Bruce Springsteen: Tunnel Of Love - 1987

"On Tunnel of Love, Springsteen is writing about the promises people make to each other and the way they renege on those promises, about the romantic dreams we're brought up with and the internal demons that stifle those dreams. The battleground has moved from the streets to the sheets, but the battle hasn't changed significantly" - Steve Pond - Rolling Stone

 

In 1987, the by now "stadium rocker" Bruce Springsteen ditched most of his E. Street Band for this "almost" solo album that saw him in reflective mood as his disastrous first marriage to actress Julianne Phillips started to show cracks. The songs are often bleak, with minimalist production as opposed to the full band bombast of the Born In The USA album, but they are touching and melodic. 

This is a thoughtful, often sad album, but it is no Nebraska in terms of bleakness. Cautious Man and Spare Parts get close but overall the songs are relationship-inspired ones as opposed to those motivated by poverty and hopeless personal situations. To be honest, at times, I feel I prefer this to the much more popular BITUSA. It has far more depth and it rarely gets mentioned when assessments are being made of Springsteen's work, although in latter years its critical reputation has grown considerably. 

The album kicks off with the short, Bo Diddley-ish acoustic groove of Ain't Got You. A bit of an unusual choice for a starter. I guess it sets the tone, letting you know this wasn't going to be a rock album. Then we get one of the album's cornerstones in Tougher Than The Rest and the lovely, slow romance of this beautiful, insistent song. Bruce's voice is great on this as is the subtle keyboard and drum backing. It's a classic Springsteen love song, expressing strength, loyalty and commitment. Fine sentiments. All That Heaven Will Allow is a nice short serving of lilting country rock, later covered nicely by The Mavericks. 

Out of the blue we suddenly get the album's rockiest and most starkly powerful number, Spare Parts, about an unwanted pregnancy where Bobby said he'd pull out but stayed in, enhanced dramatically by Springsteen's searing guitar part. A quick digression - thinking about this one again, I can't help think that the E Street Band would have given the song a better, fuller backing than we get here. Indeed they did when it was ever played live, which was rarely. 

Cautious Man is a really sad, haunting and tragic solo acoustic number here, introducing us to one of those  hopeless characters in Bill Horton, a "cautious man of the road". It brings to mind Bob Dylan's Ballad Of Hollis Brown in its awful denouement. 

Walk Like A Man was a melodic, touching paean from Bruce to his father. Most of the lyrics to these songs concern familiar Springsteen topics of ordinary people with ordinary lives, often caught up in whirlpools of no hope, responsibilities, growing up and yearning love. Whereas sometimes these topics sat uneasily against a "good rockin'" backing, such as on The River, here, the backing is subtle and understated, giving the lyrics more potency in many ways.

Tunnel Of Love kicks off with a wealth of fairground sounds, images, atmosphere and staccato rock backing. It is not a typical Springsteen song, musically, but, like David Essex, he always loved the fairground and its half joyful, half seedy ambience. On Two Faces, the album goes very country rock, starting with this short and gentle number.  

 

Brilliant Disguise was the first single from the album and, despite its country feel, it is still instantly recognisable as Springsteen. It was also covered by Elvis Costello on the extended edition of his 1995 Kojak Variety album of covers. The song suited him too. 

Many have said that Bruce's relationship with Patti Scialfa started here, with the lovely, romantic duet, One Step Up. It is one of the album's best tracks, and has been a favourite of main from the first time I heard it. Despite its unimaginative chorus, When You're Alone is actually is quite an underrated song. Again it has distinct country-ish vibes. 

The album closes with another high point, the mysterious and quiet Valentine's Day, with its images of "driving a big lazy car rushing up the highway in the dark". This is a suitably sombre, reflective note as Springsteen gets into his car and drives off, who knows where, emphasising one of the album's main points. 

Despite touring this album in 1988, where the numbers were given the full E St Band treatment, a few (comparative) years in the wilderness beckoned. It would be 1992 before a two album release - Human Touch and Lucky Town.