish it were still summer, because this album would sound real good at the shore. Man, I’d like to have “Gypsy Biker” playing in my head while I take in the girls on the Boardwalk. The Boss rips off one of those twangy Telecaster solos in this song, you know, the kind that make you wish he’d solo more often, the kind where he sets the body of the guitar on his right thigh, points the neck out to the crowd, then squats and grimaces. Remember when he put out those first two albums without the E-Street Band, when he was married to the soap opera chick and had some chunky guy with a bandana tied around his thigh playing guitar with him? I hated that shit.
I’ve also never warmed up to The Boss in his Hobo of the People mode, which began with Nebraska. I remember reading about that album when it came out and thinking it would be cool to hear The Boss recording his music on a 4-track. Then this same buddy played me the album, and fuck those mumbling, State Trooper/John Steinbeck odes! The Boss, to me, was all about rising above, rallying the troops, partying – but not too hard, no heavy drugs and shit. If a couple of beers won’t do you, you ain’t goin’ nowhere, you know what I mean?
The Boss, “Your Own Worst Enemy”
“Your Own Worst Enemy” features what I think critics call “plaintive strings.” This is a pretty song, especially so for The Boss. It sounds like something The Jayhawks might have done. (Man, they were a great band that never got their due.) But you know what’s cool about this song? As you’re bopping along, gettin’ horny thinkin’ about your girl, he’s holding a mirror right up to your face! This is The Boss at his best: lulling you into a false sense of security, and then shoving that spoonful of medicine down your throat. You’ll think twice before you vote Republican again!
“Girls in Their Summer Clothes” also features a lighter, prettier sound than we’ve ever heard from The Boss. He’s always had that Phil Spector Wall of Sound going for him, but the wall has never been so detailed and polished. You know what else is cool about this song? The Boss sings really low, but he doesn’t growl or do any of that Woody Guthrie stuff. He almost sounds like that Righteous Brothers guy, you know, the one who would sing in Dirty Dancing. This is the kind of song I could imagine The Boss wanting to record when he was a Jersey kid in high school, listening to his transistor radio, fighting with his Dad at the breakfast table before heading off to school.
“I’ll Work for Love” sounds like the kind of Springsteen song that Steve Earle hears in his head when he’s rocking out in a Boss-like manner. Very catchy. I’m telling you, this album’s going to explode if it can hang on the charts until next summer!
The title track, “Magic”, is the first time he falls into his Hobo voice to any extent, but even this song has some pop polish, like one of the last singles on Born in the USA. It’s not all faux-Dustbowl sounding, if you know what I mean.
“Last to Die” is his fiery anti-war song. For a second I thought an Arcade Fire song accidentally slipped onto the album. The song is about as obvious as The Boss gets, but if it brings the troops home one day sooner, I’m cool with it.
The album mellows out a bit too much for my tastes toward the end, but it’s cool. The Boss even slips into his Fragile Hobo voice on “Devil’s Arcade”, possibly as a shoutout to his young friend, that Bright Eyes guy. Again, there’s a bit of that Arcade Fire majesty to the arrangement. A bonus track called “Terry’s Song” wraps it up in a stripped down manner that would make his age-appropriate buddy, Jackson Browne, proud.
It’s been a long time since I believed in magic, but if The Boss must record another album, this is the album I want to hear. I still believe, man, I still believe.
Ace review, KingEd! Not sure this purchase is right for me, but you had me chucklin’ *and* stroking my chin thoughtfully. Thanks!
I second the emotion King Ed! I’m loving this album – I’m getting slowly sick of hearing “Radio Nowhere” but through it all, the entire album is a good ‘un. A gem. I dig it. Go Bruce!
Hey, that “Your Own Worst Enemy” song is really killer! Seroiusly, all you pop nerds, check it out. Mockcarr, you in particular should suspend your Boss-ular apprehensions and listen without prejudice.
Yep don’t party too hard cause you’re bound to be so exhausted by that five hour concert you could fall asleep behind the wheel on your way home.
That first cut just sounded like another re-write but the second one is a little fresher. Even though it’s amusing to read all these baby boomers working up a froth everytime the Bossman releases another disc I have to give in to the truth that I’m never going to get back on his bandwagon. I find the whole shtick terribly corny (see above photo) and tired. Steve Earle has done a better job at being Springsteen than Springsteen himself has over the last twenty-four years (when is the last time Bruce has written something as good as “The Devil’s Right Hand”?).
Modern day Bruce, like modern day Stones, just depresses me. It’s like the hushed-tone reverence U2 or R.E.M. receive, it just doesn’t seem like their recent (and we’re counting twenty years as “recent”) work warrants such worship.
I could go on (I wish I had time to kick that ham-handed Max Weinberg around a little) but I’ve laid down this rant before. I’ll just be sitting back here with a grin behind my stoneface, wondering how people could enjoy such nonsense. His fans make Deadheads seem sober and rational by comparison.
-db
Great review Ed! I also have to echo what others have written so far. However, it’s pince nez time. You’re confusing two different eras. He was married to the soap opera chick (Julianne Phillips) until 1990, though the rumored affair with Patti Scialfa allegedly caused the dissolution of their marriage. Regardless, Springsteen and Scialfa married in 1991, a few years after the the breakup of the E Street Band but a few years BEFORE he put out those 2 albums you mentioned (Human Touch and Lucky Town), which both came out on the same day in 1993.
