I've seen a few people write about the new Bruce Springsteen album (apparently though the E Street Band is backing him, they receive no credit...at least on the outside). I haven't acquired it yet, but a few things are coming through from those who are talking about it. First of all, its a bit-forced. Studio-tricks take precedent and make it feel like its a bit phoned-in. Secondly, some have said it's incredibly political, and not in the non-partisan ways of old for him. I guess that's not really a surprise, since its all the rage to be political (i.e. to the pseudo-progressive left) these days, but a shame nontheless. I guess when I finally get ahold of it I'll know.
Ah...apparently Radiohead "released" a new album last week, hehe. And are now bathing in money due to the "ingenious" method they used to release it. I want to make something clear. I don't hate Radiohead. In fact, The Bends and OK Computer are two of my favorite albums of all time. And while the sound isn't the same, it seems that Radiohead began to follow a path of similarity about a year or so before Wilco did. Heavy on atmospherics and studio-trickery, Kid A, Amnesiac, and Hail to the Thief kinda turned me off. Not that they aren't good albums and not that they can't be listened to...they just remind of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost is Born...completely overrated, pseudo-organic examples of waaay too much time in the studio. (And I will still hold to this day, regardless of how I Am Trying To Break Your Heart made him look, Wilco will never be the same without Jay Bennett). Just my two cents, which I know seem to be heavily disagreed with, but that's cool.
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I agree with half of what you say with regard to the new Springsteen. The music really does feel measured and meticulous to me-- not at all the soaring, spirited E-Street sound that some critics (and the press release) promise. But with regard to politics... well, there's a melancholy undercurrent to the whole album that culminates in a trio of explicitly political-- or at least, protest-- songs at the end of the record, but the writing on these is actually really fine, not at all overbearing or ham-fisted. In fact, with regard to songwriting, the album has grown on me considerably since I wrote my remarks about it, though I stand by my overall assessment of the album.
Radiohead's new one, by the way, is as tuneful and uncomplicated in its beauty as anything they've done. It's not an album focusing on studio trickery at all. (To be honest, though, Kid A is still my favorite of their albums.)
Yeah...I should have known better than to trust some of the comments I heard from someone leaning quite right.
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