Magic

Performer: Bruce Springsteen
Engineer: Billy Bowers
Producer: Brendan O'Brien
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Personnel: Bruce Springsteen (vocals, guitars, harmonica, pump organ, synthesizer, glockenspiel, percussion, background vocals); Stevie Van Zandt (guitars, mandolin, background vocals); Nils Lofgren (guitars, background vocals); Clarence Clemons (saxophone, background vocals); Roy Bittan (piano, organ); Danny Federici (organ, keyboards); Garry Tallent (bass guitar); Max Weinberg (drums); Patti Scialfa (background vocals). Additional personnel: William Pu, Jay Christy, Sheela Lyengar, Kenn Wagner, Justin Bruns, Olga Shpitko, Soozie Tyrell, John Meisner, Christopher Pulgram (violin); Amy Chang, Tania Maxwell Clements, Lachlan McBane (viola); Karen Freer, Charae Kruege, Daniel Laufer (cello); Patrick Warren (tack piano, chamberlin); Jeremy Chatzky (upright bass). Following up two folk-flavored albums, MAGIC finds Bruce Springsteen laying down his acoustic guitar to reclaim his rock-hero crown. He's assisted in this endeavor by producer Brendan O'Brien, best-known for big-time '90s hard rock, but the results have little in common with O'Brien's grungy past. Instead, MAGIC's sonic blueprint is more in line with Bruce's last stadium-rock statement, 2002's THE RISING. The album is front-loaded with hard-charging, heavy-riffing tunes ("Radio Nowhere," "You'll Be Comin' Down") that benefit from the sure-fire attack of the E Street Band. In fact, "Livin' in the Future" harks back to the band's vintage '70s work. MAGIC isn't all back-to-basics rockers, though; evocative ballads that employ atmospheric string arrangements indicate that Springsteen is content neither with standing still nor with looking backwards. One of the most rewarding aspects of the album is the fact that after the relative tunelessness of 2005's DEVILS & DUST, Bruce seemingly learned from the folk gems he covered on his Pete Seeger homage a year later, and started writing arresting melodies again. Any way you look at it, those who may have been put off by Springsteen's previous stylistic diversions will have a welcome feeling for MAGIC.

Rolling Stone (p.119) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "Springsteen has rediscovered the boardwalk-dance-party power of BORN TO RUN and the Mitch Ryder and Jackie DeShannon encore covers in his 1975 and '78 shows." Rolling Stone (p.108) - Included in Rolling Stone's "50 Top Albums of the Year 2007" -- "These songs are Springsteen at his toughest and most focused..." Spin (p.122) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "'Your Own Worst Enemy' and 'Girls in Their Summer Clothes' channel Brian Wilson, layering sleigh bells and swelling strings to craft experimental chamber pop." Entertainment Weekly (pp.68-69) - "No album could say more about the uncertain national mood of 2007....Bruce Springsteen is back in the masterpiece business." -- Grade: A Uncut (p.97) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[MAGIC] is BORN TO RUN crossed with TUNNEL OF LOVE, an attempt to recover the indomitable youthful fury of the former, astutely tempered by the older, wiser, sadder resignation of the latter." No Depression (p.93) - "MAGIC may be the closest approximation to an old-school, big-noise Bruce album in ages." Q (Magazine) (p.88) - Ranked #06 in Q's "The 50 Best Albums Of 2007" -- "At 58, The Boss has arrived at another peak."

Bruce Springsteen came out of New Jersey in the early 1970s sounding like a cross between Bob Dylan and early Tom Waits, backed by the rambunctious E Street Band. After toughening up his sound, Springsteen created his 1975 masterpiece, BORN TO RUN, which garnered critical acclaim for its blend of Spectorian grandeur and street poetry. Nine years later, BORN IN THE U.S.A. made him a worldwide superstar with its beefed-up stadium-rock sound. Along the way, he's produced such low-key acoustic-based milestones as NEBRASKA and THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD, never losing the blue-collar ethos that is central to his vision. His 2002 album, THE RISING, is considered one of the finest artistic responses to the 9/11tragedy produced in the event's immediate aftermath.

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