Bruce Springsteen: Ranking His Albums From Worst To Best

18. Human Touch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SYZ9E6ClwQ Year of Release: 1992 Key Tracks: Human Touch, Roll of the Dice, I Wish I Were Blind Bruce's first studio project after splitting with the E Street Band following the Tunnel of Love Express Tour was an ambitious double album. Human Touch was released the same day as Lucky Town in an unique promotional tactic and was the more popular of the two albums, peaking at number two on the Billboard 200. But that doesn't mean it was better than Lucky Town. In fact, it probably ranks as Bruce's worst studio offering. Part of the problem was the absence of the E Street Band. In their place were a roughly assembled band of LA studio musicians. They did a decent job, but they were no E Street Band (who is?) and that hurt it. The project took Bruce two years to complete and around 25 tracks were recorded (some of which appear on the Tracks box set of outtakes). Although it may have taken an age to record and get released, you can tell that The Boss' hear isn't in it. The result is a pretty generic pop record with way too much filler material. It's not a terrible album and the title track is very good, but it fell way short of what Bruce and his fans expected from him.