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Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band wrote and recorded “Working on a Dream” between dates on their 2008 tour. On brucespringsteen.net, the Boss writes that “all of the songs were written quickly, we usually used one of our first few takes, and we all had a blast making this one from beginning to end.”
The result sounds like Springsteen was more excited to play with old friends than to record an album. While the Boss wanted to catch “the energy of the band fresh off the road,” he instead caught a bumpy and uneven mash of jam sessions with no cohesive energy. “Working on a Dream” plays like an outtakes disc for Springsteen’s later albums.
The disc’s opener, “Outlaw Pete,” is the story of a drifter, finding love with a Navajo girl in the old west. The crescendo of “Outlaw Pete, Outlaw Pete / Can you hear me, can you hear me” plays more like a B-movie western than a personal story of love.
“Queen of the Supermarket,” an ode to grocery store romance, spills into self-parody with lyrics like “I’m in love with the queen of the supermarket / As the evening sky turns blue / A dream awaits in aisle number two.”
The title track is radio-friendly, but like most of the album, it trades lyrical storytelling for vague repetition. Few songs feel inspired. Exceptions include, “This Life,” which brings back the pop-rock sensibility of early Springsteen, and “Good Eye,” a worthwhile cut of grungy blues-rock.
“The Wrestler,” written as the theme to the Darren Aronofsky film of the same name, is the album’s most personal song. Springsteen captures the spirit of a down-and-out vagrant with “This place that is my home I cannot stay / My only faith is in the broken bones and bruises I display.” It’s a shame the song was tacked on as a limited-release bonus track.
Grade: C
Bangor Daily News