From its bright, brittle production to its tossed-off postage stamp cover art, Working on a Dream is in every respect a companion piece to Magic, an album that's merely a set of songs, both sprawling and deliberately small, songs that don't necessarily tackle any one major theme but all add up to a portrait of their time. Magic chronicled the dog days of Bush where Working on a Dream is designed as a keynote to the Obama age, released just a week after the inauguration of the U.S.'s 44th president and not coincidentally containing not a little optimism within its 13 tracks. This sense of hope is a tonic to the despair that crept into the margins of Magic but it's easy to posit Working on a Dream as pure positivity, which isn't exactly true: a hangover from W lingers, most vividly in the broken spirit of "The Wrestler," and Bruce mourning departed E Street Band member Danny Federici with "The Last Carnival." Springsteen peppers his tribute with images recalling the early days of the E Street Band but saves a revival of their wild, woolly sound for the opening "Outlaw Pete," a cavernous, circular, comical epic reminiscent of Springsteen's unwieldy portraits of rats on the Jersey Shore. "Outlaw Pete" is Working on a Dream at its best, playing like nothing less than The E Street Shuffle as reflected and refracted through Arcade Fire's naked hero worship, casually highlighting how producer Brendan O'Brien has gently nudged the Boss toward new musical avenues. Many of these new sounds are drawn from the past, often feeling informed by Little Steven's Underground Garage -- Van Zandt and Nils Lofgren's guitars chime like the Byrds; the band knocks out a tough little blues number on "Good Eye"; and Springsteen shows a knack for pure pop on "Surprise, Surprise" and indulges his ever-increasing Brian Wilson fascination on "This Life," whose percolating organs and harmonies rival the High Llamas. All this rests nicely alongside the Boss' trademarks -- galloping rockers that fill a stadium ("My Lucky Day") and their polar opposite, his intimate acoustic tunes ("Tomorrow Never Knows") -- which all make Working on a Dream read like a rich, inventive, musical album...which it is, to an extent. The ideas and intent are there, but the album is hampered slightly by the overall modesty of Springsteen's writing -- by and large, these are small-scale songs and feel that way -- and hurt significantly by the precise, digital production that muffles the music's imagination and impact. A large part of Springsteen's appeal has always been how the E Street Band has sounded as big and open as his heart, but Working on a Dream, like Magic before it, has a production that feels tiny and constrained even as it is layered with extraneous details. It's possible to listen around this production and hear the modest charms of the songs, but the album would be better if the sound matched the sentiment.
Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band kicked of their Working on a Dream tour on Wednesday night at HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. The show came in at 2 hours and 40 minutes and only included six tracks from the new album.The set list:Main SetBadlands (from Darkness on the Edge of Town)Outlaw Pete (from Working on a Dream)My Lucky Day (from Working on a Dream)No Surrender (from Born in...
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Bruce Springsteen's latest album has been out for awhile, and I've withheld judgement, mostly because I want to hear the songs live, when I expect they will shine brighter than on the album (as is usually true for him). But since the concert is only six days away, I might offer a word or two.Working on a Dream didn't grab me at first. The opening track, "Outlaw Pete," irritated me ... I didn't ...
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The Boss proves he needs a district manager: someone who can sit him down and advise him on little matters like Kiss, Wal-Mart, and his own legacy within the scope of rock and roll.
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It's full of the vivid colour that we're used to seeing in classic Springsteen and even sees a hasty, energetic guitar solo pick up the album's pace. The guitars echo Springsteen's concern with an audible tension that excites. Bonus track, ' The Wrestler ' is the other tune that really redeems this album, it's a touching and rousing number that's simple but affecting and Springsteen at his unde...
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When politics aren't taking centre stage on ' Working On A Dream ', it's matters of the heart that dominate Springsteen's writing. ' Life Itself ' follows a similar conceptual path, Springsteen delivering the wonderful line, " You were life itself, washing over me ". Unlike said LPs, ' Working On A Dream ' exudes a good vibration less obvious on its predecessors? this time Springsteen recognises t
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One thing is for sure, the new, happy Springsteen is nowhere near as fun as the angry, fiery Springsteen that has been a prophet of rock'n'roll for more than three decades. The Boss' '70s work was a Van Morrison-inspired blend of rock, R&B, and a little funk in which he sang what were basically short stories which idealized and romanticized the colorful tapestry of street life in Asbury Park, N...
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Springsteen also wrote an eponymous song for Darren Aronofsky's 2008 film The Wrestler. Springsteen should have based the entire album theme around this gem. " Working on a Dream "? Very typical Springsteen sound and style.
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If you are a Bruce Springsteen fan or Sunday football diehard chances are high that you've already heard the Boss' first single and the title-track off his next album, Working On A Dream. Springsteen sampled it while on the road in support of Obama earlier this fall and football fans heard Bob Costas give the song its televised world premier, synced to NFL highlights, this past Sunday. Springst...
