50 Years Burning Down the Road: Reviewing Every Springsteen Album From Worst to Best

Coming in at #20: High Hopes

I am reviewing every Bruce Springsteen album from worst to best. I ranked each album before writing any reviews. The reviews will come out in that order. However, I will rank them again after I have reviewed them and see if there are changes. Without further adieu, here is my review of 2014’s High Hopes.

The thing about High Hopes is that it makes no sense. First of all, prior to this album, High Hopes was just a throwaway cover song in Bruce’s catalog. He originally recorded it in 1995 with the E Street Band during the Greatest Hits sessions. During these sessions, the E Street Band recorded "Blood Brothers," "Secret Garden," new cuts of "This Hard Land," and "Murder Incorporated," and that’s only the ones that have been officially released (take this time to listen to "Waiting on the End of the World" on YouTube). Of course, High Hopes was going to be overshadowed. Nonetheless, it is a cover song and a song that most fans could have easily forgotten about. 

This is all just my opinion, which goes without saying, but it is important to note because I do have certain biases. For instance, I believe that Tom Morello and the E Street Band should remain separate entities. That bias immediately impacts my enjoyment of this album as a whole. The story goes that Tom Morello went to Bruce and told him how amazing the song High Hopes was, which reinvigorated (or just invigorated) Bruce’s enthusiasm for it. He is mainly responsible for the creative direction of this album and the idea of re-recording a bunch of live staples along with random odds and ends dating back to the late 90s. Tom Morello’s guitar work is all over this thing, and his contributions are usually detrimental to each song on which he is featured. Let the record show that I believe his contributions to Wrecking Ball worked for the most part, so I am willing to see through my own biases. Meanwhile, I am not reviewing the concept of the record; I am just reviewing the record. As I believe my 7th grade English teacher said, "suspend your disbelief." With all this context out of the way, I am going to write about my enjoyment of each one of the songs on this thing, whether they make sense or not. 

Here’s the rundown:

"High Hopes," the song, starts off like a bit of a headache. The percussion is tasteful, but the drum machine and Morello's beeps, boops, and scratches do not mix with the congas and maracas. When the band comes in, you are reminded about how the E Street Band can consistently elevate a song of any caliber—even if each band member recorded his part in an individual session for this record. Bruce’s vocals are great on this one. He starts to sing strangely on the back half of this thing, but his singing on the title track is stronger and more passionate than the 1995 recording. Even with that pesky little guitar leading eighth note from Morello and the gimmicky guitar solo, this is a solid track if it were reduced to 3 minutes and 30 seconds. It gets repetitive and leaves the listener wanting less.

Then it’s the Human Touch era all over again with Harry’s Place. The track was actually recorded for The Rising but did not end up making the cut. I will give the song credit because I actually do think it is an improvement on the HT-era synth-centric experimentation you will find both on HT and in the outtakes on Tracks. The arrangement is cool, and the track has potential, but the song at its core is, quite frankly, awful. The lyrics are vague, often lazy, and embarrassingly bad. It is nice to hear Clarence’s sax, though, as he passed away three years before High Hopes was released.

This is where this record makes me extremely sad. The recording of "American Skin (41 Shots)" "American Skin" has been in and out of concert rotation since it was written in 2000 about Amadou Diallo, an unarmed black Guinean immigrant who was shot at 41 times by the NYPD for just pulling out what was discovered to be his wallet. The reason that it makes me sad is how poignant, articulate, and emotional this song is. It is one of Bruce’s 21st-century masterpieces. The storytelling, the lyrics, and the perspectives of both Diallo’s loved ones and the policeman that shot him showcase Springsteen’s ingenious examination of what it means to be American. It is an indictment of the United States’ complicated, perpetual race issues. The live versions, specifically the one on Live in New York City, stab you in the chest and bleed out the deep empathy that connects us as human beings. Bruce’s guitar solo oozes emotion, and Clarence’s saxophone at the end is as sweet as it has ever sounded. 

