John Mellencamp's recent music has reflected both the weight and burdens of everyday life, and the fear of death. Bruce Springsteen's new album, Working On A Dream, instead celebrates life and the joy found in small, everyday, things. The "joy of life" it reflects is far closer to Brian Wilson than to Mellencamp, Henley or Dylan. (Consider that on the Boss' previous CD, Magic, he included a song with the very Beach Boys-like title of "Girls in Their Summer Clothes.")
These comments on the 13 tracks of Dream are not in the original order of play, but in the order I would have chosen had I played the role of producer Brendon O'Brien.
My Lucky Day - This is the anthem. It could - minus the sax - be a track from The Who. The closing is classic Who. "I've lost all the other bets I've made / Honey, you're my lucky day." In his dreams (pun intended), Mellencamp creates songs like this.
Working On A Dream - A tribute to Roy Orbison with a bit of Jackson Browne - circa The Pretender - thrown in for good measure. Beach Boys' style background vocals.
Queen of the Supermarket - A fun but silly track that calls to mind Joni Mitchell's Raised on Robbery ("I'm sitting on my groceries.") Bruce sings of the love he has for the angel he's discovered in the local market. "As I lift my groceries into my cart / I turn back for a moment and catch a smile..." Billy Joel could have sung this song on The Nylon Curtain... Scandinavian Skies.
What Love Can Do - Human Touch, Part II.
This Life - It starts with a Pet Sounds introduction then slides into a Bily Joel cover, piano and all. It's very, very good but it is still BJ rather than BS. "A blackness then the light of a million stars / As you slip into my car..."
Good Life - Cream's live version of Spoonful meets Creedence Clearwater Revival's Born On The Bayou. Swamp rock that does John Fogerty proud. (Bob Ludwig mastered this album. He also mastered the JF/CCR The Long Road Home compilation.)
Tomorrow Never Knows - Not the Beatles song of the same name from Revolver. This starts with a CCR-riff then turns into a nicely instrumented Bob Dylan and The Band style song.
Life Itself - If the late, great, singer-songwriter Gene Clark had remained with the Byrds when they recorded the Fifth Dimension album, they would have come up with this.
Kingdom of Days - Still more Billy Joel, this time later-stage as on River of Dreams. Each time I hear this I think of Joel's Famous Last Words.
Surprise, Surprise - Back to the Byrds, like a track from Mr. Tambourine Man or Turn, Turn, Turn. There's a slice of George Harrison here, too... If I Needed Someone. '60s innocence.
The Last Carnival - More of a preliminary idea for a song than a song itself, like Paul's You Never Give Me Your Money on Abbey Road.
The Wrestler - Like a cross between Philadelphia and Paul Simon's The Boxer. You can hear why some thought that Springsteen should have, again, been nominated for an Academy Award. As with Philadelphia, the Boss proves that less is more.
Outlaw Pete - At first, it's more '50s era Marty Robbins (Outlaw Ballads) or Johnny Cash (Don't Take Your Guns to Town) than David Blue or the Eagles (Outlaw Man, Desperado). But halfway through it speeds up and sounds like a missing track from Long Road to Eden. Try as you might not to like it, it grows on you.
Conclusion: This is not Springsteen's most original album due to the many influences he drew upon in writing the songs contained on it. But for 90% of musicians it would be considered a career-crowning achievement, especially as it's the end of the trilogy that began with The Rising and Magic. The Boss himself called these the best three albums he's made "in terms of depth and purpose."
A note on the sound: Some have posted troubled comments on the sound. Let's just say that O'Brien compresses the sound so that it's the aural equivalent of looking through a keyhole. But if you're fine with The Rising or Magic, you'll be fine with Dreams.
A final note: For me, The Rising was one of the five best albums ever recorded by anyone. That this album can be mentioned in the same context is high tribute. Enough said.
(This was drafted on Tuesday, February 3, 2009, and posted on Wednesday, February 4th.)
