Devils & Dust

Reviewed by:
David Peisner

There are two kinds of Bruce Springsteen albums: The big, populist rock rave-ups (Born To Run, Born In The USA, The Rising) and the quiet, introspective singer/songwriter turns (Nebraska, Tunnel Of Love, Ghost Of Tom Joad). Dusty folk arrangements and a dark pall clearly place Devils & Dust among the latter—in fact, it often sounds like a sequel to Tom Joad. “Silver Palomino” and “Matamoros Banks” are steeped in the same Tex-Mex folk vibe Springsteen first mined there, while he gets surprisingly graphic detailing a Mexican immigrant’s encounter with a prostitute in the steel-guitar-lined "Reno." Elsewhere, tunes about aging boxers and wannabe cowboys are sprinkled with convincing touches of country and gospel. As a rich guy from New Jersey, Springsteen should sound ridiculous speaking for the poor, huddled masses. That he doesn’t (or does only rarely) is either proof of his empathy as a writer or of a long-secret double life as a migrant worker. We’ll guess the first one.

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