Bruce Springsteen: Ranking His Albums From Worst To Best

17. Working On A Dream

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDIkZ4sAKWY Year Of Release: 2009 Key Tracks: Outlaw Pete, Working on a Dream, The Wrestler (bonus track) Working on a Dream is a very uneven album. It feels like Magic-lite and, indeed, many of the songs came out of the recording sessions for that album. Bruce and the E Street Band recorded the album during breaks in the Magic Tour and most of the songs were done in only a few takes. It shows. The finished result feels rushed. The album was pushed heavily and a lot of hyped was built up around it. Bruce promoted the album at the Golden Globes, Obama's presidential inauguration and a new 'Greatest Hits' album was released just to whet fans' appetites. Bruce performed the lucrative Super Bowl halftime show that year, where he played an abbreviated version of the album's title track. With all that hype it was always felt that the album could be viewed as a disappointment. And that's how most Springsteen fans viewed it. Rolling Stone, longtime champions of Bruce's work, rather staggeringly gave the album a glowing five star review and compared it to the classic Born to Run. Credit to them for their brave opinion, but they couldn't have been more off. There's was one of the few positive notices the album received. Most agreed that it was at best mediocre and, at worst, a terrible, disjointed disappointment. 'Queen of the Supermarket', which should never have the final cut, is infamously naff but there are a couple of good tracks to be found.