Lucky Town

If ever there was an underdog that need championing, then this album surely qualifies.Though not completely panned upon it's release, it was hardly held up to much critical acclaim either.Put out simultaneously with "Human Touch", that record in my eyes was the album the Boss felt he had to release, containing songs that he felt the public expected to hear, "Lucky Town" however feels and sounds like the album he wanted to make, or indeed maybe even needed to make.

In this respect "Lucky Town" is a very honest and personal record, detailing a specific ongoing portion of Springsteen's life, much like "Tunnel of Love" had done 5 years previously.Not only though is this (for the most part) a more upbeat, optimistic album , it also contain some of Bruce's best writing, the songs being full of memorable, meaningful couplets and verses.From the belting opening "Better Days", with lines line "I took a piss at fortune's sweet kiss, it's like eating caviar and dirt,it's a sad funny ending when you find yourself pretending, a rich man in a poor man's shirt", and the whole premise of "Local Hero", Springsteen is able to take a humble, almost self-mocking view of himself and his life up to that point.Both songs along with the title track, with it's opening lines of "House got too crowded, clothes got too tight,and i don't know just where i'm going tonight" suggest a man about to break loose, on the verge of something special.These feelings are encapsulated perfectly in the gorgeous closing song, where Springsteen sums up the prevailing mood, "Searching for My Beautiful Reward".

Inbetween we get glimpses that maybe the Boss has found what he has been looking for, "If i Should Fall Behind" is one of the most beautiful love songs ever written, and details the two seperate entities in any relationship trying to find the pace of the other.In "Living Proof" Bruce sings how "This boy sleepin' in our bed" is that "little piece of the Lord's undying light" he has been waiting to witness, and divine "Book of Dreams" should certainly be played at every wedding.

I think maybe you have to be a certain age to really connect with these songs, to have been down but crawled back up, or been hauled back up.Other Springsteen fans will rightly point to other albums as their favourites but "Lucky Town" works for me as a whole entity, each song compliments the others, they cannot be seperated or added to without messing up the structure.It is an album full of superb songs but also an album in which the finished article is greater than the sum of the individual parts.It is certainly worth a Leap of Faith to experience it.

I can only echo the sentiments of most of the other reviewers.

This is, according to the experts Bruce SPRINGSTEEN's weaker period. I can't help but think that those who knock this album haven't really listened to it. It's purely and simply vintage SPRINGSTEEN and is a pleasure from start to finish. Stand out tracks? well, more than one - my favourite being LIVING PROOF which has a terrific beat coupled with dynamic lyrics. Is there a rock artist whose words are so easy to identify with? I don't think so. BETTER DAYS is a great tune, as are LUCKY TOWN and LOCAL HERO which follow it. Not just a rocker though because BOOK OF DREAMS and BEAUTIFUL REWARD are great ballads.

If you are a SPRINGSTEEN follower and this album has passed you by, then give it another try. Honestly, this is pure 5 star material.

Released on the same day as the awful Human Touch, this album has always been forgotten about. This is a shame, as there are some of Springsteens best ever songs on here.
Starting off with Better days, straight into Lucky town, the album rocks more than Bruce had for many years at this stage of his career. Why he feels the need to shout instead of sing I couldnt say, but this is what we have. Of the rockier tracks, the final Souls Of The Departed is simply brilliant...if only we had the E Streeters playing on it, but hey, we dont.
Living Proof, written about the birth of his son has some amazing lyrics, but the greatest lyrics are saved for the three ballads, If I Should Fall Behind, Book Of Dreams, and My Beautiful Reward. Springsteen is one of the few artists who could write 3 dimensional love songs, along with Costello and Dylan. Listen to the love in the lyrics in those three ballads...truly amazing.
If only we had the greatest band ever playing with him on this album it would be a nailed on 5 star album.
Dont allow the dreadful Human Touch to cloud your views, this is a great album, and deserves to be judges as such.