RS has become the MTV of music magazines. Of little surprise, they have given Springsteen's new record Working on a Dream five stars. Yes, they gave it a better review than Nebraska, which landed a 4.5 rating. Brian Hiatt, who reviewed the record, compared the ending of "Outlaw Pete" to, oh my goodness, "Jungleland". Seriously, how do these people land these jobs? He then compares "Life Itself" to The Byrds' "Eight Miles High". These comparisons are akin to saying that "Marley and Me" is reminiscent of "The Godfather". And then there's the feature by Mr. Has-Been David Fricke, who calls Working on a Dream, Springsteen's "most ornate album since 1975's Born To Run". It may be "ornate" Mr. Fricke, but putting these records in the same article, let alone sentence, is absurd.
Again, there are a few good tunes on this album. I've really grown to like the title track, "The Wrestler" is one of his finest songs in years and "My Lucky Day" is a nice rocker, and honestly, there are other songs that are growing on me, but FIVE STARS?!?! Then again, they gave Magic the same rating and that record pretty much sucked. These people need to be industry casualties. I can't remember the last time anyone said, "I bought that album because of Rolling Stone's review." They still do occasional nice pieces from time-to-time, especially on current affairs, but Jann Wenner should have canned his entire editorial team years ago. Ya know, right when that memo went out that read: "Anything by Neil Young, REM, Pearl Jam, U2 and Springsteen gets 5 stars. You don't even need to listen to the record, just give it five."
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