Acoustic and electric guitars, live drums and drum machines,
banjos and mandolins, violins and fiddles, rock and R&B, spirituals and
gospel, Celtic rhythms and Irish jigs, choirs and choruses, samples and a rap
(not by The Boss-Thank God), hushed vocals and loud exaltations, hope and
despair, resilience and pride, the American Dream and Nightmare: all of these
sounds, genres, and cultural cross samplings of American music combine,
sometimes gloriously and sometimes not, to comprise Bruce Springsteen’s most
populist album to date, both musically and thematically. Despite the highly
slick production, which is a poor step in the wrong direction after Brendan
O’Brien’s (Rage Against the Machine,
Pearl Jam) stint with The Boss throughout the ‘00s, Wrecking Ball, with all of its mashed up diversity and, again, occasional
stumbles is strangely Bruce Springsteen’s most consistent album since the jewel
in the crown of the O’Brien years’ The
Rising.
With Wrecking Ball
America’s rock poet laureate eschews the stripped down and live sounding
approach he brought to The Rising, Magic, Devils and Dust, and Working
on A Dream (and that O’Brien’s production brought to The Boss’ sound) for
the complicated and overdubbed sound that current producer Ron Aniello, and
Springsteen himself (he’s credited with production as well) felt was more
representative of this album’s need to incorporate the multifaceted sounds of
the above listed genres and instrumentation effectively enough to mirror in Wrecking Ball’s sound the metaphorical
populist theme that Springsteen employs in his lyrics. This album tries hard,
and at times too hard, to sound like a cross section of American music,
anchored by The Boss’ rasp, yelp, and guitar, and nearly all of American
music’s diverse sound shows up again and again throughout the album. This is an
album about the people, for the people, and by the people.
Springsteen has always employed populist themes in his
music, but with Wrecking Ball he
takes his love of, empathy for, and belief in the common men and women of all
walks of American life to new heights. It’s no surprise that Tom Morello, quite
the populist himself, makes prominent guest appearances on two tracks, “Jack of
All Trades” and “This Depression.” Thematically, Morello and his former group
Rage Against the Machine have much more in common with Springteen’s populist
leanings that one might at first realize. Morello and RATM did cover “The Ghost
of Tom Joad,” a song that many at the time didn’t realize or know was a
Springsteen song. Morello himself has morphed into a protest folkie in a way
himself with his acoustic outings and The Nightwatchman. His collaboration with
Springsteen seems a no-brainer and its surprising it hasn’t happened before now
and his soloing on “Jack of All Trades” and atmospherics on “This Depression”
show just how far the former member of RATM and Audioslave has come as a master
of varied guitar playing genres.
On “Jack of All Trades,” the album’s slow song standout,
Springsteen demonstrates that he still has the powerful ability to empathize
with a cross section of the American populace that he’s been out of touch with
economically for decades. The hopeful, yet tentative, reassurance that “We’ll
be alright honey,” a sentiment that Springsteen communicates with his hushed
vocals, is truly touching. Maybe I’m personally affected by this song because,
as a child, I witnessed my father, a victim of the overseas shipping of labor
that occurred during the Regan years, perform the odd jobs like the cleaning of
drains, mowing of lawns, and the “pull(ing) (of) that engine apart and patch(ing)
her up ‘til she’s runnin’ right” to make ends meet during the lean times while
assuring my mom that “we’ll be alright.” Springsteen goes further though with his
closing remarks that “If I had me
a gun, I'd find the bastards and shoot 'em on sight,” veering into
Morello and RATM similar rage without ever consummating the desire while giving
a cathartic voice to the unemployed victims of the “fat cats.”
Not every song as powerfully communicates the desperation
and hope that songs like “Jack of All Trades” does. “We Are Alive” and “Easy
Money” both of which are well crafted and performed songs border on triteness
with their lazy lyrics and rhymes. Other songs like “Death to My Hometown” and
“Rocky Ground,” despite its earnest but flawed attempt to incorporate a short
rap, soar emotionally and sonically. “Shackled and Drawn” another foot stomping
and rockin’ ditty about the sweaty difference between the bankers and laborers
stands out as well as a strangely feel good song with some dark overtones.
I was really worried that the new love stirred in me for
Bruce Springsteen’s music would fade and wither once he decided to move on and
work with producers other than O’Brien. O’Brien’s work is close to my heart and
only he and his close second favorite of mine, Rick Rubin, have brought the
music of some of the greatest bands and performers to brilliant life. I’m happy
to say that Wrecking Ball, while not
as strong as Springsteen’s magnum opus The
Rising, is a wonderful musical step in another direction that stays true to
The Boss’ sound while expanding it into interesting new territory. At 62, I
don’t know how much more gas in the tank Springsteen has, but I hope its enough
for a few more musical miles, and albums.
Rating: 5 out of 5 Bosses
No comments:
Post a Comment