Bruce Springsteen
Wrecking Ball

THE REVIEW

End of summer 2009. Bruce Springsteen performs 6 concerts at the prestigious Giants Stadium, a historic venue in New Jersey, the boss's hometown. He will be the last artist to perform before the stadium is demolished. So, to honor a place that has hosted numerous concerts and games, he introduces a new song live: “Wrecking Ball”. The song starts semi-acoustic and then sees the E Street Band explode along with some members of the Seeger Sessions. Inside, I thought, “It's a shame I probably won't hear this song live much.”

And yet, 3 years later, in March 2012, not only does the aforementioned song become part of the new album, but it also gives it its title.

“Wrecking Ball” is released 3 years after the semi-flop “Working on a Dream”. An album that was only released to give a sense of continuation to the “Magic Tour,” which had seen a well-oiled E Street Band still capable of setting stages around the world on fire. “Wrecking Ball” is undoubtedly a valid album both lyrically and musically. Remember when “We Shall Overcome: the Seeger Sessions” was released and many wondered if Bruce would ever record an album of originals with the Seeger Sessions? Well, in some ways, this album satisfies that request. The E Street Band is present in only 3 songs: the title track, the revitalized “Land of Hope and Dreams”, and the bonus track “American Land”. Even in these last two, the presence of the Seeger Sessions is strongly felt.

The album is almost a concept on the global crisis. Never before have we heard a Springsteen so direct, political, and angry. The main targets are the bankers: “those greedy thieves who got here and ate everything they could” as we hear in the Celtic “Death to my Hometown.” Or “The banker grows fat and the worker grows thin. It happened before and it will happen again” as recited in the poignant “Jack of all Trades”, which ends with typically American optimism: “I’m a jack of all trades, honey, we’ll be alright”. Or again, “Gamblers roll the dice, workers pay the bills. It's always full of money and easy on banker’s hill. Down here we get chained” is heard in “Shackled and Drawn”. These are just some of the more direct songs. Meanwhile, in the opener “We Take Care of Our Own”, the targets are the broken promises, in a state where citizens must take care of themselves as there is no one to do it for them. Then we find the desperate protagonist of “Easy Money”, who, from the banal routine emerging from gestures like putting on his coat and taking the dog out, decides to go to the city with his lady in search of easy money. These are songs that appear in the first part of the record, which closes with the suggestive and hypnotic “This Depression”, featuring Tom Morello, former leader of Rage Against the Machine, on guitar. The song talks about an interior crisis. A desperate plea for love that reveals all the fragility of the protagonist: “I’ve been down, but never this low. I’ve been lost, but never this far gone. This is my confession, I need your heart, in this depression, I need your heart”.

The first part thus talks about what has been destroyed, while in the second, the attempt is to rebuild, starting from the title track, which takes the demolition of a stadium as a pretext to talk about something that can be destroyed but from which something can be rebuilt. Next, we find the seemingly simple “You’ve Got It”, a song that seems like an outtake from the “Born in the USA” era, starting acoustically with a carefree tone before exploding with horns and a guitar that gives it a bluesy flavor. The song seems very simple, but in reality, it's the central point of the record. That thing that “No one can break it, no one can steal it, no one can fake it, you only know it when you feel it” could refer to the soul. Something that no banker or thief can ever steal. The musical quality is also surprising in this album. If in two songs we hear Tom Morello on guitar (“Jack of all Trades”, “This Depression”), it’s surprising to hear the loop of “Rocky Ground” a very spiritual song, with a quasi-hip hop rhythm that surprises when in the second part we hear a female voice rapping a verse. Musically, it is definitely the novelty of the record. “Land of Hope and Dreams” is the most disappointing because the epic version of the live reunion of 1999 was known. This version loses its epicness and is given more of a Seeger Sessions feel than an E Street Band feel. Yet, it has the merit of having the only sax solo by Clarence “Big Man” Clemons, who passed away in June 2011. The album closes with “We Are Alive,” a very imaginative song that narrates a cemetery of ex-soldiers from the 1800s onwards, coming to life at night. A country-like song that recalls the atmosphere of “Devils & Dust”. Officially the album ends here, unless you have the edition with the two bonus tracks in your hands: “Swallowed up (in the Belly of the Whale)” and “American Land”. The first is very suggestive and unusual but, frankly, it’s the only track that pushes the finger towards the “Next track” button. The second we already knew since it was proposed live from 2006 onwards, first with the Seeger Sessions and then with the E Street Band. The studio version does not make one miss the already known version, and it excellently concludes the album.

Personally, I consider “Wrecking Ball” one of Bruce's best albums in recent years. And even live, the album proved to be quite valid.

When surrounded by singers from talent shows who seem to be produced with a cookie-cutter approach, this is the music I take refuge in. And it takes me to another dimension.

Enjoy the listening.