Bruce Springsteen (Working on a Dream)

[Slim Zaddy]

Released IE, DE January 23, 2009[1]
AU January 24, 2009
US January 27, 2009
Recorded: 2008
Genre :Rock
Length 51:28
Label Columbia Records
Producer Brendan O'Brien

overview:
The album was officially announced, along with a track listing, on November 17, 2008.[3] The album first began selling in Germany and Ireland, on January 23. A new tour will commence on April 1, 2009, in the wake of the album's release, with most dates being announced in mid-late January 2009.

The album came out of songwriting and recording that Springsteen continued with towards the close of his previous work, 2007's Magic.[4] "What Love Can Do" was written, in Springsteen's words, as a "love in the time of Bush" meditation, but felt like the start of something new rather than a candidate for Magic.[4] Encouraged by his 2000s producer Brendan O'Brien, Springsteen decided to start work on a new album and wrote "This Life", "My Lucky Day", "Life Itself", "Good Eye", and "Tomorrow Never Knows" over the next week.[4] They were then recorded with the E Street Band during breaks on their 2007–2008 Magic Tour, with most being finished in just a few takes.[3] This all reflected a faster pace of producing new music than Springsteen had been known for in the past.[4] The album is the last to feature new work of founding E Street Band member Danny Federici, who died in April 2008.[5] Federici's son Jason also plays on the album.[5]

Title number "Working on a Dream" was first performed during Springsteen's November 2, 2008 appearance in Cleveland for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign (accompanied by Patti Scialfa), and then a chopped-up airing of the recorded version first appeared during the November 16 NBC Sunday Night Football broadcast at halftime. The intact "Working on a Dream" began airing on radio stations and their websites on November 21,[6] and was made available for free download via iTunes and the Sony BMG website on November 24. The track entered the UK Singles Chart at position 195 the following week.[7] A music video appeared on some foreign sites showing the recording of the song. "My Lucky Day" was made available in the U.S. on amazon.com on December 1, accompanied by a longer music video that showed Springsteen and the band arranging and recording the song.[8] "Life Itself" was released as a free download from amazon.com on December 28, with a music video that featured studio footage interspersed with vague scene snippets that may illuminate the moody song.[9]

The release of the first two songs prompted The New York Times to proclaim Springsteen as "more hopeful, less bleak" than on his previous album Magic.[10] It saw this go-around of the Springsteen persona manifesting "the voice of an honest striver redeemed by love and hard work".[10]

The album's opener, "Outlaw Pete," is over eight minutes, while two others are under three minutes.[5] Early listeners considered it one of Springsteen's most stylistically diverse efforts overall.[11] The album also recalls some of Springsteen's earlier efforts, as "The Last Carnival" has been interpreted as a sequel to "Wild Billy's Circus Story" from 1973's The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle.[12]

On January 12, 2009, the album leaked onto the internet. On January 19, NPR.org scheduled a streaming of it free for a week, in advance of the actual release.[13] Sony BMG's Irish website also began streaming it.[14] An extensive and carefully planned promotional push for Springsteen and the album was put together, incorporating his appearances at the Golden Globe Awards, the Barack Obama presidential inauguration, a new greatest hits album, the half-time show of Super Bowl XLIII, and an anticipated appearance at the 81st Academy Awards.[11] The last of these went awry when, in what Rolling Stone termed "shocking news", "The Wrestler" was snubbed by the Academy and failed to gain a nomination.[15] "Working on a Dream" was included in Springsteen's performance during the Super Bowl.

Track listing
"Outlaw Pete" - 8:00
"My Lucky Day" - 4:01
"Working on a Dream" - 3:30
"Queen of the Supermarket" - 4:40
"What Love Can Do" - 2:57
"This Life" - 4:30
"Good Eye" - 3:01
"Tomorrow Never Knows" - 2:14
"Life Itself" - 4:00
"Kingdom of Days" - 4:02
"Surprise, Surprise" - 3:24
"The Last Carnival" - 3:11
Bonus tracks
1."The Wrestler" - 3:50
2."A Night with the Jersey Devil" 3:23 (Japanese edition only)

Bonus track information
3."The Wrestler" first appeared in August 2008 at the 65th Venice International Film Festival debut of the film The Wrestler. In December 2008 it received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and won the award during the 66th Golden Globe Awards on January 11, 2009. The album version, without end-credits string introduction, became available on iTunes on December 16, in advance of the film's U.S. major cities openings in the subsequent days.

