Bruce Springsteen: Working On A Dream - 2009

"I hope Working On A Dream has caught the energy of the band fresh off the road from some of the most exciting shows we've ever done" - Bruce Springsteen

 

For me, this is pretty much the outstanding candidate for the dubious title of Bruce Springsteen’s worst album - an apparently hurried recording cobbled together during the 2008-2009 Magic tour. It would seem the tracks on here were rejects from the previous year’s far superior Magic album. 

This offering was seemingly intended to showcase Springsteen’s lighter, poppier side with a collection of Byrds-Searchers-60s pop influenced material. Over-produced, with a grating “modern” sound, it is all a bit of a stylistic mish-mash. Even the cover is positively dreadful. I hardly ever play this album, to be honest. Indeed, 2002’s The Rising, 2008’s Magic and this album all suffer from pretty poor sound, although this one is by far the better of the three in that regard. 

Anyway, the queen of the supermarket's waiting....

The album begins unpromisingly with the almost unlistenable Western narrative Outlaw Pete, which is possibly up there with Bishop Danced from the early days of 1973 as Springsteen’s worst ever composition. The backing on the song is admittedly quite impressive and some of the lyrics’ imagery is passable, but other parts of it are truly dreadful. A memory of this low point in Springsteen’s career is seeing middle aged men punching the air along to this at a concert, singing “I’m Outlaw Pete, - can you hear me!”. I know Springsteen inspires great loyalty from his fans, but come on guys. After eight minutes of this dross one is tempted to take the album off. Things can only get better from here, but although they do, it is only very slightly. 

Working On A Dream is incredibly lightweight, as is the pretty execrable Queen Of The Supermarket, which sees the sixty-year old Springsteen lusting, embarrassingly, over a young(er) check out girl in his local convenience store. Dear me. I know many artists simply cannot regenerate the muse they employed in their twenties, artists mature, they lose that youthful fire, they try different things, but all these considerations taken into account, this is still quite unimpressive fare. It is not really a proper E St. Band album either. Underpinned by drummer Max Weinberg, pianist Roy Bittan and bassist Garry Tallent, other members only appear as and where they are required. One good thing about the production of this album, however, is that Tallent’s bass can actually be heard, as it struggles to do on The River. One of the title track’s few redeeming qualities is the bass line, for example. 

Good Eye is a rather unique effort to play the blues, which is ok on this album, considering what is around it, but unconvincing in the broader scheme of things. This Life is pleasant and melodious, with some really nice, uplifting sixties-style vocal harmonies and the bleak Life Itself has appeal too. Two songs about life here, one optimistic, one not so.

The upbeat, rocky My Lucky Day, the melodic What Love Can Do and the folky, country-ish, laid back Tomorrow Never Knows (with its strange dog-barking sound in the background) also have their good points. To be fair, there is a certain listenability to it in many places, but this is Bruce Springsteen we are talking about, we shouldn't be debating the album's unthreatening listenability, should we? 

Kingdom Of Days is a melodic slightly sad and mournful number that ruminates on ageing but also retaining an essence of hope. It suits the laid-back, gentle reminiscence that pervades this album. Bruce has always been a sensitive soul and this song demonstrates that perfectly. I can't dislike this in any way. Its grand and sweeping string orchestration provides an early signpost towards the sound of 2017's Western Stars album.  

Surprise, Surprise appears to be a song written in celebration of his wife's birthday. It has attracted a lot of criticism of the "this is the man who wrote Born To Run" nature. It is perfectly pleasant and catchy in a breezy, jangly way but i guess I get the critics' point. I love the joyous backing vocals, however.

The bleak narrative of The Wrestler is undoubtedly the album's best and most meaningful track, although it sits incongruously with the poppy nature of the rest of the album. 

Now, finally, this may well sound unacceptable to many, but I find Springsteen's tribute to recently-deceased organist and original E St. Band member Danny Federici in The Last Carnival somewhat underwhelming. All that "handsome Billy" stuff is a bit odd and just doesn't do it for me. Then again, it is Springsteen's heartfelt tribute to his old friend so any criticisms from me are pretty irrelevant. I am free to criticise the album, though, so I will. It's basically piss poor. 

Every now and again I read some solid defences of it from other reviewers and wonder whether I'm missing something. A quick blast of Darkness On The Edge Of Town tells me that I'm not.