BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: LUCKY TOWN (1992)
1) Better Days; 2) Lucky Town;
3) Local Hero; 4) If I Should Fall Behind; 5) Leap Of Faith; 6) The Big Muddy;
7) Living Proof; 8) Book Of Dreams; 9) Souls Of The Departed; 10) My Beautiful
Reward.
Local lore says that Bruce went into the studio
to record one last song for Human Touch,
ended up recording ten more, and eventually just decided to put them on a
separate album and release both on the same day. The decision was not just a
marketing ploy — Lucky Town is
different in mood, scope, goals, whatever, even if both titles are so
structurally symmetric that I sometimes confuse one with another. That said,
it's still a late period Springsteen album, and even when he is at his best,
the Boss finds it hard to reinvent himself — when he is not at his best, you could probably build a computer program
correctly predicting most of his moves.
Anyway, this relatively short collection is
less overproduced, somewhat more stripped down and domestic (although the man
still employs a full band), and focuses more on Springsteen's personal life
than on character impersonating. And since Springsteen's personal life was sort
of normalized, with a loving woman and a little child at his side, the songs
here reflect that — Lucky Town is a
fairly happy album of generally satisfied songs. "These are better
days", "I'm going down to Lucky Town, I wanna lose those blues I've
found", "Looking for a little bit of God's mercy, I found living
proof" — well, at the very least he's being honest: certainly it is no
good to write bitter, angry, or depressed songs if you don't feel bitter,
angry, or depressed.
The problem, however, is not that we refuse to
acknowledge Springsteen's right to be happy, or his right to express that
happiness in his songs and then sell them to anyone who's buying. The problem
is that, for twenty years, it was either negative emotion or passionate drive
that were responsible for his successes. Were he a fantastic composer, or a
Musician with a capital M, there is a chance that he could come up with some great
happy songs — cozy, settled-in, with unforgettable melodies. But as sincere as
ʽLiving Proofʼ, a song about his newborn son, probably is, from a musical
standpoint it ain't no ʽIsn't She Lovelyʼ, and does not even begin to come
close to those musical pieces that actually manage to convey that pure
baby-joy. ʽLiving Proofʼ just sort of states the fact, you know. He's happy,
he's had a son, we feel happy for him too, end of story, period. What's so
special? Certainly not the musical wrap-up of the info.
It is rather eerie that on the front cover, he
kind of looks like Dylan on the cover of Infidels
ten years go, back when it was Bob who was entering the third decade of his
career — and, likewise, with an album that told us, "Hi! I'm nice and
friendly, but please do not count on me for any new revelations or insights,
I'm really just here to let you know that life goes on, and the ragged hair and
dark glasses mean that I'm still a little hip, but also a little lost and
confused as to my creativity, and also I just don't want to look you straight
in the eye because I might end up looking embarrassed, so shades seem like the
best option". But at least Infidels
had ʽJokermanʼ, which was a great epic song, and it had all those ridiculous,
but fun, Zionist connotations — Lucky
Town is just a record about a loving husband and a happy father.
Okay, so there is one «dark» song about the
Gulf War — ʽSouls Of The Departedʼ, with swampy guitars, echoes, and
overproduction that suggest it rather belongs on Human Touch, and must have ended up here by mistake. It is bitter, though not exactly accusatory
(more like an abstract deep mourning for those about whom we never know whether
they died in vain or not), but it is also very restrained, and Bruce just does
not have that invisible intelligent coolness that can make his rock songs work
without the man going berserk on them — this laid-back attitude actually makes
it seem like he's being indifferent about what he sings. Which is probably not
the case, or else he would not sing about it, but that is how it comes across.
But all said, Lucky Town is also an album to which I would feel ashamed to issue
a thumbs down judgement. It doesn't sound too shitty, the songs are not too way
below Bruce's usual level of catchiness, it is sincere and accurately conveys
his then-current state of mind — it's probably the best he could do at the
moment, indeed, stuck in a safe, not-too-exciting rut of domestic happiness.
At least he's not posing, or calculating, or puffing up his image (there is even
an ironic song here about his own personality cult — ʽLocal Heroʼ). There is no
need whatsoever for anyone to hear or own this record unless you have to know all the details of the ups
and downs of the man's artistic career — however, within that career it has its
own certified place, a little lake of musical tranquility straight in between
the musical storms of 1984 and 2002.
Yeah, this one is just more of the last album, with fewer of Bittan’s obnoxious synths. That alone makes it an improvement. But the songs, I agree, don’t say anything all that interesting. The first two tracks are, essentially, the same song. Not a bad song, but if Bruce is reduced to repeating himself twice in a row – on the same album – well, I guess we can say that the tide had pulled out on him for a while. “Better Days” is a catchy single. “If I Should Fall Behind” is the best ballad that Bruce had written in quite a while, but the E Streeters would have to get a hold of it before it would reach its real potential. The rest don’t stick with me once the album is done. In the end, it seems this phase of the Boss’s career seems almost pointless.
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