"A Night With the Jersey Devil" first appeared in October 2008 on Springsteen's website, accompanied by a Halloween-themed music video.[2] But subsequent press releases omitted mention of it, and Springsteen sources confirmed it had been removed, for reasons unknown.[17] However, the song is included as a bonus track on the vinyl[18], iTunes deluxe edition, and Japanese[19] editions of the album.


Deluxe edition
Includes the full CD plus a DVD featuring:
1."The Sessions DVD"
A 38-minute documentary showing behind-the-scenes footage of the recording of the album.[5] Produced, directed, and edited by Thom Zimny, it includes studio footage edited to the tracks of "My Lucky Day," "Queen of the Supermarket," "Kingdom of Days," "Working on a Dream," "Life Itself," and "The Last Carnival."[20] It also contains demos and early band versions of the songs as they were worked up.[20]
2."A Night With the Jersey Devil" 3:23

Credits:
Christopher Austopchuk Art Direction, Design
David Bett Art Direction, Design
Roy Bittan Organ, Piano, Accordion
Billy Bowers Engineer
Kevin Buell Coordination
Barbara Carr Management
Clarence Clemons Saxophone, Vocals
Danny Clinch Portraits, Cover Photo
Nick DiDia Engineer
Danny Federici Organ
Jason Federici Accordion
Michelle Holme Art Direction, Design
Eddie Horst Horn Arrangements, String Arrangements
Patti Horst Contractor
Derek Karlquist Assistant
Rick Kwan Assistant
Paul Lamalfa Assistant
Jon Landau Management
Wayne Lebeaux Coordination
Nils Lofgren Guitar, Vocals
Bob Ludwig Mastering
Kevin Mills Assistant
Tim Mitchell Assistant
Brendan O'Brien Producer, Mixing
Jackie O'Brien Project Coordinator
Alison Oscar Management
Sophia Pecora Management
Patti Scialfa Vocals
Toby Scott Engineer
Mala Sharma Project Coordinator
Bruce Springsteen Guitar, Harmonica, Percussion, Glockenspiel, Keyboards, Vocals
Shari Sutcliffe Contractor
Tom Syrowski Engineer
Darren Tablan Assistant
Tom Taley Assistant
Garry Tallent Bass
Soozie Tyrell Violin, Vocals
Jennifer Tzar Photography
Steve VanZandt Guitar, Vocals
Patrick Warren Piano, Keyboards
Max Weinberg Drums


Charts & Awards
Austria[21] 1
Australia[22] 3
Belgium[23] 4
Canada[24] 1 20,000[24]
Finland[25] 1
Ireland[26] 1 Platinum[citation needed] 15,000[citation needed]
Italy[27] 1
Netherlands[28] 1
New Zealand[29] 1
Norway[30] 1
Portugal[31] 5
Spain[32] 1
Sweden[33] 1 Platinum[33] 40,000[33]
Switzerland[34] 1
U.K.[35] 1 67,316[36]
U.S. Billboard 200[16] 1 224,000[16]

My Review:
From its bright, brittle production to its tossed-off postage stamp cover art, Working on a Dream is in every respect a companion piece to Magic, an album that's merely a set of songs, both sprawling and deliberately small, songs that don't necessarily tackle any one major theme but all add up to a portrait of their time. Magic chronicled the dog days of Bush where Working on a Dream is designed as a keynote to the Obama age, released just a week after the inauguration of the U.S.'s 44th president and not coincidentally containing not a little optimism within its 13 tracks. This sense of hope is a tonic to the despair that crept into the margins of Magic but it's easy to posit Working on a Dream as pure positivity, which isn't exactly true digital production that muffles the music's imagination and impact. A large part of Springsteen's appeal has always been how the E Street Band has sounded as big and open as his heart, but Working on a Dream, like Magic before it, has a production that feels tiny and constrained even as it is layered with extraneous details. It's possible to listen around this production and hear the modest charms of the songs, but the album would be better if the sound matched the sentiment.

[Slim Zaddy]

I think your suppose to write the review yourself

i did for mostly all of them , but i add some lines form outside ,, i wont deny it ..

[Slim Zaddy]

Well I just read this whole review on a different site, so what was added

not trying to pick on you man, just saying write them yourself

well actually to be honest with you man , the artist that i dont know about them that much ,, i did ad lines to my reviews .. i know that you're not trying to be a pick on me chet ,, but i will write my full review from now and on ,,