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It’s a great week to be a Bruce Springsteen fan. Besides the release of his brand new album, Working on a Dream, fans will get a chance to see him play live during halftime at the Super Bowl on sunday. Springsteen is then set to begin his tour in April which will stretch through the summer. It’s too bad the album that he’ll be supporting on tour isn’t one of his stronger efforts. I suppose we all expect a lot out of Springsteen which may make the new album seem like a letdown. But come on Bruce, did you have to *borrow* the melody line from KISS’ “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” for the song “Outlaw Pete”? Bruce, you’re better than that! But indeed, the main melody line in “Outlaw Pete” was lifted straight out of KISS’ songbook. blech. Not a great way to kick off the album. Things get better on the next song “My Lucky Day” which is a straight ahead E Street rocker and the title track “Working On a Dream”. But things come to a screeching halt with “Queen of the Supermarket”. First of all, can you picture Bruce Springsteen pushing a cart at the local grocery store??? And the lyrics. oh, the lyrics. just plain awful:
I’m in love with the queen of the supermarket
As the evening sky turns blue
A dream awaits in aisle number two..
yikes. He can’t be serious???? Things improve with songs like “This Life” and “Kingdom of Days” but sadly none of these tracks will become a staple on future Springsteen setlists. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s not all bad. the melodies are easy to digest and the words/stories are straighforward but we expect more than that from this legendary songwriter. we need something more to chew on than simple lines like “And when the sun comes out tomorrow it’ll be the start of a brand new day.” I guess we can think of this as “Springsteen-lite”. Thankfully as an added bonus, they’ve included “The Wrestler” from the movie of the same name. The acoustic track is very moving and outshines a lot of the fluff on the rest of the record.

RetroGrade : C+

personal favorites include: The Wrestler, My Lucky Day, Working on a Dream, Kingdom of Days

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Working on a Dream
artist: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
label: Columbia
produced and mixed by Brendan O’Brien
released: January 27, 2009

TrackList:
1 Outlaw Pete (Springsteen) 8:00
2 My Lucky Day (Springsteen) 4:00
3 Working on a Dream (Springsteen) 3:30
4 Queen of the Supermarket (Springsteen) 4:39
5 What Love Can Do (Springsteen) 2:56
6 This Life (Springsteen) 4:30
7 Good Eye (Springsteen) 3:00
8 Tomorrow Never Knows (Springsteen) 2:13
9 Life Itself (Springsteen) 4:00
10 Kingdom of Days (Springsteen) 4:02
11 Surprise, Surprise (Springsteen) 3:24
12 The Last Carnival (Springsteen) 3:29
13 The Wrestler [bonus] (Springsteen) 3:50

- watch the music video for “Working On a Dream” on youtube

- watch the music video for “My Lucky Day” on youtube

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catch Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band live in 2009:

Feb 1 Tampa, FL Super Bowl XLIII
Apr 1 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion at San Jose
Apr 3 Glendale, AZ Jobing.com Arena
Apr 5 Austin, TX Frank Erwin Center
Apr 7 Tulsa, OK BOK Center
Apr 8 Houston, TX Toyota Center
Apr 10 Denver, CO Pepsi Center
Apr 15 Los Angeles, CA LA Memorial Sports Arena
Apr 21 Boston, MA TD Banknorth Garden
Apr 22 Boston, MA TD Banknorth Garden
Apr 24 Hartford, CT XL Center
Apr 26 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena
Apr 28 Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Spectrum
Apr 29 Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Spectrum
May 2 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum
May 4 Hempstead, NY Nassau Veterans Mem. Col.
May 5 Charlottesville, VA John Paul Jones Arena
May 7 Toronto, ONT Air Canada Centre
May 8 University Park, PA Bryce Jordan Center
May 11 St. Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center
May 12 Chicago, IL United Center
May 14 Albany, NY Times Union Center
May 15 Hershey, PA Hersheypark Stadium
May 18 Washington, DC Verizon Center
May 19 Pittsburgh, PA Mellon Arena
May 21 E. Rutherford, NJ Izod Center
May 23 E. Rutherford, NJ Izod Center
May 30 Landgraaf, Holland Pink Pop Festival
June 2 Tampere, Finland Ratinan Stadion
June 4 Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm Stadium
June 5 Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm Stadium
June 7 Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm Stadium
June 9 Bergen, Norway Koengen
June 10 Bergen, Norway Koengen
July 2 Munich, Germany Olympiastadion
July 3 Frankfurt, Germany Commerzbank Arena
July 5 Vienna, Austria Ernst Happel Stadion
July 8 Herning, Denmark Herning MCH
July 11 Dublin, Ireland RDS
July 16 Carhaix, France Festival des Vielles Charrues
July 19 Rome, Italy Stadio Olimpico
July 21 Turino, Italy Olimpico di Torino
July 23 Udine, Italy Stadio Friuli
July 26 Bilbao, Spain San Mames Stadium
July 28 Benidorm, Spain Estadio Municipal de Foietes
July 30 Sevilla, Spain La Cartuja Olympic Stadium
Aug 1 Valladolid, Spain Estadio Jose Zorrilla
Aug 2 Santiago, Spain Monte Del Gozo

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Filed under:
music, reviews by retroDan