Bruce Springsteen ‘High Hopes’ album review

For the hardcore Springsteen fan his new album High Hopes brings songs that over the last decade saw the cutting room floor and were only played live at his shows, but as much as these rarities, along with a few cover songs, now see the light of day High Hopes could leave the average listener wanting more.

Songs like “Harry’s Place” and “Heaven’s Wall” are outtakes from The Rising, Magic and Working on a Dream, but probably the most intriguing is a protest song. “American Skin (41 Shots)” debuted at a concert in Atlanta, a call for outrage against a man tragically shot numerous times by New York police, who mistook his wallet for a gun. New York City Mayor Guiliani condemned the song, as well as the singer, but it was kept as a mainstay on Springsteen’s set list for that tour, and resurfaced during the another tragedy, the killing of teen Trayvon Martin.

The signature sound of “Frankie Fell in Love”, with the working man, signature vocal, rising toward the end of the song with the full band backing, and the cover of punk-band Suicide’s “Dream Baby Dream” are highlights on the album. Springsteen also enlisted the help of now touring guitarist, and former Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello, who put his signature on some of the solos throughout the album. Morello and Springsteen duet on "Ghost of Tom Joad", which Rage Against The Machine covered as a single.

There were high hopes, pun intended, for this and many other songs getting recorded in a studio but some, while good, lose a little bit of the rawness and seem overproduced, adding gospel singers and distortion, even to the vocals, where it doesn’t need to be. Less is more, which is what made them anthemic in the first place.

While we might have been looking for something different, rather than too different, you have to give The Boss credit for stepping outside of box and finally taking these standards that have been on the road for so long and creating something unique with them.