Why Bruce stinks lately

Here is a very interesting take on Bruce Springsteen and why his recent albums are so disappointing and yet his live shows are still so good.

Bruce Springsteen's new album, Working on a Dream (Columbia), is the weakest he's ever released--weaker even than the twin disappointments of 1992, Human Touch and Lucky Town. And yet his show at Washington's Verizon Center last week was an utter triumph--and not, as you might think, just because of the older songs sprinkled throughout the set list. Even his recent compositions sparkled on stage.

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It's almost as if Springsteen has made the mistake of reading his own press clippings too closely. So many critics--and I'm as guilty as anyone--have pointed out the grand themes lying beneath his stories of his blue-collar New Jersey pals that he has started writing about the themes instead of the pals.

Here is the rest.