on 2009-08-25 ToddLevinsonFrank Said:

agree. i'm a longtime Bruce fanatic. Magic had a couple okay moments but WOAD was terrible. i tried to convince myself that some of it was good (and a few songs are okay, again i'm a fanatic) but it's just so weak. of course you could make a pretty good Bruce-by-numbers album combining the best of those two. or the least worst.
Rating: 7/10

on 2009-08-25 dscanland Said:

Nice review. Devils & Dust is one of the best recent Springsteen albums. But man, what went wrong with Magic and Working On A Dream? Absolute garbage!
Rating: 8/10

Review:

on 2009-08-25 ToddLevinsonFrank Said:

At different times (and to various degrees) Bruce Springsteen is one of many artists to be cursed with the "new Dylan" label, but one of the things he really has in common with Bob Dylan is a refusal to be pinned down and labeled again. Perhaps by subconsciously taking a page from Dylan's book, he's managed to explore his own duality as a means of throwing us curves and proving that sometimes following a muse means making lots of left turns.

Springsteen, the veteran hall-of-famer and most rich and famous of all the new Dylans, has been showing us both of his sides for more than 30 years. Signed as an acoustic singer/songwriter and perhaps the first in the long line of New Dylan's, he shook the comparisons with his wall-of-sound rock classic "Born to Run," and epic stories like "Jungleland" and "Thunder Road." He also established himself among rock's greatest live acts, building his reputation with marathon concerts.

His dualities really started surfacing in the 1980's. After having a hit with "Hungry Heart," he took a chance and released a brutally stark acoustic album, Nebraska, which was essentially a home demo. This was followed by the multi-platinum juggernaut Born in the USA that spawned 7 Top Ten singles and made Springsteen a pop superstar. Then, he really started throwing some curves: the quiet Tunnel of Love examined self doubt and his failed first marriage; the arrival of the 1990's signaled the (temporary) end of the E Street Band as Bruce simultaneously released Lucky Town and Human Touch in 1992 with a new batch of studio musicians; 1995's The Ghost of Tom Joad found him back in solo/acoustic mode; after releasing a boxed set of previously unreleased material and a greatest hits disc, he reunited the E Streeters for a tour and then a full-band album The Rising. So, 30 years after Born to Run, "Epic Springsteen, The Boss of Live Rock'n'Roll," is still battling "Joe Everyman, Acoustic Troubadour of the Dark Lonesome Highway" for creative control. Which Bruce would show up in 2005?

That year, Springsteen left the bombastic Bossman bandleader at home as his solo storyteller incarnation returned with a fine new CD, Devils & Dust. This mostly acoustic 12-tune set alternates between folk ditties, somber narratives, and a couple of formulaic upbeat rockers. Springsteen's songwriting is in fine form, as his ability to craft stories and characters. He benefits from Brendan O'Brien's production and more instrumentation and melody than the quiet, often-droning Tom Joad release. Devils & Dust, while embracing the twangy folk and country sounds of violin and steel guitar mixed with his own effective acoustic guitar work, also finds Springsteen exploring some uncharted territory of his vocal abilities as he employs a high falsetto on a few tracks. By meshing his quiet acoustic sound with some light and catchy rock tunes, Bruce is finding a potent middle ground where his two personas merge into one, or at least cross paths with great results.

Rating: 7/10