IN REVIEW: Bruce Springsteen - "High Hopes"

Let's get one thing straight right off the top; Bruce Springsteen doesn't owe music anything. With his legacy set in stone on the back of four decades of hard work, he's become not just the epitome of Jersey work ethic, but a veritable American icon. At the age of 64, he could easily be kicking his feet up on the couch or, worse, taking up a residency in Vegas. Of course, we know Bruce better than that; he'll likely be touring until the day he dies, and still managing three hour performances to boot.

With that said, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Springsteen is releasing his eighteenth official studio album to kick off his fifth decade in the business. Although he's quick to point out that High Hopes isn't a new album proper, rather a collection of unreleased tracks, covers, and other hodgepodge that haven't found a loving home on one of his albums. Indeed, a look at the tracklist reveals songs that have been lounging around the Springsteen canon since the mid-90's, perhaps most notably The Ghost of Tom Joad, which highlighted his eleventh album in 1995. It's the only song here that's already gotten proper album treatment by Springsteen, so its presence may be confusing, but makes sense in context; High Hopes prominently features Tom Morello, who filled in for Steven Van Zandt on Springsteen's Australian tour last year and was present for much of the recording sessions (not to mention his former band, Rage Against The Machine, covering the song themselves in 1997). The new version is a full on duet between Springsteen and Morello, including trade offs in vocals and solos before the song's closing two minutes, where Springsteen drops the leash and lets Morello really cut loose. And cut loose he does, even employing some of his old Rage scratch-soloing and transforming it from the album's most head scratching inclusion to the album's most thrilling rock moment.

Morello's playing is unmistakable, and he's on two thirds of the songs on High Hopes. His solo work on tracks like Heaven's Wall and American Skin (41 Shots) leaves no doubt who's responsible. However, outside of Tom Joad, his playing doesn't steal the show; its purpose is complimentary, an eager hard worker under Springsteen's stewardship. If you've heard the title track, you've heard Morello's role on the album played to perfection.

The songs on High Hopes, varying in age as they do, unsurprisingly don't flow together all that cohesively as they often do on a Springsteen record. Although, varied as they might be, they all will hold at least some value to fans. Whether he's dropping F-bombs on onetime Rising hopeful Harry's Place, in peak singer-songwriter form on Hunter of Invisible Game or putting his spin at an old punk song or two, nothing here is cringe-inducing. And the sequencing is well done, with the strongest tracks peppered throughout rather than front loaded, making for a consistently rewarding full album listen.

Any odds and sods release is typically uneven and disjointed, and High Hopes isn't really all that different when you get down to brass tacks. If it feels like a proper album, it's because Springsteen's throwaways are simply better than most artists' A-sides. And at the end of the day, even if High Hopes doesn't hold up to the usual Springsteen standard, it still proves to be a more than worthwhile addition to his discography.

January 14, 2014 • Columbia

Highlights High Hopes • American Skin (41 Shots) • Hunter of Invisible Game