Western Stars

This is one of my favourite Springsteen albums. In my opinion, there isn't a bad track on it. It's like the Darkness on the Edge of Town album, a real classic. The price I paid was excellent too.

On Tucson Train, the third track on his new album, Western Stars, Bruce Springsteen sings of getting "tired of the pills and the rain" and of heading "for the sunshine" where "a little peace would make everything right." Never one to rest on his laurels, Springsteen has once more left the eastern seaboard he knows so well and which has seemingly dominated his every waking hour these last few years; on his records, in his memoirs and, no less, as a result of his long residency on Broadway re-imagining aspects of his life and music on stage.But going out west once more, as he did at the start of his career and in a middle period that brought the 'difficult' records Human Touch and Lucky Town, you might think Bruce attempting to uncover western Americana this late in life might be an unwise move. Oh, ye of little faith. What a gorgeous, evocative, life-affirming record this is. Sentimentalism is derided in our world today; sloppy, mawkish and drippy say those hard-nosed critics who never waited for their "baby coming on the Tucson train." But here Springsteen weaves the past into a mythology that is as much his audience's as it is his own autobiographical balladry. It's a sentimentality in other words that is still filled with the regret and realism that dominates so many of Springsteen's greatest records, and where lives are at best only half-fulfilled. "Drive Fast" is a tale of a body literally and metaphorically crumbling in the face of age and a job they're far too old for. The title track delicately echoes some of that imagery in "Racing in the Street" with Bruce informing us how he takes rides in his El Camino and was once shot by John Wayne. On the drama of "Chasin' Wild Horses" and especially "Sundown", these "ain't the kind of places you want to be on your own" evoking the widescreen emptiness of Nebraska and the desperate plaintive cries of recent classic tracks like "Queen of the Supermarket" and "Last to Die"."Moonlight Motel" closes out the album in typically mournful manner, with our hero dreaming of their lover last night, while the lonely bed reminds him of a past that can't be recaptured, as graceful and gorgeous as the tales that adorn "Downbound Train" or "Valentine's Day" from Tunnel of Love, Springsteen's masterpiece of understated love and loss that Western Stars bears comparison with, and I for one thought I'd never be able to say that again about a Springsteen album. "Stones" and "There goes my Miracle" are possibly the record's standout moments but there's so many to choose from, you'll all have songs here that follow you through to your dying days. Some critics have already described this as a late career classic. It is in fact simply one of the best albums this remarkable recording artist has ever made. Recommended.

Love this album. Great story telling in music.

Quite a few music critics have been hailing Western Stars as Bruce's best album in 30 years. I feel, however, that they are not over-rating this album but rather under-rating a lot of his more recent work. Personally I think The Rising and Wrecking Ball are still the high points of his later career, but Western Stars fits into his discography and is definitely one of the best albums by someone Bruce's age.The overall sound of the album is not as much of a departure as some reviews would have you think; if you are familiar with Bruce's work, there's nothing here which is going to sound too radical. Think the quiet acoustic vibe of Devils & Dust crossed with the lush orchestration of Working On A Dream. In most cases (bar two tracks which I'll return to), the arrangements are quite restrained and careful, and complement the songs beautifully. The album is a very easy listen, and is perhaps Bruce's most "pop" album since Born In The USA. By far the best thing about the album though is Bruce's voice, which has genuinely never sounded better - it's rich, clear, and full-bodied, and, at times (such as on the song "Stones"), sounds almost identical to what it did over forty years ago.But what about the songs? Firstly, the closing track, "Moonlight Motel", is simply one of the best of Bruce's career, full of subtext and a sense of contemplation of his twilight years, but beyond that, there are numerous other great songs on the album - "The Wayfarer", "Tucson Train", "Hello Sunshine", and the title track spring to mind. There are only two tracks on the album I would consider duds - "Sundown" and "There Goes My Miracle" - where the production overpowers the song and actually distracts from the lyrics instead of complementing them.Overall though, Western Stars is a really strong late-career album. There are plenty of good songs, but I think "Moonlight Motel" is the only track which could be considered a classic. There's also maybe not the same sense of thematic arc over the whole album which you would normally expect to find in a Springsteen record, but the songs have shared concerns so the album still sounds cohesive and unified. Four stars only in relation to Bruce's other albums, but this could easily be a five-star record.

Great record. Bruce Springsteen at his best as always.