Track By Track: Bruce Springsteen's 'High Hopes'

If you're impatient, then you've already hear Bruce Springsteen's forthcoming LP High Hopes thanks to the leak of a couple of weeks ago or a flagrant disregard for the process of geoblocking. No judgement here, you rotten criminals.

Today we got our first listen to the record proper, and here are our thoughts.

HIGH HOPES

The massive title track, which opens High Hopes, suggests right from the outset that The E-Street Band are going to be a big part of this record. The primal, rumbling drums and the soulful burst of life from both the backing singers and horn section through the pre-chorus and chorus lend a celebratory touch to a hard luck tale – lending an overwhelming sense of optimism to the song.

Midway through a signature Tom Morello guitar solo offers the newest element of the E-Street Band experience. Whether his input is welcome or not is up for debate, but it's not as jarring as one might've thought it would be had his inclusion been suggested ten years ago. It'll be interesting to see how it impacts on the popularity of its writer Tim Scott McConnell.

HARRY'S PLACE

“You don't fuck with Harry's money, you don't fuck Harry's girls,” Springsteen growls at the song's most brutal moment.

If High Hopes is a ray of sunshine, Harry's Place is a big, dark, evil thunderstorm. It's a song packed with a cast of intriguing characters – all of whom you could imagine would have a brilliant backstory that you'd urge The Boss to tell you given the chance.

Morello's noisy guitar is actually fantastic in the song's outro - angry, snarling, chaotic and scary.

AMERICAN SKIN (41 SHOTS)

A slow building classic Springsteen ballad that kicks into a brilliant, soaring solo that's far more reminiscent of the Springsteen sound we know and love.

It's already well-known enough, having been released on its own back in 2001, the track talks about the shooting of unarmed immigrant Amadou Diallo in 1999 but has found its way back into Springsteen shows of late after the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012.

"You get killed just for living in your American skin," Springsteen offers.

JUST LIKE FIRE WOULD

The mood lifts with this cover of Brisbane punk rock legends The Saints. Admittedly this is far from their most punk rock moment, the 1986 single owing more to melodic American rock than their punk origins.

It's such a fantastically catchy song, and Springsteen just reminds us of how good it is here. He does the song justice and it's a good fit for him, being so far removed from Chris Bailey's mid-70s snarl. Though you'd imagine The Boss would do songs from their first two records brilliantly as well.

DOWN IN THE HOLE

There's a strange segue from the crackling of the vocals in the songs intro to the fullness of the verse proper – without knowing if there's a reason for it, it is jarring and it tarnishes the song.

A familiar Celtic influence is prevalent in this one, moaning fiddles and a small, cooing choir providing the musical bed for the most part.

HEAVEN'S WALL

“Raise your hands, Raise your hands, Raise your hands” a gospel choir exult in the intro. It turns out these three words make up the majority of the song. There's Plenty of religious imagery in this upbeat number – references to the Canaan land, Jonah and the whale, Gideon, Saul and Abraham litter any lyrics that aren't made up of those initial three words.

It feels undercooked - it'll be a fun addition to the bands live show, but it doesn't add much to the record.

FRANKIE FELL IN LOVE

“World peace gonna break out, from now on in we're eating take-out,” not The Boss' finest hour.

Frankie Fell In Love features some of the more ludicrous lyrics we've heard from Bruce Springsteen, which is a shame because everything else about the song is brilliant. It's short, sharp and catchy and is, musically, a bloody well written song. Maybe the simplicity of the lyrics will grow on me, but upon first listen it kinda sounded like Bruce was phoning it in.

THIS IS YOUR SWORD

More Celtic influence here in this nice little ditty about love. But it's nothing special, kinda feeling like a bit of – admittedly really good – filler.

HUNTER OF INVISIBLE GAME

One of the absolute highlights of the record and one of the songs that you'd happily put beside classic Springsteen fare. His lyrical greatness is back (thank God) as he extols the virtues of love and how it's more important than anything else, through the eyes of a rough, road train riding “hunter of invisible game”.

Like the best Springsteen songs it has that perfect mix of tough and sensitive emotion running through it and, as a result, it's one of the record's most endearing songs.

THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD

Why would Springsteen remind us of one of his finest hours in the midst of a new record? Sure, he's confident in this unreleased material, but The Ghost Of Tom Joad does nothing but tell us that there is nothing in Springsteen's latest batch of songs that can hold a flame to him in his finest hour.

This rendition is muscular and as epic as you'd want from a full-band rehash. Yes, unsurprisingly, Springsteen plays his own song very well.

Morello does fit in very well on the song – much (not all) of his usual histrionics are traded for plain old epic soloing more reminiscent of 80s power rock than 90s rap metal. He sings his parts capably too - all in all it's great, but is it really necessary?

THE WALL

Oh boy. This is an absolute heartbreaker. Get some tissues and Google some pictures of dogs doing hilarious things before you get to this, because it's fucking devastating.

The song is about a man lost to war and it's written from the perspective of friend sitting graveside. Sounds rough already, right? Well in the hands of the brilliant Bruce Springsteen it just gets more harrowing.

Apologies are flying from those responsible for making the war happen, but the narrator who sits their mourning their fallen friend isn't interested in apologies. Apparently it's autobiographical, Springsteen reportedly writing it after the death of his friend Walter Cichon who died in the Vietnam War. It's just so incredibly moving and it will make you want to cry.

It's great musically as well, very sparse with gently picked guitar, tasteful organ, bagpipes and trumpet all tugging at the heart strings when Bruce doesn't. Nothing short of brilliant.

DREAM BABY DREAM

One of the best tracks by perennially underrated post-punk group Suicide. A live version of Springsteen playing this has been circulating for years and it's nice to have a real recording now. It's certainly not as good as the original, but it's something of a clever bookend to the record. While it shares the same sentiment as opener High Hopes, its simplicity conveys the sound of someone who has been beaten down and just wants a smile. 

"I just want to see you smile," Springsteen urges.

Hopefully we can hear him cover Frankie Teardrop on the next album.

For a ragtag collection of songs just slapped together for release, it sounds surprisingly cohesive. The theme of hope doesn't necessarily run through the album entirely, but it's certainly prevalent. It's doubtful any fan is expecting this to be The Boss' finest hour ­– and of course it's not – but when all is said and done it's still a welcome addition to his almighty body of work.