Bruce Springsteen

Add Date: February 2

Artist: Bruce Springsteen

Album: Working on a Dream

Label: Columbia

Genre: Rock, folk-rock

Comments: Someone with some mild form of amnesia might listen to Working on a Dream and think, Wow! What a great record. Like many purists of the Springsteen canon, I know it's all been downhill since (or including?) Born in the USA in the mid-80s. Everyone has their own opinion about the Boss' later year stuff -- 2002's The Rising, 2005's stripped-down Devils & Dust, 2006's set of Pete Seeger covers on We Shall Overcome, and 2007's Magic -- but this one at least holds up as a solid album, still nothing compared to poetic innocence of "Incident on 57th Street" or "Jungleland" from his early work.

The Boss provides us with 13 quality tunes and one bonus track, his highly touted Oscar-worthy (hmm) ballad "The Wrestler" from the recent film starring Mickey Rourke. Tossed on as an afterthought, the song sounds a little contrived to me, but perhaps it belongs with the film. As for the actual album, the first track, "Outlaw Pete," is a dark 8-minute fairy tale that starts the record off on a nice foot, far from the traditional 3-minute radio-friendly efforts of Magic. The title track is a gloriously catchy pop song, but one that I love especially as the whistles kick in halfway through. Working on a Dream is a fine collection of songs and a solid effort from the E Street Band despite the absence of the late organist Danny Federici. But it's no return to form for the Boss. Plain and simple.