Bruce Springsteen
Working on a Dream
Rating: 2.5
Label: Columbia Records
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Given his lengthy musical career and well-honed image as the voice of the working class everyman, Bruce Springsteen’s recent work will inevitably be compared to his classic 1970s masterpieces. That Springsteen has subtly encouraged this portrayal in a separate matter best left for another day. The same way Bob Dylan is thought of as a 1960s Woody Guthrie-esque folkie by casual music fans, the popular hardscrabble image of Springsteen that emerged on albums like Darkness On the Edge of Town is pretty secure and unlikely to change.
Springsteen’s latest effort, Working On a Dream was pounded out relatively quickly by the musician’s standards, having started as songs written during the recording of 2007′s prickly Magic and recorded during breaks in its accompanying tour. In many ways Working On a Dream certainly sounds like the product of a band hot off the road, with a refinement and instrumental drive that bears the hallmarks of a well-oiled touring band. Its themes aren’t entirely surprising; like many Springsteen songs, a central theme is rugged determination and devotion to loved ones. “Outlaw Pete,” a song about the outlaw’s dogged desire to remain free, is the one oddball here, all eight minutes chugging along at a steer-driving pace and its lyrics overly obvious and cloying. Springsteen stumbles again on “Queen of the Supermarket,” an ode to a girl bagging groceries that could be a joke if it weren’t fleshed into an anthem by Patti Scialfa’s soaring backing vocals. The Queen here sounds like she might be one of those kids Springsteen sang about on Darkness; instead, we have an embarrassing internal monologue of a presumably older creepster giving her the eye.
Half of the record is devoted to this mid-tempo slog. While these songs are charming and no doubt heartfelt, tracks like “Life Itself,” “This Life” and “Kingdom of Days” blend together and are largely indistinguishable from each other. Producer Brendan O’Brien is at least partly at fault here. Having produced Springsteen since 2001, he outfits the record with such a compressed, loud, midrange blur that its better songs have to fight to stand out. The instruments have no space to breathe; one hardly notices when a guitar solo comes, let alone if it’s Springsteen, Little Stevie, or Nils Lofgren playing it.
The album’s best moments are buried in its second half. “Good Eye” is a raunchy blues number with the type of verve the Rolling Stones wish they had on A Bigger Bang. “Tomorrow Never Knows” is melodic and sweet, with a shuffling beat and strings that make it sound like a rougher version of a Traveling Wilburys tune. Closing song “The Last Carnival” is a mournful number written about the death of longtime organist Danny Federici, with Federici’s son Jason playing accordion. In perhaps a homage to the past, the song recasts Springsteen’s traveling rock ‘n’ roll revival tours as high-wire circus acts. It’s a fitting tribute to a bandmate and friend as well as a welcome addition to Springsteen’s catalog.
Because Working On a Dream doesn’t have the weight and gravity of “statement” albums like The Rising or Devils and Dust bearing down on it, it’s an easier listen that sometimes borders on the innocuous or incidental. The record is primarily concerned with the steadiness of a contented and domestic married life, and its songs often lack any sense of turbulence or conflict and, unfortunately, depth. While this sort of tranquility has been hinted at in Springsteen’s songs throughout his career, the songs on Working On a Dream don’t carry the emotional resonance of Springsteen’s characters at their most desperate. Where Springsteen could dryly ask “If dreams came true/ Oh, wouldn’t that be nice” in “The Promised Land,” this time around his characters seem too contented and one-dimensional.
by Chris Middleman
[Illustration: Sarah Goodreau]
