The Boss does it again, with "Working on a Dream"
Bret Nye
Issue date: 2/26/09 Section: Lifestyles
Bruce Springsteen has been one of the most popular and efficient purveyors of working class pop-rock since his studio debut in 1973 with "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J." Nineteen Grammys and countless number one singles later, The Boss decided to release yet another album, 2009's "Working on a Dream." To call this another Springsteen heel-tapper would be fitting, but it would be doing this album no justice. "Working on a Dream" is the epitome of what the fabled working-class hero has been aspiring towards ever since he yelled "I'm born in the U.S.A." to thousands of screaming fans. This album is a pop-rock masterpiece.
"Working on a Dream" is Springsteen's 16th studio album, and the famous E Street Band is back in full swing here. I'll admit that the instrumentals and guitar solos are not going to drop any jaws, but they are perfectly sufficient for what the songs are trying to be: anthems for the struggling, the hard-working, the broken and the beaten.
Springsteen's gravelly voice practically bleeds into the music, wailing and whispering a long life of cascading highs, lows, and places in between. His lyrics range from simple stories about supermarket love affairs ("Queen of the Supermarket") to epic tales of life out west ("Outlaw Pete").
The most impressive thing about "Working on a Dream" is the album's unbelievable range: the Boss and his E Street Band take us from stories of the Wild West to charming love songs to tales of broken lives, and the best part is that the music reflects this. For example, the first single from the album, "Working on a Dream," is a hopeful plodder that plays off of a solid drumbeat, a pretty acoustic chord progression, and even a whistle solo. The lyrics are essentially Obama campaign propaganda, but listening to them outside of a political rally and putting the music with them really make them poignant.
Normally, I'd immediately intensely dislike something as happy-go-lucky as a whistle solo (god forbid, a whistle solo?), but somehow it just works here.
"Working on a Dream" is Springsteen's 16th studio album, and the famous E Street Band is back in full swing here. I'll admit that the instrumentals and guitar solos are not going to drop any jaws, but they are perfectly sufficient for what the songs are trying to be: anthems for the struggling, the hard-working, the broken and the beaten.
Springsteen's gravelly voice practically bleeds into the music, wailing and whispering a long life of cascading highs, lows, and places in between. His lyrics range from simple stories about supermarket love affairs ("Queen of the Supermarket") to epic tales of life out west ("Outlaw Pete").
The most impressive thing about "Working on a Dream" is the album's unbelievable range: the Boss and his E Street Band take us from stories of the Wild West to charming love songs to tales of broken lives, and the best part is that the music reflects this. For example, the first single from the album, "Working on a Dream," is a hopeful plodder that plays off of a solid drumbeat, a pretty acoustic chord progression, and even a whistle solo. The lyrics are essentially Obama campaign propaganda, but listening to them outside of a political rally and putting the music with them really make them poignant.
Normally, I'd immediately intensely dislike something as happy-go-lucky as a whistle solo (god forbid, a whistle solo?), but somehow it just works here.
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