Rolling Stone only gave this 4 stars. That does not bode well for this album's quality!

In the middle of listening to it now but im just popping in real quick to say that "If I Was the Priest" is goddamn delicious and worth the price of admission.

Rolling Stone is nearly always way off base for me with Springsteen albums. For reference, Working on a Dream was a five star instant classic from them (and the review made it sound like a latter day Born to Run), but Western Stars got 4 stars.

They basically panned all his work until he became a rock legacy and then heaped undue praise. Sometimes I think they get a lot of albums on the money, but it’s also often hard to tell if they are just playing the expectations game, like they are worried they will get it wrong (Led Zeppelin also comes to mind). It’s kind of like how Pitchfork alters their reviews based on whether the album will be perceived as indie enough to keep their readers.

This is pretty good. Not mind blowing or shockingly wonderful like Western Stars but there are a handful of songs on here worthy of his catalog.

I had higher hopes because I was so excited for him and the E Street Band to knock something out of the park but it falls a bit flat in some places.

I'd give it a 3 out of 5 though. A low 3 after 1 listen.

I do love Letter To you, If I was priest, Ghosts, Song for Orphans.

Also he sounds absolutely stunning throughout the album.

House of a thousand guitars is awful

Stump is right that the middle run is a slog. The opening 4 tracks and last 4 tracks are alright. The album needs a Gypsy Biker, No Surrender or Last to Die. Something a little dangerous.

I totally agree with you, but really is it fair to compare any of his other late career releases to Magic? It's becoming more and more clear with time that Magic is a bit of a late career miracle and IMO easily up there with his top 5 releases. I know there's alot of love for Western Stars out there...i love it as well, but i don't think it touches his top 5.

It rests comfortably in the 6 to 10 range for me.

Letter to you is stronger than i originally thought.


Last man Standing through house of thousand guitars is a weak run and the album closes out on a limp, but everything else is good to great.

I can live with that.

My one/two is pretty much always Born To Run/Darkness, but i feel fairly comfortable dropping Magic in with Born in the USA and Nebraska to round out my top 5. Western Stars probably closer to 10.

Only had one full listen but i agree its pretty good...certainly light years better than Working On A Dream & High Hopes.

My top 5 would be Born to Run, The Wild..., The River, Darkness..., Nebraska

I don’t expect Letter to You to get anywhere close to this.

Hmm:

in no order

Born to Run
Darkness
Born in the USA
Magic
Western Stars
------------

Nebraska and the River and the Rising


Not sure how i feel about that but that just fell out of my finger tips so im sticking with it for now.

The real highlight so far.

Greetings
Born to run
Darkness
Western stars
Born in the USA

Nebraska is good but falls short of top 5

I'm not sure of the exact order of my Top 10, but Darkness is certainly number one.

Darkness
Magic
Nebraska
Born To Run
Wild Innocent

I'd probably put The River over Born to Run but otherwise this is me too.

I'm bored...

1) Darkness On The Edge of Town
2) Born to Run
3) Born In the USA
4) Magic
5) Nebraska
6) Tunnel of Love
7) The Wild, The Innocent & The E-Street Shuffle
8) The River
9) The Rising
10) Western Stars
11)Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ
12) Devils & Dust
13) The Ghost of Tom Joad
14) Wrecking Ball
15) We Shall Overcome
16) Lucky Town
17) Human Touch
18) Working On A Dream
19) High Hopes