Leave it to Bruce to knock Adele out of the No. 1 album spot last week with “Wrecking Ball.” He is the Boss after all. Certainly the legion of his fans (including me) are listening to his latest LP, which rails heavily against fat cats and bankers for bringing down the economy and empathizes as usual with the blue-collar workingman. It’s an album that ruminates angrily about the state of the union and takes on a weightiness in about every song.
I guess first off I almost have to recuse myself from even discussing “Wrecking Ball” since I’ve been such a huge Springsteen fan since the early days with “Greetings From Asbury Park.” He is a national treasure no doubt and has so many classic, classic albums and songs. Who could ever count or measure them? He and the E Street Band are much beloved and his concerts over the years have been more than amazing.
So it’s interesting to note that the new songs have created a bit of a stir. Some such as David Fricke of Rolling Stone have given the album five out of five stars, saying it’s up with the best of his work, and yet others feel it’s heavy-handed, preachy and self-righteous and isn’t as good as many of his other efforts.
With time, the album has been growing on me. I didn’t take to the new songs immediately. For one thing, some of the album’s upbeat music seemed incongruous with its downtrodden words. The Irish/Celtic musical elements on a few songs particularly threw me. Also there was less storytelling in the songs, and I wasn’t hooked right away on the melodies. Maybe even some of his words and imagery seemed like he had used them before.
And yet the album is still good. I’m sure Bruce is held to a higher standard than mere mortals; after all we judge him by his greatness. In terms of his recent albums, I think “Wrecking Ball” compares favorably to “Magic” (2007) and “Working on a Dream” (2009), both of which I liked quite a bit, and it has the “Seeger Sessions” (2006) populist, anthemic feel to it, but it’s no “Rising” (2002) album or perhaps even “Devils & Dust” (2005), both of which I played into the ground. I give “Wrecking Ball” about 3 or 3.5 stars.
About half the songs on “Wrecking Ball” I like, and the other half not as much. Here is my list of likes:
Wrecking Ball
This Depression
Jack of All Trades
We Take Care of Our Own
Easy Money
Rocky Ground
We Are Alive
And Misfires?:
Swallowed Up
Death to My Hometown
American Land
Shackled and Drawn
You’ve Got It
Land of Hope and Dreams
Feel free to disagree and forward your complaints and list.
And if you haven’t heard Bruce’s colorful keynote speech at the South by Southwest festival, you must take a listen.
