1. Wrecking Ball – Bruce Springsteen
Did President Barack Obama know what he was doing when he blasted We Take Care of Our Own, the searing and angry opening track of Bruce Springsteen’s 17th album Wrecking Ball, to his adoring throngs after being re-elected back in November? Probably. Not all presidents have such a good track record when it comes to appropriating New Jersey’s poet laureate for their own means. Ronald Reagan, way back in 1984, showed a distressing lack of insight when he tried to convince a misty-eyed rally that Springsteen’s angry and anguished Born in the U.S.A. was a proAmerican anthem.
Obama’s brand of patriotism seems far more nuanced than the doorknob-dumb type the Gipper preached, but the fact that Springsteen’s fist-pumping We Take Care of Our Own sounded so anthemic, so triumphant, so appropriate following any president’s speech speaks volumes about what makes the 63-year-old such a fascinating and occasionally troubling artist.
He’s a master of darkness and detail, but it often lays buried beneath a mastery of genre and style, an enthusiastic embrace that is too often mistaken as simplicity among tin-eared listeners and critics.
Even if there were no angry, politicized lyrics on Wrecking Ball, it would be a marvel of songwriting power. But the fact that Springsteen also flexes his storytelling gifts turns it into a statement for the ages; a compelling, literate and occasionally jubilant study of how the “99 per cent” search for purpose and identity in a post-meltdown America.
To that end, Springsteen serves up expertly wrought Irish fight songs (Death to my Hometown), plaintive character studies (Jack of All Trades), wide-eyed gospel (Land of Hope and Dreams) and — good Lord — something that even approaches hip-hop (Rocky Ground), to tell his stories. There’s no denying that 2012 was a good year for veteran artists, with relevant releases coming from Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Leonard Cohen, Jimmy Cliff and Dr. John, among others.
But I loved Wrecking Ball the most because it seemed to rep- resent exactly what established artists should be doing in an ideal world. It’s music that is sharpened by years of study and craft and informed by history, but still manages to keep its urgency and relevance by never falling back on habit or cliche. 2. Lindi Ortega – Cigarettes and Truckstops 3. Rae Spoon – I Can’t Keep All of Our Secrets 4. Nora Jones — ... Little Broken Hearts 5. Japandroids – Celebration Rock 6. Cold Specks – I Predict a Graceful Expulsion 7. Jimmy Cliff – Rebirth 8. Kathleen Edwards – Voyageur 9. Divine Fits — A Thing Called Divine Fits 10. Corb Lund — Cabin Fever