In Revue- "High Hopes" (Bruce Springsteen)

 

Not a week old, there's already a moment in High Hopes, Bruce Springsteen's 18th studio-album, I can't stand. In the steady-moving, gospel-inflected "Heaven's Wall" when the song's reaching its peak, a clattering of jungle drums re-enters and elbows for room against Tom Morello's barbed guitar. If they had stayed as a teaser in the intro, the song would've been fine. But jimmied in the midst of a tune rife with ingredients, it spoils the entire recipe.

That's the way much of the Boss' latest release operates. It's not entirely surprising, considering Springsteen has been obsessed with the mythical "Wall of Sound" since Born to Run. Even the golden-eared Brian Wilson, a staunch proponent of the concept, was guilty of shoehorning one too many sounds into a track. Don't believe me? Listen to the honking bike-horn in "You Still Believe in Me", and then come back. That bike-horn transmutes to jungle percussion in the aforementioned "Heaven's Wall" or tinny-sounding trumpet in "The Wall". A softly-strummed elegy to Vietnam vets that recalls Sting's "Fields of Gold", it's inscrutable until it's time for the trumpet to play. The weight of moment crushes the trumpet from the first note. Springsteen's vocals conjure a person of great-strength, while the trumpet only signifies frailty.

Another disheartening moment on an otherwise brilliant song is Soozie Tyrell's violin flourishes in the revamped "The Ghost of Tom Joad". She's going for a harrowing winter-night in Eastern Europe vibe, which is entirely unnecessary considering the song is bone-chilling as constituted. Tom Morello's guitar is unnervingly restrained in the first verse. Springsteen's delicate croak is quiet enough you can almost hear the crackle of the fire the narrator is huddling over. Adding Tyrell's part is akin to dumping one more bucket of blood onto a splatter-film and pretending it's scarier. 

One welcome addition is previously mentioned Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello. Pitchfork writer Stephen M. Deusner labelled Morello's playing "superfluous", which I couldn't disagree with more. Without Morello's fiery performance on "The Ghost of Tom Joad", the tune would be robbed of the righteous indignation Springsteen's attempting to convey. His careening effort on the title-track gives Springsteen the strength he begs for. Subtracting Morello's wah-wah's from the boogieing "Harry's Place", you end up with a staid piece of 80s rock. Morello's turntable imitations seem alien on first listen, but after a few spins they fit into the E-Street world. 

"American Skin (41 Shots)" provides the ultimate litmus test for Morello. The ode to Amadou Diallo has existed since 1999, in live and studio varieties, so Morello's struggle to give the song any new resonance is palpable. The skyward solo acts as his deliverance, clearing a major hurdle of expectation and giving listeners a much needed emotional release. As for Springsteen, he could've phoned it in and no one would blame him. Fortunately, Springsteen misses any tepidness by a wide-margin. When he questions "Is it a gun? Is it a knife? Is it a wallet?" you hear his agony. More than a decade later, incidents like these haven't waned they've promulgated. And despite the magnifying presence of 24-hour news media, we quickly forget these tragedies until another one rolls around. Springsteen knows this "rule"  and can't keep from hanging his head.

His slumped head finally hits the ground on "Down in the Hole". Doleful organ and industrial chatter renders an autumn skyline "dark and bloody." Other voices dot a haunted landscape, but they sound so distant Springsteen is effectually alone. Arguably that's how he works best. Sealed away, with only the occasional visitor. Past glories succeeded because he already had the blueprints laid out in his head, all he needed was an expert crew to turn dreams into brick and mortar. Ultimately, a crowdsourced album like High Hopes demonstrates why Bruce Springsteen works better as a boss than a co-worker.

"Dream Baby Dream" (Suicide Cover)

"Bring On Your Wrecking Ball"

(Photo credit to Joe Ledford/Kansas City Star)


















"We're gonna do this song from our ghosts to yours," rock-and-roll evangelist Bruce Springsteen exasperatedly announced before he and the overhauled E-Street Band played the elegiac "My City of Ruins." Through and through it was a show for ghosts , for the ghosts of the band still haunting the stage. For those "ghosts of electricity" Bob Dylan once sang about, ghosts that the Boss taps into each night he plugs in that iconic Esquire Guitar. And after all the chaos, loss, and heartbreak of the past few weeks on the East Coast, it was a show for the ghosts of those quickly remembered and never forgotten.

Springsteen's shows have always taken on a tone of the religious and last night in Kansas City was no different. From the soulful opening of "Kansas City" it was clear Bruce and the band wanted to save more than a few souls, baptizing them in the name of rock-and-roll. An ensuing double dose of Darkness tracks muddied those clear blue baptismal waters, tossing saint and sinner about on an open sea of guitar riffs. Such surfing took on a literal bent during "Hungry Heart" when The Boss found himself on top of the crowd grinning from ear-to-ear. For the all the thousands of shows he's done over the years, he still plays every night like it's his first show. Like he has everything to prove, and nothing to lose.

While Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band might play with the enthusiasm of freshmen, their focus is anything but. The request section of the show has become their proving ground for the past few years now, and last night was another sterling page in that history. The group played a well-worn cover of Joan Jett's "Light of Day," boogied through a slowed-day "E-Street Shuffle," and stormed through Born in the USA's "Cover Me." That particular performance was marked with hilarity, as it came via request of a bra Springsteen referred to as the "ultimate jawbreaker."  

The triple guitar threat of Springsteen, Nils Lofgren, and Steven Van Zandt was frantic with its fretwork, but never out of control. The same could be said of the always reliable "Mighty" Max Weinberg, especially during fan-favorite "Badlands" where his lockstep drumming was militaristic in its intensity and precision.  Stalwart bassist Garry W. Tallent was the immovable object, giving steady subtlety when it was called for, and launching into sublime basslines on tracks like "Fire." And then there was Jake Clemons. At this point, he's the only one in the band with any pressure on him. Each night is a struggle to prove he belongs with the band, that he can fill the boots of "The Big Man" Clarence Clemons. And he stopped that struggle with his sax. His first test came during "Prove It All Night" as he glided through the short solo with ease. With his position firmly established the band ready to run.

The set itself was a fascinating blend of the familiar and the "obscure" shuffling between the ghosts of E-Street past ("Incident on 57th Street") and the comfort food of "Born to Run" with effortlessness. The former might have been the biggest surprise of the night, as an out-of-character Springsteen nervously announced "last time we played this, we f***ed up real bad." The unwieldy eight minute tune was a highlight of the night, as the crowd swelled into the ecstatic chorus of "goodnight, it's alright Jane." It was an exorcism of those "ghosts" Springsteen spoke of, where unbridled optimism vanquished the spirits of sorrow and regret.

The final threads of that exorcism were sewn together during finale "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out," the Born to Run "mythology" track well known for the fiery Clarence Clemons playing. Earlier in the night Bruce recalled lines from the song during "My City of Ruins," singing "when the change was made uptown" over and over again. At the time it seemed as if The Boss was refusing to mention "The Big Man" in the next line, turning the repetition into some midnight mantra, delivered after waking up from a nightmare. That acknowledgment came in "Tenth Avenue" with Springsteen screaming the line before a moving series of clips featuring former members Danny Federici and Clarence "Big Man" Clemons played on the Sprint Center's screens. It was an eternity, as an entire life played before everyone's watering eyes. Then in an unforgettable moment, Clemons own nephew Jake tore back into the song, channeling the spirit of Clarence.

Early in the night a sweat-soaked Springsteen delivered the title track from his new album "Wrecking Ball" and its philosophizing of standing strong was the advice of the night. "Hard times come, and hard times go" the chorus recalls. We've all had our hearts broken, we've all loved and lost, prayed for rain and seen only drought, we've all been down and struggled to get back up. For all the blood spilled, for all friends and family lost, and for all the ghosts that still haunt us, we're still here, singing along with Springsteen on the Jersey Shore as we wait for the approaching storm; bracing for the wrecking ball.      

"Wrecking Ball (Live at Giants Stadium)"

    

Setlist:

1. "Kansas City Medley"

2. "Prove It All Night"

3. "Candy's Room"

4. "She's The One"

5. "Hungry Heart"

6. "We Take Care of Our Own"

7. "Wrecking Ball"

8. "Death to Our Hometown"

9. "My City of Ruins"

10. "E-Street Shuffle"

11. "Fire"

12. "57th Street Incident"

13. "Because the Night"

14. "Cover Me"

15. "Downbound Train"

16. "I'm On Fire"

17. "Shackled and Drawn"

18. "Waiting on a Sunny Day"

19. "Raise Your Hand"

20. "The Rising"

21. "Badlands"

22. "Land of Hopes and Dreams"

23. "Light of Day" (Joan Jett)

24. "My Beautiful Reward"

25. "Born to Run"

26. "Dancing in the Dark"

27. "Santa Claus is Coming to Town"

28. "Tenth Avenue Freeze-out"  

 

Bruce is Back

Despite the death of Clarence, the E-Street Band will soldier-on in 2012.

"Things are starting to heat up down on E-Street," Bruce Springsteen proudly announced on his site. As of now, The Boss has only a few European dates lined-up, but he's promising a full U.S. tour to come in 2012. Not only do we have that too look forward to, but also an as of yet untitled studio album. The record and tour will be the E-Street Band's first since the passing of legendary sax-player Clarence Clemons passed away in June.

For anyone that is a big-fan of the E-Street Band, I shouldn't have to tell you how big of news this is. After the Big Man died in June, the band's future was in serious doubt given how integral he was to their sound. It'll be interesting to see not only who they find to fill those massive shoes, but just how much sax will be utilized on their new album and tour.

"Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" (live 1978)