Album Details

• Artist: Bruce Springsteen
• Album: Magic
• Label: Columbia
• Year of Release: 2007
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: solitaryman on 2007-10-13

5 years off of his suitably patriotic project with the reformed E-Street Band, The Rising, Bruce Springsteen has been quite active over the span despite growing age and the limitations it brings not only to him, but to his band. However, like the finest wine, it seems Bruce is aging with the upmost grace. On Magic he seems to find again the old mystical rhythms of the E-Street Band's glory days (get it?), as the band rallies around the Boss for a surprisingly energenic and masterfully written pop album.

   The aura surrounding the man is well-known and his NJ roots, as we all know, shine through in his music constantly. "Radio Nowhere" is an ode to those rebelious romps of his past, and it also comes off as a commentary on the state of radio and perhaps music as a whole today. That classic sax we all remember from Springsteen's classics is heavily present all over the album, adding that downtown atmosphere we're all familiar with. Track after track after track of solid stuff here, running gamuts from Bruce's more mature look at love and relationships (Girls In Their Summer Clothers, I'll Work For Your Love) and his dealings with getting older (Livin' In The Future, Last to Die). Not a sour note is hit.

   Despite the weathering of time, the boss' music and voice hold up as strongly now as they ever have. Unlike Dylan, unlike Joel and so many other singer-songwriters of a classic age, it would appear that Bruce Springsteen has managed to age with minimal loss of energy or direction. Magic is an impressive release, and if it ends up being the last we hear of the Boss, it'll make for a fitting sign-off.  

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