Letter to You

When Bruce Springsteen's "Western Stars" was released I was full of praise, but on reflection I think much of that was due to the surprise at the Boss's change of direction, and over the last year I haven't replayed "Western Stars" as much as I had anticipated I would. Instead I've found myself heading back into the telecaster swinging sound of the Boss and the E Street gang, but that's probably because in these strange times I need something to cheer me up.So what about "Letter To You", does that cheer me up? Well the gang's all here; the boys and girl of the E Street Band, Roy, Nils, Patti, Garry, Stevie, Max, Charlie and Jake are back on board and ready to rock. And that's good because "Letter To You" was, we're told, recorded live but this being 2020 "live" doesn't mean with an audience it just means they played simultaneously in the same room [with nine members of the band including the Boss they obviously weren't subject to the rule of six!]. But that also means that there's nothing new here, this is a return to the safe familiar sound of so many of the Boss's albums and of course it's full of songs of blue collar struggle, of hopes dashed and fears realised; this time though there's a thread of Springsteen's own mortality that runs through the tracks that has led some reviews to describe this as a concept album [!]. Springsteen however despite his seventy plus years remains in fine voice as he works through a range of styles from "solo" reflective songs to stadia rocking bombasts and all points in between, and as ever the E Street Band add their decoration to give this set of songs that distinctive Bruce Springsteen sound.Opener "One Minute You're Here" with its theme of loss and it's black train metaphor starts as a mournful solo guitar-picking ballad that picks up where "Western Stars" left off, and then gently evolves with muted piano, organ, drums, and an echo on Springsteen's gruff vocals, it's OK but not how I wanted this album to open. But then the gang kicks into gear with the title track "Letter To You", a stop/start rocker ballad, this is the Boss doing what the Boss does best. It's so very Springsteen it wouldn't have been out of place on many of his earlier albums, but with its theme of loss it would have slotted in particularly well on "Tunnel of Love"."Burnin' Train" is a punky rocker with clashing guitar chords, pounding drums and a lengthy Big Country style swirling guitar solo, it's good but doesn't really go anywhere and frankly it sounds a bit under-developed [perhaps this is the disadvantage of the "live recording process"]. "Janey Needs A Shooter" is another rocker and one of three songs here that apparently failed to make the cut for any of Springsteen's early albums, including "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" or "The River" where it would have fitted in well with its story line, but this resurrection is timely and you can hear the guitar and organ in particular really playing off the vocals."Last Man Standing" is a reference to the loss of the other members of Springsteen's first band the Castiles leaving Springsteen now as the "last man standing". It swings but it's not a rocker, and with its changes of tempo it's a bit too Springsteen by numbers and could have come from the "Magic" or Working On A Dream" albums. Similarly "The Power Of Prayer" is nothing special, even Springsteen's voice has lost its raw edge on this track but Jake Clemons is given an extended blow on the outro and its good to hear the E Street sax loud and clear.For a song entitled "House Of A Thousand Guitars" [this is not a cover of Willie Nile's "House Of A Thousand Guitars"] opening with a solo piano seems a bit of an oxymoron, but it's not long before the rest of the band kicks in and turn this into a good time swing-along, singalong that will make a good live number [that's the type of live where there's an audience].There are no prizes for guessing the identity of the cheating, lying, conman "Rainmaker" and while I applaud the sentiment the song sounds way more John Mellencamp than Bruce Springsteen and it doesn't fit well with the rest of the album, at least not at this point. Unlike "If I Was The Priest", the second old song that has been resurrected and is a throwback to the sound of "The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle".Springsteen returns to the loss of former bandmates in "Ghosts", but this time he rocks and how; this is probably my favourite track, it's a six minute bombast that reminds me of "We Take Care Of Our Own"; I find my hands and feet keeping time with Weinberg's and you just know when that cymbal is going to crash, this is the essence of the E-Street Band's DNA and oh how I want to sing this with the faithful at Wembley [or any other stadium].For "Song For Orphans" Springsteen picks up the harmonica and I'm transported back to the story songs of the "Born To Run" album which is perhaps not to be unexpected as this is the third of the old, but previously unused songs from the '70s; that said there is something that's very familiar, even very Dylan-esque about this song. And then there's the closer "I'll See You In My Dreams" which I had expected to book-end the album alongside "One Minute You're Here" but this is more up tempo and has the band helping out but it's not the song that I would have chosen to close the album with [that would have been "One Minute You're Here"].So a return to safe and familiar territory, or perhaps territories as "Letter To You" has something for everybody, and that's both this albums crowning glory and its failing. I like most of it, it has the familiarity and comfort of an old pair of shoes, but like an old pair of shoes it's worn in places and that why it's only four stars.

Fantastic CD Love Bruce

One of his greatest albums. My 3 purchase to give to others to show how great it is

Great product efficiently delivered.

Who knows what Springsteen must have felt when he found himself in the studio with his lifelong companions, the E Street Band, and proposed that he find a definitive shape for three of his best early career songs.Amazing to think, it doesn't happen that often after all, that Springsteen's new album, his twentieth, features three of his best songs ever. Picked up from the early seventies, when his future in music was really still to be written, and now re-recorded with the complete E Street Band and totally rearranged from the original versions recorded when Bruce was in his early twenties. Springsteen is no stranger to this type of operation.In this round, Bruce takes three now legendary compositions - Janey Needs a Shooter, If I Was The Priest and Song for Orphans - and recreates them with an E Street Band like he hasn't heard in years. The first is a done and finished anthem that if it had been included in any of his records from the seventies, now it would never be missing in any setlist of ours. If I Was The Priest is everything any fan of Bruce and his band would want to hear: fantastic lyrics (the best of this collection), a sparkling interplay between the members, his dirty voice and 'aged' to the point. right. Then there is Song for Orphans which aims straight for the top ten of Springsteen’s best songs in nearly fifty years of his career.In Letter To You there is also much more. Starting with the double One Minute You're Here / Letter To You which has the task of opening the record and making clear the themes that will be addressed during the following almost sixty minutes: life, death, the saving power of music and love.Then there is Ghosts, the highlight of the freshest compositions contained in Letter To You, which is not difficult to imagine played in front of a hundred thousand people who all sing it in chorus.The disc ends with the convincing mid tempo I’ll See You In My Dreams, where Springsteen sings that "death is not the end" finding the square with all the themes dealt with in the course of the album.Letter To You is one of the most convincing works of Bruce Springsteen's last twenty years with his life group. Of course, some songs could have been solved with a slightly shorter playing time, perhaps the only real criticism that can be made of this work, but it is the work in its entirety that convinces.Only as the best Bruce records manage to do, Letter To You manages to give the strength to continue believing and hoping, despite the grief we live, despite the fears we all have, despite all that life has in store.Because Letter To You is the very letter we wish we could have received from Springsteen.

Love this album. Poignant lyrics. Vinyl edition nicely packaged. Bought after attending recent Springsteen gig. Recommend it.