Wild Boss.
Off Broadway. The Boss is back. And 'Born To Run' again this road takes the American dream of Bruce Springsteen off E Street like a 'Tunnel Of Love'. All for a songwriter album of solo standards with the spirit of Roy Orbison riding shotgun for 'Western Stars'. Beyond beautiful, the Boss Bruce's first album since his 2014 'High Hopes' reworking (and his first actual album of original material since twenty twelve's 'Wrecking Ball' like Miley swing) sees him chase wild horses from Tucson to Nashville. All the way from Sleepy Joe's cafe to a Moonlight Motel. Driving fast it's been a busy half decade for the boss of all bosses (sorry Rick Ross, but how dare you call yourself "The Boss"). In the last five years this wayfarer has released an amazing autobiography named after his seminal album and hit and even taken that book on the road of a theatrical tour for 'Springsteen On Broadway'. Not to mention companion collections to go with them and tide you over to his first full release of new material. We made enough to retire his whole family and children's children off that one show. But you know the blue jeans and collar of the working man's hero was always meant to give more like his all. So Bruce once again laces up those workman boots and goes to work, pedal to metal. But this time instead of burning rubber, this runaway American dream cruises down the coast with us riding passenger. Tuning into our new favourite records below these Western stars for a welcome return to this grit and gravel from the highwayman.
19 albums strong and the tank is far from empty for Springsteen this Spring to Summertime Bruce. From the title tracks tribute and classic Americana barroom performance, album artwork (this year's annual calender will bring life to your bedroom walls) video under those whisky gleaming neon lights for his 'Long Way Home' best video in years with a 'Human Touch', here's to him like the cowboys. "I wake up in the morning/Just glad my boots are on" Springsteen somberly sings as he gets as honest and vulnerable as he did revealing his mental health problems for the first time in his sixty plus life in the pages of his prose and then the stage of his show. Getting his Johnny Cash 'American Recordings' on in this El Camino Wild West ranch ride and telling us "Once I was shot by John Wayne" this ranger displays great poise and true grit. Singing, "some lost sheep from Oklahoma/Sips her Mojito down at the Whiskey Bar/Smiles and says she thinks she remembers me from that/Commercial with the credit card" like he was the Geico lizard out in this desert. 'Western Stars' is a soaring, self-titled single like the trails of 'Tucson Train', or the 'Hello Sunshine' welcome that shares the same hood of the car warmth as the 'American Beauty' Record Store Day '14 EP. But holding his thumb up and out on the 'Hitch Hikin'' opening he looks to ride with the character driven, seventies Southern California pop rock songs of country star Glen Campbell and the classic compositions of Burt Bacharach. And he achieves just that on his first solo work since the soul of 2005's 'Devils And Dust' album with 'Drive Fast (The Stuntman)' feeling like 'The Wrestler' that it could be some soundtrack song off the 'Streets Of Philadelphia' worthy of another Academy Award Oscar.
Between alone and home, sorrow and solitude, Springsteen sings, "Same sad story, love and glory goin' 'round and 'round/Same old cliché, a wanderer on his way, slippin' from town to town/Some find peace here on the sweet streets, the sweet streets of home/Where kindness falls and your heart calls for a permanent place of your own" on 'The Wayfarer' over somber strings in this at times cold, heartland desert. It may be lonely, but Springsteen finds some roadside solidarity over the end of a different type of bar and chaser in the cup of Joe from 'Sleepy Joe's Café'. All it takes is a couple of shots for Springsteen to romanticise something as ordinary as coffee. "I drive on down from the big town Friday when the clock strikes five/As the red sun sets in the ocean, I start to come alive/Summer girls in the parking lot slap on their makeup and they flirt the night away," Bruce over another round beautifies this blend of modern social interaction. You can almost watch the waitress walking around refilling everyone's coffee from her filter. But back on the open road and 'Chasin' Wild Horses', the ones Mick Jagger sang about couldn't drag this Rolling Stone away from this life "up on the Montana line" for a man who "never said goodbye" and probably never will. Things get real atmospheric and beautiful when he stares at 'Sundown' from his windshield of contemplation. Musing, "Sundown ain't the kind of place you want to be on your own/It's all long, hot, endless days and cold nights all alone/I drift from bar to bar, here in lonely town/Just wishing you were here with me, come sundown/In Sundown the cafés are filled with lovers passing time/In Sundown all I've got's trouble on my mind". But it's 'North Of Nashille' where this rock God like a wrecking ball in reverse gone country may truly find a new home. Souped up on Campbell like Andy Warhol this Jersey boy goes beyond the Meadowlands to look for Asbury Park greetings from a whole new postcard. But on the cinematic orchestration of 'Stones', Bruce broods bravely over a break up ballad, "I woke up this morning with stones in my mouth/You said those were only the lies you've told me/Those are only the lies you've told me." Longing for the Autumn of love like 'There Goes My Miracle' for a song that is signature Springsteen. But the testament to the traditional texture of this timeless testimonial is the sweet swan song 'Moonlight Motel' as the neon flickers off like our truck stopped's engine and up the stairs we go to our room. "Now the pool's filled with empty, eight-foot deep/Got dandelions growin' up through the cracks in the concrete/Chain-link fence half-rusted away/Got a sign says 'Children be careful how you play'". Closing the blinds on the 'Darkness On The Edge Of Town', Springsteen pays respectful tribute, checking in to a family business and community that is America as the American open road itself. And as the trail stops here, Bruce after getting so personal won't tour this album like his Broadway debut. Instead he'll return to E Street this fall to make more music and memories with some old friends. Because at the end of the day, no matter how far you go, there's nothing as close as home. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Playlist Picks: 'Tuscon Train', 'Somewhere North Of Nashville', 'Moonlight Motel'.
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