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Rating:
In recent years, Bruce Springsteen has been remarkably prolific, especially if we compare the frequency of recent releases with those of the early nineties, where they were significantly rarer. We've had "The Rising" in 2002, "Devils and Dust" in 2004, "The Seeger Sessions" in 2006, and in the same year, the live in Dublin. Not to mention the associated DVDs and the "Born To Run" box set, including live recordings from that era. As 2007 comes to a close, "Magic" arrives. To review this album, I believe a preface is necessary.
I believe it is necessary to admit, without scandal, that for an artist like Springsteen, who records for a multinational like Sony, there are commercial logics to respect. Springsteen, in recent years, has recorded sophisticated albums with strong ties to traditional folk, which are not very radio-friendly as they lack suitable singles and are directed to an audience that is certainly not that of MTV and not even the big rock arenas. The Seeger album and the subsequent live performance are examples of this, despite the immense popularity of the character having still decreed a certain commercial success. I believe, therefore, that Springsteen "owed" his record label (which indeed always gives him a lot of freedom) a "saleable" record with a couple of singles for American airplay. This is understood, in the opinion of the writer, also from the album cover: the Boss's face in the foreground, no reference to his travel companions, a short and memorable title. These are details that in the music industry are rarely left to chance.
"Magic" is therefore part of the lineage that connects "Born in the U.S.A." to the underrated (in my opinion) "Tunnel of Love" and the underrated (for me, again) "Human Touch", as well as, in some aspects, to "The Rising".
Listening to the album (by now, several round trips from and to work) confirms the first impressions: this is stadium Springsteen, those looking for the balladeer of "The Ghost of Tom Joad" will find him only in flashes. The sound is very muscular, it almost sounds like Pearl Jam (see O'Brien's production), at times pompous, the songs are short, the refrains memorable like those of "Born in the U.S.A.", the E Street Band rocks greatly but without going too subtle.
The first single "Radio Nowhere" is a chunky rock for truckers, an "American" anthem with a chord progression that not even Ligabue uses anymore (and that's not a compliment, to be clear). The appeal is immediate, but from Springsteen, one would expect something less rough. The video, for those who have seen it, is on theme... Already with the second track ("You'll Be Coming Down"), things adjust a bit: Springsteen writes memorable hooks and the album takes a notable upturn. "Living in the Future" seems like at least four other Boss songs, yet it works wonderfully. "Gipsy Biker" has a compositional structure above average. "Girls in Their Summer Clothes" refers - by the author's own admission - to the Beach Boys of "Pet Sounds". "Last to Die" has a nice melody but the arrangement is on the coarse side. "I'll Work for Your Love" is a great song, in my opinion, even if the callback to other old Springsteen compositions is evident. "Long Walk Home", already in the Session Band's repertoire, is also a great song, although the E-Streeters, once again, leave aside the details for a plain and flat four-four time that ultimately ends up compromising the truly beautiful melody and the truly intense lyrics. "Devil's Arcade" and the title track don't leave a particular mark, as well as "Your Own Worst Enemy".
In conclusion: a very enjoyable album thanks especially to the quality of the compositions, as always above average. A couple of great tracks, lots of craft, two or three fillers. It's a pity for a production not attentive to details and for an E-Street Band too often rough and coarse in "dressing" the Boss's songs.
No one doubts that the album will be a success. For me, however, an "owed" and transitional album.
File under: car music.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Radio Nowhere (03:19)
I was trying to find my way home
But all I heard was a drone
Bouncin' off a satellite
Crushing the last long American night
This is radio nowhere
Is there anybody alive out there?
This is radio nowhere
Is there anybody alive out there?
I was staring at a dead dial
Just another lost number in a file
Dancin' down a dark hole
Just searching for a world with some soul
This is radio nowhere
Is there anybody alive out there?
This is radio nowhere
Is there anybody alive out there?
Is there anybody alive out there?
I just want to hear some rhythm
I just want to hear some rhythm
I just want to hear some rhythm
I just want to hear some rhythm
I want a thousand guitars
I want pounding drums
I want a million different voices speaking in tongues
This is radio nowhere
Is there anybody alive out there?
This is radio nowhere
Is there anybody alive out there?
Is there anybody alive out there?
I was driving through the misty rain
And just searching for a mystery train
Bopping through the wild blue
Trying to make a connection with you
This is radio nowhere
Is there anybody alive out there?
This is radio nowhere
Is there anybody alive out there?
Is there anybody alive out there?
