Thank God Bruce threw out the fiddles from "The Seeger Sessions" and picked up his guitar. You know that when Bruce has both Steve Van Zandt's and Nils Lofgren's guitars backing him, that all is well in the state of Rock and Roll. I'm sure SS was a good album, but I like my Bruce the way I like my men. Straight and strong.
My favorite song on his new album, "Magic," is "Living in the Future," which starts off like "Tenth Avenue Freeze-out" but is way hornier and tinged with subtle jabs about what W & Company has done to the country.
It's rare I get the chance to mix two things I love to do, get syrupy over Bruce and bash W, at the same time. But since Bruce has tackled the effects of this administration on our country in "Magic," I get to write not only about how he hates W, too, but at the same time I get to gush like a school girl over him. Did you see his muscles on that 60 Minutes interview? Did I just say muscles? I meant, wrinkles. He's got wrinkles and muscles. He's nearly sixty and he looks good and is sounding even better. He gives hope to all of us forty-somethings worried over aging. Maybe we’ll just get better like him.
I bought 'Magic" on Tuesday, and have probably heard it a dozen times. The album grows on you with each listen. "Gypsy Biker" is a beautiful song about an Iraq vet coming home in a coffin. Like so many of his songs, it's a short story set to music. "We pulled your cycle out of the garage/And polished up the chrome." Then the theme builds in "Last to Die," as Bruce's anger over Iraq is more palatable here. In "Magic," we see him circle back to "Living in the Future," singing, "This is what will be, this is what will be." Oh he's pissed. Well, so am I and that’s why he continues to be the soundtrack to my life.
"Long Walk Home" is being compared to "My Hometown," except it has more balls. A father speaks to his son, who is about to be shipped out, of sacrifices and "Who we are, what we'll do/And what we won't." I for one, won't let a day go by without listening to "Magic." That is till Bruce puts out another album, hopefully ones without fiddles.
