eMusic Review
There had been quite a few love songs in Springsteen's repertoire before he made this record, but very few in the true first person. Most of them were narrated by his various characters, and you could even argue that the exuberant kid crowing "the record company, Rosie, just gave me a big advance" on E Street Shuffle 's "Rosalita" was a construct of sorts. But here, in the middle of a first marriage that would end in divorce, Springsteen essays a group of songs all about the joys, but mostly sorrows, of emotional commitment and connection — or, more to the point, lack thereof. "I just can't see what a woman like you is doing with me," he sings on "Brilliant Disguise." An insecure Bruce — imagine that. The music is suitably spare. One of Springsteen's most fascinating records.
