Lucky Town

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ALBUM INFORMATION

Total Tracks: 10   Total Length: 39:03

eMusic Review

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Glenn Kenny

eMusic Contributor

06.30.09
Bruce Springsteen, Lucky Town
1992 | Label: Columbia

Trying to come up with a single tune to top off Human Touch, Springsteen spewed off a bunch of them, most of them reflecting a new optimism found, at least in part, in the wake of his marriage to Patty Scialfa. "These are better days; better days with a girl like you," he sings on the opening track. The title tune sees him going to said lucky town "to shake off these blues I've found." And "If I Should Fall Behind" is a beautiful affirmation of love's faith, and a lover's patience. Almost all the tunes have a kind of loose, seemingly tossed-off authoritativeness to them that only the most accomplished and careful songwriters can pull off.

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lost classic

downingcr

In a perfect world, this would have been received as a new classic, but it was hampered by the times. It was released alongside HUMAN TOUCH, which was not great, and wasn't recorded with any of the E Street Band members. If Bruce had maybe combined this relatively short album with some of the better tracks from Human Touch, he would have had a classic. The way it turned out, these are still some very strong tracks, and sooooo under-rated. In a nutshell, this is the Boss's perspective on settling down and having kids.

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Your Beautiful Reward

quit-it

It is frustrating more people didn't give this album a chance back in '92. Lucky Town has traveled from my walkman to my ipod and after all these years, it has kept me great company. Three strong rockers lead off the album with personal lyrics that focus on Springsteen's new love and also poke fun at his working class image. The rest of the album contains definite Springteen staples:"If I Should Fall Behind", "My Beautiful Reward", and "Living Proof." And if "Leap of Faith" doesn't convince you to say "hi" to that pretty girl down the hall -go join the monastery. Lucky Town got lost in a gimmicky dual album promotion -it's much stronger than the sister album Human Touch.

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Icon: Bruce Springsteen

By Glenn Kenny

If ever there was a rock 'n 'roll icon who needed no introduction, Bruce Springsteen - who got his nickname "The Boss" because, from very early on, he was the guy who made sure the band got paid - is surely that guy. As for that band, the current lineup of his longtime crew the E Street Band is Nils Lofgren on guitar, Miami Steve Van Zandt on guitar and sundries, Clarence "the Big Man"… more »

They Say All Media Guide

Reportedly, Bruce Springsteen recorded most of Human Touch in 1990, but left it unreleased. He returned to work in the fall of 1991, intending to add a song, but ended up recording a whole new album, Lucky Town, and then decided to release both records at the same time in the spring of 1992. He might have been better off pulling a couple of the stronger songs from the earlier album, adding them to the later one (which runs less than 40 minutes), and shelving the rest. While Human Touch was a disappointing album of second-rate material, Lucky Town is an ambitious collection addressing many of Springsteen’s major concerns and moving them forward. Here was the rage and the humor, the sense of compassion, the loyalty and commitment that had been the stuff of Springsteen’s best music from the beginning. Songs like “Better Days” and “Local Hero” commented on and deflated the commercial success with which Springsteen clearly felt uncomfortable; “If I Should Fall Behind” and “Book of Dreams” expressed romantic fidelity and generosity; “Souls of the Departed” contained scathing social commentary; and “My Beautiful Reward” was a meditative epilogue. The lyrics were better, the arrangements tighter, the performances more powerful than those on the companion release. If Lucky Town, like Tunnel of Love and Human Touch before it, sounded a little under-produced, it nevertheless had the mark of the major artist Springsteen is, and if he had released it alone, it might have had a more significant impact. – William Ruhlmann

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