By the way, I really love Bruce’s new record. After the very disappointing Magic, I was ready for another dud. The first song Outlaw Pete is not a great one and is 8 minutes long. It kinda spoiled for me the first time or two I listened to the record. After the second time I really started to get what Bruce’s doing on this record and now love it. To me it is a sister record to Tunnel of Love, with Tunnel of Love being about breakup and disappointment and Working on a Dream about an older man finding and realizing true love. I think this is Bruce’s best work in years with beautiful writing. At first i thought the lyrics were a little light for Bruce’s standards. However after reading them, I realized that since most of the songs were about love, the lyrics didn’t have the social impact I was looking for. However, for pure love songs they are absolutely beautiful. For instance, in “Kingdom of Days” he writes: “With you I don’t hear the minutes ticking by; I don’t feel the hours as they fly; I don’t see the summer as it wanes, just a subtle change of light upon your face”. Kinda of reminded me of Dylan’s “Your’e Gonna Make Me Lonesome…”, where Dylan writes: “Flowers on the hillside, bloomin’ crazy; Crickets talkin’ back and forth in rhyme; Blue river runnin’ slow and lazy; I could stay with you forever
and never realize the time.” This record demands that one really listen to it. I know it is difficult with all of the music out there, but do yourself a favor and listen to it 5 times over the course of two or three days and I think you will get it. Watching the DVD of the making of the record is also a treat and will help the listener understand what Bruce was after on this record. I give it 4 stars (I would have given it 5 if not for the first song). No Retreat, No surrender.