Regardless, as far as my own feelings on The Boss, he’s sort of like Pearl Jam in that I respect the hell out of him for a lot of different reasons (in Springsteen’s case, it’s his political stances in the face of resistance from his fanbase as well as the fact that he does what he wants without too many commercial considerations), but I wish I could like his music more. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I like my share of his stuff (mostly up to 1987 or so), but just not enough to make me a big fan. Maybe one day that’ll change. I haven’t heard the new record yet, but I will listen to those tracks when I get a chance.
Excellent review, but I am curious: on the new album, do any of Bruce’s characters call any others “son” in any of the songs? As in “He said ‘Son, your soul can be saved’”; “He said ‘Son, you’re lucky to be alive’”; “He says ‘We need you, son, up in Dodge City’”; “He turns and says ‘Tell me, son, what’s the word’”; “Man with a cigar says ‘Sign here, son’”; “Hey, son, you wanna try the big top?”; “Roll them dice, son”; “Son, take a good look around”; “Son, you may kiss the bride”; “She said, ‘I’m sorry, son’”; “Sorry, son, it’s gone , gone, gone”; “Son, can’t you see that she’s just a little girl?”; “Son, what d’ya do?”; “Judge said ‘What you got in your defense, son?’”; “The judge said ‘Son, what is your alibi?’”; “Son, are you guilty or not guilty?”; “Son, you got a statement you’d like to make”; “Pa said ‘Son, some day you will see’”; “Pa told me, ‘Son, one thing I know is true’”; “My father said ‘Son, we’re lucky in this town’”; “My folks say, ‘Son, talk to her, she’ll listen to you’” or maybe Born In The USA, where the Hirin’ Man and the VA Man team up to hit Bruce back-to-back with “Son, if it was up to me” and “He said ‘Son, you don’t understand…’”
hrrundi, I agree with you; “Your Own Worst Enemy” is really good. Cool use of Phil Spector-like orchestration.
“Living in the Future,” though, didn’t do anything for me.
KingEd passed along a copy of this album so that I could post some tracks. I, too, find simple pleasures in it, the kind of simple pleasures that I believe Springsteen has always been best at providing. The mythology that surrounds his work thanks to diehard fans and critics never makes much sense to me, at least past his scruff-beard years and the end of long gas station lines.
Ugh! Gimme a break. Nothing personal Bruce, you’re probably a nice guy, but I still can’t stand your music.
I heard far too much of you back in high school growing up in PA near your New Jersey hometown fans…I for one am sorry to see you decided to “get the band back together and play some Rock ‘n’ Roll” again…
What horrid things does it say about my rock credentials that I enjoy hearing “Radio Nowhere”? I liked it the first time I heard it. I love how the vocal melody line keeps repeating through the whole song. You gotta think that was the initial kernel of the tune for him, repeating insistently over and over. There are a lot of appealing (to me) open chord drone elements in it. It sounds like a Marah song–not a huge stretch, via Oasis and lots of the guilty pleasure music of those teen WB TV shows. It’s kind of shameless about it’s mass-market intentions, and for some reason that doesn’t bother me in this instance. And yeah, 867-5309. But there are much worse chord change patterns to rip off, and as goofy as the Tommy Two-Tone lyric is, it’s still a great hook, and his vocals sell the song to me. On some level, even though I know better hipsetrish-ly, I buy the desperate tone in his voice.
Growing up in the Boston burbs, I didn’t quite have the force immersion into the Boss and the Boss-pride that Mr. Clean and other Philly-area RTH’ers had to deal with. One of my brothers took me to see him in 1980 on the River tour at the old Boston Garden, and it was a mind-bogglingly great show–though maybe that’s my 16 year-old self pumping his fist through the years. I never got to see to see the J. Giles Band, so a Springsteen show was about as close to a communal religious revival as I was was likely to experience back then.
trolleyvox [Member]
What horrid things does it say about my rock credentials that I enjoy hearing “Radio Nowhere”?
I think it means you’re exhausted from releasing two records this week yourself. Take the rest of the weekend off and listen again.
I went with not a little bit of trepidation to Bruce’s (official as opposed to rehearsals) tour opener on Tuesday in Hartford. I had any number of doubts:
* I didn’t have a ticket. I was sure they would be plentiful outside but wasn’t sure what kind of seat I’d get. It was a great show the last time I saw him (2003?) but I had a ticket in the pit and was afraid that that played a big part in it.
* I was not terribly impressed by Magic. It’s not the “return to rock & roll with the E Street Band” that seems to be the hook for its publicity. Too me that would have meant more plain old fun rock & roll. This is rock & roll but it is still very political which is fine but not what I expected.
* Clarence, Max, Patti – take your pick from among three very valid reasons.
* At 52 years old and 32 years after first seeing Bruce (2nd row center at the Tower Theater) I may just be beyond this.
Well, all the doubts were groundless (except maybe for Clarence, Max, and Patti). It was still a fantastic night, a fantastic show, and Bruce has still got it. I’m not sure I fully comprehend Mr. Mod’s definition of the Power & Glory Of Rock & Roll but for me, Bruce on stage is it.
I ended up with a decent seat for thirty bucks (and if I had been willing to wait another 15-30 minutes I’m sure I could have gotten better for less, there were hundreds of sellers outside). The new songs were better live than on the CD. The set list could have been better but seeing Thundercrack live for the first time makes it all alright. And finally, that P&G. The communal spirit was there and I am just happy to find that at 52 years old, that can still move me as greatly as it did.