Magic
It’s always difficult to give a review of a record that I know I’ll be listening to a lot over the coming years after only about 10 runs through the cd player. Tunnel of Love didn’t grip me at all when I first heard it (what did I know, I was 12 when it came out, my ears not trained to the subtleties of a Serious Springsteen Record.) Human Touch on the other hand, gripped me more than Lucky Town and The Ghost of Tom Joad.
If these omens are anything to go by, the current offering has a bad fate in store. I love the album immediately. The catchy “Livin’ in the future” grabs me by the smiling muscles as I drive to work in the morning, the fantastic intro to “Gypsy Rider” nails me every time I hear it. “Radio Nowhere” currently tops my most played list on my iPod, at 59 plays in the last 14 days.
The biggest surprise as a dedicated fan for the past 20 years is that all of a sudden, for the first time since I was 12, it’s cool to be a Bruce fan. Friends who know that I’m a fan come over to me at the water cooler and say “I heard the latest single on the radio…and you know what? (look of surprise) IT ROCKS!” People look enviously at my tickets to the concert in Oslo that are on my desk at work.
Writing this, I’m struck by how rarely I actually listen to a whole Bruce album (Tunnel of love and The E street Shuffle are honourable exceptions), and how much of my understanding of the songs relies on the live format. I often find myself a favourite way to hear the new material when I’ve heard the live songs. I look forward to hearing “Long walk home” live to hear the solo that Little Steven plays, and to sing along to “Girls in their summer clothes”.
I suspect that the “bad” omen of me liking the album is wrong, to be honest. What has happened here happened to me during the Rising. The songs I loved on the first few listens are the songs that I’m a bit sick of now.(World’s apart, Let's be friends) The songs that didn’t immediately grip me are the ones that I listen to most often now. (The fuse, paradise). I suspect that with a good few (100+) listens, the real character of Magic will emerge and I reserve the right to give a revised judgement then.
For now the record gets a solid 4 out of 6.
Most likely song to grip me in 10 years time: Devil's Arcade
Song I love most, but least likely to have staying power: Radio Nowhere
Revised update 8th of October: I just had a long drive with Magic on the stereo at the weekend, and if you haven't taken a drive like that, with no one else in the car and the sun shining, you need to. It's got to be one of the all time best DRIVING records ever made. Even the slightly weak "Your own worst enemy" came alive as I was speeding along. So, get out there past the edge of town, and motor.
Upgraded to 5 out of 6
If these omens are anything to go by, the current offering has a bad fate in store. I love the album immediately. The catchy “Livin’ in the future” grabs me by the smiling muscles as I drive to work in the morning, the fantastic intro to “Gypsy Rider” nails me every time I hear it. “Radio Nowhere” currently tops my most played list on my iPod, at 59 plays in the last 14 days.
The biggest surprise as a dedicated fan for the past 20 years is that all of a sudden, for the first time since I was 12, it’s cool to be a Bruce fan. Friends who know that I’m a fan come over to me at the water cooler and say “I heard the latest single on the radio…and you know what? (look of surprise) IT ROCKS!” People look enviously at my tickets to the concert in Oslo that are on my desk at work.
Writing this, I’m struck by how rarely I actually listen to a whole Bruce album (Tunnel of love and The E street Shuffle are honourable exceptions), and how much of my understanding of the songs relies on the live format. I often find myself a favourite way to hear the new material when I’ve heard the live songs. I look forward to hearing “Long walk home” live to hear the solo that Little Steven plays, and to sing along to “Girls in their summer clothes”.
I suspect that the “bad” omen of me liking the album is wrong, to be honest. What has happened here happened to me during the Rising. The songs I loved on the first few listens are the songs that I’m a bit sick of now.(World’s apart, Let's be friends) The songs that didn’t immediately grip me are the ones that I listen to most often now. (The fuse, paradise). I suspect that with a good few (100+) listens, the real character of Magic will emerge and I reserve the right to give a revised judgement then.
For now the record gets a solid 4 out of 6.
Most likely song to grip me in 10 years time: Devil's Arcade
Song I love most, but least likely to have staying power: Radio Nowhere
Revised update 8th of October: I just had a long drive with Magic on the stereo at the weekend, and if you haven't taken a drive like that, with no one else in the car and the sun shining, you need to. It's got to be one of the all time best DRIVING records ever made. Even the slightly weak "Your own worst enemy" came alive as I was speeding along. So, get out there past the edge of town, and motor.
Upgraded to 5 out of 6
posted by skinke at 10:11 PM
3 Comments:
Greetings, my friend...
As with all Bruce albums, if you like the studio version, wait until you hear it live.
I just got back from opening night in Hartford and it was an absolute romp.
A blowout of epic proportions.
The band played about half the new album, and every song was better live than on the CD. And when it comes to classics, wait until you hear the "new" version of Reason to Believe. I hope you like blues.
Adam
Having listened another hundred times to the album, my favorite song is still "Radio Nowhere", but "Last to Die" has the most staying power for me.
I'm updating my earlier comments. "Gypsy Biker" is my favorite song from the album.
Enjoy the Oslo concert!
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