I am going to try not to be too harsh as I talk about the High Hopes recording. However, it is an abomination, and I feel seething anger as I even type this. Ron Aniello has redeemed himself with recent Springsteen projects, but I have no idea why he thought after 40 years, the E Street Band had to modernize its sound to appeal to... who exactly? It’s just a glaring lack of taste. The drum loop is stupid and annoying. Bruce’s gut-wrenching solo is replaced by a criminally bland Tom Morello solo that has as much personality as a recent Ed Sheeran song. There is also a choir in the background of the song that once again harkens back to Human Touch and cheeses up a song that existed for twelve years without needing a fucking choir. Clarence’s sax is replaced by Jake’s sax. Ok, that is fine, as Jake is now the current saxophone player in the E Street Band. However, the sax solo lasts about 15 seconds until it completely fades out and is replaced by more Morello idiocy. 

"Just Like Fire Would" is not a bad track. The band and the horns sound great. It is not my favorite song and is kind of a random cover, but it is listenable on an album where much of it is not. "Down in the Hole" is another Rising outtake, but this one is much better than Harry’s Place. I actually think it's a great song. The lyricism is very much in the style he was writing in for The Rising. Patti sounds great on this track, too. My only gripe is with the weird filter on his voice early in the song and how randomly and unnaturally it goes away. It makes the arrangement sound choppy and unfinished. With a little more love and care, this song would not be as forgettable as it is for many fans. Heaven’s Wall is also fun. It is overtly biblical in both its lyrics and the gospel choir, but that is fine with me. It definitely sounds like an outtake, though. This song is not good enough to have made it onto what I assume was Wrecking Ball. Morello’s solo is actually sort of cool here. Good job, Tom. 

"Frankie Fell in Love" is awful. It is an outtake from Working on a Dream, and to me, it is not only worthy of making that album but also unworthy of making it on this album. The lyrics do not make any sense, with many cringe-worthy lines. Something about Einstein and Shakespeare. Something about eating takeout. Bruce also sings this song with a mild yodel. It is a weird vocal that I am happy he nipped in the bud pretty quickly, or it would have been as distracting as many fans deemed the "twang" earlier in the century. "This is Your Sword" is not my favorite either. It is at least unique, as it takes the form of an old medieval or Viking-like battle song. I just remember the one live appearance this song made and how Little Steven did not know one lyric and moaned unintelligibly into the microphone.

This brings us to "Hunter of the Invisible Game," a track that many fans appreciate a lot more than me. I find it boring musically and vocally. However, these are definitely the best set of lyrics out of any of the previously unheard songs on the album. They are a great representation of Bruce’s 21st-century style. The production and mixing also sound unfinished, a common theme on this album that unfortunately impacts the quality of a handful of tracks. Bruce also released a short film to go along with this song, which is... weird.

If you are less familiar with Bruce-lore, let me take you back to the LA Sports Arena in 2007. Bruce Springsteen invited his friend Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine to join him onstage to perform a reworked version of Bruce’s 1995 classic "The Ghost of Tom Joad." Rage Against the Machine had previously covered it but strayed away from the tune of the song. This new version stays true to it while making it rock really hard. Bruce and Tom trade solos in the middle of the song, and then Tom takes over at the end and throws in the kitchen sink with all his guitar-effect gymnastics. It was different, fresh, and inspired. When the song finished, the arena went wild. It was electric and a highlight of the Magic Tour. Go look it up on YouTube. The recording of the song on High Hopes was basically just the LA version, but in the studio, which naturally makes it a little flat. It never needed a recording, especially with the original performance available on streaming services. However, "Joad" is a masterpiece, so it is difficult to ruin it. 

"The Wall" is an extremely touching ballad about Bruce going to visit the Vietnam War Memorial and remembering his earliest rock and roll heroes, the Ciccione brothers, who died in the war. It is a beautiful tribute. The anger, grief, and sweet remembrance that Bruce conjures in this song blend together perfectly, and the cry of Curt Ramm’s trumpet accentuates the sorrow. The song was written in the 1990s and played solo on piano on the Devils and Dust Tour in 2005. This is a song I am glad made it onto this record. The recording is mostly excellent.

This brings me to the final track, "Dream Baby Dream." Many fans love this song, and many do not. I fall into the latter category. The song is a Suicide cover, and the original is much cooler. He closed basically every show with it on the Devils and Dust tour in 2005. I think it is boring. The lyrics that Bruce adds are vapid and a bit desperate. I can skip it.

So overall, I do believe that this is Bruce’s worst album. There are certainly moments I have enjoyed, which is the case for me with any Bruce album. However, this one could have stayed in the vault. Check back soon for my next review. We will be going back to 1992.