Neither dwelling in the defeated sympathy of his suitably folkish Nebraska, nor the Dylan/Waits-ish low-life existential embrace of his epic Born to Run- Born in the U.S.A. is real while the others are literature. Given his knack for writing universals, realness isn't really realness when discussed in regard to Springsteen unless you're talking about something like Tunnel of Love. Even so, here he becomes what he's talking about. He means it more. His voice is at its peak. His stories are mini-dramas that're over once the song is. He's bold enough to go pop on the opener- his Deer Hunter set to an ironically muscular, patriotic anthem. He's bolder when he goes synthpop twice afterwards- I'm On Fire and Dancing In The Dark- although he necessarily ends it all in the most stripped-down, heartland way he can with the touching My Hometown. I like his stories, I believe his passion (the vocal turn in Bobby Jean: "just to say I miss you, baby": easily one of the best moments in rock music), and I count Born in the U.S.A. as one of the very few "perfect" albums in rock
A+
buy
spotify
No comments:
Post a Comment