Bruce Springsteen
Lucky Town

THE REVIEW

With Lucky Town, Bruce returns to a more familiar ground and offers us a more direct rock, without those leaps forward (of dubious success, although the attempt is to be appreciated) of Human Touch. Lucky Town immediately reveals itself as genuine, straightforward, without contamination.

The roaring "Better Days" opens the show, immediately clarifying what stage in life the author is going through after the disillusions and fears of "Tunnel Of Love" (1987), which are swept away unceremoniously by Bruce's riffs and his hoarse singing. A simple solo accompanied by a sharp chord progression introduces us to the grand "Lucky Town" - one of my favorites in the entire discography-: the theme is always the same, namely leaving melancholy behind ("I wanna lose these blues I've found") and heading off dressed as "coattone" with snake boots ("Snakeskin boots") to the city of fortune. "Local Hero" is fun and "If I Should Fall Behind" is good too (the lyrics and the "full band" execution present on live in N.Y.C. are beautiful). "Leap Of Faith" resembles "Lucky Town" a lot (the start is identical!), while "The Big Muddy" constitutes the only episode below par; however, it picks up with the next track: "Living Proof" starts slow, then a guitar-drum duo accompanies us in a relentless ride that takes no prisoners. At this point, a bit of respite with the delicate, subdued, "Book Of Dreams" (this is a true lullaby, unlike "Pony Boy"!), then follows the "wicked" sound of "Souls Of The Departed" and the light "My Beautiful Reward," which closes the work worthily.

In conclusion, Lucky Town is an honest album; though far from works like "The River" or "Born To Run", it doesn't have any tone down (except for "The Big Muddy," a track I just don't understand), it's "caciarone" just right and after listening it leaves a taste of positivity and redemption.