Of the three old men of rock ‘n’ roll, Bruce Springsteen holds the middle-ground between Neil Young’s quantity and Bob Dylan’s quality. In the past five years he’s given us the 9/11-tinged ‘The Rising’, bleak solo confessional ‘Devils And Dust’ and the cracking happy folk of ‘We Shall Overcome’. It’s the former this most resembles; midlife-crisis rock ‘n’ roll, recorded with the E-Street Band and produced by Brendan O’Brien, who has a tendency to put the mufflers on a record that, if the ‘The Rising’ is anything to go by, will sound epic live.
Bossophiles will enjoy picking out the numerous musical and lyrical references to Bruce of old (‘The River’ and ‘Born To Run’ especially), while ambulance-chasers will be kept busy looking for clues for Springsteen’s rumoured marital difficulties last year (his missus Patti gets a very pointed thanks for her ‘love, patience and support’ on the liner notes); the twin themes of mistrust and nostalgia run through the album. Stand out tracks include the jaunty ‘Girls In Their Summer Clothes’, Iraq-attacking political anthem ‘Last To Die’ and rousing opener ‘Radio Nowhere’, but it’s the maudlin bonus track ‘Terry’s Song’, a tribute to Springsteen’s recently deceased friend Terry Magovern, that works best in O’Brien’s claustrophobic setting.
