{"id":1395,"date":"2007-10-18T13:00:27","date_gmt":"2007-10-18T13:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/idolchatter\/2007\/10\/springsteens-magic-endures.html"},"modified":"2007-10-18T13:00:27","modified_gmt":"2007-10-18T13:00:27","slug":"springsteens-magic-endures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2007\/10\/springsteens-magic-endures.html","title":{"rendered":"Springsteen’s “Magic” Endures"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"magic.jpg\"Bruce Springsteen\u2019s \u201cMagic\u201d has been winning fans and critics alike in its initial weeks of release. Some are liking it for its inspiration. Some are wowed by his maturity. Some just love a grittier sound that\u2019s closer to classic rock than today\u2019s clutter. Some love the 70\u2019s-ish hooks or the 80\u2019s-ish alternative riffs. And some just love that Bruce is still making music, and\/or that he\u2019s reunited with his E-Street Band mates. I like it for a combination of those reasons with a twist.
\nI think one of the most enduring potential inspirational qualities anyone can have is endurance. We live in a fast-moving world of instant gratification, quick results, immediate nostalgia and thin loyalties. People don\u2019t work for companies for 40 years any more. We don\u2019t tune into the same channel each week at the same time. We don\u2019t have a favorite radio station, because we\u2019ve created our own radio with our mp3 player. Outside of those who love ESPN or the Discovery Channel, few people could name a favorite TV station.
\nBut Bruce Springsteen shows in his current album that, while he and his E Street Band may be older, they are still making rock songs with lyrics that matter and appealing to long-time fans who stick with them while winning new ones from the younger generations. They haven’t had to pair with younger talents or do commercial soundtracks to stay relevant.<\/p>\n


\nSeveral of the tracks on \u201cMagic\u201d could easily fit musically on one of his 70\u2019s or 80\u2019s albums, especially \u201cBorn to Run,\u201d \u201cBorn in the U.S.A.\u201d or \u201cTunnel of Love,\u201d though his lyrics aren\u2019t about Jersey girls and union jobs anymore. Instead, he\u2019s singing about everything from love to war to death to faith, in a way that blends a sound people love with some questions not easily solved. Hopefully, though, people are asking, and the charts (#1 or #2 each week since its release) and reviews would seem to render that a \u201cyes:\u201d
\n\u201cMagic is, in one way, the most openly nostalgic record Springsteen has ever made,\u201d wrote David Fricke of Rolling Stone<\/a>. \u201cBut Springsteen\u2019s songwriting here is also intricately wired with outrage and disbelief.\u201d
\nMark Seleski noted on BlogCritics<\/a>that on \u201c\u2019Girls In Their Summer Clothes,\u2019 I\u2019ve never heard Bruce sing like this before.\u201d
\nOf all the reviews, I agreed with the L.A. Times <\/a>the most. \u201cThe wild-eyed innocence may be gone, but the new album rocks like classic Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band,\u201d wrote Ann Powers. \u201cHis lyrics blend religious and secular scenarios to describe the various apocalypses his fans might encounter in their own lives.\u201d
\n\u201cIt’s the way Springsteen injects his American bible stories with the air of disbelief that makes “Magic” a truly mature and memorable album,\u201d she added. \u201cHe knows his fans need that rush, that jump outside their own feelings of disappointment and limitation, that he’s given them for so long, yet more and more he seems to realize that disappointment and limitation are his m\u00e9tier\u2026(\u201cMagic\u201d) provides a kind of transcendence that allows for listeners to keep their feet on the ground.\u201d
\nThese tunes are good enough that you\u2019ll actually want Bruce to play \u2018em live (even sacrificing a few of the old standards!), especially rockers “Radio Nowhere,” “Last To Die” and “Long Walk Home.” And you’ll have your candles–err, cell phones–lit during “Magic,” a title track that is even prettier and deeper than the likes of “My Hometown” and “I”m on Fire.” And, perhaps even then, you\u2019ll be pondering some of the questions that Bruce continues to ask, with his enduring attractiveness that says \u201cMagic\u201d won\u2019t be the E-Street Band\u2019s last effort.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bruce Springsteen\u2019s \u201cMagic\u201d has been winning fans and critics alike in its initial weeks of release. Some are liking it for its inspiration. Some are wowed by his maturity. Some just love a grittier sound that\u2019s closer to classic rock than today\u2019s clutter. Some love the 70\u2019s-ish hooks or the 80\u2019s-ish alternative riffs. And some…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music"],"yoast_head":"\nSpringsteen's "Magic" Endures<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2007\/10\/springsteens-magic-endures.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Springsteen's "Magic" Endures\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bruce Springsteen\u2019s \u201cMagic\u201d has been winning fans and critics alike in its initial weeks of release. 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