Album Review: Bruce Springsteen - High Hopes

The soulful burst of life from the backing singers and horns gets Springsteen's High Hopes off on an optimistic, celebratory note, while the closer – a cover of Suicide's Dream Baby Dream – exults that same hope in a far more reserved, bleak manner. They're clever bookends, but given this is a ragtag bunch of songs, the theme isn't exactly strong throughout.

The dark Harry's Place speaks of a cast of intriguing characters we wish we could know better, American Skin (41 Shots) is classic slow-burning Springsteen; he doesn't change The Saints' Just Like Fire Would much, but a song as good as this in the hands of the E-Street Band sparkles magnificently while Frankie Fell In Love would be brilliant if it weren't for some of the worst lyrics to ever come out of The Boss' mouth.

While there's some filler (Heaven's Wall, This Is Your Sword), there's also gold towards the end; Hunter Of Invisible Game sees Springsteen mix tough and sensitive perfectly and a muscular reworking of The Ghost Of Tom Joad reminds us how good a song it is.

But the album's highlight comes with the penultimate track; The Wall is a crushing indictment of the Vietnam War from the perspective of someone who has lost a friend. When you find out that someone is Bruce himself, you just want to give the guy a hug.

It's not a Springsteen classic and there aren't any great surprises, but it's good enough to keep the fans happy.