Bruce on tour in Europe (top photo) in support of Wrecking Ball (2012)
I just finished reading a collection of interviews, speeches and encounters, Springsteen on Springsteen (2012) containing Bruce's 2011 eulogy for his E Street Band's founding sax player, dear friend Clarence Clemons. After giving the eulogy, Bruce told an interviewer, he went home, put on The Big Man's sax solo in the yet unreleased song Land of Hope and Dreams, and cried. I love that song off Wrecking Ball (2012), an album I've enjoyed thoroughly since I got a copy last summer.
Mature; that's what this record is. Bruce's recent speeches and interviews attest to that maturity. Not really surprising; the man is 64.
The daring arrangements and historically-aware ethnic diversity in the tracks, some of Irish and traditional immigrant folk with complete, authentic instrumentation. But there's plenty of the straight ahead, take-no-prisoners social commentary about the world we live in. I see plenty of charismatic rocker I've followed devotedly since the late 70s.
Springsteen on Springsteen may be best for die hard fans, but the album should bring new listeners from Bruce's international audience to the fold. (His photo up top was shot at a festival gig in Denmark.
Here's a taste of mature, pure rock n' roll redemption.
1 comment:
Tremendous track. When "Wrecking Ball" came out, I played it frequently. And Springsteen remains one of the musicians for whom I have the greatest respect; he's earned all the creature comforts that this life can afford anyone, yet he's never forgotten the working class neighborhoods where he grew up nor the people who live there still.
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