Artist bio

Along with Michael Jackson and Madonna, Bruce Springsteen stands as one of the largest popular music icons of the 1980s. Yet unlike Jacko and the Virgin Queen, the Boss has managed to outgrow his teen idol image with his songwriting abilities and critical esteem 100 percent intact.

By the time he rose to international superstardom in the 1980s, Springsteen was already a well-established artist. After releasing two strong, but largely unnoticed albums, he released his first masterpiece, Born To Run in 1975. Featuring some of his most well-known rock anthems -- "Thunder Road," "Backsteets," and "Born To Run" to name a few -- the album officially began Springsteen's career-long examination of the American identity. And with "Wall Of Sound" production, inspired lyrics, and an epic musical vision, Born To Run secured Springsteen's reputation amongst rock lovers.

What makes Springsteen such a wonderful artist to appreciate is his almost obsessed attention to his craft. Each of the albums following Born To Run are worthy of close study. While 1984's Born In The USA marks the commercial apex of the singer/songwriter's career, his less commercially succesful albums best stand the test of time. On albums such as 1978's Darkness On The Edge Of Town, 1982's Nebraska, and 1987's Tunnel Of Love, Springsteen creates musical visions that are both deeply personal and amazingly universal.

As a songwriter, Springsteen continually returns to the same themes -- love, loss and moral redemption, to name a few -- and continually finds new insights and perspectives. Be it the sprawling rock epics of his early career, "Incident On 57th Street" (The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle), or the concise acoustic dirges of his later work, like "Dry Lightning" (The Ghost Of Tom Joad), his songs mine the hearts and souls of his characters and follow their everyday dilemnas with startling clarity.

To top it all off, Springsteen is arguably the best live performer in the history of rock, if such a claim could ever be definitively made. At the height of his physical abilities, he was able to put on four-hour stadium-sized shows, rocking 50,000 in legendary fashion. Now in his mid-50s, he performs a shorter show -- but one with increased musical and vocal precision.

Like the Rolling Stones and Dylan and all the other rock legends that came before him and informed his work, Springsteen will be celebrated for years and years to come. But unlike artists such as the Stones, we have every reason to believe Bruce will continue to make noteworthy music and grow as an artist. And without question, we will be there to listen.

Albums by this artist

We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006)

Devils & Dust / Prairie Wind (2005)

The Rising (2002)

Live In New York City (2001)

18 Tracks (1999)

Tracks (1999)

'Missing' (1996)

'Hungry Heart' (1995)

The Ghost Of Tom Joad (Recommended) (1995)

Human Touch (1992)

Lucky Town (1992)

Born In The U.S.A. (1984)

Born In The U.S.A. (1984)

The River (1980)

Darkness On The Edge Of Town (Recommended) (1978)

The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle (Recommended) (1973)

Concerts

July 15, 1999
Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, N.J.

May 29, 1999
Parkbuhne Wulheide, Berlin

Bruce Springsteen

Human Touch

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» JEFF VRABEL | STAFF WRITER

Bruce Springsteen Human Touch Columbia, 1992 RiYL: Van Morrison, John Mellencamp, John Fogerty

Well, everybody has their off days.

Bruce Springsteen ended his five-year absence from recording -- a period in which he retreated from the spotlight, divorced his wife and broke up the E Street Band -- with two albums released simultaneously in 1992: Human Touch and Lucky Town.

The pair represented the first studio product from Bruce since 1987's Tunnel Of Love -- as well as much uncertainty, as they were the first recorded sans the E Street Band. In place of his band of 20 years, Bruce employed various studio musicians and backup singers, and it shows. Yeah, the band is fine, the rockers still burn and the ballads still ache, but in retrospect, the final impact of Human Touch is lesser than most of Springsteen's previous work.

Moreover, the songs of the deeper Lucky Town offer a more revealing look into Springsteen's increasingly world-weary psyche. The pop radio-oriented Human Touch doesn't.

This is not to say Human Touch is a bad album -- even most of its throwaway tracks would probably define the career of a Bob Seger. But "Man's Job," "Roll Of The Dice" and "Real Man" seem almost second-rate in the hands of the guy who redefined rock and roll in the '70s and '80s (especially since the revelatory Tracks box set unveiled several songs from this era -- namely "Leavin' Train" and "Seven Angels" -- that rock twice as hard as anything on either Human Touch or Lucky Town.)

Still, Bruce is Bruce, and there is much to appreciate here. "Cross My Heart" is a sweet, bluesy reflection on the dangers of love, "The Long Goodbye" hearkens back to the frat-rock tracks of The River, the groovy "All Or Nothin' At All" is a solid dance rocker. And the gorgeous lyrics to "Real World" belie the song's lame arrangement (a slowed-down piano version exists on a number of bootlegs from the 1990 Bridge School benefit performance, and should be located at all costs).

Lyrically, Springsteen's time off, divorce and subsequent remarriage made him more self-reflective than ever, singing less about towns ripping the bones from your back and more about becoming a grown-up.

As he sings in the moody, excellent title track: "Ain't no kindness in the face of strangers / Ain't gonna find no miracles here / Well you can wait on your blessings my darlin' / I got a deal for you right here." Human Touch is no Born To Run, but for fans of the Boss and old-fashioned rock and roll, it's still a pretty good deal.

JEFF VRABEL | Jeff Vrabel may look like your average, strapping Midwestern-type, but lurking inside him is a passion for all things Springsteen, "Weird" Al, and regrettably, the Chicago Cubs. He's touched Britney Spears. He knows Slash's phone number. Obey him at all costs.