BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - Devils & Dust

Exactly thirty years after the release of his first masterpiece ("Born To Run", 1975), Bruce "The Boss" Springsteen returns with a new album, acoustic and recorded without the help of the E-Street Band. It's a habit of his by now, dating back to 1982 when he released the fantastic "Nebraska", which many still consider his finest work: recorded at home on a 4-track, featuring only a fragile, aching voice, a guitar and a harmonica, with nothing but snow and despair outside. Then came 1995's "The Ghost Of Tom Joad", following in the footsteps of his father figure Woody Guthrie, beautiful but perhaps overrated. And now this "Devils & Dust", fresh off the press, confirming the decade-long cycle of his need for acoustic confession.

The choice to dig up songs written in the past right now, adding new ones with an intimate, stripped-down feel, probably stems from the recent failure of his pro-Kerry musical campaign (the "Vote For Change Tour"), through which he fought in vain for a political choice closer to the America he has always carried in his heart. Let's say it right away: the unrepeatable quality of "Nebraska", its evocative power and its ability to pierce the soul, are far away here; what we have is undoubtedly a well-made work, containing a handful of tracks with impeccable arrangements and undeniable emotional pull, but which add nothing to what Springsteen has already said and done. That's not necessarily a flaw, since it actually confirms a commendable integrity and consistency, but it also implies little effort to find sonic solutions beyond the reiteration of typically "Made in USA" stylistic devices.

The most interesting part is, unsurprisingly, the lyrics, as always a reflection of a harsh, critical gaze on an America that chose the path of fear and violence (as a direct consequence) in the wake of the terrifying attack on the Twin Towers (of which "The Rising" in 2002 was an immediate testimony). "We've got God on our side/ We're just trying to survive/ What if what you do to survive/ Kills the things you love/ Fear's a powerful thing": truly a barely sketched yet "essential" portrait of the post-9/11 American psyche. It's the central passage of the eponymous opening track, a direct, bare-bones folk song in the best tradition of the genre. Next comes "All The Way Home", a thoroughly Springsteen-esque track: a fluid, urgent rhythm (Steve Jordan appears on drums on the album, backed by O'Brien on bass), jingle-jangle guitars (acoustic and electric) and harmonica racing home at dusk.

The passage "Well Now Old Fears And Failures/ Baby They Do Linger/ Like The Shadow Of That Ring/ That was On Your Finger" seems to echo the theme of the song "The River", the disillusionment and incompleteness of every existence and the haunting persistence of memories. The country ballad "Reno" neither adds nor takes away from the genre, while "Long Time Coming" features the violin of Soozie Tyrell (recently added to the E-Street Band lineup), evoking Parsons-esque landscapes and breathing the rarefied air of nostalgia and hope. "Black Cowboys" shows how the storytelling of the Jersey boy is far from exhausted, and how his warm, deep voice is able to gather fragments of life and grant them universal worth, telling of how he "lay at night his head pressed to her chest listening to the ghost in her bones".

"Maria's Bed" is undoubtedly the best track on the record, blending a decidedly poppy, soulful appeal with a country flavour evoking the wheat fields of the American South, along with all the imagery that runs through them. Here Bruce sings, oddly, in falsetto, and the almost lopsided rhythm, racing hopefully towards the future (the violin once again smoothing every rough edge), opens the heart to unexpected visions of light. What follows are the western atmospheres of "Silver Palomino", the Dylan-esque (post-conversion) religiosity of "Jesus Was An Only Son" and the utopian dream of "Leah" ("I wanna find me a world, where love's the only sound"), all built on a country-folk structure, with acoustic guitar set against a backdrop of instruments and voices subtly shading the space. The lovestruck country-pop of "All I'm Thinkin' About" gives way to the closing "Matamoros Banks", yet another dig at the mythology on which the USA has built its collective conscience, over sober acoustic accompaniment.

The CD version comes with a Bonus DVD containing the entire album in Dolby Digital 5.1 and a video directed by David Clinch, capturing a fully acoustic performance (voice, harmonica and guitar) of five tracks from the album. "Devils & Dust" reconfirms the Boss's rediscovered artistic vein after the dark parenthesis of the Nineties and the fitful start to the new millennium with "The Rising", but as you make your way through its grooves, you can't help but miss the days when, still young, he sang "At night on them banks I'd lie awake/ And pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take…".

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

30/04/2026