With the most overtly political album of his career, Bruce Springsteen returns in March with Wrecking Ball, his best LP since 1988's Tunnel of Love and a record that's as prescient now as was Born in the USA when it was released.
Born in the USA is, actually, an apt comparison in many ways. That record was Springsteen's first major foray into the realm of the political, and it was both musically and politically misunderstood by many. Like the title track “Born in the USA”, which was largely perceived as a jingoistic anthem and even briefly co-opted by then-President Ronald Reagan, Springsteen's first single of 2012--“We Take Care of Our Own,” which he and the E Street Band played at the Grammys—has an upbeat tempo and seemingly optimistic refrain that hide its skepticism. The apparent enthusiasm and boundless patriotism of "We Take Care of Our Own" is on display front and center, but the real question is whether that narrative—the idea that Americans come together and take care of the least among us—is really true in an era where the wealthiest 1% get hundreds of millions in tax breaks while as a society, we argue about how—or whether—to pay for a healthcare program to be sure the poor and infirm are cared for.
An eclectic album that blends Springsteen's signature rock sound with some of the folk, gospel and country influences he's picked up in recent years while playing with the Seeger Sessions Band as well as elements of Celtic rock, hip-hop and Woody Guthrie-esque protest, Wrecking Ball is a revelation for Springsteen, reinventing the artist whose last pair of studio records were good-but-not-great efforts that seemed to coast on the artistic and thematic largesse of his fan- and critical-favorite 2002 comeback record The Rising.