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As Turkey Day draws near (some 67 million turkeys will be slaughtered this Thanksgiving and Christmas) you might be wondering what there is to be thankful for in this dwindeling economy. For one there's our new President-elect and the many loved ones around you, but Bruce Springsteen is giving you another reason. The Boss (who I hear hates being called the Boss) is offering, today only, his ti...
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Bruce is busy. Today (January 27th) marks the release date of Springsteen's latest album Working On A Dream and quite brilliantly he's decided to plug the album release date with the announcement of a massive US tour, kicking off April 1st in San Jose, California. He's also playing the Super Bowl XLIII halftime show in Tampa, Florida this weekend. Yeah, it's Bruce-mania to the fullest.Springste...
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Bruce Springsteen is one fire. Just last week he released "the title-track":http://www.q1043.com/pages/news/brucespringsteen/ for his new album Working On A Dream and now he's back with a video for single Numero Dos "My Lucky Day." The video is no frills in the studio footage of the Boss and the E Street Band, which would explain its quick debut. Working On A Dream comes out January 27th. Spri...
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After that halftime knee slide into the camera move (check out minute 3:20 in the video below) this news comes as no surprise. Springsteen's halftime performance, coupled with the timing of his contribution to the Oscar buzz flick The Wrestler and news of a full-fledge world tour has put the Boss on top. His new album Working On A Dream sold 224,000 copies to land at Number One knocking off Tay...
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They called 93 KHJ 'Boss Radio.' It was launched in Los Angeles in 1965, and even back here in the east we heard about it, because in those days before free-form FM radio came about, Top 40 radio was where it was at, and LA was where a lot of the hits were coming from, and the station broke acts like The Byrds and Sonny & Cher.These were KHJ's #1 singles in 1965:Satisfaction—The Rolling Stones .
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Bruce Springsteen's latest album has been out for awhile, and I've withheld judgement, mostly because I want to hear the songs live, when I expect they will shine brighter than on the album (as is usually true for him). But since the concert is only six days away, I might offer a word or two.Working on a Dream didn't grab me at first. The opening track, "Outlaw Pete," irritated me ... I didn't ...
More >
I've been mostly disappointed with the albums Bruce Springsteen has released since reforming his E Street Band.Based on a preliminary listen to Working on a Dream, Bruce's losing streak continues. For the most part, the E Street Band albums Bruce made with Jon Landau producing in the '70s and '80s remain classics that have stood the test of time. The best of those records stand with some of ro...
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Last week Bruce Springsteen got in the Halloween spirit and spent "A Night With The Jersey Devil ." Yesterday, feeling election day inch closer, he spent an afternoon at a Barack Obama rally in Cleveland. He played a six-song set that included the debut of a new one, "Working On A Dream," on which he was backed up Patti Scialfa and his own "professional whistling." It's a love song, but he dedi...
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One of the videos we missed while sipping nog and sleeping off NYE was the Glasto (and possibly Bonnaroo )-bound Boss's clip for "Life Itself," from his forthcoming Working On A Dream . The "Life Itself" clip follows up on "My Lucky Day "'s shot of the E Streeters in the studio with an in-and-out of focus Bruce, again in recording mode, strumming and singing with gravitas. It's a sad relationsh...
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This is apparently going to be on his upcoming album Working On A Dream , out in January. He's offering the title track as a free download. Not really a big fan of the Boss, but I figured some people might be interested in what he's up to these days. Bruce Springsteen - Working On A Dream PigeonsandPlanes
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“Have you ever seen a one-legged dog makin’ its way down the street?” Despite the lyrical misstep in “The Wrestler” (didn’t Bruce really mean to sing “Have you ever seen a three-legged dog makin’ its way down the street?”) this bonus track is the rarity, a true bonus and it is the payoff for making it through the rest of the disc. Mickey Rourke should win the "Best Actor" Osc
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Bruce Springsteen is offering free downloads through Amazon.com and "Guitar Hero" in the run-up to the Jan. 27 release of his next Columbia album, "Working on a Dream."Full story here.
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Lily Allen and Bruce Springsteen were the new champions on the U.K. singles and album charts yesterday (Feb. 1). Allen's "The Fear" (Regal/Parlophone/EMI) debuted atop the singles chart, while Springsteen's "Working on a Dream" (Columbia/Sony BMG) entered the album survey at No. 1.Full story here.
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When politics aren't taking centre stage on ' Working On A Dream ', it's matters of the heart that dominate Springsteen's writing. ' Life Itself ' follows a similar conceptual path, Springsteen delivering the wonderful line, " You were life itself, washing over me ". Unlike said LPs, ' Working On A Dream ' exudes a good vibration less obvious on its predecessors? this time Springsteen recognises t
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Outlaw Pete |
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| 2 My Lucky Day |
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| 3 Working on a Dream |
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| 4 Queen of the Supermarket |
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| 5 What Love Can Do |
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| 6 This Life |
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| 7 Good Eye |
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| 8 Tomorrow Never Knows |
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| 9 Life Itself |
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| 10 Kingdom of Days |
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| 11 Surprise, Surprise |
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| 12 The Last Carnival |
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| 13 The Wrestler [*] |
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Click to purchase…
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 "Working on a Dream")
