The Boss is back, once again with Brendan O'Brien on board as producer. I was really looking forward to "Working On A Dream" as I was a big fan of "Magic", which marked a return of sorts to a sunnier and poppier side of Springsteen. While many complained about the awful sound and questionable mix on "Magic", few will deny the songs were highly melodic. The good news is that O'Brien did a better job with the sound quality on this record. The bad news is that Springsteen brought a fairly mediocre batch of songs to the studio.
The record starts with the curious "Outlaw Pete", a 3 minute story that he takes 8 minutes to tell. It is the musical equivalent of that movie "The English Patient" - an epic piece of art that I feel guilty for not liking. Probably realizing he'd better redeem himself quick, "My Lucky Day" follows as a familiar and upbeat slice of classic Springsteen - arguably the best track on the record. The title track, which was performed at an Obama rally and at the Superbowl, is a fairly decent cut, a pleasant midtempo song but not in league with most of his past hits. "Queen of the Supermarket" comes off as a joke, although we know this is not his intention - the lush production just makes this song about a common man yearning for a grocery clerk even more incredulous.
I liked "What Love Can Do", "This Life", and "Kingdom of Days", which are tracks that sound like quality leftovers from the "Magic" sessions. I can't figure out why they thought it would be a good idea to overly distort the vocals on "Good Eye", rendering this bluesy track virtually unlistenable. Springsteen does some Bob Dylan on "Tomorrow Never Knows"; again, nothing wrong with it, but nothing overly right about it either. The somber and reflective "Life Itself" is pretty interesting, with a catchy chorus sandwiched between verses that sound like David Gilmour is playing guitar. "Surprise, Surprise" is the closest I recall Springsteen getting to bubblegum pop, but it is a 'surprisingly' trite and repetitive lyric, probably written to celebrate Patti's birthday. With the number of times he says 'surprise' in this song, you'd fear Patti must be going deaf. "The Wrestler", a song used in the acclaimed movie of the same name, is included as a bonus track, but that track doesn't do much for me.
"Working On A Dream" is not the strongest record in Springsteen's amazing catalogue, but we can't expect a masterpiece every time. I will probably reach for his classics or "Magic" before this one.
iPOD-worthy: 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10
Bruce Springsteen : official site.
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