Magic

I sampled a few cuts off the new Springsteen album, "Magic" that goes on sale today. Seems like the m.o. is to have heavy, lush, almost upbeat hooks cover some pretty dark lyrics. I particularly liked "Long Walk Home," a nice metaphor for returning our country to the place it was before we all went crazy.

My only fear at this point is that the pop production quality of this album will make it another "Born in the USA." Forgive me, but I still like my artists untouched by the glow of popular acclaim. Of course, that train left a while ago.

Update: I read one review of this disk that poked a little fun at Springsteen's walking through a "misty rain" to catch a "mystery train" on the second track. The critic thought this retread from the Springsteen cornucopia of sullen and wistful phrases was a little like Bruce sampling Bruce. I disagree. I think the song is purposely self referential -- drawing back to earlier works like the album ponders earlier days. That's just me though. (If I could have used the phrase "purposely self referential" with any facility fifteen years ago, I probably would have gone to grad school...)