Bruce Springsteen
Working On A Dream

Dear DeBaseriani, surely my nickname won't sound familiar to you. This is because I registered 2 minutes ago, even though I've been visiting this site for months. I thought it appropriate to dedicate my first review to my favorite singer, as well as to the album that is currently accompanying me: Bruce Springsteen with his latest album "Working on a Dream" (it's the first review so... have mercy).

Bruce Springsteen wrote absolute masterpieces in the '70s. He became known to the masses in the '80s with 25 million copies sold of "Born in the U.S.A." He went through a creative block (with corresponding sales declines) in the '90s. And now, as we near the end of this decade, we find him here with his fourth album of new material in 7 years, and especially only 1 year and 3 months after Magic. This "Working on a Dream" is perhaps the Boss’s album that has most divided critics and fans. But, as we know, replicating the creative peak of the '70s is not possible. Anyone today able to write beautiful rock songs like those from that period would be, if not a genius, a God. And Bruce is not a God, but an honest songwriter on the cusp of sixty springs. So it’s clear that he no longer has the right inspiration to write about street heroes, escapes to the promised land, nights spent searching for something. Therefore, he tries to describe the life around him, starting with his love for Patti Scialfa (the main theme of the album) and then scrutinizing America with a critical eye but with a touch of optimism (yes, because almost all the songs were written when Bush was in the White House, while the album was released just days after Obama took office).

In short, "Working on a Dream" is an album about love. A love that can be read in various ways, enough to easily dedicate the title track to the newly elected President Obama. Otherwise, it could be seen as a normal love song. The album opens with "Outlaw Pete," a song that has nothing to do with the rest of the album but shows us how the New Jersey rocker is still capable of writing small films. With its 8-minute duration and a text that could easily become the basis for a screenplay, many have hailed it as a masterpiece. I think that the song, with a little less strings and more attention to the characteristic sound of the E Street Band (for example, a sax solo), could have sounded better. Still, it's a great song and an excellent opening. "My Lucky Day" follows, the classic E Street Band rock piece. If it weren't for the violin, it could seem like an outtake from "The River" (1980). A great track where you can feel the whole band, marked by the sax entrance of Big Man. The most "concert-like" piece on the album.

"Working on a Dream" is the first single. A highly criticized song because it was deemed too soft, not to mention the stir caused by the whistle after the second chorus. I, instead, find it a very sweet and carefree song. One of those songs that makes you start the day with a smile. "Queen of the Supermarket" is a song with a somewhat bizarre text. Because the protagonist is a supermarket cashier who makes the protagonist fall in love. The theme becomes a pretext to criticize the frenetic lives of people who, between "groceries" and the "shopping cart," fail to notice they have in front of them "Something Wonderful and Rare" that "Even if the hat covers her hair, nothing can hide the beauty that waits down there." It initially recalls something from the early '80s (always The River), then the sound begins to get muddled, and once again, the strings take center stage. A song that initially leaves you perplexed but after a few listens becomes irresistible. "What Love Can Do" is perhaps along with "My Lucky Day" the most rock piece on the album. Considered by Springsteen himself as "A sort of meditation on love in the times of Bush." Great song. "This Life," maliciously judged as his worst song, is instead the classic BS and the ESB song but this time covered by that sound carpet that made its debut in the previous "Magic," especially in "Girls in Their Summer Clothes." You can hear the piano, the Hammond organ, and, sweetly finishing, a beautiful sax solo by the legendary Big Man (unfortunately, this and that of MLD are the only interventions of the saxophonist).

"Good Eye" is the surprise of the album, a bluesy piece that seems to come from the '50s. With very minimal lyrics and a distorted voice. "Tomorrow Never Knows" is the classic country track that says nothing new but leaves a pleasant sensation. "Life Itself" is a track with very beautiful lyrics but musically not very convincing. In my opinion, it is the only song that pushes you to click the next track. "Kingdom of Days" I consider the classic song for old people (in a good way), especially thanks to the verse "lying under the covers counting our wrinkles and white hair." The music is quite saccharine, reminiscent of some old Neil Diamond songs, but I find it very sweet and at times moving. "Surprise, Surprise" is perhaps the simplest song Bruce has ever released with the ESB. It's very catchy and fun, yet I can understand the embarrassment longtime fans feel having to go from "Jungleland" to "Surprise, Surprise." The album officially closes with "The Last Carnival," an emotional song dedicated to the band's historic keyboardist Danny Federici, who passed away last April. The song is one of the high points of the album. And finally, here's "The Wrestler," a song written for the titular film. Another masterpiece. There's no ESB, just Bruce with his acoustic guitar and a piano. A spine-chilling song.

In conclusion, "Working on a Dream" is certainly not a masterpiece, and it is not the album with which Springsteen will save his image as the greatest living rocker. But in some ways, it is something different. A CD of intimate songs that Bruce could have played alone and yet he called his historic band to make a significant contribution. Of course, the '70s and '80s remain light years away, but it is right for it to be so. The years change, society changes, the historical context changes.... and the songs change. And I am pleased to hear Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band with songs as relaxed and optimistic as never before. So I, who do not dare demand a new "Born to Run," am more than happy to have "Working on a Dream" in my hands.

Until next time...