To Achieve Continous Improvement Across 4 Decades! (Tunnel Of Love - Bruce Springsteen)

Member Name: opinions4u

Product:	Tunnel Of Love - Bruce Springsteen
Date:	17/01/03 (140 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It is truly excellent

Disadvantages: It has a depressing theme!

Springsteen - Tunnel Of Love (1987)

3 years after the massive success of Born In The USA (selling 18 million albums), America's nearest thing to a working class hero gave us a more sublime offering. Subtle, thoughtful and brilliant.

Tunnel Of Love was recorded predominantly at his home in Rumson, New Jersey. Disappointed with early recordings with country musicians, Springsteen reverted to working solo on what is effectively an introverted view on the progression of a relationship in a dozen classy songs.

While the E Street Band are credited with involvement in much of the work, you do not feel that the band actually contributed to the overall feel of the album. For me, this makes it all the better.

So, what about the songs? Well, how do you tell the tale of a relationship moving from longing to dating to marriage and the inevitable doubts and failures that follow? Ain't Got You is a strong enough start, but Tougher Than The Rest clearly sets out the fight to win over the girl. With a drum beat matching the heartbeat, this is probably the highlight of the album for me, but there is still lots of marvellous stuff to follow.

Spare Parts (And Broken Hearts) as well as Cautious Man seem to fall back on Springsteen and the relationship with his father, expressing a cynical view of marriage.

Fear of all the demons of relationships are expressed in Two Faces and the terrific Brilliant Disguise which reflects Springsteen and his songwriting at its very best. Many of us can reconcile the lyric "I wanna know if its you I don't trust, cos I damn sure don't trust myself".

Despite the lively One Step Up, the lyrical content and mood of the album is still a tad depressing, and played late on a lonely night makes perfect listening as he describes "when I look at myself, I don't see the man I wanted to be" as for every step forward he takes two steps back.

When You
re Alone waves goodbye to the failing relationship and the keyboard led Valentines Day closes in the album with an overwhelming sense of loss.

The demise of Springsteen's own marriage happened during the making of this album, and, as songwriters often do, he clearly used his work as a way to express the frustrations at his own failures as he lost something he valued.

While selling only a third of the number of copies of Born In The USA, this is a better album. Thoughtfully crafted songs around a continuous theme that is easy to relate to, Springsteen will almost certainly be prouder of this work, even if it didn't make him as much money.

Get it. Listen to it.

£8.99 at www.cd-wow.com or a lot more anywhere else!

Subsequent albums include The Ghost Of Tom Joad and The Rising. I rate these at 6 stars!

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