I just want to feel some rhythm
I just want to feel some rhythm
I just want to feel your rhythm
I just want to feel your rhythm
I just want to feel your rhythm
I just want to feel your rhythm
I just want to feel your rhythm
(fade)
03 Livin' in the Future (03:56)
A letter come blowin' in on an ill wind
Somethin' 'bout me and you
Never seein' one another again
Yeah, well I knew it'd come
Still I was struck deaf and dumb
Like when we kissed, that taste of blood on your tongue
Don't worry Darlin', now baby don't you fret
We're livin' in the future and none of this has happened yet
Don't worry Darlin', now baby don't you fret
We're livin' in the future and none of this has happened yet
Woke up Election Day, skies gunpowder and shades of gray
Beneath a dirty sun, I whistled my time away
Then just about sundown
You come walkin' through town
Your boot heels clickin'
Like the barrel of a pistol spinnin' 'round
Don't worry Darlin', now baby don't you fret
We're livin' in the future and none of this has happened yet
Don't worry Darlin', now baby don't you fret
We're livin' in the future and none of this has happened yet
The earth it gave away, the sea rose toward the sun
I opened up my heart to you it got all damaged and undone
My ship Liberty sailed away on a bloody red horizon
The groundskeeper opened the gates and let the wild dogs run
I'm rollin' through town, a lost cowboy at sundown
Got my monkey on a leash, got my ear tuned to the ground
My faith's been torn asunder, tell me is that rollin' thunder
Or just the sinkin' sound of somethin' righteous goin' under?
Don't worry Darlin', now baby don't you fret
We're livin' in the future and none of this has happened yet
Don't worry Darlin', now baby don't you fret
We're livin' in the future and none of this has happened yet
Don't worry Darlin', now baby don't you fret
We're livin' in the future and none of this has happened yet
None of this has happened yet
None of this has happened yet
None of this has happened yet
None of this has happened yet
Na na na na. . .
05 Gypsy Biker (04:31)
The speculators made their money on the blood you shed
Your momma's pulled the sheets up off your bed
Profiteers on Jhames Street sold your shoes and clothes
Ain't nobody talkin' because everybody knows
We pulled your cycle up back the garage and polished up the chrome*
Our gypsy biker coming home
Sister Mary sits with your colors, but Johnny's drunk and gone
This old town's been rousted, which side you on?
They would march up over the hill, this old fools parade
Shouting victory for the righteous for you must hear the grace
Ain't nobody talkin', but just waiting on the phone
Gypsy biker coming home
Whoa!
[Guitar solo]
We rode into the foothills, Bobby brought the gasoline
We stood around the circle as she lit up the ravine
The spring hot desert wind rushed down on us all the way back home
[Harmonica bridge]
To the dead, well it don't matter much 'bout who's wrong or right
You asked me that question, I didn't get it right
You slipped into your darkness, now all that remains
Is my love for you brother, life's still unchanged
To him that threw you away, you ain't nothing but gone
My gypsy biker's coming home
And now I'm out countin' white lines
Countin' white lines and getting stoned
My gypsy biker's coming home
Whoa!
[Guitar solo]
La la la la
La la la la
La la la la
La la la la
La la la la
La la la la
La la la la
La la la la
[fades]
08 Magic (02:45)
I got a coin in my palm
I can make it disappear
I got a card up my sleeve
Name it and I’ll pull it out your ear
I got a rabbit in my hat
If you wanna come and see
This is what we’ll be
This is what we’ll be
I got shackles on my wrists
Soon I’ll slip 'em and be gone
Chain me in a box in the river
And I'll rise singin' this song
Trust none of what you hear
And less of what you see
This is what we’ll be
This is what we’ll be
I got a shiny saw blade
All I need’s a volunteer
I’ll cut you in half
While you're smilin’ ear to ear
And the freedom that you sought's
Drifting like a ghost amongst the trees
This is what we’ll be
This is what we’ll be
Now there’s a fire down below
But it’s coming up here
So leave everything you know
Carry only what you fear
On the road the sun is sinkin’ low
There’s bodies hangin' in the trees
This is what we’ll be
This is what we’ll be
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Other reviews
By jackpizzello
Expectations are thus rewarded by this 'Magic', which brings back to our ears the fantastic sax solos of Clarence Clemons.
An album that maintains a certain mediocrity from start to finish, pleasant, but not extraordinary, without peaks high or severe drops in style.
By primiballi
The Boss is back, and moreover with the E Street, in one of those periodic comebacks that excite, annoy, bore, outrage, making people shout about both miracles and scandals.
Rock is dead but they forgot to tell Bruce Springsteen.
By KillerJoe
"Magic is an album I listened to every single day of my life for two consecutive years."
"Girls In Their Summer Clothes is Bruce Springsteen’s pop masterpiece... everything here flows perfectly."
