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Having finally scraped together enough pocket money to
purchase Bruce Springsteen’s latest offering, High Hopes (Columbia, 2014), I rushed home to put it on, and wasn’t
disappointed. I haven’t met a
Springsteen album I didn’t like yet, but, having read mixed reviews, I approached with an open mind. Although it’s obviously not a self-contained
package like previous albums, I came to it fully aware that it was an odds-and-sods
collection of previously unreleased and reworked tracks and the production is
seamless throughout. The tracks fit
together well, showcasing Springsteen's rough New Jersey poetry in all its customary brilliance.
From the joyous horns on the title track (not a Springsteen
composition, but one he has stamped his own unmistakable style on), through the
pulsating “Down in the Hole” and the multi-layered rhythms and uplifting chorus
of “Heaven’s Wall", both the new and the rearranged had me captivated. Even “Frankie Fell in Love”, the
weakest track on the album, still holds its own as a standard Springsteen rocky
number. The Irish folk elements in “This
is Your Sword” work as well here as they did on Wrecking Ball and the haunting poignancy of the cornet and snare
combination on “The Wall” really gets inside your chest.
“American Skin (41 Shots)”, written about the shooting of an
unarmed West African immigrant by New York Police in 1999, which has mesmerised me since
I first heard the live version, recorded at Madison Square Garden in July 2000 (featured on The Essential Bruce
Springsteen), is beefed up in its first proper studio recording, but retains its hypnotic beauty. In the sleeve notes Springsteen states that
Tom Morello and his guitar became his muse in the development of this record, and it’s clear why. Morello’s solos soar off every track he’s
featured on, and none more so than on the electric new version of “The Ghost of Tom
Joad”, an entirely different beast to the song that first appeared on the
album of the same title. Bruce
Springsteen may not be the most virtuosic guitarist, but he knows how to craft songs
that wrap you up in their narratives and this album demonstrates that his talent is in no way fading as the years pass. As “Dream Baby
Dream” swells and builds, in all its euphoric simplicity, you're aware that you’ve listened
to an album that is a true musical experience.
Oh, and for an extra £2 I got a DVD of Springsteen and the E
Street Band playing Born in the USA in its
entirety in London last year, further evidence of why The Boss is
considered one of the best live acts around.
