High Hopes

Every new Springsteen album is bound to attract mixed reviews.  There will always be comparisons with past glories and fears that Bruce has lost his way or his sure touch for reflecting (or indeed leading) the mood of the nation.  There have been some major changes for Springsteen in recent years, particularly with the loss of core E Street members Danny Federici and Clarence Clemons (and their shadows remain on this album).  Fears that the live show may have lost its power were surely allayed throughout 2013 by some of the finest performances ever delivered by Bruce and the band as they powered a seemingly endless schlep through Europe and beyond.  This grew rapidly beyond a tour of ‘Wrecking Ball’ into something far more eclectic, and included the gems of whole album performances (with London getting the double delight of both ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town’ at Wembley in June, and ‘Born in the USA’ at Olympic Park two weeks later, with the latter making it to DVD as a bonus alongside the new album). 

But what to make of ‘High Hopes’?  It came as something of a surprise that a studio album would emerge so soon after the epic tour, but there had been hints along the way that Bruce was working all the while and slipping into recording studios while in Australia.  The album may lack some of the coherent narrative of recent offerings, but it is certainly not a hastily cobbled together set of reworked old tracks and new material.  Some of the tracks are familiar from the live shows but have not previously made it to a studio recording; others are well known from earlier albums, but cannot be compared as their revision makes them entirely new.  The ‘Ghost of Tom Joad’ performance with Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello became particularly familiar in 2013 when Morello replaced Steve Van Zandt for the Australian section of the tour (while Steve was filming the next series of Lilyhammer), and it is a perfect vehicle for Morello’s furious and astonishing signature guitar manipulation as he provides a revealing foil to Bruce’s lead.  Already something of a regular guest on E Street, it would be no surprise if Tom becomes more of a fixture over time.  The chemistry between Bruce and his regular wingman Steve is legendary, but Tom brings out different qualities in Springsteen’s performance which are both thrilling and surprising.  Tom contributes to 8 of the 12 tracks and his distinctive sound and style add a new vitality.   

American Skin (41 shots) appeared on live in New York City, and is rarely performed, but this studio version is worth capturing, and the eerie vocal echo hints at the darkness of the lyrics (and the real story they tell) which the melody belies. 

This is an album that is prepared to take a few risks and to try new techniques and instruments, as well as some cover versions.  We have become familiar with Bruce’s love of multi-layered and theatrical effects with a big horn section, folksy strings, a sharp snare drum and gospel-style backing vocals; and these are all showcased on the title track which launches the album and kicks things off without apology.  Some of the big production will be divisive – purists will hate it and want the old Springsteen/E Street sound, but such controversy has been a feature at least since the days of ‘Born to Run’.

Some of the tracks have a hugely familiar feel – ‘Just like Fire Would’ sounds like vintage E Street with more than a touch of Southside Johnny about it, but is still box fresh and punchy.  Any new album needs to be able to surprise – to bring you up short even on first listening, and to get you to hit the repeat button.  This will certainly do that; ‘Down in the Hole’ has a weird little background melody that almost sounds like ‘I’m on Fire’ running underneath it, but it is utterly different and haunting; especially with the vocal distortion sounding like a 1930s microphone or bullhorn effect.  There are some signature Bruce story-telling songs (‘Frankie fell in love’; ‘Hunter of invisible game’, and ‘The Wall’ in particular), which are enigmatic and have a cinematic mood that takes you right back to ‘The Promise’.

Rock and roll is the closest may of Bruce’s fans gets to collective religious celebration, and some of the revivalist gospel overtones on ‘High Hopes’ can be a bit too enthusiastic, but probably a lot more fun live than on the album.  ‘Heaven’s Wall’, and it’s insistent ‘raise your hand’ chorus is hard to ignore, while the lyrics of ‘This is your sword’ are probably preaching only to the converted, but even so the quasi folk/Irish style which Bruce has perfected in recent years somehow creates an instant classic that surely you have known for ever.   

‘Dream Baby Dream’ closes the album – a cover of the Suicide track that Bruce first released as a single in 2008 and featured (with the pump organ accompaniment) in his solo show.  It is weirdly moving and hypnotic as it loops round and round.  It is the perfect mantra – a paean to love and passion and belief.

Overall ‘High Hopes’ is certainly a mixture of styles, of mood and tone, and of old and new.  But that doesn’t mean it is lacking coherence or integrity as a collection.  Where ‘Wrecking Ball’ was all about anger and despair and the bleakness of economic collapse; if ‘High Hopes’ has a unifying theme it is about belief and cautious optimism – the glint of light on the horizon and perhaps the beginning of recovery.  I just wish it had a different title track; I can’t read the words or hear the phrase without getting an immediate link to Frank Sinatra and a bunch of kids singing a very different version of a song by the same name,[1] and it’s one of those sticky songs that just stays in your brain with the needle jammed in the groove – round and round and round.  Thanks for that Bruce.

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[1] Featured in the 1959 Frank Capra film ‘A Hole in the Head’.