Bruce Springsteen “Working On A Dream” Review

There is an underlying sense of optimism at the heart of Bruce Springsteen’s new record Working On A Dream, and while the album itself shies away from the overt political nature of his last two releases, that optimism perfectly reflects the new day dawning in American politics. And just like what I anticipate happening during the Obama Presidency, there are glaring bumps in the road during the record, but the road itself is at least heading in the right direction and filled with triumphs.

The album starts with the grandiose “Outlaw Pete,” which, at exactly eight minutes, is twice as long as every other song on the record. While it carries significant lyrical weight and emotional depth, I just can’t get past the puerile opening stanza that includes the lines “At six months old, he’d done three months in jail/he robbed a bank in his diapers and his little bare baby feet.” The song goes on for over seven more minutes, and becomes an interesting examination about whether or not someone can be born evil, and if so, can they be redeemed, but it loses me every time with that somewhat preposterous opening. The album really picks up on the second track, the rowdy and upbeat rocker “My Lucky Day,” that is the album’s first single and is classic Springsteen. The driving guitars and keyboards ring in harmony with the Boss’ hopeful lyrics, and when Clarence Clemons’ resounding sax solo kicks in the track becomes golden, and is the highlight of the first half of the record.

The title track is also classic Bruce, a brooding and heartfelt number that remains potent despite the overuse of the “Working On A Dream” phrase, almost to the point of distraction. “Queen Of The Supermarket” is another misstep, a sappy love-letter to a girl at a grocery store that is so obvious in its earnestness that it’s downright embarrassing. The song isn’t helped at all by Brendan O’Brien’s heavy-handed production, either; he’s obviously going for an anthem here, and you know it. And by the time I heard the heartbeat like beeps of the checkout line at the end of the song I was cringing and waiting for the next song to start. Unfortunately the next track, “What Love Can Do,” is a slight and innocuous number that is over before you can really develop any attachment to it. It’s somewhat of a Springsteen by the numbers song that really didn’t make any real impression on me, other than being the song after the horrible “Supermarket.”

“This Life” is a marked improvement, with passion imbued in Bruce’s vocals, and a chorus that elevates the song instead of dragging it down, and the track really gets the album swinging back in a positive direction. And that momentum carries into the next song, “Good Eye,” a bluesy foot-stomper that features feisty, growling vocals from Bruce, as well as his Southern-style harmonica work. It’s an unexpected shift in tone on the album, and is a welcome blast of energy to the second half of the record. “Tomorrow Never Knows” is a simple song, with simple little life-lessons packed within, but the cribbing of the title from the Beatles song of the same name bothers me, especially when the straightforwardness of the Boss’ song is contrasted with the broad experimentation of the Beatles track.

“Life Itself” gets the record back on the right track, and represents O’Brien’s best production work on the album, with the layered, backward guitars giving the song a dark edge that augments the searching, questioning lyrics dealing with what life holds for all of us when we’re confronted with what we want versus what we need to survive. It’s a stirring, stellar track. “Kingdom Of Days” continues this theme, but to a lesser effect, with O’Brien’s production actually making the song sound rather generic and middle-of-the-road, and, when followed by “Surprise, Surprise,” it represents the album’s low point. Perhaps with more time or more editing (Working On A Dream is Bruce’s second album in a scant 15 months), these songs would not have made the final cut.

But again, Bruce and the band rebound nicely and close the record with perhaps the two strongest tracks on Working On A Dream, the elegant and forlorn “The Last Carnival” and the sublime “The Wrestler,” which closes out the Mickey Rourke movie of the same name (and was recently robbed of an Oscar nomination). These two tracks, while not nearly as optimistic as the rest of the record, represent Bruce at his best, telling a moving story with plain-spoken but profound lyrics that we can easily apply to our own experiences.

It has always been somewhat easy to find a piece of myself and my story in Bruce Springsteen’s songs, and that remains part of his appeal, even after 16 studio albums and countless accolades. He paints characters and surroundings that we can all recognize, and colors those images with emotions that are authentic and sincere. And while most of this country is caught up in a wave of optimism, Bruce has released another record that taps into the collective consciousness of a people desperate for something good to happen. He cautions us, as does the President, that not only is it important to keep dreaming of a better day, but also that there is hard work to be done as well. None of Bruce’s characters ever get things done easily, and the journey is often as important as the destination, and this record is full of those cautionary tales. There are certainly missteps to be found on the record, but taken as a whole, Working On A Dream is yet another successful chapter in the great American songbook of the Boss, and it is sure to have people singing along as they work on making their own dreams become reality.

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