Bruce Springsteen: Western Stars review – the Boss takes the scenic route

Bruce Springsteen: Western Stars review – the Boss takes the scenic route

by Alexis Petridis

On a detour...Bruce Springsteen

The 19th Bruce Springsteen album has been heralded as a dramatic break from tradition.

So dramatic, in fact, that in the interviews accompanying its release, Western Stars’ author has felt impelled to reassure fans that he’ll be back recording and touring with the E Street Band later this year.

It’s hard to miss the hint of “normal service will be resumed as soon as possible” about that announcement, balm for Boss fans horrified by how far Western Stars takes their hero from either of his standard musical styles.

There’s not a hint of the E Street Band’s booming Sturm und Drang, nor the stripped-back earthiness of his previous solo albums here: they’re replaced by luscious orchestrations, heavy on the strings and French horn, cooing female backing vocals, guitars that shimmer and quiver with tremolo effects, mournful pedal steel.

Full Story: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jun/06/bruce-springsteen-western-stars-review