" Devils & Dust" by Bruce Springsteen - A Review...

Well, it's no "Ghost of Tom Joad". That can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on which version of "The Boss" you prefer. Upon paging through various reviews of Bruce Springsteens new album "Devils & Dust", I got the impression that this was a mostly acoustic affair recalling his album "The Ghost of Tom Joad", one of my favorite records he's made. After picking up a copy for myself I saw this was (mostly) an incorrect assumption. I had even heard the dreaded phrase "spoken word" associated with it. So it was with some trepidation that I approached the listening of this album. After a few listens I can say it's pretty typical Springsteen themes, lyrics, and music with the BIG exception being the terrible production job by Brendan O'Brien. This music would have been much better served by Bruce sitting in the studio with an acoustic guitar and harmonica belting it out. The proof of this is found on the DVD side of the new DUALDISC format the record was released in. Bruce with his beat up Gibson acoustic playing with great emotion and soul, something sorely lacking on the album. This is a tremendously more enjoyable experience than listening to the overproduced tracks on the CD side and you wish the album would've been recorded this way. Some of the songs are ok, just stripped of any feeling by the lame overproduction. It sounds as if some of the instruments (drums especially) came right from Pro Tools and have no depth at all. Every song has to have a stupid synthesizer backing track to it it seems. Lame is the word to describe it.
Instead of picking up this record, I would suggest people see Bruce on his upcoming solo tour, that's if you can afford the seventy five dollar "common man" price he's asking for tickets. 2

1 = Don't purchase in the $1.00 bin at your used record store. Avoid like a plague.
2 = Only if you're desperate for new music. You need it like a hole in the head.
3 = An okay buy, probably just download the tracks you want from I-Tunes.
4 = Buy new the next time you're out and about. A fully satisfying record.
5 = Masterpiece, run and buy today!