Bruce Springsteen – Working on a Dream – review

Corporate line:
The 2009 album by one of the finest American songwriters of his generation. “Working on a Dream” was recorded with the E Street Band and features 12 new Springsteen compositions plus a bonus track: ‘The Wrestler’. . It is the fourth collaboration between Springsteen and Brendan O’Brien, who produced and mixed the album. Springsteen also wrote an eponymous song for Darren Aronofsky’s 2008 film The Wrestler. The song, also titled ‘The Wrestler’ won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

The good:
“The Wrestler” – Easily the album’s best track and it’s a shame that it’s lost at the end of the album. Springsteen should have based the entire album theme around this gem.

“Working on a Dream” – Very typical Springsteen sound and style. It can get you singing a long. But it’s no classic.

“My Lucky Day” – Good to sing-a-long to but nothing extraordinary.

“Outlaw Pete” – It sounds very familiar. Too familiar. Try a bit of “Eleanor Rigby” with a big of “Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill” and you have a soulfully silly song about nothing. And yet its oh so good.

The rest:
“Queen of a Supermarket” – I hate to say this but its total fluff and silly. It’s impossible to buy into the song’s sentiment.

“This Life” – It’s just too familiar and average.

“Good Eye” – A blues track that has Springsteen’s voice so low in the mix that he seems less important than the banjo or harmonica. Maybe that is because he’s saying nothing.

“What Love Can Do” – Bland. Just skip it. And the same goes for tracks 8-12.

Finally:
Springsteen’s pop record is average if you want to compare it to his previously styled epics. Even if you don’t want to compare it this still isn’t anything that should end up on best of the year lists.