High Hopes
Bruce Springsteen fans will recognize the album’s title track from the live version performed in the 1996 film “Blood Brothers.” The movie was a documentary of the singer’s reunion with the E Street Band.
The new studio recording of “High Hopes” is a much fuller version of the song. It includes horns and background singers. Tom Morello of the group Rage Against The Machine also performs on the song.
om Morello played guitar during Springsteen’s recent shows in Australia, and worked well with the group. In his liner notes to the album, Springsteen praised Morello for “pushing the rest of this project to another level.”
Morello’s guitar work can be heard on eight of the 12 songs. He also sings with Springsteen on “The Ghost of Tom Joad.” The song was first heard as the title track to a solo acoustic album “The Boss” released in 1995.
Critics are mixed in their opinion of "High Hopes." Some say the album is not decisive as some of Springsteen’s “project” albums. Project albums are records with songs based on a single theme or sound. But Springsteen says he meant “High Hopes” to be a collection of what he calls “songs that deserved a home and a hearing.”
“Down In The Hole” is an example. Springsteen wrote this haunting song for his 2002 album “The Rising.” But, the artist said he left it off because he did not think it fit in with the other songs.
Danny Federici played organ on “Down In The Hole.” The longtime E Street Band member died in 2008.
You can also hear Clarence Clemons playing on the new album. The E Street Band saxophonist died in 2011. Clemons can be heard on the song “Harry’s Place.” It was also cut from the final version of “The Rising.”
A few years ago, there were reports that Bruce Springsteen was working on a gospel record. “Heaven’s Wall” sounds like it may have started as part of the reported project. But it has found a home on “High Hopes.”