New Music / BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN / The Promise (Sony)

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/11/2010 (5522 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

 

BRUCE Springsteen was in peak form in the mid-1970s, but following the release of 1975’s masterpiece, Born to Run, a lawsuit by former manager Mike Appel meant it would be three years before the public heard any new music from The Boss.

That didn’t stop him from writing, though, and when he got back to the studio, he and the E Street Band recorded four albums worth of material, selecting 10 lean, mean tracks for what was to become 1978’s Darkness on the Edge of Town. The Promise collects 22 songs that didn’t fit his vision for that album, and serves as a must-have for fans who will marvel at how these tracks remained hidden for so long. The double disc set (also available as a box set with extra goodies, live footage and documentaries) showcases everything that made Springsteen what he is, both tough and tender, with characters who live life on the edge, are dragged down by despair, love each other too much or are still looking for love.

And no matter what, everything’s better when you can just get out on the road and drive.

Ain’t Good Enough for You is an exuberant slice of ’50s-inspired rock ‘n’ roll; there’s a confident strut to It’s a Shame; Outside Looking In is hard and gritty; Wrong Side of the Street would have fit in perfectly with the bleaker theme of Darkness; and there are plenty of ballads for those who like Springsteen’s softer side. There are snatches of lyrics that would be reworked and reused down the road, and a couple of songs, Fire and Because the Night, which became hits for the Pointer Sisters and Patti Smith, respectively.

Consider it a promise fulfilled. 4-1/2 stars

— Rob Williams