It’s hard to argue with the genius of The Boss. He has proven countless times throughout his many decades in the limelight that he is more than capable of holding people’s trust. He always delivers. That is why his latest album High Hopes feels like such a letdown.
You heard that correctly, it’s a letdown.
Let’s get one thing out of the way up front, this should not be called a studio album. It is a b-sides album. At this point it’s a pretty widely accepted notion that in order for a record to qualify as a truly new studio album, it has to be comprised of recently written and recorded songs. And “recently” usually within the last two years. While part, not all of, High Hopes was recorded in the last two years, its songs certainly weren’t written in that time. The title track itself is simply a re-recording of a song Springsteen released in 1995. This is also the case with the track “The Ghost of Tom Joad”, which was the title track of his solo album that same year. Other songs like “American Skin (41 Shots)” and “Harry’s Place” were written in the early 2000s, the latter of which was originally intended for Springsteen’s album The Rising.
If being originally intended for a certain album, not making it on that album, and ultimately getting released thirteen years later doesn’t make a song a b-side, I don’t know what does. Further, absolutely no disrespect intended to The Big Man, but if ‘new’ songs which showcase the playing of the deceased Clarence Clemons are still surfacing and didn’t already find homes on any other albums, then what made this particular album such a good fit for them all of a sudden? Perhaps it’s that High Hopes is simply twelve songs that Springsteen wanted to release but didn’t have any other logical way to do so. That’s not accusing him of selling out or just doing this for the money, because seeing him live will destroy that notion in anyone’s mind, it’s just that as a fan, it’s actually a tad insulting to be told an album is a new studio album when is just isn’t.
Aside from that, fans of Rage Against the Machine will be pleased to hear that Tom Morello (QRO live review) is featured on eight of the twelve songs on High Hopes, even sharing vocal duties on “The Ghost of Tom Joad”. That might not be a complete surprise as Rage covered that song on their 2000 album Renegades. Other songs of note are “Harry’s Place” with its ‘80s Miami Vice vibe and the touching “The Wall”, which explores the sensitive issue of fallen soldiers and the reasons they go to war.
Does being a b-side make a song bad? Certainly not! It’s just that these songs don’t fit well or flow together the way Bruce Springsteen’s albums usually do. If High Hopes had been billed as a b-sides album rather than Springsteen’s 18th studio album, then people wouldn’t have gone into the experience expecting the proper follow up to 2012’s Wrecking Ball (QRO review), which they are clearly not getting.
Bruce Springsteen – The Ghost of Tom Joad
