The success of Working on a Dream is guaranteed by the continued support of the generation, now ageing, that Bruce Springsteen defined a couple of decades ago. It would be some feat to achieve being adopted so wholeheartedly by another generation of fans, especially given the jealous grip with which that first generation guards its memory of ‘The Boss’. There is a sense that, as much as Springsteen tries, he belongs to the poorly-dressed youth of the early 1980s.
Still, if Springsteen aims at being as relevant as he was back in the days of Born to Run, he could hardly do better than rec-ording an album like this, at a time like this. Springsteen was an active supporter of the Barack Obama presidential campaign, and this album is redolent of the dogged optimism that defined America’s 44th President’s road to power. This is not a political album, but the association of this music with Obama’s campaign and the hope he represents could not seem more appropriate.
Relevant or otherwise, Springsteen should be recognised as producing some of his finest work here. In spite of a depressingly awful title, it is an impressive collection of songs from a man who knows his market, and aims to please without shifting from his well-carved niche. His delivery is alternately triumphant, desperate, or downtrodden. All three facets are powerful, the former being the most familiar to fans of his most famous work, while the latter is the most resonant here. The finest moments on the album are characterised by the desperate-sounding Springsteen, and ‘The Wrestler’ in particular is excellent. The album is reasonably varied, and where there is a weak track it is generally succeeded by something better.
He hasn’t changed much, but he still has the power to move you and this album frequently makes this evident.
