Springsteen Heads Back to E Street for More Magic

Hearing Bruce Springsteen play with the E Street Band is like going home and hanging out with a bunch of old friends you haven't seen in a long time: it just feels good. For the Boss, it must've felt as such on latest studio album Magic, his first effort with the E Streeters since 2001's The Rising. It's career release number fifteen for Springsteen if you're keeping score at home. Opening with the poppy lead single "Radio Nowhere", Springsteen's album is focused in both mood and intention. The single is about searching for good music in an age where the industry is shrinking and consolidating by the day (more by necessity than choice). It's a good opener, and in line shortly afterwards are old school sounding Springsteen cuts like "You'll Be Coming Down" and "I'll Work For Your Love." Better than both of those though is "Living in the Future." It literally sounds like E Street circa 1978. Clarence Clemons' jazzy sax is all over it, with a catchy hook and busy guitars to boot. It's as good as anything Bruce has done with E Street in ten years. Then Bruce turns his attention to serious matters, particularly war in the modern age, on cuts like "Gypsy Biker", title track "Magic," second single "Long Walk Home" and strings-laden closer "Devil's Arcade." "Biker" and "Home" are probably the best of that bunch, and Springsteen does a fine job of describing the horrors of warfare and its consequence without laying the finger too heavy with blame on any one person or thing. The best song on the album though is the finale, "Terry's Song." Written for recently deceased longtime Bruce friend Terry McGovern, the track is both beautiful and simple in its tone and delivery. Producer Brendan O'Brien must have realized so as well: he leaves the song almost completely free of any studio tricks. If there's one major complaint of the album, it's that it sounds a bit slick and overproduced in places, but that's the only real quibble I've got. It's always great hearing Bruce back at work on E Street for the love of his listeners, and this album is another unquestioned success. Josh's Magic Grade: B+ -JAB