After five years of anticipation, Bruce Springsteen has finally reunited with the E Street Band.
Springsteen’s fifteenth studio album Magic focuses on rhythm and instrumentation more than ever before. On the album’s first single, “Radio Nowhere,” Springsteen pleads, “I want a thousand guitars/ I want pounding drums…I just wanna hear some rhythm” and that’s exactly what he gives us. On “Livin’ in the Future,” in a “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out” style, Clarence Clemons enjoys his best solo in years, and “I’ll Work for Your Love” and “You’ll Be Coming Down” are two opportunities for Little Stevie Van Zandt to showcase his guitar playing skills. With the reputation as one of the most electrifying performers, Springsteen’s latest will definitely be a hit in arena stages around the country.
Though there are some could-be classic songs, this album lacks consistency as few threads tie the music together. The final four songs are his attempts to comment on the Bush administration. Yet, with the exception of “Devil’s Arcade,” which is a poignant story of a wife or girlfriend longing for her absent man overseas, these tracks don’t hold up to his previous success with “Born in the U.S.A.” or any song from Nebraska.
Still, Bruce is up to the same old tricks. He continues to litter his lyrics with religious, sexual and workingman imagery, all on top of tightly constructed melodies. It’s the old Boss with a few hit or miss political songs.
