Lucky Town

by

Bruce Springsteen

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This is one of Bruce's most underrated CD's. It's the first album in many years where he didn't sound as if he was struggling with inner demons. The opening song, "Better Days," certainly makes this point in a forthright way. In addition, the title track rocks, "If I Should Fall Behind" is one of the Boss' most beautiful songs, and "Leap of Faith" uses biblical metaphors to describe the start of a delightful relationship. I also like the darker numbers "Souls of the Departed" and "The Big Muddy." But generally speaking, this is a sweet snapshot of secure love, in contrast to the collapsing romances depicted on Bruce's earlier album, The Tunnel of Love. You can usually see this CD in used CD bins. Don't hesitate to pick it up.

Although it's a major lull between his epoch early period and has surprisingly strong recent years, LUCKY TOWN (and the even weaker HUMAN TOUCH) has a few great moments.

Those moments tend to be the ones that put his weak (at least in comparison to the E-Street Band) backup musicians low in the mix. "If I Should Fall Behind" could have fit seamlessly on TUNNEL OF LOVE. "Book Of Dreams" might have slipped onto TOM JOAD--sonically, anyway, thematically there is no similarity. But when this band gets loud, it's not a lion roaring, as the E-Street was. It's like a bag of glass and nails and rusty tin cans falling down a flight of stairs.

All that aside, everyone should own a copy of "Beautiful Reward," a song so brilliant, so full of the kind of light that Springsteen is able to find in life, that it's worth sitting through the first 9 tracks.