Tampa Calling

Here’s a rough draft of my Springsteen CD review that will run in the Spins section of the Creative Loafing that hits newsstands Oct. 10.

Magic
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
Sony

As one would expect, Magic came out last Tuesday [Oct. 2] to much hullabaloo. Billed as Springsteen’s first album with the E Street Band in five years and a return to his rocking roots, the disc kicks off with the driving opening track/lead single “Radio Nowhere,” an amiable up-tempo number that’s not exactly memorable but should play well in concert. It’s a solid song, but one that makes the critical listener think The Boss might be going through the motions, putting out a half-baked album to give him an excuse to do what he does best: tour.

But that’s not the case. Other songs on the disc sound nearly as fresh and fervent as anything the man has recorded. “Livin’ in the Future” opens with a blast of sax from the Big Man, Clarence Clemons; and over a peppy, grabby melody The Boss offers the kind of lyric Bruuuuuce fans live for: “Don’t worry, darling, no baby don’t you fret,” goes the chorus. “We’re living in the future and none of this has happened yet.”

It sounds simple and innocuous. But pay attention to the verses and it’s clear that The Boss is riffing on The Reign of Dubya: “Woke up election day / Skies gunpowder and shades of grey / Beneath the dirty sun / I whistle my time away.”

Whereas lesser songwriters bitch and moan about Bush with boring platitudes, The Boss takes a rather poetic poke at him, cloaking the jab in a boisterous number that’s as fun to hum as it is to dissect.

Even on “Last to Die,” as in the John Kerry quote about being the last to be killed in battle for a politician’s mistake, Springsteen makes his point without shoving a fist down the listener’s throat. The Boss operates equally effectively on “Girls in Their Summer Clothes,” a ditty that evokes the same sweet nostalgic feeling as “4th of July, Astbury Park (Sandy).”

Springsteen has always had a knack for writing outside himself: making us believe and relate to tales about teenagers in love or blue-collar types struggling to get by. With the title track to The Rising, he managed to play rock ’n’ roll messiah without coming off as a self-righteous ass. As a young man, Springsteen sang about much more than just sex, rebellion or alienation. So it should come as no surprise that at age 58 this rocker still sounds relevant.

That said, there’s nothing on Magic to eclipse any of Springsteen’s past work. Young people looking to get into The Boss would be better served by first purchasing everything from Greetings From Astbury Park, N.J. to Born in the U.S.A. and Live 1975/85 — but Magic is a gripping album nonetheless; full of classy pop songs written and performed by a middle-aged rocker with a passion that still translates to tape. 3.5 stars

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