Magic: The reviews are in

My review of Bruce Springsteen’s new album, Magic, will appear as my Dispatches column tomorrow in the South Brunswick Post and Friday in The Cranbury Press.

But here are a couple of reviews from others:

  • A.O. Scott’s oddly constructed mix of interview and review was required reading this weekend.

  • David Corn picks on some of the same themes I hit on in his blog at The Nation.

  • Jay Lustig in The Star-Ledger offers this.

  • Five stars from David Fricke in Rolling Stone.

  • Four stars from Ann Powers (one of the best critics out there) in the L.A. Times.

  • This last one comes from The Village Voice — another in a long line of bad Voice reviews of The Boss that prove nothing more than the paper’s arts coverage is way too consciously trendy for its own good.

This is, as most of these say, a remarkable, mature album. Check back tomorrow for more.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
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Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie.

One thought on “Magic: The reviews are in”

  1. I understand Amy Linden\’s basically respectful dissent. I\’m not sure what she expects from Springsteen at this point in his career other than an album of solid to excellent songs by a great professional songwriter & band leader. Or why E Street would not sound like E Street – that\’s why Bruce uses them like Neil Young keeps going back to Crazy Horse & Elvis Costello to some version of the Attractions.I\’ve never been a True Believer – just an admirer. Bruce has never exposed enough neurosis, or made a failure grand enough to win my heart to his albums. But I do appreciate that he\’s become more deeply politicized. What the wingers don\’t get is how deeply & truly conservative he is in the best sense of respecting tradition & memory, & viewing radicalism with caution. Because the radical right has had the power for years.I wouldn\’t hestate to say he\’s one of the most conscientious of Americans with regard to his influence & responsibilities. He\’s doing what he ought to doing right now.

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