bigcoolguy.com

I think I've said before that I'm a huge Bruce Springsteen fan. However, Tunnel Of Love, his studio follow-up to the mega-huge Born In The USA, turned me off and stopped me listening to him for quite a few years.

There are a bunch of excellent songs on this album, such as Ain't Got You, Spare Parts, Two Faces, Brilliant Disguise and One Step Up. Unfortunately, the album isn't all goodness. The production on much of the album leaves it firmly back in the 1980s. For example, I think the title track could be good... but this rendition isn't... and it feels like a failed experiment. Personally, I think Cautious Man doesn't really work on this album. Songs like this work well on Nebraska where most of the album is quite down and the 1980s synthesiser is absent, but with this mixed arrangement the song gets lost amongst a bunch of similar sounding songs. They also work well when Springsteen has the E Street Band to provide some up-beat contrast. However, the E Street Band are noticeably absent on this album. Drummer Max Weinberg appears on most songs but his drum sound in the mid-to-late 1980s isn't my favourite feature of the E Street Band during that time. Springsteen's lead guitar playing also sound thin, whiny and over-produced - there's too much 1980s style delay.

Unfortunately Tunnel Of Love still isn't close to being my favourite Bruce Springsteen album.