Bruce Springsteen – High Hopes

My listening rating system (1-5):
music (subjective) / sonics / pressing
5/4/4.5

I’ve been a fan of “The Boss” for a long time now, and on first hearing High Hopes, I was stunned by what was coming out of my stereo, because while that certainly was the voice of Bruce, I felt oddly disted and uncomfortable, because I had no idea what these songs were about, how the impacted me, where they’d come from, or where he’d like them to take the listener.

Without a doubt this is probably the man’s most atmospheric album to date ... and I don’t mean that in the way I mean that The Wild The Innocent ... was atmospheric, because High Hopes is downright overly polished, where the once gritty rocker now reaches out to embrace the synth band Suicide, covering their most accessible song, “Dream Baby Dream,” though certainly not before walking us though the cutting room leftovers on topics that range from Vietnam, racism, September 11th, and his ever increasing need to preach the word of his lord jesus christ.

The song “Ghost of Tom Joad” is a prime example, where he takes a circa 1995 strong quiet song right over the top and out the window, creating an unremarkable bit of Prog Rock, that doesn’t fit the rest of the twelve tracks ... but then, none of these songs hang well together. Then there are his several songs of christian faith which were taken from the gospel album he intended to do, then thankfully dumped. I’ve seen too many artists stumble down this path, it happened to Mr, Dylan, a hole he’s been trying to dig himself out of since his salvation. Then there is his collaboration with Tom Morello, of Rage Against the Machine, and to be honest, I just don’t see what Tom Morello brought to the table. Lastly, I seeing Elvis [Presley] decked out in that tight black leather trucker jacket leisure suit, and seeing Bruce standing there on the cover looking remarkably the same, though in denim [I hope], leaves me to wonder if Bruce Springsteen is even relevant anymore.

I think the best I can say of High Hopes, is that Mr. Springsteen had high hopes that we wouldn’t notice that he’s taken us for a ride, a ride hardly as romantic as crossing the river to meet with a small time gangster, or out to Greasy Lake, on the dark side of Route 88.

Review by Jenell Kesler