Don’t set your hopes too high on Springsteen’s ‘High Hopes’
Bruce Springsteen has been recording music for more than 40 years. His 1975 album “Born to Run” is listed in the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry. He’s appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine 24 times. Since the turn of the century, he’s won 13 Grammy awards and has topped the Billboard album chart five times. He played a Super Bowl halftime show at age 60. Respectively, the guy’s nickname is “The Boss.” His new album is titled “High Hopes.”
Don’t get your hopes up.
To Springsteen’s credit, he is a busy man. The Boss has been putting out new material pretty consistently. I myself have been a Springsteen fan since middle school. His music has not only impacted a world of artists, but it has impacted myself as a listener. At the beginning of every road trip, I start the engine to my 1983 Honda Accord and sing all the words to “Thunder Road” at the top of my lungs whilst pounding the dashboard for the drum fills. Springsteen is truly The Boss when it comes to his storytelling skills and romanticized imagery in his music. You’ve got to love this guy.
“High Hopes” is a collective of recordings from the last 10 years or so that didn’t make it on to any of his full-length releases. After listening to these songs, I can tell why he decided to not release them sooner. In fact, I’m curious as to why he decided to release them at all.
The disappointment begins with the album cover itself. Look at his serious facial expressions. Are we supposed to be taking this man seriously? I mean, it looks like an awkward glob of light is exploding from the abdominal/crotch area of his body. Oh, wait – that’s a Photoshopped guitar. My bad. At least the music on here isn’t awkward, right?
… Right?
Lyrically, Springsteen is singing about the same stuff he’s been singing about for the last 15 years. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but how many times can you use the words “fire,” “strength” and “hope” in your music? There are actually two songs on this same album that mention babies crying. Anyway, the lyricism isn’t bad, but it’s 100 percent predictable Springsteen. Instrumentally, it’s a mess. Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello is a special guest guitarist throughout the album. Morello has never sounded so weak. His guitars don’t add any grit to the songs but instead just sound really corny and overly dramatic.
The album provides two new recordings of songs Springsteen has released before: “The Ghost of Tom Joad” and “American Skin (41 Shots).” This is the first non-live, studio version of “American Skin” he’s released, and it honestly doesn’t do the classic 2000 live recording any justice. Considering the song’s lengthy buildup, the use of a backing choir at 1:15 is an unnecessary curve ball, and Morello’s scattered solos are easily forgettable. The re-recording of 1995’s “Tom Joad” is almost twice as long as the original, and instead of sounding mysterious and stripped-down, we’re apparently supposed to rock out to it. I guess it’d be easier to do that if it wasn’t so thinly produced and if the lyri
cs weren’t so bleakly nonparallel to the music. Both songs represent how overlayered this album is.
Experimentation in music is not always a bad thing, but “High Hopes” proves that it’s not always a good thing.”Harry’s Place” offers some lyrical variety, hearing Springsteen sing about “downtown hipsters” and dropping the F-bomb a few times. The song itself could potentially be dark and rugged, but the synthesized strings in the background make it all sound like a joke. I know Springsteen has been experimenting with Celtic instrumentation in the recent past, but the use of it on “This Is Your Sword” makes me feel like I should be prancing through a green pasture in Brave more so than fighting next to Mel Gibson in “Braveheart.”
On this album, Springsteen sounds best when the music is simplified. “Hunter of Invisible Game” and “The Wall” might come off as boring, but they’re the tracks with the best instrumental flow. “Just Like Fire Would” is pretty darn lovable if you just scratch off the Victorian coronet solo in the middle.
I personally feel like Springsteen’s recent work has some chops on the production side of things, but even that aspect comes up short on “High Hopes.” With all the unique instrumentation, this album could potentially have a rich, bright sound. Unfortunately, this album sounds more like an order of nachos than a symphony; just layers and layers of cheese.
It’s a bold move to release an album of studio outtakes, and even with titling the record “High Hopes,” I’m sure Springsteen knew this wasn’t going to be liked by everybody. If you think albums like “Wrecking Ball,” “Working on a Dream” and “Magic” were truly classics, chances are you’ll enjoy this album. However, I think this album will be forgotten in the near future and that The Boss will eventually rebound with music that’s at least worth hearing. Springsteen has gone through musical slumps like this before, but he’ll always try to be “tougher than the rest.”
My Rating: 4/10
Should you try it out? Nah. I recommend the new Mogwai album, “Rave Tapes.”
– Scott Hall is a new-comer to the world of journalism. He is currently studying public relations and stage management at USU. His spare time is dedicated to music. For more, email scottehall3@gmail.com.