BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN – THE PROMISE
Bruce Springsteen has amassed a vast fan-base, from die-hard blue-collar American rockers, to skinny hipsters. His desolate cassette-tape masterpiece Nebraska still gains new disciples year by year, and his work with the E-Street Band’s elegant stadium-ready rock has found a new audience in fans of Arcade Fire and the Brooklyn elite. Perhaps his most criminally overlooked album, Darkness on the Edge of Town had no hit singles, and was the result of a fractured two years of recordings that bridged the gap between the massively successful Born To Run and the dark, dirty Nebraska. These are the orphaned songs from Darkness, sprawling gems which sound every bit as electric and bitter-sweet as the songs from the original album. There is so much to digest in these 21 tracks; a searing alternate version of Racing In The Street, Motown pop homages Ain’t Good Enough For You and Save My Love, and so many broken-hearted anthems that it’s hard to keep track of them. What is most consistent are Springsteen’s simple, rousing melodies and the sensitive musicality of the mighty E-Street Band, and the clarity of his characters – thrill-seekers, losers, hot-rod angels and dark-eyed strangers, and a swathe of mythical sirens named Mary and Candy. They’re all in here, teeming through the lyrical landscape that this amazing collection presents to the fans and newcomers alike. Lose yourself.
*****
